(RockAndMetal.com) (02/21/05)

By Michael Bennett

LONDON, UK - Sanctuary Visual Entertainment has announced the most significant T. REX event to happen in over twenty-five years.

Set for simultaneous release on May 16th are the "Born To Boogie" double-DVD and double-CD collections.

Eagerly awaited by Marc Bolan, T. Rex and Beatles fans alike, the DVD includes Ringo Starr's legendary 1972 film, "Born to Boogie," the only two full concerts ever recorded with T. Rex, plus a wealth of extra material.

In the early '70s, "Born To Boogie" was shown at cinemas throughout the UK, and had a limited VHS release in the early '90s. Since then, the film's fate has been the source of much speculation.

Featuring Ringo Starr, Marc Bolan and Elton John, with a cameo from Geoffrey Bayldon (Catweazle), only a few well-used 35mm cinema prints of the completed film were thought to have survived.

Having lay scattered and undiscovered for over 30 years, "Born To Boogie" finally brings together all the extra material from the filming of the epic 1972 Rock 'N' Roll motion picture.

At 5 hours and 25 minutes, "Born To Boogie" reveals Marc Bolan and T. Rex at the height of their success, bringing Ringo Starr's visionary film back to its true color and vibrancy, and revealing hours of material never used in the final cut.

A stunning sound and vision experience, "Born To Boogie" has been painstakingly restored and remixed from the original 16-track recordings and original color film negative.

Cleaned, repaired and transferred to high definition video, the picture is presented in the best possible condition.

The original audio recordings have also been remastered by original producer Tony Visconti at his New York studio encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 Surround Sound, and the new DTS 96/24 format.

The DVD also includes exclusive rare, never-before-seen-footage throughout the 2 discs and DVD menus.

Almost 2 years in the making, the DVD and CD are a unique opportunity to rediscover the true T. Rex sound.

Tony Visconti says of the live T. Rex experience: "[He made] this great music in the spirit of every great rock and roller like Chuck Berry or Little Richard or Elvis, (Bolan) was one of them. He was one of the icons."

"In the new millennium, there are 'T. Rex sounds' everywhere."

Every so often, you get a new group coming out and 'oh it's a T. Rex sound.' It's not glam rock, it's T. Rex... Glam rock was something else."

DVD extras stretch to over 90 mins and are presented by Marc's only son, Rolan Bolan.

They feature newly recorded interviews with the sole surviving member from the 1972 T. Rex line-up, drummer Bill Legend.

Other interviews on the new release are with Tim Van Rellim (original producer of "Born To Boogie" and now a Hollywood executive responsible for films including "A Knights Tale"), Tony Visconti, Geoffrey Bayldon (famous for playing Catweazle), radio institution Bob Harris, photographer Keith Morris, "Wembley Compere" Emperor Rosko, former roadie Mick Gray, and fans of T. Rex.

Also included is unique "cine-8" footage recorded by Marc Bolan himself on the road, plus unique footage of Bolan and Ringo Starr backstage between performances at the Wembley gigs.

Tony Visconti added: "When I first knew [Marc], we were walking around with holes in our jeans... and I stuck with him through all those times."

"Having those concerts filmed by Ringo Starr was the apex of my career, and I know this."

"Everything we worked for came true... it was such an exciting time for all of us; it was the beginning of a new era... No one has quite had that impact since then.... Marc was definitely one of those people who changed things forever... things were never the same after that."

Excerpts from the evening concert at Wembley formed the basis of "Born To Boogie," the DVD restoring this concert to its original length and order, including 3 extra tracks, 'Cadillac,' 'Girl' and 'Summertime Blues.'

The matinee performance (recorded on March 18th, 1972) has not been seen since T. Rex performed it in front of 10,000 screaming fans 33 years ago, and it's presented here for the first time ever.

Tony Visconti originally recorded both gigs from a truck outside the Wembley venue. "This was the ONLY time I recorded them live", says Tony.

Also included in the CD set is an ultra-rare 12-minute interview with Marc Bloan from late 1971, which is not included in the DVD set.

T. Rex, Thin Lizzy and David Bowie became renowned worldwide for breaking new musical ground at a time when "flower power and check shirts weren't working for anybody anymore."

Considering Marc Bolan's departure overseas in the mid-70s and his untimely death in 1977, the story of the success of T. Rex is all the more remarkable.

At the height of their success in 1972, newspapers famously referred to T. Rex as being "Bigger than The Beatles."

By that year, the band was reportedly able to sell up to 100,000 records per day.

While their work in the studio created an unmistakable sound, the T. Rex live experience was transforming.

In concert, the band displayed a raw power that would have stunned anyone who had only previously heard the gentle sounds of Marc's previous band, Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Taking the opportunity to bring something new to fans, in concert Marc Bolan loved to turn electric songs into acoustic numbers and transform studio recordings in to raw Rock 'N' Roll experiences.

In 1972, Marc Bolan's fortunes were aflame, with T. Rex topping charts around the world. He literally defined the post-Beatles Pop music scene.

As the greatest star of his era, Bolan followed in the grand tradition of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles with a natural progression to the silver screen.

The great Hollywood heroes had fired his boyhood imagination in the 1950s and given him the self-belief to transform from Mark Feld to Marc Bolan, so it made complete sense for him to immortalize himself in celluloid.

Doing so with a former Beatle made for the perfect recipe.

T. Rex's Fall 1971 "Electric Warrior" tour had witnessed widespread fan mania, causing the band's management considerable security headaches.

In the UK in the 1960s and early '70s, bands seldom played at venues with capacities larger than two or three thousand, but as demand to see Bolan was clearly out-stripping supply, a large venue where his safety could be guaranteed was required.

In November 1971, Led Zeppelin gave two legendary shows at the 10,000-seat Wembley Empire Pool in North-West London.

The venue had been constructed to host swimming and ice skating competitions during the 1934 Empire Games.

Over the years it hosted tennis, boxing, table tennis and cycle racing, and was even home to Gibraltan refugees during the World War II.

At war's end, the swimming pool remained closed, so the building was adapted for other large-scale events.

To meet the public's hunger and to put an end to "Bolan Quits Tours" stories, T. Rex were confirmed as the next group to take on the huge venue.

Tickets for Saturday, March 18th, 1972 (priced at just 75 pence) went on sale a month before on February 18th and sold out in days.

An additional matinee concert was added, that one selling out as well.

In the months following the T. Rex dates, The Moody Blues, The Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd performed at the Pool, confirming it as the UK's leading indoor concert arena.

Ringo Starr had approached Marc Bolan in 1971 with an idea to include him in a series of documentary films about superstars of the era, such as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and troubled footballer George Best.

Those plans never came to fruition, but when Starr discovered that Bolan was intent on filming the Wembley shows the idea was revived, and so a deal was struck to make a movie (50/50 between Apple and Bolan's Wizard Artists company) with a working title of "T. Rex In Concert."

The concerts were a triumph for Bolan, the pinnacle of his career.

Following three #1 hit singles and the chart-topping success of the "Electric Warrior" LP, the reaction of the cynical music press was one of surrender: Marc Bolan was acknowledged as the superstar he always wished to be.

The shows were kept simple: the stage effects ran to little more that two enormous blow-up photos of the show's protagonist, with popular DJ Emperor Rosko playing MC for the night.

He spun a few discs and worked the crowd into an anticipatory frenzy, with support band Quiver being mostly overlooked.

As cameraman Ringo crouched in the pit at the front of the stage, the public address system blasted out 'Clean Up Woman' by Betty Wright, one of Marc Bolan's all-time favorite songs.

He left the dressing room, climbed the steps at the back of the stage and made his way out through the curtain.

It was Bolan's second appearance at the venue, having performed as an unknown, way down the bill at "The Glad Rag Ball" in November of 1965.

No film exists of that debut, but it would have been overshadowed by hit-making performers of the time like Donovan and The Rolling Stones.

However, by March 1972, Bolan's time had come: the audience's reaction was spectacular.

Ten songs were performed at each concert: 'Jeepster,' 'Baby Strange,' 'Telegram Sam,' 'Hot Love' and 'Get It On' received the T. Rex electric treatment, along with acoustic numbers 'Spaceball Ricochet' and 'Cosmic Dancer,' all making it to the final edit.

Show-opener 'Cadillac,' 'Girl' (Acoustic Version) and 'Summertime Blues' (the encore song) were discarded for the original "Born To Boogie" film.

In addition, a session at The Beatles' Apple Studios in May 1972 brought together Marc Bolan's friends Elton John on piano and Ringo Starr as a second drummer, who both joined T. Rex for a unique collaboration on the songs 'Tutti Frutti' and 'Children Of The Revolution.'

A separate, four-song acoustic set filmed in the grounds of John Lennon's mansion at Tittenhurst Park in Ascot yielded new versions of 'Jeepster,' 'Hot Love,' 'Get It On,' and 'The Slider,' with Tony Visconti conducting a string quartet as Marc Bolan sat cross-legged in the long grass.

These elements were woven together to make the film, with various incidental footage of Bolan and Starr hamming it up and riding in a Cadillac, with Bolan reciting his poetry.

As Ringo was appearing in front of the camera as well as behind it, he hired executive director Frank Simon to help out, famous for the "The Queen," a 1968 cinema verite documentary about New York's drag scene.

Bolan reported that over fifty hours of footage was shot.

This was cut down to just 64 minutes during the Summer of 1972, and released to UK cinemas at the end of December as "Born To Boogie."

Somehow the title tune never made it to the film, eventually appearing as the B-side to the 'Solid Gold Easy Action' 45 at year's end.

The UK premiere was held at Oscar's Cinema on Brewer Street in Soho on December 14th, 1972, attended by T. Rex, Ringo Starr and Elton John (sporting his famous "zoom" glasses).

Marc Bolan's wife June was initially refused admission, as an over-zealous doorman considered her claim to be Mrs. Bolan just another ruse to get close to the star of the show.

The after-show party at Tramps nightclub also played host to Donovan, Bernie Taupin and Keith Moon.

To promote the movie, as well as the usual round of press interviews and advertising, Marc Bolan appeared on BBC's "Pebble Mill At One," and the movie was reviewed on "BBC Film '72," with Barry Norman.

In-cinema displays included eight color 10" x 8" shots from the film, a large poster, and a program that cost 25 pounds.

The movie's run continued at Oscar One, with distribution to the ABC chain of cinemas commencing on December 31st in London and the suburbs.

"Born To Boogie" went nationwide in the New Year, with frequent re-screenings during the school holidays.

After Marc Bolan's tragic death in 1977, the film became a regular monthly favorite at the Essential Cinema Club on Wardour Street in Soho, also enjoying occasional screenings at special fan-organized events and music film festivals throughout the UK.

"Born To Boogie" made a brief appearance on VHS in the early 1990s and then slowly slipped into obscurity, with the final public screenings being at an anniversary tribute event at the Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square, on 16 September 1997, attended by Marc Bolan's son Rolan.

After many years of doubt, in 2003 it was finally confirmed that the outtakes from the uncut original movie still existed.

The cans of unused film had been stored for three decades, coming to rest in a high-security warehouse in West London.

And soon began the project to realize the ultimate Marc Bolan and T. Rex visual experience in 2005.

Born To Boogie - The Motion Picture:

Disc 1 Contents:
• The original 1972 film, restored and remastered
• Audio options include both the original and remastered soundtrack, with commentary by Tim Van Rellim (original producer) and Mark Allen (DVD director)
• Jeepster
• Baby Strange
• Tutti Frutti
• Children Of The Revolution
• Spaceball Ricochet
• Telegram Sam
• Cosmic Dancer
• The Slider
• Hot Love
• Get It On
• Chariot Choogle
• The Wembley Evening Concert, 8:30pm, March 18th, 1972
• Includes 'Cadillac,' 'Girl' and 'Summertime Blues'
• 63 minutes
• "Born To Boogie" Trailer
• Original Cinema Trailer with original sound

Disc 2 Contents:
• Wembley Matinee Concert, 5:30pm, March 18th, 1972
• Entire extra concert
• 61 minutes
• Cosmic Rock - When T. Rex Ruled The World
• 47 min documentary presented by Rolan Bolan, featuring Interviews with Tony Visconti, Bob Harris, Emperor Rosko and more
• Re-Born To Boogie - Restoration Doco
• 15 min review of the restoration process
• Outtakes and Deleted scenes
• "The Eater Of Cars" - Airfield outtakes & deleted footage
• "More Tea, Anyone?" - Tea Party outtakes
• "Apple Outtakes" - Extra Apple Studio sessions
• Video and Audio demonstrations
• Multi-Cam, Multi-Audio options
• "Before And After" video and audio tracks
• Rare, never-before-seen footage, plus hidden Easter Eggs

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