They don’t make pop stars like Marc Bolan any more. For about 18 months he was the most famous man in Britain. Everybody loved him. He was the National Elf.
In fact, “they” didn’t make Marc Bolan, either. Marc Bolan made Marc Bolan. He was Britain’s first entirely self-invented pop star. He prepared for fame from the day he was born. Once he found it, debates raged about how “real” he was. In fact Marc Bolan was just as real as any work of art. But in his case, he was the work of art.
A new DVD, Born To Boogie, documents his finest hour: T. Rex’s triumphant 1972 concert at the Empire Pool, Wembley. Aptly the original film was made by Ringo Starr. There was a feeling back then, after The Beatles’ abdication, that pop was looking at an empty throne. And along came this miniscule Cockney chancer to fill it. A small chap who told tall tales, he seized his moment and gloried in his success. The press called it “T. Rextasy”. And life for Bolan was sweet.
Alas, it was not the dawn of a new era. Wembley was Bolan’s peak. There was Bad Stuff just around the corner, and lashings of it. We shall hear tales of opportunist gay sex, of uncontrolled ego, of jealousy, betrayal and the Devil’s Dandruff. There will be a most unhappy ending. But let’s not forget to celebrate this strange man’s brilliance. He was unique, funny and made the greatest pop of his day. His art came out of his own curly head; it was not constructed in marketing meetings. He won the nation’s heart by casting a spell over the land, not by getting a lazy population to push a button on its TV remote. The Marc Bolan story won’t happen again.
Ok I know Marc was a short guy ...but proved to be a GIANT in the rockscene 
