There’s a tradition of enormously influential musicians in the U.K. just not making it in the U.S. Robbie Williams still holds sales records in England and can’t get arrested in the States. Suede helped to kickstart the Britpop movement of the ’90s but couldn’t even play under their own name in America. Gary Numan played stadiums in the U.K., and here he’s a one-hit wonder.
Buy Marc Bolan & T. Rex – 20th Century Boy: The Ultimate Collection CDThe same goes for Marc Bolan and his band, T. Rex. Except amongst ’70s glitter-rock aficionados, there’s likely only one song of his that American rock fans would recognize: “Get It On (Bang a Gong)”. It’s a hell of a blues shuffle rock track and contains a lot of the highlights of Bolan’s appeal. Sexy, silky, and mysterious, while simultaneously being bonafide rock and roll. But it only hints at the depths of the band’s power, and of Bolan’s songwriting.
Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan and T. Rex aims to change that. It’s simultaneously a biographical documentary, and the record of what turned out to be producer Hal Willner’s final album. Willner’s day job was sketch music producer for Saturday Night Live, a position he’d held from 1980 until his death in 2020. But he also produced many compilation albums highlighting the songwriting work of individual artists, like Kurt Weill or Lou Reed. He had connections deep in the musical world. He was able to bring together several luminaries to work on this Marc Bolan tribute, also titled Angelheaded Hipster.
Those luminaries include Nick Cave, U2, Joan Jett, and several others. Some might have been more relevant when the album was being recorded, about 6 years ago, than now, but they’re not the real focus: it’s Marc Bolan and his music.
Starting out as a folkie (his first hit record didn’t even have any drums), Marc turned his hippy dream band Tyrannosaurus Rex into a rock monster. He shortened the name to T. Rex, adding drums and electric guitars and almost single-handedly creating glam rock. It just took some electricity and a willingness to wear makeup on stage.
While he was enormously successful in the U.K., he never rose to the heights in the states of his occasional best friend and constant rival, David Bowie. It’s not a real surprise: while the documentary heaps praise on Marc’s songwriting, he had a pretty limited musical vocabulary. Bowie had a deeper well to draw from.
But that’s not to sell short Bolan’s real power, and charisma. He had numerous top ten hits, but as he tried to evolve, his audience did not move with him. The mid ’70s were not kind to him. But he was always bursting with energy, and was an early champion of punk. After all, it wasn’t too far from the music he did in his heyday. In 1977, he had a TV show, Marc, where he showcased newer and stranger music than the mainstream had yet accepted. He even had old rival Bowie on for a song and jam session. Shortly after that, he’d died in a car accident, just a couple of weeks short of his 30th birthday.
Angelheaded Hipster hits these highlights of his life, and demonstrates his qualities both with his own music, archive interviews, and new renditions by several contemporary artists. It does a decent job of both, but the movie is doing two things: documenting the man, highlighting the album. And in neither does it get into the detail and nitty gritty that would make an exceptional documentary.
I’m familiar with Bolan’s career and music. Some of his albums are absolute favorites of mine (The Slider is top tier, in my opinion). And the documentary is rife with his music. It also has the recreations of his music by other artists, which is not my favorite approach. The I’m Your Man documentary about Leonard Cohen (also an album produced by Hal Willner) had a similar approach, and I felt the same about that: nice that these people like his music, but I don’t need to hear their interpretations. I like the real thing.
But that’s my personal preference. Angelheaded Hipster does a deft job of navigating its two roads, giving an overview of the man’s life and this recent project dedicated to his craft. It’s not the definitive Marc Bolan documentary, which is yet to be made. But it gives a good taste of why some people are still dedicated to the sound, the sexiness, and the glam decades after the man has left us.
Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex Opens August 8
New York, NY // Roxy Cinemas
Featuring post-film Q&As!
Los Angeles, CA // Lumiere Music Hall
Featuring post-film Q&As!
Boston, MA // Regent Theatre (Aug. 8-10)
Duluth, MN // Zinema 2
Opens August 15
Atlanta, GA // Plaza Theatre
Cleveland, OH // Nightlight Cinema
Gainesville, FL // Hippodrome – Gainesville
Additional Select Screenings
August 11
Albany, NY // Orpheum
August 12
Dallas, TX // Texas Theatre
Los Angeles, CA // Laemmle Monica Film Center (featuring post-film Q&A!); Laemmle Noho; Laemmle Newhall; Laemmle Claremont
August 19
Houston, TX // River Oaks Theatre
August 21
Seattle, WA // Kingston Firehouse Theatre
September 1
Anchorage, AK // Bear Tooth Theatre
September 3
Boulder, CO // Boedecker Theater
Raleigh-Durham, NC // Cary Theatre
September 13
San Francisco, CA // Roxie Theater; Smith Rafael Film Center
On Digital September 5
Theaters and Tickets available here
