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Glam Rock ~ Any fans?

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T

TheChillyAcademic

Member
Been here on gaf for a few months and have, mostly, stayed away from the OT forum mainly due to the fact that I have nothing to say. But as of late, I've really fallen back into completing my music collection and have to the re-realization that my favourite genre would have to be Glam.

This is somewhat odd for most of my friends since I'm only 21 and was therefore not alive when these bands were at their peak. But I don't know...there is something about the music, something different then other "rock" of the time. Maybe it has to do with the fact that glam rock (not hair metal) was so over the top, wild and strange. Artists like David Bowie or Jobriath created strange personas, groups like Slade and Sweet proved it was possible to mix bubblegum pop with melodic rock and groups such as Queen or 10cc (who dabbled lightly) wrote amazing and fantastic lyrics.

Wtf is glam?

I will say that I never got into the American side of the movement (save Jobriath), more specifically Alice Cooper.

doremi.com said:
Glam Rock was an English phoenomina of the early 70's, it's main identifying mark wasn't the clothes worn or the name of the singer (Larry Lurex anyone?) but the rhythm of the music. A very basic tribal 4 on the floor pervades glam rock.. sometimes played on the floor tom tom ala' Gary Glitter/Suzi Quatro sometimes the whole band just stomped along on the beat like Slade or T-Rex, but this was rock'n'roll.. pure and simple.

Draw a line from the birth of rock'n'roll in the '50's to the moment when Rock reached it's evolutionary peak and started to feed on itself with Punk Rock in the mid 70's, everything since has more or less been an ironic pastiche of something that came before.. either a retro nod.. or a blatant copy.. Grunge? nah.. you've never heard a Pink Fairies record.. Techno? no.. we're talking Rock'n'Roll here.. Disco? ...I said ROCK'N'ROLL!

Start with Elvis.. Meet the Beatles.. get Psychedelicised.. Prog-rock came next.. then Punk.. except.. no, step back a bit, during the Prog-Rock years of the early 70's some folk didn't want 20 minute epic songs, they wern't interested in classical music, time changes or augmented 7th chords.. these people harked back to the glory days of cartoon rock, the late 50's early 60's when the "Jukebox Hall" (© Gary Glitter) pumped out dance tunes and boy met girl.. when rock was king and too dress *UP* was cool.. add this movement to the decade taste forgot (Stand up the 70's!) and what have you got? the freakshow outrage of Glam Rock!

At the time Glam was totally OUT. un-hip.. a joke.. those of us with Sweet records were laughed at by our "Yes-fan" friends.. Slade were a Joke as were T-Rex.. even the mighty David Bowie was a "pop star" laughed at by "real" music fans who derided the make-up and the hair as proof that they in their dirty jeans were cool. Bowie was only rehabilitated when Punk bands started namedropping him.. as were the majority of Glam bands whose 3 minute sonic outbursts formed part of the blueprint for UK punk.. the US version fed more on the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, but just listen to "Action" by the Sweet or anything by T-Rex or Alice Cooper and you can almost feel the UK version of Punk welling up in the background..

The following pages follow the history of glam via it's apperances in the UK charts of the time.. why use the charts as a guide? well, To be Glam you had to be Big Loud, Brash and above all: A STAR! ..if you wern't in the charts you wern't glam enough! ..if you feel I've left anyone out.. email me, I'll either add 'em or give you a valid reason why they're false glam..
Click to expand...

Glam is, in many ways, sort of tragic. Marc Bolan, one of the founders of glam, died in a car accident before his 30th birthday. Similarly, Jobriath passed away from aids after his hugely public rise and fall from grace. Most of the groups aren't even together anymore.

Artists: It should be noted that not all of these groups were purely glam, but at one point in their career they flirted with the genre.

Cockney Rebel - Mr. Soft / Sebastian

Queen - Brighton Rock / In The Lap of the Gods (Revisited)

Slade - Cum on feel the noise / How Does it Feel? / Nobody's Fool / Let's Call it Quits

Sweet - The Ballroom Blitz / Little Willy / Wig Wam Bam / Solid Gold Brass

Suzi Quatro - Mama's Boy / Can the Can

Marc Bolan~T.Rex - Mambo Sun / Get it On / Ride a White Swan / I Love to Boogie / Children of the Revolution / Jeepster / Dandy in the Underworld / Metal Guru

10cc - The Dean and I / The Wall Street Shuffle / Modern Man Blues

Gary Glitter - Rock'n Roll Pt. 2 / Leader of the Gang / Do You Wanna Touch

The Glitter Band - Let's Get Together Again / Love in the Sun

Jobriath - I'm a Man / Rock of Ages / Sunday Brunch

Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side / Sweet Jane / Perfect Day / Satellite of Love

Bryan Ferry - Tokyo Joe

Wizzard - See My Baby Jive / Angel Fingers / Rock n' Roll Winter / I wish it Could be Christmas Everyday

ELO - 10538 Overture / Roll Over Beethoven / Rockaria

Sparks - This Town Aint Big Enough / Talent is an Asset / Hospitality on Parade

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust / The Prettiest Star / Time / Moonage Daydream / Watch that Man

Iggy Pop and the Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog / Sixteen / Gimmie Danger

Mott the Hoople - The Golden Age of Rock n' Roll / All the Way from Memphis / All the Young Dudes

Sadistic Mika Band - Suki Suki Suki / Boys & Girls

Alvin Stardust - My Coo Ca Choo / Jealous Mind

David Essex - Rock On / Gonna Make You a Star / Lamplight

Roxy Music - Virginia Plain / Do the Strand / Ladytron / Mother of Pearl

Briano Eno - Needles in the Camel's Eye / Baby's On Fire

The New York Dolls - Personality Crisis / Subway Train / Chatterbox

So, any fans?
 
O

Odrion

Banned
If you like Roxy Music then PLEASE try out Brian Eno's Here Come the Warm Jets. Brian Eno's (he played Keyboard for Roxy Music) first solo album and it's an incredible Glam Rock record that influenced some awesome bands later on.

2250666109_3bd635f71e.jpg


Needles in the Camel's Eye
Baby's On Fire
 
B

BobbyRobby

Member
TheChillyAcademic said:
Queen
Sweet
Marc Bolan~T.Rex
10cc
Lou Reed
ELO
David Bowie
The Stooges
Mott the Hoople
Roxy Music

So, any fans?
Click to expand...

I love or like a lot of these bands. I'll check out some of the others you listed. Glam Rock does rule.
 
M

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
i guess you could consider this one dark-glam:

Loureedtransformer.jpeg


and this is my favorite ever:

Electric_warrior_album.jpg
 
G

GriffD17

Member
For some reason, Alice in Chain's first album is described as partly Glam Rock. So in that case, yeah. I do also enjoy some Bowie and Queen.
 
D

DieNgamers

Member
Out of those I'm only a fan of David Bowie. I don't even see him as (only) glam rock...he had another attitude with his concerts and the music in general. Man who sold the world, Hunky dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane...So much great (and diverse) songwriting in such a short period of time. It's amazing, really. Also he made many more classic albums afterwards. *bow*
Occasionally I listen to some Roxy Music, T.Rex or Queen songs but I prefer other forms of rock music.
 
F

Ford Prefect

GAAAAAAAAY
Glam is the epitome of rock'n'roll, IMO. It's funny, though, that the sub-genre gets it's name from how the groups/stars dressed and acted, but I don't even think about that when I listen to them. It's all about the fat, in your face music.

T-rex and Bowie are my faves. Thanks for the list, actually, I should check a lot of those out.
 
Darko

Darko

Member
GriffD17 said:
For some reason, Alice in Chain's first album is described as partly Glam Rock. So in that case, yeah. I do also enjoy some Bowie and Queen.
Click to expand...

pretty much it for me.
 
T

TheChillyAcademic

Member
Always-honest said:
big fan of:

Lou Reed

David Bowie

The Stooges

Roxy Music
Click to expand...

As much as I appreciate what they did for the genre, Roxy Music isn't always easy to listen to. I mean, its not white/heat unbearable, but still, pretty gruff.
 
D

dallow_bg

nods at old men
I'm obsessed with Jobriath actually. It's amazing his albums finally came out on CD 30+ years later.
Thanks Moz for the help.

And yes, and I love pretty much everything you talked about up there.
My friend has a tamborine signed by Bolan.
 
T

TheChillyAcademic

Member
I'm going to go ahead and put in some samples of music next to each artist in the OP, may take a while but the only real way to understand glam is to listen to it.
 
S

SatelliteOfLove

Member
Ford Prefect said:
Glam is the epitome of rock'n'roll, IMO. It's funny, though, that the sub-genre gets it's name from how the groups/stars dressed and acted, but I don't even think about that when I listen to them. It's all about the fat, in your face music.

T-rex and Bowie are my faves. Thanks for the list, actually, I should check a lot of those out.
Click to expand...

Yah, alot of variation in it; mostly its the loud attire.

And this thread needs more SLADE SLADE SLADE!!!!


Thanks for the Memories

Get Down and Get Wit It

Skweeze Me Pleeze Me
 
F

Ford Prefect

GAAAAAAAAY
TheChillyAcademic said:
As much as I appreciate what they did for the genre, Roxy Music isn't always easy to listen to. I mean, its not white/heat unbearable, but still, pretty gruff.
Click to expand...
If by "white/heat" you mean The Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat", you have crossed a line, sir.
 
T

ten5ive9ine

They've got me haunting a family in Texas.
Obligatory post.

Also OP fails for not putting Metal Guru in the list of notable T Rex tracks.
 
V

Vard

Member
If you're talking T. Rex, The Slider and Unicorn are just as good as, if not better than, Electric Warrior.
 
A

Always-honest

Banned
TheChillyAcademic said:
As much as I appreciate what they did for the genre, Roxy Music isn't always easy to listen to. I mean, its not white/heat unbearable, but still, pretty gruff.
Click to expand...
unbearable?.... brilliant imo.
 
F

FredFish

Member
You really need to put New York Dolls on the list. Pretty glaring omission. Good to see the music get attention though, most don't look past the stage theatrics
 
T

TheChillyAcademic

Member
BobbyRobby said:
got 'Psychomodo' by Cockney Rebel. Listening now, and i really like it.
Click to expand...

Cockney Rebel certain isn't for everyone, the lean more to the Roxy Music side of the spectrum. Still, some amazing tunes.

Put a few more samples up, will finish the rest soon!
 
B

BobFromPikeCreek

Member
I just stumbled on this thread. I really hate bumping old threads like this, but it's such a great thread and I just wanted to thank you. It was very helpful.
 
M

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
MrOctober said:
I fucking love me some Lou Reed and a ton of Velvet Underground stuff.
Click to expand...
he and they were brilliant brilliant artists. it's funny that lou reed gets mentioned in this thread, since other than a couple songs on transformer he couldn't be considered a glam-rock artist in the least. he did do a lot of concerts with the dark-glam thing going on (rock n roll animal), but after 'berlin', he left it all behind.

(if you like lou reed and VU, you might love john cale's solo albums too....

9356-paris-1919.jpg


paris 1919 and fear are the two greatest, slow dazzle and sabotage are also brilliant.)
 
F

Ford Prefect

GAAAAAAAAY
mattiewheels said:
he and they were brilliant brilliant artists. it's funny that lou reed gets mentioned in this thread, since other than a couple songs on transformer he couldn't be considered a glam-rock artist in the least. he did do a lot of concerts with the dark-glam thing going on (rock n roll animal), but after 'berlin', he left it all behind.

(if you like lou reed and VU, you might love john cale's solo albums too....

9356-paris-1919.jpg


paris 1919 and fear are the two greatest, slow dazzle and sabotage are also brilliant.)
Click to expand...
<3 me some John Cale. His first solo album (Vintage Violence) is highly underrated as well.
 
M

MrOctober

Banned
mattiewheels said:
he and they were brilliant brilliant artists. it's funny that lou reed gets mentioned in this thread, since other than a couple songs on transformer he couldn't be considered a glam-rock artist in the least. he did do a lot of concerts with the dark-glam thing going on (rock n roll animal), but after 'berlin', he left it all behind.

(if you like lou reed and VU, you might love john cale's solo albums too....

9356-paris-1919.jpg


paris 1919 and fear are the two greatest, slow dazzle and sabotage are also brilliant.)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to give that a listen.
 
M

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Ford Prefect said:
His first solo album (Vintage Violence) is highly underrated as well.
Click to expand...
YES! i didn't mention it because i don't listen to it much but it still is a brilliant album. hello there and big white cloud are fantastic. and the cover is very striking:

vintage_hi.jpg
 
M

MrOctober

Banned
mattiewheels said:
YES! i didn't mention it because i don't listen to it much but it still is a brilliant album. hello there and big white cloud are fantastic. and the cover is very striking:

vintage_hi.jpg
Click to expand...

I just grabbed those both.
 
R

Reza_Neko

Member
I'm a huge David Bowie fangirl; he is the king of glam rock.
He's a genius ("Drive in Saturday" for example, is about a post apocalyptic world where people forgot how to reproduce, and are learning how from porn. Awesome concept), the man knows how to dress and sing and act, and he is sexy at 62!

My favorite songs are from The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Labyrinth.

By the way, I love how Venture Brothers makes David Bowie references:D
2cdwgoo.jpg



I'm also a fan of the 80s j-rock band, X-Japan.

34pz62s.jpg


For those of you who don't know X-Japan, search on youtube for Forever Love (which I believe was the theme song for the anime "X". My favorite songs by the are Forever Love and Art of Life.

I really like Queen too. My favorites are Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody to Love, Killer Queen, and The Seven Seas of Rye.

and with that, "Wham Bam, Thank you maam!"
 
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