The project to bring Born to Boogie to DVD began with negotiations between the rights holders – Apple Films (via Ringo Starr’s lawyers) and Wizard (Bahamas) Ltd. During these negotiations, it was confirmed that many cans of film were stored at a warehouse in West London, and that there may be some unreleased rushes in the cans.

A visit in Summer 2003 confirmed that there were in fact 272 cans, but no documentation to support them and only the occasional label still surviving. To discover what they contained, Wizard’s Publishing Manager appointed a professional editor to view and catalogue each tape.

A viewing suite was hired for two months in autumn 2003, the tapes transferred from the warehouse, and a pair of gardening gloves purchased to handle the rusting cans. The 16mm and 35mm tapes were viewed using two huge, ancient Steenbeck analogue machines. It soon became apparent that over half of the cans contained prints of the original movie (which came in four separate sections), so these were carefully transferred to new plastic cans, and put to one side. The remaining 100 or so cans then became the focus of attention. Some contained negatives, some positives, some had sound with vision, some just one or the other, whilst others contained ‘bin trims’ and other tiny discarded elements. Nothing was left unviewed or un-catalogued.

Over the weeks and months, it emerged that the first Wembley concert, no performance from which appeared in Born to Boogie, survived intact, albeit in black and white. As a huge bonus, several different camera angles of each song were discovered. The three ‘missing’ songs from the second concert, Cadilac, Girl and Summertime Blues, were also discovered, with sound but again in black and white. Emperor Rosko’s introduction and pre-encore MC stints also emerged, as did some fascinating back-stage shots (including Marc bantering with Ringo). Film of fans’ reactions to the first concert and other shots from around the Empire Pool completed the story of 18 March 1972...
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