I didn’t know glam rock icon Marc Bolan hosted a music TV show in the 1970s. It was called simply MARC, and judging from this sixth (and final) episode, it was terrific.
There’s a very young Billy Idol with Generation X, pub-rockers Eddie and the Hot Rods, David Bowie, and plenty of Marc Bolan with T. Rex. There are also a few odd but interesting numbers, like the Lawrence Welk-y disco performances by the Heart Throb Dance Troupe.
From Wikipedia:
The last episode featured Bolan duetting with his friend David Bowie. Before the song had reached its end, Bolan tripped over a microphone cable and fell off the stage. Bowie is said to have called out “Could we have a wooden box for Marc [to stand on]?”. Following the show Bolan and Bowie co-wrote and recorded a rough outline of a new song, “Madman.” The new wave band Cuddly Toys found a bootleg tape and recorded it, which became a UK Indie Chart single and featured on their Guillotine Theatre album.
The final show was recorded on 7 September 1977, but not broadcast until after Bolan’s funeral on 20 September 1977, which was also attended by David Bowie and Rod Stewart, among others.
Here are episodes 1, 3, 4, and 5:
I couldn’t find episode 2, but here is a clip from it, featuring the Heart Throb Dance troupe:
(By the way, Marc Bolan (1947-1977) and cartoonist Vaughn Bode (1941 – 1975) could have been brothers:)
