Born To Boogie Premiere

The film Born To Boogie premiered at Oscar's Cinema in Soho, London, England on December 14, 1972. Marc Bolan and T. Rex were present, along with Elton John and Ringo Starr.

By the beginning of 1972 T. Rex had become England's best-selling band, with its album Electric Warrior perched at No. 1 while the group's latest single, "Telegram Sam" became its third No. 1 single (along with two others that had hit No. 2). The press dubbed the attendant fan mania "T. Rextasy", the 1970s equivalent of Beatlemania with levels of frenzied screaming and swooning not heard since the mid-60s. After a brief American tour in February 1972 to capitalize on the top ten success of "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" in that country, two hometown concerts at the Empire Pool in Wembley were scheduled for March. Bolan had the idea of filming the shows for a concert movie and hired Ringo Starr at Apple Films to direct and produce, although the project soon expanded beyond the concert footage

The Wembley concerts took place on March 18, 1972, shortly after most of The Slider was recorded in France, garnering front-page media coverage. Melody Maker's Chris Charlesworth later remarked, "All Marc had to do was smile to receive an ovation any artist would envy...every gesture elicited a scream...and his grinning, head-shaking caused a thunderous noise." Looking back, many observers consider these performances the zenith of T. Rextasy. Starr captured both the matinee and evening shows on film, but only the evening's songs were included in the final movie edit, with just fleeting glimpses of the matinee appearing in the end credits (the complete matinee and evening performances were released on DVD in 2005). Sound issues and the band's raw live sound necessitated significant overdubs of new lead and backing vocals, along with additional guitar parts for the film.

Marc described Born to Boogie as a film with surrealistic overtones, with some fantasy sequences strongly reminiscent of the look and feel of The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour. On March 20, Starr filmed Bolan playing guitar in an aircraft hanger at Denim Airfield for the film's opening, as well as several 'dream' sequences which did not make the final edit. 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". After more recording to finish The Slider, 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.[4] Versions of "Tutti Frutti" and an early, fast take of "Children of the Revolution" made the film, with renditions of "Long Tall Sally" and "The Slider" possibly left on the cutting room floor. On April 24 the Mad Hatter's Tea Party sequence was shot at John Lennon's Tittenhurst Park estate in the same spot as Lennon's own "Imagine" video. Attendees of this scene include Marc, Mickey Finn, Starr, Marc's wife June, PR agent Chelita Secunda (dressed as a nun), Starr's financial advisor Hilary Gerrard and actor Geoffrey Bayldon (who played the master of ceremonies) along with a string quartet.

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.

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