In 1972 T Rex was setting the world on fire as the pioneering band of Glam Rock, and Marc Bolan, the guiding force behind the band, was making powerful friends like Elton John and Ringo Starr.  Ringo made his directorial debut with Born To Boogie, a surreal concert film that divided critics at the time, but is now seen as a bit of a groundbreaking portrait of a major band on the rise at the peak of their fame.

Concerts staged for the film were held at Wembley on March 18, 1972, just after the bulk of their next abum, The Slider, had been recorded in France. Music historians pinpoint these shows as the peak of T. Rextasy. Starr filmed both the matinee and evening performances for the film, although only songs from the evening performance made the final cut of the movie, with only brief shots of the matinee show seen during the closing credits.

On March 20, Starr filmed Bolan playing guitar in an aircraft hanger at Denim Airfield for the film’s opening. Starr and Bolan were also filmed goofing around in a car on the runway, attempting to sing Elvis’ 1957 hit “Let’s Have a Party.” In addition, a superstar jam session of T. Rex with Ringo on drums and Elton John on piano was filmed on April 6 at Apple Studios in Savile Row, London, which was also a filming location for The Beatles’ Get Back.

The songs seen performed in the film, in order, are “Jeepster”, “Baby Strange”, “Tutti Frutti”, “Children of the Revolution”, “Spaceball Ricochet”, “Telegram Sam”, “Cosmic Dancer”, “Tea Party Medley: Jeepster/Hot Love/Get It On/The Slider”, “Hot Love” and “Get It On”, with “Chariot Choogle” playing at the end credits. Sadly, Marc Bolan’s life was cut short in a car wreck in 1977,but you can still hear bits of his influence today.

At the time, this was widely seen as a Beatles passing the torch to “the next big thing.” After reading about this film for nearly half a century, I was surprised last week when one the folks I follow on Twitter mentioned watching it on YouTube. I’d never thought to look there for it. So I finally got to see it, and now you can too.