September to October 2004
A brief overview of activities
Writer: CosmicFighter

Rolan had arrived in the UK early September so that he could pay his respects to his dad on the 16th at Golders Green crematorium. This is always an emotional time for Marc’s fans, obviously more so for Rolan.
That day also included a visit to the London Bop at the Klub Xtreme where he and the band mixed with his dad’s family, friends, and of course the fans. Rolan also wanted to help promote ‘The Friends’ charity CD ‘A Gift from the Fair Folk’, he also asked us to plug it on the site; we were more than pleased to do so.

Photo’s courtesy of John Wass and Jay Dubber; Thank you lads.

On the 10th of October Rolan was invited to a preview screening of the work done so far for the forthcoming Born to Boogie DVD release. More info on how the project is going can be found on the excellent Born to Boogie web site. Just to say that the original film and new found material is being cleaned and according to Rolan the colour is fantastic! He is really excited about the outcome and is working alongside the ‘Sanctuary group’ who are in control of the release label. He hopes to work with promoting the film when it is due for release in May next year.
Rolan has already interviewed the great Bill Legend (the original T.Rex drummer), Brian Dunham, Keith Morris, and Bob Harris for the extra accompanying DVD disc. Legendary record producer Tony Visconti was interviewed as well. Tony will be restoring and mixing the sound for the DVD, this part of the project could not be in better hands; who else know the early 70’s T.Rex sound more than Tony?

Screen grab from Rolan’s interview sessions courtesy of Born to Boogie Productions.

During the rest of his stay in the UK, Rolan has been busy profiling himself to various people; handing out his CD’s to promoters and record labels etc. This has been very successful and hopefully more info will appear here when things are confirmed. This could also include a tour when he comes back in May to promote Born to Boogie.
Rolan also found time to do some recording work with Vinny on a couple of new songs;
They are ‘Great to see you’ and ‘Did I forget to mention’.

Rolan also found time to chill (as you do) and enjoyed a few after show parties! One in particular was a fun evening with the ‘Scissor Sisters’, you will be able to see what a bad influence Richard Shakespeare (support club photographer) is when he is trying to get that special picture!
Snakes, handcuffs! Who knows what he will come up with next?

Courtesy of Richard Shakespeare

Drummer dude Bert has been on tour with Har Mar Superstar, taking in the UK and will finish in the U.S of A on the 29th October; Rolan has been catching up with Bert when he was in L.A. During the tour there was also a guest appearance by the band on the Frank Skinner show; (UK) according to Bert there was a lot of time sitting around the studio, but it was fun to see him on the telly!

Bass boy Dave has had a short stay in hospital for keyhole surgery (as reported on the news update); he is recovering well.

Vinny has been keeping us up to date! Laying down some sounds, recording and chilling with Rolan. He has also been organising and keeping tabs on everything. Thank you V.

We end the report on a sad note; as mentioned in the news update, the music world lost DJ legend John Peel, he died of a heart attack while on a working holiday in Peru. John was very influential during Marc Bolan’s early career and championed Marc’s music, poetry and short stories. Here is a link to the BBC tribute page for John, our condolences to his wife Sheila, family and friends. Rest in peace John.

The Born to Boogie website has been added to the links page, believe us it is well worth a visit; please give your support to an excellent project. Well done to everyone involved.
Scissor sisters are Paddy Boom, Ana Matronic, Jake Shears, Babydaddy and Del Marquis.