Review of Marc Bolan - The Final Word

Introduction

I remember hearing Tony Visconti dissing Bolan in an interview during the early eighties when Bowie was enjoying an upsurge in his already momentous popularity. Visconti was saying that Marc would come bounding into the studio with `a new track` and would then basically tread through the same Bolanised twelve-bar with new but ridiculous lyrics. In other words, from 1972 onward, Bolan wrote the same song over and over again.

At about that time, I bought a live T-Rex album, a kind of semi-official `bootleg`, which caught Bolan protesting to an enthused stage invader,`Hey Man - get off the stage. People have paid to see me, man...`. I think it might have been the combination of this and hearing Visconti voice the thought we`d all been having that put me off T-Rex and Bolan a little bit.

But time changes everything, even for Visconti it would seem who here waxes lyrical about Bolan and his song-writing abilities. It was great to watch this very nicely crafted re-appraisal and the plain truth is that Bolan`s music has weathered extremely well, sounding as fresh today as it did to those barely teen ears all those many years ago. (It`s something of a shock to realise that Bolan`s untimely demise in a car accident was now 30 years ago).

Reappraised, with all the less than perfect bits weeded out, Bolan`s canon is considerable. Though his early acoustic incarnations sound a bit twee today, songs like `Hot Love`, `Jeepster`, `Metal Guru`, `20th Century Boy` and the wonderful `Get it On` are to be heard again and again on soundtrack albums, with elements of the Bolan riff to be found stolen wholesale by bands big enough to know better including U2, Oasis and countless others. Whilst Bolan may have borrowed the essential riff from Rock `n Roll, bands today owe an incalculable debt to the Bolan version.

`The Final Word` may be exactly that. A very nicely put together documentary featuring a mix of archive footage as well as interviews with many of Bolan`s contemporaries. Previously mentioned Visconti vies for the title of `nicest man alive` with a curious down to earth modesty completely at odds with his marvellous achievements.His anecdotes about Bolan in his early years are genuinely fascinating, along with the recollections of former `John`s Children` members, Bolan`s brother and various cohorts from his hey day.

Interestingly, John Peel, who was evangelical about Bolan during his early days, hated his electric reincarnation, calling it `cock rock`. But watching Bolan now the early years do not fare well as he sings of Tolkien-like elves and goblins whilst a tom-tom playing cohort gently noodles along. But Bolan at his height was sheer magic; corkscrew hair, thick mascara, silver shirt, and a pink feather boa, strutting his stuff holding his Les Paul aloft. Enough to send even the most gnarled rock critic into sheer T-Rextascy!

The scope of this documentary is really impressive too. This is no cheap but well-meaning fan piece. This is the real deal. Weird looking T Rex publicist BP Fallon, Steve Harley, Marc Almond, Queen drummer Roger Taylor and wife Gloria Jones (who sang the original Northern soul classic `Tainted Love`) are all interviewed here, with generous cutaways to archive photography and footage, much of which came from Top of the Pops, or the ill-fated `Bolan` series on ITV that showed Bolan in free-fall.

It`s all here too - the whole story - from Dylan wannabe getting signed up by Simon Napier-Bell and recording a god-awful version of `Blowing in the wind` through to the formation of Mod-band `John`s Children` and the early friendship with Bowie, to meeting Visconti and forming Tyrannosaurus Rex, with it`s folk-hippie noodlings, into the glorious electrified T-Rex, right through to the complacency of the later years, up to his untimely death.

Video

Presented anamorphically in 1.78:1, this is a very nice looking piece in general, with recent interviews on DV-Cam all nicely lit and well-recorded, with a real mix of archive material. This looks far better than some of the god-awful fan pieces doing the rounds.

Audio

This is a tight little documentary for the BEEB and it enjoys consistently well-balanced audio, despite the varying archival sources

Features

Deleted Scenes: Less `deleted scenes` and more like little mini-chapters that didn`t make the final cut, presumably because it needed to be short enough to fit into a neat hours broadcasting. You get one on Clive Dunn`s `Granddad` (1m06s) which held `Ride a White Swan` off the number one slot; Marc`s Guitar Playing (3m55s) and his Speaking Voice (2m49s).

Extended Interviews: This is `more of the same`, probably cut from the original to save time, and there`s certainly some interesting stuff. However, it really does feel like the previous programme has just started again! Memories of Marc (3m16s) features Steve Harley, Herbie Flowers and Chris Townsend and Andy Ellison from John`s Children. A Premonition (2m12s) is a prophetic piece, no doubt delighting Bolan obsessives, where Chris Townsend talks about Marc ending a story by describing how he won`t die in a car crash in a Roller but in a Mini. Spooky! The Marc Bolan School (1m43s) has Gloria Jones talking about a school being built in Sierra Leone with Marc`s name over the gate.

In The Studio: Certainly the best of the extras contained here, shows producer Tony Visconti revisiting and deconstructing two classic Bolan recordings.

Promotional Films:
Great little promos for Get It On (4m29s), Jeepster (4m13s) and Children Of The Revolution (2m34s). Probably worth the price of admission alone! Brilliant stuff!

Conclusion

There`s no doubt that even those with merely a passing interest in Bolan and his music will find this DVD a satisfying watch. It`s nicely made, and no expense has been spared in tracking down surviving contemporaries of Bolan`s (other than Bowie who is conspicuous by his absence) and using their interviews as the basis for the narrative content.

It`s a fascinating tale well-told, with plenty of pithy archival footage showing Bolan at every stage of his chequered career.

Much of the material included here will have been seen by Bolan fans countless times before, and other than the excellent interviews, it`s not easy to see what Bolan fans who purchase the DVD will get out of it to justify the investment. But with lengthy interviews with Visconti, as well as the Producer`s deconstruction and analysis of a couple of classic Bolan tracks separated out track by track from the original masters, and a wealth of background and archival material expertly gathered and presented in one place, Bolan fans may find it an irresistible addition to their library.

For anyone else, well worth a rent or worth watching for next time it airs.