All language subtitles for angelheaded.hipster.the.songs.of.marc.bolan.and.t.rex.2022.1080p.web.h264-hymn_track3_[eng]

(ethereal rock music)

-[Marc] He came from the past,

his frozen eyes had known
our planet's childhood,

his acts to his heart by
leads of love.

With one soulful wail a
thousand mean ones were burned

and in turn and jive on
into my songs,

for his name as
Electric Warrior.

(fire roaring and crackling)

(people chattering)

-I went to this festival,
it was in August '71,

there's like a 175,000
people were attending.

And in the afternoon,
the compare, the MC,

was kind of saying who was
gonna come on later that night.

We're gonna have "The Faces,"

and the whole audience just
went, "yay!"

You know, just "yay, The Faces!"

And then we're gonna have
"T-Rex" and the whole audience,

175,000 people got up and booed.

I've never heard that before.

(lively rock music)

♪ Well, you're dirty and sweet ♪

♪ Clad in black, don't
look back and I love you ♪

♪ You're dirty and sweet,
oh yeah ♪

♪ Well, you're slim and
you're weak ♪

♪ You've got the teeth
of the hydra upon you ♪

♪ You're dirty,
sweet and you're my girl ♪

♪ Get it on, bang a gong,
get it on ♪

♪ Get it on, bang a gong,
get it on ♪

So this is this Sunday night.

The Faces come on,
kick the footballs out,

everybody goes crazy.

Couple of hours later,
Marc Bolan comes on

near midnight or something,

the whole audience gets
up and starts booing.

You know the whole
audience, I'm not kidding.

I mean, we are just going
like, what's he gonna do?

You know,
I'd never seen this before.

I'd never really seen 175,000
people booing at someone.

(crowd booing)

Marc walked up to the
microphone and said, "fuck off!"

Walked back to his amp,
turned it up.

The whole audience sat down
and shut up.

I couldn't believe, I mean,
well this is incredible!

So he starts the performance.

(lively rock music)

♪ Get it on, bang a gong,
get it on ♪

♪ Get it on, bang a gong,
get it on ♪

He did over an hour performance

and there was like an extra
10 minutes,

he was battering guitar with
a couple of tambourines,

which I'm thinking, "what's
gonna happen at the end?"

(guitar music)

What's gonna happen when he
finishes it?

(guitar music continues)

-Rock on!
(crowd cheers)

-The audience got up

and gave him a 15 minute
standing ovation.

I've never seen anything
like that.

You know, in a way he saw a
little bit of a punk attitude

right there in 1971.

(crowd cheering)
(lively rock music)

(lively rock music)

-[Hol] Da, da,
da (laughs) you know.

(lively guitar music)

-Yeah.

-That was the basic
structure change,

was like, do you want to real,
you know,

you wanna keep the song rolling?

-Right, so the, uh...

going back to the E and just
holding for like two extra bars

in the, in between each-

-Yeah, one-
-Between, before each verse.

-There needs to be,
"you're my girl."

(lively rock music)

-Verse.

♪ Well, you're dirty and sweet ♪

♪ Clad in black, don't
look back and I love you ♪

♪ You're dirty and sweet,
oh yeah ♪

-Verse.

♪ Well,
you dance when you walk ♪

♪ So let's dance, take a
chance, understand me ♪

♪ You're dirty,
sweet and you're my girl ♪

-Chorus, three cycles.

♪ Get it on, bang a gong,
get it on ♪

♪ Get it on, bang a gong,
get it on ♪

-That'd be much more
drama and much more spooky.

-Yeah.

-And I think you gotta
have the sexy,

but then you have to have
it spooky.

Wanna do something a little
more, even more whispered,

-More spooky.

♪ Get it on, bang a gong,
get it on ♪

♪ Get it on, bang a gong,
get it on ♪

-Not only is he an
important historic artist,

he's also one of the great

songwriters of that era,
you know?

And that's the fun thing

about this
"Angelheaded Hipster" album

is that you get to
hear his songs

and how great they were
lyrically and musically.

Really, really powerful work.

(lively rock music continues)
♪ Oh yeah ♪

-Oh yeah.

Hey.

-Hey, how are ya, Al?

-What I believed was
we were going to explore

Marc Bolan as a composer,
as a songwriter,

where he's never gotten his due.

He's gotten his due as a
rocker with cool grooves.

You listen back to those
songs and they are deep.

No, I'm just trying to
listen, excuse me a second,

I'm just gonna listen to the
songs they're doing today.

(upbeat drum music)

Trying to make a "a happening,"

as they used to say in
the sixties.

Put a bunch of people together.

♪ Metal guru, is it you ♪

♪ Metal guru, is it you ♪

-My aim for this album
was one thing only.

I liked the music of Bolan
years ago,

but I felt that he
deserved universal acclaim

and to be recognized
for who he really was.

♪ Metal guru could it be ♪

♪ You're gonna bring ♪

His life was cut short,
as a lot of peoples,

but he didn't achieve
the acclaim and the fame

that Jimmy Hendricks did
before he died.

He was on the cusp of that.

And I just felt, well, how
about trying to get people

to really see just how
good his songs were,

you know, and how good he was.

♪ Metal guru, is that you ♪

-He was the pioneer of
the glam rock movement

and inspired people like
me and Bowie.

-He brought glitter
to the masses

and I thought, "no, he's
done it, he's done it!

"He's done it first!"

(speaking foreign language)

-The music of T-Rex,
the music of Marc Bolan

leaves so much room for your
own fantasy.

-He was so ahead of his
time, Marc.

He was the first person to
wear mascara and glitter

and, you know,
really camp it up.

-I feel exactly the same.

Marc was the the first guy
he was so loved in England,

you know what I mean?

The music he was playing
was relevant.

-[Interviewer] I've been
reading recently Marc,

an article which suggests
that you are

the successor to the Beatles.

That you, in fact, claim
that you're a successor

of The Beatles.
-I never said that.

-[Interviewer] You
didn't say that?

-No way.

-Do you have in your mind
any intentions-

-[Marc] They said that.

-They said that, okay.

-Five years ago it was
the Beatles.

This last five years it's
been T-Rex.

We played for the kids
that never saw the Beatles,

never saw Jimmy Hendricks.

They're seeing us as those
sort of people, you know,

because they never saw,
they weren't around then.

The average age
of the audience is 15.

(crowd cheering and whistling)

This is a song that, uh...

Lots of people ask me to sing.

Song called "Cosmic Dancer."

(crowd cheering and whistling)

(somber music)

♪ I was dancing when I
was twelve ♪

♪ I was dancing when I
was twelve ♪

♪ I was dancing when I
was ah, yeah ♪

♪ I was dancing when I
was ah, baby ♪

♪ I danced myself right
out the womb ♪

♪ I danced myself right
out the womb ♪

♪ Is it strange to dance so
soon, yeah ♪

♪ I danced myself right
out the womb, yeah ♪

(lively rock music)

-Are they good?

Those roles?

(Nick laughs)
-[Hal] They're so good.

-[Person] They're, yeah.
(laughs)

-[Hal] You're so good.

He's committed three
(indistinct) now.

-He's committed,
(laughs) yeah, yeah.

-[Person] He's fully
committed to that one fill.

(all laughing)

I wonder maybe it didn't
work so well

when we're doing it slow.

I don't know, but I always,
as a kid-

-[Person] Oh yeah, yeah.

-As a kid I was always like,

"fucking hell."
-[Person] Yeah.

-But maybe now listening
to them back, I'm like, hm.

Um, anyway, let's, uh...

I just had to work out
words as well, so... a bit.

All right.

♪ I was, I ♪

It's actually,
I'd love it if the voice

was more present in
the headphones.

Present and big, it seems
kind of small and uh...

-[Person] Okay,
hold on one second.

-I don't know, it could
be a little bit louder

and a little bit wider and...

-[Person] And then low?

(somber music)

♪ I was dancing when I
was twelve ♪

♪ I was dancing when I
was twelve ♪

♪ I was dancing when I was ah ♪

♪ I was dancing when I was ah ♪

♪ Dance myself right out
the womb ♪

♪ I danced myself right
out the womb ♪

♪ Is it strange to
dance so soon ♪

♪ I dance myself right
out the womb ♪

♪ I was dancing when I
was eight ♪

♪ I was dancing when I
was eight ♪

♪ Is it strange to
dance so late ♪

♪ Oh, oh ♪

♪ Danced myself into the tomb ♪

♪ I danced myself into
the tomb ♪

♪ Is it strange to
dance so soon ♪

♪ I danced myself into
the tomb ♪

♪ Is it wrong to understand ♪

♪ The fear that dwells
inside a man ♪

♪ What's it like to be a loon ♪

♪ I liken it to a balloon ♪

♪ Oh, oh ♪

-[Interviewer] Marc,
you've just become a father.

How do you feel?

Do you feel different?

-Uh, I'm still waiting to
feel different,

but I'm still wanting
to grow up, you know,

and I haven't done that yet.

No, it's lovely, I helped
deliver the baby as well.

It's called Roland Bolan.

Roland Seymour Bolan.

And it was really cute
'cause it looks like me.

So it was really,
it's an amazing thing.

Just a miracle, I reckon.

Babies they're, you
know, they just plop out

and he came out dancing.

He was out,
he was getting down here.

♪ Danced myself right out
the womb ♪

♪ I danced myself right
out the womb ♪

-He said that as a child,

he knew everything that
he was going to do in life

and what he was going
to accomplish in life,

but he never knew that he
would've a son.

His reaction was that the
best thing that happened

for him in his life was
that Roland was born.

(somber music)
(Nick vocalizing)

-[Hal] Perfection.
(all laughing)

-How'd it go?
-Yeah, we got it.

-Oh, we got it?
-We're good.

(plucky guitar music)

-I always thought he
was a better lyric writer

than like Bowie and some of
these people of that time

that people considered to be

kind of deeper writers
or something like that.

(stammers) It was the use
of language

and the use of imagery.

The production of that
particular record

that was so extraordinary
for me,

and these very simple but
complex words at the same time.

It's just a perfect record.

♪ I was dancing when I
was twelve ♪

Marc Bolan to me, uh...

kind of seemed to invent a
kind of language with his songs

that really, that was perfected
on that particular record.

A kind of way of using
words and images

that I think is entirely unique.

And slowing "Cosmic Dancer"
down a bit,

kind of allows some of that,

his writing and his
lyric writing

to sort of breathe a little bit,
you know?

I didn't wanna do one of the
faster ones, particularly.

He's a really, uh...

I don't know, it's a very
emotional song for me.

You know?
(somber music)

♪ I was dancing when I was ah ♪

♪ I was dancing when I was ah ♪

(energetic rock music)

♪ Well you can bump and grind ♪

♪ It is good for your mind ♪

♪ Well you can twist and shout ♪

♪ Let it all hang out ♪

♪ But you won't fool ♪

-Everything in there,
it's like this room,

you know, everything is, ah!

Let's see how they interact.

Let's see how this person
interacts with this song.

(lively music)

That felt nice.

-[Person] Yeah.

-[Person] Everybody's amazing.

-You know,
that some of the mementos,

this one's very special to me

because these are actual
Polaroids

that my mom and my dad
were taking

together while they
were on tour.

It was around the time of,
I think it was

their first tour and that's
where you could kind of see

the professional relationship

and also the love affair
came together.

-Gloria was a staff writer
with Motown.

She was part of the
corporation they called it,

where she would write, you know
she wrote for Gladys Knight.

When she started appearing
in T-Rex,

she's credited as
The Gloria Jones.

'Cause Marc was very
appreciative of her writing.

She's not just a backup
singer, she's The Gloria Jones.

You know, and she rearranged
"Tainted Love" and recorded it.

-On your mark or get
set go, go, Gloria Jones!

(groovy music)

♪ Sometimes I feel I've got to ♪

♪ Run away, I've got to ♪

♪ Get away from ♪

-You really see how
much fun they were having

and how playful it was
and you know,

two people fell in love

and they fell in love
musically and personally.

My dad definitely, he had a
unique style and he never,

sometimes he didn't get as
much credit,

but he could really play.

And if you hear, and
it was about the sounds

and what they were
coming up with,

with Tony Visconti and
you hear those sounds

and they're coming out
in the records today.

-He was great where he
put the rhythm pattern,

you know, it was the guitar.

You listen to any record of his,
you know,

with before he comes in
like, you know, it's him.

It's just ah, get-go.

(upbeat music)

♪ Well, she's my woman of gold ♪

♪ And she's not very old,
uh-huh ♪

♪ Well, she's my woman of gold ♪

♪ And she's not very ♪

-I actually learned to
play guitar,

the first song I ever learned
how to play was "Hot Love."

♪ I don't mean to be bold ♪

♪ But may I hold your hand? ♪

-It doesn't sound like he's
imitating Elvis Presley.

♪ She's my woman of gold ♪

♪ And she's not very old,
uh-huh ♪

It somehow sounds like he's
doing it in a different way.

It sounded modern.

♪ And I love the way she
twitch, uh-huh ♪

-He comes out wearing
this glittery jackets,

he had glitter his cheeks and
red shoes that were women's,

I found out, and a feather boa.

And he's just chopping away
on Les Paul,

and we just got color TV
from '71 to '74,

Sweet, Slayed, Bowie, T.
Rex, Wizard, Mot, Queen,

everybody trying to outdo
each other with colors.

But let's be honest,
Bolan was the first one

to actually step out there
and really take advantage

of what color TV could do to
teenage kids.

♪ La, la, la, la-la, la-la ♪

♪ La, la, la, la-la, la-la ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

(upbeat music continues)

-You have to remember,
Marc was this explosion

of extraordinary imagination,
fantasy.

And he lived in this world of
elves and goblins and stuff,

but actually he was really
coming from East London

and he probably wrote
that on the tube coming in

and you know, somehow
it was all in his head.

(upbeat music continues)

♪ La, la, la ♪

-I totally fell in love with
that sound of that record.

I knew that he was riffing
on old rock and roll.

I knew something was going
on with the guitar sound

and with his singing and
their songwriting

that was kind of avant garde.

-The androgynous look
of the early seventies

to me as a kid from Sheffield,
me and my soul brothers,

who I'm still tight with now,

were probably the only half
a dozen people

that I know that didn't care.

We didn't go round beating
up people

because they liked
The Partridge Family.

But we regularly got beaten
up for liking Bowie and Bolan

because he's a fucking puff.

And that's the way it was
portrayed.

You know, it's like I
didn't see like that.

I saw him as being theatrical.

I saw him as being artistic

and I saw him as standing
out from the crowd

and not looking like Tony
Orlando or Donny Osmond.

-Certainly there's been a
change in England in two years

and we are part of the change.

I mean,
guys now can wear makeup.

I'm now a famous person,
but two years ago

I couldn't have done, and I
can even swear a little bit

or show my legs.

(guitar music)

(lively rock music)

♪ Friends say it's fine,
friends say it's good ♪

♪ Everybody says it's
just like Robin Hood ♪

♪ I move like a cat,
charge like a ram ♪

♪ Sting like a bee, babe,
I wanna be your man ♪

(lively rock music continues)

-When I was growing up,

there was like certain
people that were really sexy

when you were little and
you didn't understand why.

And it was Marc Bolan was
like, yeah.

He was like, I didn't understand
what it was he was doing,

but it was just like
whatever that is

that kind of girly boy
situation, I really like that.

Yeah, I'm, mh-hm.

(lively rock music continues)

-[Donny] It was for little girls

and little girls don't like
big hairy men.

A younger girl would like a
male that is not threatening.

The age was 11 to 13,
probably down to nine.

(lively rock music continues)

-[Interviewer] Let's
talk about your new record

"20th century Boy."

What's the story behind it?

-[Marc] Lyrically the
content is erection rock.

And I consider that every
young male

in the 20th century
thinks he's a super stud

and the records made for him.

-[Interviewer] You described
it as your best ever.

-[Marc] I never did that.

You read that I described it-

-[Interviewer] Well,
I read it in-

-[Marc] Yeah well,
you're down spoken.

Yeah, right.

-[Interviewer] Isn't true
that you said

that this record is-
-[Marc] No.

what I said is I think it's
a funky sound is what I said.

-That was huge, you know,

there's that on the telly and
you're like,

"oh, what the fuck is that?"
(laughs)

Like what's, yes.

Like I wanna know what that is.

-Eyeliner I think is
still a political act,

you know, in some places.

It was playing with gender,
it was playing with power.

Gender is power.

(upbeat rock music)
(crowd cheering)

-Yeah!

Get it on, yeah!

(upbeat rock music continues)

To take something feminine and
put it on a man or a musician

and make it sexy.

I think that's dangerous,
I think people love that.

Like Joan always says with
her guitar,

it's pussy to the wood.

(upbeat rock music continues)

♪ 'Cause you're my lover,
yes you are ♪

It's something that affects
people emotionally and sexually.

And it's just glitter.

It's just paint and powder
and pigment.

But when people see it,
it pushes.

♪ Just like a car ♪

♪ You're pleasing to behold ♪

-Marc Bolan, he was a big
part of my life as a kid.

You're going from being
non-sexual to sexual.

(upbeat rock music)

♪ Your motivation ♪

♪ Is so sweet ♪

♪ Your vibrations ♪

-Sex is a part of it, yes,

but it's sex by courtesy
of the Magic Prince,

and I presume that means you.

-Whoo!

-Who is going to
deflower the young virgin

in an atmosphere of blissful
romance.

-That sounds nice, I like that.

-What does (indistinct) mean?

(audience laughing)

-I don't know.

I think what they're trying
to imply is that, um...

I don't know, the appeal
of what I'm supposed to be

to that thing is like
a teenage crash thing.

♪ And I'm gonna suck ya ♪

(upbeat rock music continues)

♪ Uh-Uh, wow ♪

(upbeat rock music continues)

-Are you guys gonna do those
cuts that are on the record

or are you just doing it
different.

The one before that we
got it right.

-[Person] I would love
to hear that.

-Yeah, maybe that's

something to work with.
-[Joan] Sure.

-[Person] And may maybe
that's what we got.

-Because without the
stops I'm kind of lost.

You know what I'm talking about?

-[Interviewer] There are
fans clustering

outside your office door.
-Yessum.

-[Interviewer] Does this
get on your nerves at all?

-Um, sometimes, you know,

but at the moment they dunno
where I live fortunately,

but not really.

I mean, some of them Very cute.

-[Interviewer] How
often do you come here?

-[Fan] Come every day.

-[Interviewer] For how long?

-[Fan] About two years now.

-[Interviewer] So you're
professional Marc Bolan fan?

-Oh yeah.

-We follow him around
everywhere.

-[Interviewer] Oh, every day?

Everywhere he goes?
-Every time,

everyday, we know where he is.

-[Interviewer] Do you go
to work?

-We do part-time work.

-[Interviewer] I see.
-At weekends.

'Cause then you know
the office is shut

so we can't come here.

-[Interviewer] You've
been dogging his footsteps

for two years and he's
never once got angry?

-No, never.

Perhaps he's been angry but
he doesn't show it to us,

you know?
-Yeah.

-But he's really a nice person.

-But what is it about him
that makes you

so terribly excited for such
a long time?

-Everything.

He's so good looking and his
music and the way he dresses,

the way he acts, everything.

-And you're not at detoured
by the fact

that he has a wife and
a mistress and a baby?

-Well, we put up with it.
(both giggle)

-We just wanna be genuine
friends

'cause we care about him.

We like to know that he's all
right and well and everything.

(upbeat rock music)

♪ The wild winds blow ♪

-It happens right at the end

after the last chorus, I believe

♪ The way you flip your hip
it always makes me weak ♪

Only listen to this a billion
times unless 13 or something.

♪ 'Cause you're my love ♪

♪ Oh, girl I'm just a
Jeepster for your love ♪

♪ I said, girl I'm just
a vampire for your love ♪

♪ And I'm going to suck ya ♪

♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah ♪

(upbeat rock music continues)

-With Bolan there was sex
within the whole sound.

It always had some feeling
of sex in there

because of his appearance
as well

and the way he projected
himself.

-[Interviewer] You were one
of the first rock artists

who got into the bisexual
treatment.

-Artist is quite nice.
(both laugh)

Sounds very bisexual.

-[Interviewer] You're not
really bisexual, I gather?

-Um, I've experienced
many things in my life.

I think, you know, as a child,

my mother always told me that

if you love someone in
any sphere,

you know,
love them all the time.

I love many men and many women,

but I happen to like titties

so I tend to sexually
go more towards women,

but I've checked everything out.

-[Interviewer] So it wasn't
just an image

when you were being
bisexual, you really were?

-No, David Bowie and I were
gonna get married at one time.

-[Interviewer] Well thank
you very much.

-My pleasure.

-This one for you Marc!

(crowd cheering)
(upbeat rock music)

♪ And it's plain to see you
were meant for me, yeah ♪

♪ I'm your toy ♪

-I first met Marc Bolan
he became

a very,
very good friend of mine.

(crowd applauding)

We actually met very
early on in the sixties

before either of us were
even a tad pole known.

We were nothing.

We were just two nothing
kids with huge ambitions.

And we both had the
same manager at the time

and we met each other, firstly,

painting the wall of our
then manager's office.

(all laughing)

Hello, who are you?

I'm Marc, man.
(crowd laughing)

Hello.

What do you do?

I'm a singer.
(crowd laughing)

Oh yeah?

So am I.
(crowd laughing)

You a mod?

Yeah, I'm King Mod.

Your shoes are crap.
(crowd laughing)

-[Jeff] We modeled in 1962

for the annual IMBEX,

International Men's and
Boy's exhibition Olympia.

And that's where we first met.

-He'd been in all the magazines.

He was it.

He wore the best suits and at 14

he'd been on the streets
like looking cool.

Very young mod.

Mark Feld within that year
changed his name to Marc Bolan

and Marc taught me a very,
very important thing in life

that in Carnaby Street in
those days

they'd throw away anything
that didn't have a button on

or there was a tear or
something.

They put it in the dust
bins at night.

So if you hit Carnaby
Street about eight o'clock

you could get a full wardrobe
just out the dust bins.

And so I, bless Marc,

he kept my wardrobe going
for years that bloke.

(lively rock music)

♪ Walkin' in the woods one day ♪

♪ I met a man who said ♪

-[Marc] I was a good sport
in school when I was 14.

But always read.

I mean I write words that
don't even exist

but to me I understand it.

"The wizard" I did in 1965,

The "Hippy Gumbo" followed
after that.

-[Person] The "Hippy
Gumbo" ain't no good.

Chop 'em up for firewood

-[Marc] Dylan made me
aware that you could

use good words with pop music.

Before that I'd just
written poetry.

♪ Met a man he was nice ♪

♪ Said his name was paradise ♪

(jaunty music)

♪ Hippy Gumbo he's no good ♪

♪ Chop him up for firewood ♪

♪ Hippy Gumbo he's no good ♪

♪ Chop him up for firewood ♪

♪ But in the morning
with the sun ♪

♪ He pulled an automatic gun ♪

♪ He blew my soul,
he blew my brain ♪

♪ He explained I could not
do the same ♪

♪ Hippy Gumbo he's no good ♪

♪ Chop him up for firewood ♪

-Should we get kind
of hushed and abstract

or are we kind of like
trucking through, do you think?

-[Person] I always get louder.

-Louder?

Okay.
-[Person] Yeah.

-Let's do that.

♪ Hippy Gumbo he's no good ♪

♪ Chop him up and burn
the wood ♪

♪ Hippy Gumbo he's no good ♪

♪ Chop him up and burn
the wood ♪

-Does anybody want
a coconut toffee?

Coconut toffee?

Do you want a coconut toffee?

They're really fucking good.

Can I say like the second verse,

when the bass came in
it was like,

what if it did get a little
bit more jaunty almost,

just a bit more, like strange

and upbeat on the second verse.

when I was singing it today,
I was like,

"oh yeah, it's a love song."

But it's funny actually,
you know, singing his words,

singing someone else's words.

'Cause when you sing
your own song,

you like every line
has a different meaning

and you sort of play with that.

And today I had that
with his song.

It's like every line was like,

oh I could read a million things

into each one of these lines.

He's just a free individual
and I can only imagine

what that must have felt like.

(smooth rock music)

-When I was just getting
into Marc Bolan about 1970,

I'd read that he had
these book of poems out.

So I went to my local
library and they had it.

So I took it out and I spent
three weeks copying it out

word for word into an
exercise book.

I still got that at home
next to a proper copy now.

There they are.

The version I wrote out is
like an 11 year old kid.

Every single poem.

And I'm telling you, what
head have you got on today?

Because as you're
writing 'em out

and you're reading 'em going,

"oh this is weird."

It was old Tolkien esque stuff
and it was, he was just mad.

I just love the fact that
he was full of expression

but he just went off and
didn't matter what it was.

About lions or dragons
or grass or mushrooms.

It was just off with
the fairies, really.

I mean, literally,
off with the fairies.

-[Marc] "The star of
youth was spawned one day

"born on the horses
of the sleigh.

"In a green of elm, the
sky, outstretched spake.

"Drink deep O' Twinkler
in my lake.

"For a wish you'll be burdened
to coronet on your dome,

"like a willow the wisp
all a tender,

"you'll surrender in the deep
foamy kitchens of the muse.

"And one word they will say

"and like a pelican and
yellow amethyst,

"they bless long your
stay in the abbey blue,

"but in glitter hue you
wept for summers' limbs

"upon the pleasant turf

"and your shields of
ice in the chilly times.

"Creamed in gray wolf's hair,
you stride your windy stare,

"you'll miss no cathedral bed.

"For you dote on the treasure
in the chest of your head."

-He used to come in and he was,

you know, he'd be number
one in the charts.

But the big thing was

he was the biggest selling
poet in Britain

and he loved that.

-Well right now there's a group
called "Tyrannosaurus Rex."

Marc Bolan is the, well there
are only two in the group

but Marc Bolan is the singer
and he was with John's children

who released a number of records
and Marc decided to go out

and form his own little
group, just the two of them.

And he sings very gentle,
soft little songs.

And one of them is playing
right now in the background

and it's very beautiful.

-Okay, let's have a look.
-Okay.

♪ Broken dusty mama ♪

♪ Her face melted just
like wax ♪

♪ Her once gazelle-like
features ♪

♪ Bloodied by the age axe ♪

-He wouldn't just pose
in front of the mirror

with his guitar and act
out Elvis fantasies.

So I think he was born to be
this, to be what he became.

I think Marc Bolan had this
dream as soon as he could speak.

♪ The seal of seasons
moved with grace love ♪

♪ Upon the Orkney oceans
face love ♪

♪ She swam and moved just
like a prancer ♪

♪ A gypsy dancer ♪

♪ A salty shimmered
shell of foam ♪

He would've wanted a rock
band right then,

he couldn't afford it.

He had a 12 quid guitar,

he had a bongo drum player
Steve Peragrin Took,

that's all he had.

♪ One breath and shells
grew on my nut tree ♪

♪ It swayed ♪

-[Marc] I care very deeply
about mankind as it is.

And I just try to,
in my own way,

make it a bit more interesting.

And I do believe in unicorns.

I believe in the tree
spirit and I have Scenescof

and Scenescof is, I suppose,
very much like Sauron

in Lord of the Rings.

He's sort of an arch villain
that I use all the bad things.

I lay it all on Scenescof so
I can use him

as an outlet for all
the bad things.

(ethereal music)

(ethereal music continues)

(ethereal music continues)

♪ Ri-Ri-Na ♪

♪ Ta-Na-Ni-Na ♪

♪ Ri-Ri-Na ♪

♪ Ta-Na-Ni-Na ♪

♪ Ta-Na-Ni-Ni-Ni-Na ♪

♪ Ta-Na-Ni-Ni-Ni-Na ♪

♪ Ni-Ni-Na ♪

♪ Ah-Ah-Ah ♪

♪ It was grand to have
know her ♪

♪ It was grand ♪

-It's not so easy to

be vulnerable around people
you don't know

and in a space that you're
not used to.

And so the challenge becomes
how can I become vulnerable

in every circumstance or
whenever I choose to be?

The plan was to do a very,
very deconstructed version.

We took it in a different
direction

where it's more about this
celebration.

The song we chose was
"Scenescof."

I don't know if I'm
pronouncing that right.

What is that?

What is Scenescof?

Is it scenes... sea of?

That line, "I don't need
anyone to dictate all my fun."

It's an anthem of freedom.

But that's exactly, yeah,

we'll move into that just
a little bit at the end.

But that was beautiful.

For me as a young kid in
San Francisco

walking around the city.

Okay so now.

I have no idea what's
gonna happen

and I...

And as uncertain as every
single aspect of my life was,

I had that to rely on.

I just didn't need anybody
but that song.

-[Interviewer] Do you
have any special things

that you want to do in America?

-[Marc] I want to play to
people there

like we have done here, like
the concert tour that we did.

It was just really playing
to people

and having within
a quieter thing,

an excitement which equals
sort of rock and roll,

but doesn't have any of the
violence or no violent feelings.

If people dance or people
move about

or sort of scratch at the
air, it's because they want to

and it's because they're
enjoying the music.

(crowd applauding)
(groovy music)

♪ I love ev'ry dance ♪

-There was still conga drums

now it was Mickey Finn on
conga Drums.

It's a transitional period

like the acoustic is
dropping away,

the electric is introduced.

♪ I love ev'ry dance
with my baby ♪

♪ By the light
of the magical moon ♪

-Tyrannosaurus Rex
was unknown in America.

I had never heard them on
AFM radio.

You know, I don't think anyone

should underestimate
Mickey Finn.

These were like poly
rhythms even back then

and for them to be playing no
bass player,

that's extraordinary.

So Mickey Finn is not just
keeping time for Marc,

he's also playing rhythm,

which is dual and Marc is
playing rhythm as well.

But the voice is what was
astonishing.

♪ By the light
of the magical moon ♪

-[Marc] What I fought for
England was like rustic gods

or or pan and I related to
pan, not as an evil Goddess,

like a pastoral deity and music,
I'm sure,

is just piped down to you from
the sort of higher spheres.

(groovy music)

♪ Come the sun, see it
run across the sky ♪

♪ Cosmic eye is for you and
no one else ♪

♪ Come the sun, see it
run across the sky ♪

♪ See it cry for you and
no one else ♪

♪ Love, love you ♪

♪ Oh girl I do love you ♪

♪ Ah-Ah-Ah ♪

-It's like a worship for me
to write 'cause I don't do it,

do you know,
it's like I'm being used

by melody as a being
if you want.

And there are certain
chords that just

there are magic mists within
those chords.

You play a sort of C major chord

and I hear like 25 melodies
and symphonies up here.

I've just gotta pull one out.

You know. (Marc vocalizes)

You know, it's just anything.

It's all there.

There's no strain it just
gushes out.

(celestial music)

♪ We are children of Rarn ♪

♪ We've trodden the vales
of the sun ♪

♪ The child will cry ♪

♪ On swans they fly ♪

♪ We are the children of Rarn ♪

♪ And we are the seekers
of space ♪

♪ We've seen our master's face ♪

♪ It's young and gold ♪

♪ And silvery old ♪

♪ We are the seekers of space ♪

There aren't people like
Eric Clapton or Jimmy Hendrix

or Jimmy Page if you like,

whoever you relate to out
of those sort of people.

That's through the use
of a guitar,

which is like a piece of
wood with string on it,

really, when you relate
to it that, made by man.

That certain things can
stir your emotions up

out of a piece of carpentry,

or blowing a piece of steel
pipe and and making you cry.

What happens, you know,
within that pipe,

you know it's a spirit
coming through.

It's when people deny
sort of spiritual factors,

it's very sad, 'cause
it's everywhere around us.

-He started using
electric guitars by then

and he renamed the group T-Rex.

(groovy music)

♪ Ride it on out like a
bird in the sky ways ♪

♪ Ride it on out like you
were a bird ♪

♪ Fly it all out like
an eagle in a sunbeam ♪

♪ Ride it on out like you
were a bird ♪

♪ Wear a tall hat like a
druid in the old days ♪

♪ Wear a tall hat and
a tattooed gown ♪

♪ Ride a white swan like
the people of the Beltane ♪

♪ Wear your hair long,
babe you can't go wrong ♪

♪ Catch a bright star and a
place it on your forehead ♪

♪ Say a few spells and
baby, there you go ♪

♪ Take a black cat and
sit it on your shoulder ♪

♪ And in the morning you'll
know all you know, oh ♪

-When he recorded "Ride
a White Swan,"

he played it to me upstairs
and I said,

"well that's just a great way

"to be Chuck Berry in
the modern world.

"It's perfect, Marc."

And I took the demo
before release

to the Isle of Wight with me

and played it every two
hours throughout five days.

I was the promo man on Ride
a White Swan.

(ethereal music)

♪ She was born to be
my Unicorn ♪

♪ Robed head of ferns ♪

♪ Cat child tutored by
the learned ♪

♪ Darkly ghostish host ♪

♪ Haggard vizier of the moats ♪

♪ Seeks the sandled shores
of Gods baby of the moors ♪

♪ Ride it on out like a
bird in the sky ways ♪

♪ Ride it on out like you
were a bird ♪

♪ Fly it all out like
an eagle in a sunbeam ♪

♪ Ride it on out like you
were a bird ♪

-[Maria] I was heavily
pushing the unicorn.

She was born to be my unicorn.

-We thought put unicorn first
drone as initially an intro.

Then it took a different
direction of having all
of unicorn

and swan as the coda.

(upbeat music)

♪ La-Di-Di-Di-Da ♪

♪ La-Di-Di-Di-Da ♪

-You know,
at thanksgiving sometimes,

like if I bring a care package
over to somebody's house,

if I've made pie, and I made
a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie,

and I had a piece of each
in Tupperware

and they molded together
and became one pie.

-Pie is my favorite word.

-Really?

-Yeah.
-Like in a mathematics?

-No, I tell people, "now
let's go have some pie."

-Oh, okay.

-"Ride a White Swan,"
went up to number two

so right away we're gonna make
another record immediately,

and he wanted drums on this one.

I introduced Marc to Bill
and he says,

"oh you are from the group
Legend.

"Well, I'm gonna call you
Bill Legend from now on."

So Bill played on "Hot Love,"
and by the end of the session

Marc says you're my drummer.

-I didn't know where it
was gonna go.

Okay, we had like what,
"Hot Love," in the charts?

what was gonna be the next one?

Would that be a number one or
what about the one after that?

If it was,
but I never assumed or presumed

that it was going to be
successful.

-[Tony] Waiting in the
wings was Steve Currie,

the bass player.

From there on end this was
a T-Rex band

that was gonna be the band
for the next three years.

(upbeat rock music)

-He was so wonderful,
he come down and said,

"Elton, I sold a million
records this morning."

And I went, "fabulous,
Marc, how great for you."

But he wasn't egotistical,
he was so fantastic.

(upbeat music continues)

-Rock music is the thing that
one feels about and enjoys,

and if one doesn't feel
and enjoy it,

then one shouldn't really
talk about it or listen to it.

Can we go to the audience

or do you wanna cut off?
-[Interviewer] Yes,

by all means, yes.

-What do you think
a pop star is?

Can anyone say?

Just as on a flash.

Come on, doesn't matter,
they'll cut it out.

-[Person] Hard worker.
-[Person] Hard worker.

-I was gonna say (indistinct).

-Well that's nice.

That makes, really.
-It is, it is.

I think it is a job.

I mean people think that it's,
you just go into a studio

and a couple of hours
it's all over.

It's not like that at
all, is it?

-Not at all.
-I mean it's damn hard work.

It really is.

-But isn't everything?
(funky rock music)

(funky rock music continues)

♪ I could never understand
the wind at all ♪

♪ Was like a ball of love ♪

♪ I could never, never
see the cosmic sea ♪

♪ Was like a bumblebee ♪

♪ And when I'm sad, I slide ♪

♪ I have never, never ♪

-The funny thing about
this song is

I definitely wrote some
new baselines

and wrote some parts in it

that emphasized the funkiness
of the song.

But the truth is we
wouldn't have had to change

any of the notes to
make it funky.

We just would've had to
play it like Snarky Puppy

'cause the song itself is funky.

I did an arrangement
that I felt would reflect

and bring out kind of
the funkiness of the tune

but also kind of the weirdness

and kind of dissonance,
in a certain way.

'Cause it's not a thing that
I think can be played cleanly,

that song,
it has to be kind of murky

and ambiguous, you know?

But the baselines, actually,
in that song,

in that arrangement could
be parliament baselines.

(funky music continues)

-On "The Slider" there
was that spontaneity.

It wasn't time enough to think,
you know,

Bill Legend said he would
just barely know the song

and then Marc would say
that's it, that's a take.

You know, nowadays records are
usually made to a click track

and by the time you get
to the end of the song,

it's still the same exact tempo.

There was no click track in
the seventies

and if you listen to
"The Slider,"

it starts out like
(slow tempo vocalization).

By the end of "The Slider" it's
(upbeat tempo vocalization).

It must have cranked up
about 15 beats per minute.

(upbeat music)

(funky music)

♪ I have never, never
nailed a nose before ♪

♪ That's how the garden grows ♪

♪ I could never understand
the wind at all ♪

♪ Was like a ball of love ♪

♪ And when I'm sad, I slide ♪

-I feel like the time he was
making music

there was a lot of like really,

like important figures in rock.

So he might get overlooked
in that regard

but like yeah,
he's just really good.

-I think he probably
has a lot to do with like

a man carrying himself
like that,

like making that okay
and like that's cool.

Like people like him and
Bowie and stuff, you know,

you don't have to be
like the super masculine,

you know character to be
a male singer.

You can be a character or
you know be your own thing.

(funky music continues)

(funky music)

(funky music continues)

(crowd cheering)

-When you hear Marc Bolan,

it is really apparent
that he is not posing,

he's pulling from those
artists that came before him.

It's not like he just
appeared from an alien planet

with a totally new language
of music.

His, you know the lineage
behind him is apparent,

but it's the conviction that
that makes it still feel fresh,

when I listen to records
like "Tanx," or "The Slider,"

it's like you'd still
feels fresh.

♪ Beneath the bebop moon ♪

♪ I want to croon with you ♪

-I come from a very poor
background

and I'm kind of like a
fairytale what happened to me.

But within that fairytale,
it's hard work,

and now after seven
years, I'm a businessman

and I do my own to protect
my people.

-I have to thank Marc

'cause he came over one
night for dinner

and he talked, you know,
"oh, back off.

"Well Boogaloo." (laughs)

And they left,

we went to bed and you know

when you're in that
twilight zone?

I just heard,

♪ Back off, Boo-ga-loo,
I said, back off ♪

♪ Back off, Boo-ga-loo, I said ♪

♪ Back off, Boo-ga-loo, I said ♪

♪ Back off, Boo-ga-loo, Boo ♪

-LA was kind of the hot bed

and I always would hear like
the new stuff

because we'd drive around
Sunset Boulevard

or go by
the Continental Hyatt house,

or try and get into
Rodney's club.

And so you got a sense of like

the coming thing on the
street when you came to LA,

and it was T-Rex.

It was that kind of
pumping, groovy hop-rock,

little bit of Eddie Cochran

and a little bit of like
futurism,

and it felt so fresh and
like insidious.

It got under your skin
in the way he used vocals

and like you know women's
voices, men's voices

and it was such a great
kind of gumbo

of all these influences.

You couldn't get it
outta your head

or like you couldn't get
the rhythm outta your body.

(funky music)

(people chattering)

-A Bob Marley song.

-[Person] She wants us
to hear it?

-Yeah,

not to emulate it or anything

but just to kind of get
the vibe.

-No more BPM than that.

What is that?

-[Person] What's the BPM
on the drums?

-[Person] One, four, two.

-[Person] One, four, two.

-Oh.
-[Person] One down?

-140.

-[Person] Can you do 140,
please?

-This gonna be awesome.
-Yeah.

(funky music)

♪ Well you can bump and grind ♪

♪ It is good for your mind ♪

♪ Well you can twist and shout ♪

♪ Let it all hang out ♪

♪ But you won't fool the
children of the revolution ♪

♪ No, you won't fool the
children of the revolution ♪

♪ No, no, no ♪

♪ Oh, no, no ♪

♪ No, no, no ♪

♪ You can Terraplane ♪

♪ Terraplane ♪

♪ In the falling rain ♪

♪ In the falling rain ♪

♪ I drive a Rolls-Royce ♪

♪ I drive a Rolls-Royce ♪

♪ 'Cause it's good
for my voice ♪

♪ But you won't fool, oh yeah ♪

♪ The children
of the revolution ♪

♪ Hey, yeah, you won't fool ♪

♪ No, no,
the children of the revolution ♪

♪ No, no, no ♪

-Hey, one second,
do you remember...

Do you remember the baseline
you were doing before?

-[Person] Like there was
something more sparse, right?

-Yeah.

-Wayne, instead that
thing could you throw like,

do like beef artist
shit in there?

-[Macy] Get in there.

-I just think that's,
if that was beefed up.

(funky music)

♪ All right,
you don't fool me now ♪

♪ Baby, bump and grind ♪

♪ We're gonna bump and grind ♪

-She's such a dynamic person

and she comes from such
a different genre

but I think for how she got it

and how she kind of thought
it was as Bob Marley,

it felt like a,
it's like a chant

of like we have to do something,

and we have to fight for
it and we have to bump,

if we don't bump the table,
no one will.

And she took it and
turned it into,

it could be an anthem of
a whole new generation.

(upbeat music)

-Marc took a train ride alone
to surprise me at Manchester.

I was opening for Bob Marley,

and any other day I
would've been in the hotel,

that day I decided to go
to the mall.

So he goes over to
the auditorium

and guess who's there on stage?

Bob.

So I said, "well,
what did you do?"

He said, "he and I just sat
there and looked at each other

"and played the guitar.

"Bob just sang to me and played

"and he said I just
crossed my legs

"and just listened to him."

And so they had that
wonderful moment

and that was that peace,
one love.

Marc was very happy

'cause he was comfortable in
integrating,

bringing the two cultures
together.

At that time Marc was
starting to change his sound

but he actually loved where
he was going.

He liked the fact of riding
down Sunset Boulevard

in our gold Cadillac
with David Bowie driving

and they're in these
gangster hats,

and all of a sudden a couple
of people look over and say,

"oh there's Marc Bolan and
David Bowie

"drive me down
Sunset Boulevard."

I mean so that's where life was.

♪ Bolan likes to rock now ♪

♪ Oh yeah, he does,
yeah he does ♪

♪ Bolan likes to rock now ♪

♪ Oh yes, he does, yes he does ♪

♪ Oh yes, he does ♪

(uplifting music)

♪ Is there a sane man ♪

-I was 16 and I really
wanted to interview Marc Bowen

and he was coming to San Diego.

He played
the San Diego Civic Theater

and I went backstage to meet him

and do one of two interviews.

Drove up from San Diego
the next day,

I believe with Neal Preston,

and we had a great interview
with him

at the Beverly Wilshire.

And Marc,
you can see from the photos,

he kind of was holding court
in this room,

kind of an opulent room.

He ordered some champagne
and he on a show day,

you know, 'cause he was
playing Santa Monica

that night, I guess.

And he drank this champagne
and was charmingly loopy,

and kind of performed the
Marc Bolan character for us.

-What I remember about that
day is pretty much summed up

in,

the now...

The somewhat famous

nipple photo.

You know, he's just so
matter of fact here.

And it wasn't like he was
taking the outta me or anything,

it was just thought this
will make a good photo.

But you know, the look on
his face is just priceless.

-He was fun and cheeky

but underneath it,
I remember very clearly

was a kind of wounded bravado.

'Cause he had a little
bit of a story to tell,

which was about this
album "Tanx"

had come out in January
of that year,

gone to number one in
the UK, big hit, right?

And they were trying to like

put him over the top in America.

But what happened was

he had already played out the
glam rock thing in England.

So by the time "Tanx" comes
out he said,

"I don't wanna put on the
makeup in England anymore,

"'cause like I played
that character.

"I did it and now all the
people that imitated me

"have taken over but I need
to move on."

And he said, "I'll wear
the makeup in the US

"because I haven't
played that out,

"I haven't played that
out here yet."

But he was slightly irritated

that his influence had not
landed here

and was possibly waning there.

-[Marc] Boston's the only
city on this whole tour

that has not sold well,
I don't know why that is

and I must accept that.

To anyone out there, we're
just gonna rock and roll

so you're gonna come and
rock and roll.

You know,
but I'll play the three people.

♪ I could have loved you,
Girl, like a planet ♪

♪ I could have chained
your heart to a star ♪

♪ But it really doesn't
matter at all ♪

♪ No it really doesn't
matter at all ♪

-At first it seems a little
whimsical

and then it says you know,

"well, but it really
doesn't matter at all."

Life's a gas and you know,
life isn't always a gas.

♪ I could have built
a house on the ocean ♪

♪ I could have placed
our love in the sky ♪

♪ But it really doesn't
matter at all ♪

♪ It really doesn't
matter at all ♪

♪ Life's a gas ♪

(somber music)

-Marc and I had an
extraordinary relationship.

We both knew we were gonna do
great things

and we were very close in
the beginning,

and then as it got closer
to us actually making it,

we drifted apart and we'd
be very wary of each other.

He started getting fairly,
you know, known

and invite me to do mine
performances on his tours

and stuff like that.

But we kind of drifted,
you know,

we were at either end of the
room by that time, you know,

even being sort of superficially
pleasant with each other.

It was like,
who was gonna do it first?

♪ It really doesn't
matter at all ♪

♪ It really doesn't matter ♪

-He talked a lot about Bowie
and Bowie who'd kind of,

obviously started out
around the same time.

There's a lot of intertwined
history with them.

They were close friends,
but I think because

of the kind of culture
of the UK pop scene

where there's Melody
Maker and there's Sounds,

and there's New Musical Express.

And so these are weekly's
and they need content, right?

So they would really like
luxuriate in this world

where all the pop artists
would snipe at each other.

Rod Stewart would snipe at
Elton John,

who'd snipe at Marc Bolan,
who'd Snipe at Bowie,

who'd snipe at Jethro Tull,
you know,

and they just would like
be crabs in a bucket.

So I got the feeling
that Marc was coming off

of a publicized feud with
David Bowie.

So he is alternately really
complimentary of David Bowie

and then a little jealous.

(somber music continues)

♪ It really doesn't
matter at all ♪

♪ It really doesn't
matter at all ♪

♪ Life's a gas ♪

(somber music continues)

-That had a great feel.
-[Person] Yeah, yeah.

-You worked so extra hard.

-[Interviewer] You vanished
a bit at the end of the year.

-[Marc] I didn't realize that

I'd only put two singles
out this year and one album,

but I also didn't wanna be
that involved,

in my opinion,
over (indistinct) the act

or over painting yourself
or becoming a circus clown,

or pretending to be Judy
Garland or something,

which I don't ever see rock
and roll as.

♪ His name was always buddy ♪

♪ And he'd shrug and
ask to stay ♪

♪ She'd sigh like twig
the wonder kid ♪

♪ And turn her face away ♪

-Bowie, had started to
do the glam rock thing

and had put out "Aladdin
Sane" that same year

and then announced from
the stage in July

that he'd retired and it
was a big deal.

Bolan was a little
jealous because he says,

"they're playing Bowie
like he's James Dean."

Like he's too big and too
starry for rock

and here was Bolan in the
US still trying to make it,

and they had put him on a tour
opening for Three Dog Night.

♪ Oh baby ♪

(upbeat rock music)

-In 73 I saw him, they were
opening for Three Dog Night.

I was with my friends and my
little sister in the front row

and we knew that we
were there to see T-Rex.

So in my little group right
in the front,

I mean literally the
front, we could touch Marc.

That's when I really wanted
to become a guitar player.

-His success in England
was phenomenal.

It didn't translate so much
to America.

Of course, Get It on, Bang A
Gong was a huge hit over there.

I think his records were
too out there

for American audiences
at that particular time.

-[Interviewer] Can you see that

this repetitive riff is
going to change?

That you're gonna do
something totally different?

Something that, I mean you
did the Cilla Black show,

which no one thought
you would do.

Is there gonna come
a time on record

when Marc is just gonna
change like that?

-[Marc] I've just done
it in the new album.

It's just that you know when
you hear it,

you'll know what I mean.

And then you're saying,

"man, well why are you doing
something so different?"

You watch.
(upbeat music)

♪ It don't make no difference ♪

♪ 'Cause I move in the mud ♪

♪ I said sing it to me
children ♪

♪ Yea I'm the groover
honey yeah ♪

♪ I'm the groover honey Yea ♪

♪ I'm the groover honey ♪

I'm much more interested in
American music at the moment,

spending most of my time in
America as I have been recently.

Into a lot
of Black America music.

I've expanded the whole
sound incredibly.

I've double-headed the tour,
it's Marco Bolan and T-Rex

as Zinc Alloy and The
Hidden Riders of Tomorrow.

Which in fact is the
title of the new album.

And I'm using two
drummers, two sax players

and the chicks,
two black chicks,

which I use in the records.

It's exciting for me starting
out at the beginning,

super hardened, as you said
before, cooling slightly,

when I know what I've got, my
next phase is equally as hot,

if not more so.

♪ Dawn storm, oh my dawn storm ♪

♪ I realize you're blue ♪

♪ Please babe,
oh don't squeeze babe ♪

♪ All that I say must be true ♪

♪ Times they are strange ♪

♪ And I won't rearrange ♪

♪ No, no, no,
not my love for you ♪

♪ Times they are strange ♪

♪ And I won't rearrange ♪

♪ No, no, no,
not my love for you ♪

♪ Baby I'm not crazy ♪

-We rented a wonderful
home on Benedict Canyon.

We had so many, many,
many people around us

and during that time Marc
started experimenting with dance

'cause disco was becoming
popular.

♪ and I won't rearrange ♪

♪ No, no, no,
not my love for you ♪

Some of the change was accepted

and then some criticism
was there,

isolation was there.

(somber music)

(somber music continues)

♪ And I won't rearrange ♪

♪ No, no, no,
not my love for you ♪

♪ Times they are strange
and I won't rearrange ♪

♪ No, no, no,
not my love for you ♪

(somber music continues)

-This song was almost kind
of a very consoling song.

It was like this love song
like a serenade to someone

that you could tell, whoever
he was singing it to,

he saw them as like a,
as like the dawn light,

like very pure and like,
-Yeah.

-Calm.

(eerie celestial music)

♪ You damaged the soul
of my suit ♪

♪ You pulled my love out by
the roots ♪

♪ But I'm not such a bad boy ♪

(eerie celestial music
continues)

-I'll never forget, he came home

and he was really, really sad.

And then he realizes that now
I understand who fans are,

but he said, "I have to be me

"and I have to create
and I have to change."

And I thought that they
would want that

and that they would
change with me.

He said, "but I'm finding out

"that now I have to change
for myself."

-He said he was working
on a record

that was gonna be his
"Blonde on Blonde,"

which I guess is
the "Zinc Alloy" album.

He had already written
"Interstellar Soul,"

which he was very happy about,

and he was heading towards
the thing

that Bowie himself would
do in '75,

which was
the "Young American" stuff.

So he just kept, you know, kind
of crossing paths with Bowie

probably in an annoying way,
ultimately, career wise.

-David went totally R and B
where Marc went more into bunk.

Marc and Lonnie Jordan
hit it off,

he's the keyboard
player for War.

He said, "Lonnie, you're
going to be in Los Angeles,

"I'm going to call you."

He said, "I've an idea
for a wonderful song

"that I need you to play
the piano on."

Lonnie said, "no problem man,
I'm there."

So he goes into the studio,
plugs his guitar in.

All of a sudden you hear, wham!

"Surprise, surprise,
the boys are home."

♪ Surprise, surprise ♪

♪ The boys are home ♪

♪ My guardian angel's
run down my telephone ♪

♪ The heats on, mister ♪

♪ Can't you hear them scream ♪

♪ What ever happened
to the teenage dream ♪

♪ The curfew comes at the crack
of night ♪

♪ The sad old wino aches
to dissipate the fright ♪

-Whenever you look at
these great artists,

there's always something
missing.

Their preoccupation and
their focus and their energy

has been spent in
a certain area,

and so they miss out on others.

-[Interviewer] Such as?

-Common Sense.

♪ A broken god ♪

-The fans didn't want
to accept his new music.

He cried and he said, "why?

"Why can't they change with me?"

Then he understood,

I am so glad that I
have my worth.

That I understand every
song that I have written.

But he said, "my dream is
to become a film director."

-First it's Rosemary who's
gonna ask Marc a question.

-Yeah.

Have you any plans to make
another film?

-Yeah, I'm in fact gonna
be making one

in about three months time

and I play a murderer in it,
So watch out.

We start in four weeks time.

-Mm-hm and where will
you make that?

-We'll do it in Monte Carlo.

I'll definitely be doing films.

I'll be directing that one too.

-He was a dream maker.

He and Stan Lee actually spoke

about the future where
Stan ended up going.

-[Marc] What about Silver
Sufer, are they in there?

-[Stan] Yeah,
he's one of my favorites.

If I saw this nut on a
flying surfboard in a story,

you see, and I said,
"who's that guy?"

He said, "well I figured
a guy like Galactus

"would have to have a
Herald who goes before him

"and flies on a flying
surfboard,"

and so was born
the Silver Surfer.

-[Marc] And he was beautiful.

♪ Seventeen, eighteen,
nineteen ♪

♪ What ever happened to
the teenage dream, yeah ♪

-[Person] That whole
summer I'd looked after him

throughout the TV show.

I managed him every week on
that TV show

and you know there was
a TV series?

(upbeat music)
(crowd cheering)

-All right.

Welcome to a new show
called Marc.

Could be a lot of new sounds,
a lot of new experiences.

The biggest and the best so
far this week

are an amazing group
called "Jam!"

(upbeat rock music)

♪ Oi ♪

♪ All over the country ♪

♪ We want a new direction ♪

♪ I said all over this land ♪

♪ We need a reaction ♪

♪ Well there should be
a youth explosion ♪

-Most of the older stars
were really quite anti punk.

Marc was in the tour, he's
like, "wow, what goes on?

"Wow, man,
what's it like at the Roxy?

"Wow man,
could you take me down?"

And We did go down to the Roxy

and he launched this album

"Dandy in the Underworld"
at the Roxy Club.

♪ Prince of Players,
Pawn of none ♪

♪ Born with steel reins
on the heart of the Sun ♪

♪ Gypsy explorer of the
New Jersey Heights ♪

♪ Exalted companion of cocaine
nights ♪

♪ 'cause he's a Dandy in
the Underworld ♪

♪ Dandy in the Underworld ♪

♪ When will he come up for air ♪

♪ Will anybody ever care ♪

-We went to see the Ramones.

We were at the back,

when I looked up Marc pulled up

all the way to the front stage

and that's who he was, he just,

he loved music,
he loved creating.

-I find that The Pistol
is very believable.

I find, um, the Ramones
beautifully unbelievable.

"Suzy Is a Headbanger,"
"Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,"

Debora was a zebra, which is
my first hit right in '67.

It's all, I mean, it's all
related to violence in the mind,

not in the body.

(upbeat music)

♪ Life is the same and it
always will be ♪

♪ Easy as picking foxes
from a tree ♪

♪ But I can't get no
satisfaction ♪

♪ All I want is easy action ♪

♪ I can't get no satisfaction ♪

♪ All I want is easy action ♪

♪ A stud is a lamb with
the thoughts of a tiger ♪

♪ Who moves like a cat and
knows how to ride her ♪

♪ But I can't get no
satisfaction ♪

♪ All I want is easy action ♪

(upbeat music continues)

-It was very absurd, it
didn't even make any sense.

Some of it was like
almost rambling,

but it was such like a
beautiful and very clear images

and kind of like extreme lyrics,

and that was very fun for me.

♪ I can't get no satisfaction ♪

♪ All I want is easy action ♪

♪ I can't get no satisfaction ♪

♪ All I want is easy action ♪

This is super fucking cool,
it's such a punk track.

-Yeah, it is.
-Like you said,

"Hey, hey, hey!"

(mimicking icing guitar riffs)

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ A stud is a lamb with
the thoughts of a tiger ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Who moves like a cat and
knows how to ride her ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ But I can't get no
satisfaction ♪

♪ All I want is easy
action, baby ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Stroll on ♪

-He found his roots when
he started the TV show

and discovering like
Generation X with Billy Idol,

the Damned and he kind
of evolved to the godfather
of punk.

-This is a new group called
Generation X

who have a lead singer
called Billy Idol,

who's supposed to be as
pretty as me.

We'll see now, Generation X!

(upbeat rock music)

♪ Well I'm trying to
forget your generation ♪

♪ Using any way I see ♪

♪ Well, the ends must
justify the means ♪

♪ I said, your generation
don't mean a thing to me ♪

-We were fans.

In some way or other
we'd grown up with Marc

and I think that shows you his
attitude to other musicians

and maybe groups that are
starting out.

He championed us and he
stood up for us that day.

Someone like Marc kind
of made you

want to do something with
your life.

♪ We can be heroes ♪

(somber music)

-And then we got together
again in and around 1974

and we became really firm
friends up until he died,

and it again, another
great tragedy, you know.

-Thank you for goodbye and
all the boys in the band,

David, everybody, all the
cats, you know they are,

this is new song.
(guitar squeals)

-[Person] One, two, three.
-Yeah!

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music continues)

♪ What am I gonna do with you ♪

-There's been a lot of
talk about revolutions.

The only revolution that's
gonna happen

is if people like myself or
or Mick Jagger

or Rod Stewart or whoever

try to get into other fields,

be it television, be it movies,

then we will get a revolution.

If it's left to other people,
there'll be no revolution.

Cheers.

-He was fascinated with
the whole James Dean concept

of like die young and
leave a beautiful corpse.

There's a point also where
you wanna live

and I know he definitely
would love

to be behind these cameras
right now.

That's where he was going
into more film and television.

(somber music)

♪ If I could have grown ♪

♪ All upon my own ♪

♪ If I could have grown ♪

♪ I grew ♪

♪ If I could have grew ♪

♪ I do ♪

-Do you know about karma?

Which is you are here on earth
for a certain specific lesson

and when you die you
take the form

of another being after
a certain time,

this is obviously my time
to be a poet and a musician,

but next time I might
be a dustman or a cat.

You know, to learn
humility perhaps as a cat

or now it's probably to attune

to the whimsical changes
of mankind.

(somber music continues)

♪ Hey let's do it like
we're friends ♪

♪ Let's do it, do it ♪

♪ Let's do it like
we're friends ♪

-[Interviewer] Do you
ever wake up in the middle

of the night and think
in another 20 or 30 years

I'm going to be 50 or 60,
what shall I be doing?

You don't?

-Never think about, I mean.

-[Interviewer] And it doesn't
haunt you that at night?

-Um, I don't think I'll
live that long.

-[Interviewer] You don't?

-No.

(somber music)

♪ If I could have grown ♪

♪ All upon my own ♪

-It's such a long time ago,
you know,

but I can remember vividly

Marc skipping around playing
and Steve and Mickey,

and I think the sadness

is that they're all gone.
(sighs)

I look back on it was so
much affection in one sense

and I wish I could have
helped him.

♪ You could call it home ♪

♪ If I cry my tears ♪

-[interviewer] What do you
normally do on September 16th?

-I light a candle, play
a bunch of T-Rex songs

and usually my closest
friends...

They're call me.

And then If I want to hang
out with someone that cares,

I'll be there, If not,
I'll just stay by myself.

♪ Do it like we're friends ♪

♪ Hey let's do it ♪

♪ Let's do it like
we're friends ♪

♪ Let's do it, do it ♪

♪ Let's do it like
we're friends ♪

-He came into the world
knowing what he was doing.

Marc came into the world
dancing.

And he loved people, he
loved to see children dance.

-[All] You won't fool the
children of the revolution!

(upbeat rock music)

♪ Ba-Da, Ba-Da, Ba-Da,
Ba-Da, Ba-Da ♪

♪ Ba-Da, Ba-Da, Ba-Da,
Ba-Da, Ba-Da ♪

♪ But you won't fool the
children of the revolution ♪

♪ No, you won't fool ♪

These are vulnerable children.

They absolutely have nothing.

But since attending our
training school,

they are now expressing and
understanding

that they have a purpose
for being.

♪ You can tear a plane
in the falling rain ♪

♪ I drive a Rolls Royce ♪

♪ 'Cause it's good
for my voice ♪

♪ But you won't fool ♪

-Great stars go in and
out of fashion sometimes.

Any great, great artists,

there's times where they're
more in vogue

and times where they're not
cool anymore

or they have the wrong look.

But they will always come back.

They'll always bubble up to
the surface

and there's no question, so
he'll be with us forever.

(upbeat rock music)
♪ Ow ♪

-Sometimes you can play
with art in a reckless way

and it benefits you, you know?

I think Marc Bolan definitely
did that.

You know, I think David
Bowie definitely did that.

I think Hendrix did that,
but you know,

that wave has come and gone,

and hopefully a new
one will rise up again.

♪ Let it all hang out ♪

-[Marc] "Children
of the Revolution,"

that song I wrote for all
the kids at the whole world.

♪ No, you won't fool the
children of the revolution ♪

-He was 30 years of age,

and I just got that feeling
that he had a lot more in him.

You can only but guess where
his music might have gone to

or where he might have
been at a decade later

or two decades later.

Who knows?

(upbeat rock music continues)

-These children for the
first time in their lives,

they have value.

They're able to say I can
be somebody

because they are the future.

-Whoo!

(indistinct).

One and a two and a
bubbly-bubba-boo-boo-yeah!

(upbeat rock music)
(crowd cheering)

Yeah!

(upbeat rock music continues)

♪ Baby, I wanna walk you home ♪

♪ Oh baby,
I wanna walk you home ♪

♪ There's a shadow in
the basement ♪

♪ And I'm scared to
sleep alone ♪

♪ Baby, doesn't everybody weep ♪

♪ Oh baby,
doesn't everybody weep ♪

♪ I'd slide up there
beside you ♪

♪ But my nightmare's oh
too steep ♪

♪ Ow ♪

♪ Come on ♪

♪ Whoo ♪

♪ Baby, I love you baby ♪

♪ I love you baby ♪

♪ I love you baby ♪

♪ I love you baby ♪

♪ I love you baby ♪

♪ Oh, yes I do ♪

(upbeat rock music continues)

(upbeat rock music continues)

(lively rock music)

♪ I've been down there ♪

♪ Everybody's been there ♪

♪ Everyone, everyone ♪

♪ It's true ♪

♪ Desolation angel on
the cover of my paper ♪

♪ Loves everyone, everyone ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Rock on ♪

♪ Rock on, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Rock on, rock on, yeah,
yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Baby, rock on ♪

♪ Mild mouthed Rita she's
a Chevy Chase cheetah ♪

♪ Loves everyone, everyone ♪

♪ Ah, Ah, Ah, oh ♪

♪ Teddy's going steady
he's a silver-plated poet ♪

♪ Loves everyone, everyone ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Rock on, rock on, yeah,
yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Rock on, rock on, yeah,
yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Baby, rock on ♪

♪ Prophet pumped the car-scar ♪

♪ Deeper only sweeter ♪

♪ Loves everyone, everyone ♪

(lively rock music continues)

♪ Rock on, rock on, yeah,
yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Rock on, rock on, yeah,
yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Rock on, rock on, yeah,
yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Baby, rock on ♪