1970s

T. Rex – 2 Complete Concerts – Wembley 18th March 1972

Bolan at his best. No question: If there was any doubt in your mind; this proves once and for all that Bolan indeed rocks.

It’s interesting to contrast the two performances; in the 5:30 show the acoustic set is much stronger; in the 8:30 show, the electric stuff is sensational, leading off with a rousing version of CADILLAC. The restoration of the image from 16mm is absolutely first rate; most of the footage was rescued, along with the original stereo recordings, from 100s of rusting film cans in Ringo’s garage.

Marc and the band are in top form, somehow managing to cut through the teenybop adulation with real, loud, rock’n'roll. Whether or not Bolan’s Tolkien-esque lyrics are your cup of tea, Ringo Starr who filmed all this certainly knew enough about pop idols to keep the camera focused on Marc and let the myth take care of itself.

What’s surprising about the Wembley audience is the intensity on fans’ faces, both girls and boys — when Bolan breaks into a wicked version of “Summertime Blues” there’s just a hint of the Sex Pistols’ punk sneer that was just five years away.

5:30 Show

8:30 Show

File under Blast From The Past, Music, SeMeN SPeRmS BLArRrG, SeMeN SPeRmS ViDeO CLuB, Sex

Conjured by o~ SeMeN SPeRmS ~o on March 29, 2013

Tags: 1970s, 70's, Band, Cadillac, Camera, Doubt, electric, England, fan, Film, footage, Girls, Glam Rock, Legend, Live Music, Marc Bolan, Myth, NOT, Original, Pop Music, Punk, Record, Recording, ringo, Ringo Starr, Rock 'n Roll, SeMeN, SeMeNSPeRmS, sensation, Sex, Sex Pistols, Summertime Blues, T.Rex, UK

Skinhead Farewell – Richard Allen Documentary

James Moffat (1922 in Canada – 8 November 1993 in England), was a Canadian born British author who wrote under several pen names.

He produced many pulp novels for the United Kingdom publishing house New English Library during the 1970s. Moffat’s pen names included Richard Allen, Etienne Aubin (The Terror of the Seven Crypts) and Trudi Maxwell (Diary of A Female Wrestler). Moffat’s pulp novels mostly focused on youth subcultures of the late 1960s and 1970s, such as skinheads, hippies and bikers. In particular Moffat wrote a series of popular and commercially successful books featuring what came to be known as his most famous protagonist, the skinhead antihero Joe Hawkins. Moffat often expressed admiration for his subject matter and commented on social issues, mostly from a right wing perspective.

The collected works of Richard Allen were reissued in a six volume set by ST Publishing in the 1990s. A BBC TV documentary about his life, Skinhead Farewell, aired in 1996. Allen’s formulaic and sensationalist writing style has been imitated by Neoist writer Stewart Home. Mark Sargeant wrote a feature in Scootering Magazine titled The Richard Allen Legacy. An interview titled The Return of Joe Hawkins with publisher George Marshall was in issue seven of Skinhead Times (1992).

Moffat also published books under his own name; including the movie tie-in Queen Kong, based on the low-budget 1976 movie.