Any glam rock fans around here?

[MikeL]

And I'm not talking about 80s hair metal bands, I'm talking about the real thing...T-Rex, David Bowie, Roxie Music, Mott the Hoople, Sweet, Slade, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, the New York Dolls, etc.

I'm bringing this up because I saw a great glam rock revival band in NYC last weekend called Prima Donna. They're from Los Angeles, and they sound like a cross between the Dolls and Mott. They even have a guy who plays keyboard and sax. They released their debut album, "After Hours," in 2008 on the Acetate label, and Little Steven got me into them late last year when he named "Stray Doll" as the "Coolest Song in the World" (This song sounds like an outtake from the "Rocky Horror" soundtrack). Another song that I love is "Soul Stripper," which is a wonderful rip-off of Alice Cooper's "Under My Wheels."

I just posted a bunch of pictures here from the gig, and I just wanted to know if anyone else here has heard of them, or would like to check them out.

[John Battles]

I could'nt tell you WHY this stuff did'nt take off in The U.S.   I know you are'nt exaggerating , either , when you mention compare Bolan's fame , and , for that matter , Slade , too , to The Beatles. Britain needed something like that to happen , when it did. Even McCartney claimed he did'nt want Wings to become a big superstar Rock act , noting "T-Rex and Slade can have that.".  I have to stress , I'm not knocking the lesser known (Still) stuff that others have mentioned , like Mud , Alvin Stardust , Zolar -X , Chicory Tip , Vodka Collins ,etc. , and the sides most of us are just finding out about via comps like Boobs and Velvet Tinmine (Tho' Fancy's too freakin' sexy "Wild Thing" was a hit , here...) . But , somehow , when I've DJ'ed Glam Night , I get "x" amount of time , and there's certain tracks I HAVE to play , and am glad to , but , it leaves little room for the (Even) more - obscure stuff.      I actually thought Slade were big , here , though , when I was a kid. My Brother had most of their records , and "Cum On Feel Th' Noize" and "Gudbuy T'Jane" got nominal airplay , as both made the top 100. People keep saying it was just a British thing.

It's just possible that England was ready for something akin to Bubblegum , keen songwriting , something catchy , stylistically , but with an image attatched to it, something that grabbed the eye as well as the ears. We (Well , I was a wee small lad, but I followed this shit.) were going through Nixon , Watergate , The Energy Crisis , and still dealing with  Vietnam , plus ,  a bankrupt NYC was right around the corner. It was a time for ludes , reds , cheap wine and Boogie -Rock , I guess , but only the few , the proud "Got it " with Glam .  It all goes back to Chuck Berry , Little Richard , Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent , so WHY it was'nt a hit , here , I could'nt tell ya. I read that it crushed Bolan's spirits , and , he was playing out here as far back as with Tyrannosaurus Rex.....
 
matthew rosedon said:

It's fascinating reading all these comments about the obscurity of glam in the US.  If you're my age (53) and from the UK these bands were the soundtrack to your teenage years.  Glam was absolutely massive here - Slade had 6 number 1 singles when a number 1 single in the UK really meant something and Bolan was the biggest star since The Beatles (trust me, that is not an exaggeration).  And yet, as has been pointed out they all meant next to nothing in the States.  It's not as if the US has been totally resistant to UK music over the years so why didn't you Americans go for glam?  Your theories please...   

[John Battles]

That's right. I read there were even groups of Football Hooligans in the Early 70's , who'd go to matches , either dressed as Alice Cooper or David Bowie , depending on which team they supported. There were strong divisions in music , here , too.
 
Chris Henniker said:

I love the VU, as they started it all. Glam, goth, punk, indie rock, heavy metal, industrial, etc, all come from these guys. I have a lot to thank Lou Reed and John Cale for, even influence on my writing. I've even written short stories that could've featured on their albums (Think of The Gift, which shows Reed's storytelling talent)

Here in England, it all fell into whether you were into Slade or T-Rex. The arty kids likes Bowie, Bolan, Roxy Music etc and the more "Proleish" (for want of a better word) were into Slade.  It's amazing what divisions in British youth culture there were expressed through music from the late 50's onwards.

MikeL said:

Watching the movie "Velvet Goldmine" turned me on to the New York Dolls and Iggy and the Stooges, and reading Barney Hoskyns' book, which was published in conjunction with the movie, got me into the Velvet Underground.  These are all bands that I had heard of many times before, but I just never got around to checking them out before.  I love your use of the word "gateway," because that happened to me too.

Aldyth Beltane said:

Oh absolutely a 70's Glam Rock fan!  Ziggy kind of saved my life, and was a gateway to Iggy, The Velvet Underground, the New York Dolls, and so on.  Also dig some of the bands that were pretty obscure in America like Mudd, so on.  I like the sweeter, teenybopper stuff when you get me in the right mood, and even though they were Glam as such, Be Bop Deluxe's Axe Victim is one of my all time fave albums.  For that matter, Marc Bolan and T.Tex were pretty damn inspirational for me too!

[matthew rosedon]

Thanks for the responses to my Why glam meant next to nothing in the US query.

Some further thoughts:

The UK has a tradition of camp theatricality from the music hall and the pantomime.  It's often said that the average Englishman can't wait to drag up.  This is reflected in The Kinks, Madness, the Smiths and many others who are quintessentially English in their approach (I know the Kinks enjoyed American success but not in their 'English' period of 1965-71 approx.)  Perhaps this doesn't translate across the Atlantic beyond cult status.  When I think of mainstream US rock of the early 70s names like Lynryd Sknyrnd and the Doobie Brothers spring to mind - music (I use the term loosely) and image as far away from The Sweet and Roxy Music as it's possible to get.  Perhaps good old fashioned prejudice played a part whereby glam was seen as limey faggot music and not rawk.

Like punk a few years after, glam was reaction music - reaction against the grey and dreary 70s that was life in England, and also a reaction against the grey and dreary music of Pink Floyd, Yes etc.  A generation gap was opening up in popular music in the UK where your big brother listened to prog rock and wore an ex-army greatcoat while your kid sister had pictures of Bolan on her bedroom wall and wore glittery make-up.

To ask another question:  Glam rock was teenage music.  If glam meant next to nothing in the US what was a 13 year old listening to in Montana or Massachusetts in 1973?  Did a specific teenage music still exist?

[Chris Henniker]

A lot of the Oi bands were influenced by glam and music hall too, like The Gonads (being from South London, I'm stating the obvious local example). You've reiterated what I said about musical divisions, with kids being into one thing or the other. Football fans dressing up as Alice Cooper or Bowie being indicative of this. As a teenager,  I was an indie kid and my sis liked dance music and early jungle. Perhaps it shows there's no such thing as a typical teenage music.

A lot of indie has an English approach, especially the mod influenced and cutie stuff. No wonder why Go Sailor or anything on Thee SPC doesn't fly in the US.

matthew rosedon said:

Thanks for the responses to my Why glam meant next to nothing in the US query.

Some further thoughts:

The UK has a tradition of camp theatricality from the music hall and the pantomime.  It's often said that the average Englishman can't wait to drag up.  This is reflected in The Kinks, Madness, the Smiths and many others who are quintessentially English in their approach (I know the Kinks enjoyed American success but not in their 'English' period of 1965-71 approx.)  Perhaps this doesn't translate across the Atlantic beyond cult status.  When I think of mainstream US rock of the early 70s names like Lynryd Sknyrnd and the Doobie Brothers spring to mind - music (I use the term loosely) and image as far away from The Sweet and Roxy Music as it's possible to get.  Perhaps good old fashioned prejudice played a part whereby glam was seen as limey faggot music and not rawk.

Like punk a few years after, glam was reaction music - reaction against the grey and dreary 70s that was life in England, and also a reaction against the grey and dreary music of Pink Floyd, Yes etc.  A generation gap was opening up in popular music in the UK where your big brother listened to prog rock and wore an ex-army greatcoat while your kid sister had pictures of Bolan on her bedroom wall and wore glittery make-up.

To ask another question:  Glam rock was teenage music.  If glam meant next to nothing in the US what was a 13 year old listening to in Montana or Massachusetts in 1973?  Did a specific teenage music still exist?

[John Battles]

  It IS true , via Music Hall , The British have had a tradition of...ummm...yeah , Draggin' it up a bit , but , for laughs , you know. That all carried itself through Monty Python (Whose one Gay member , Graham Chapman , was at his best playing the "Butch" , authoritarian roles.), and goes back to Old Mother Riley and others..... But , our English Brothers were no dummies.

I read about when Bowie was assembling The Spiders From Mars band , he told Mick Ronson , look , you've got to wear makeup and glittery clothes onstage , as I do. Ronson was'nt havin' it , being from a bricklaying town like Hull. But , David assured him , if you do this , you'll have more women then you'll know what to do with. Of course , he was right. 

The androgeny thing has always appealed to women as well as.....girls. I know the BULK of Bolan's following would have been 13 years old , but , I think enough people that were old enough to buy ALBUMS realized , T-Rex , Roxy Music , Sweet , Slade , Bowie , the lot of 'em , put out fine albums as well as singles. Maybe some were merely "Closet" Glam Rock fans.    Obviously , Bolan had a very far - reaching appeal. Surely , women liked him , men liked him , too ,  Mums and Grands thought he was such a nice boy . He was like Elvis , on the surface , rebellious , and , yet ,  totally non - threatening. Men dug Elvis , if not in a homoerotic fashion (As some did , obviously) , in his day , because he was so fucking cool. The same was true of Marc. How cool WAS he ? Famously , an audience member at a  T-Rex show in Texas said , "Hey , Marc , you look like shit !"    "You'd  look like shit , too , if you'd FUCKED as many people as I have.".  

I saw Marc's old lady a couple of years ago , BTW. Still beautiful.

[Campbell McInnes]

just picked up the t.rex unchained box set - 8 cds of demos and rarities... i admit it, im a t.rex tragic... grew up on him and sweet and slade ... Marc Bolan was one of my first heroes... in australia where glam was a big hit but we didnt have many of our own bands picking up on it... maybe because of the pub scene here being more raucous and rock and roll... not a lot of dressing up! wasnt the done thing!  politics etc prob made a difference too...

[John Battles]

 It'd be interesting , though , to hear what Glam - influenced bands did come out of Australia. There must have been some that played the part , but , maybe did'nt look it .....

I was just thinking about how , in my opinion , "The Raver"by The Troggs sounds like an early blueprint for UK Glam , though they seem to be trying to incorporate an "Aussie" hookline.

John Kongos , from South Africa , was very influential on the early Glam Rock stuff , too . "Neanderthal Man" by Hotlegs is also regarded as one of the early proto - Glam toons. There ought to be an international Glam compat some point , as countries you'd never associate with that sound , had at least a couple of songs that fit the bill. 

[Joanie Lindstrom]

Coincidentally, if anyone here is into the Oi thing, my pal Sara and I who I did a glam special with last year are teaming up this week for some Oi and bootboy stompers (Gonads definitely on deck).  Archives are up for 2 weeks, should be fun.

http://i453.photobucket.com/albums/qq256/joanie881/radio/12.jpg

Chris Henniker said:

A lot of the Oi bands were influenced by glam and music hall too, like The Gonads (being from South London, I'm stating the obvious local example). You've reiterated what I said about musical divisions, with kids being into one thing or the other. Football fans dressing up as Alice Cooper or Bowie being indicative of this. As a teenager,  I was an indie kid and my sis liked dance music and early jungle. Perhaps it shows there's no such thing as a typical teenage music.

A lot of indie has an English approach, especially the mod influenced and cutie stuff. No wonder why Go Sailor or anything on Thee SPC doesn't fly in the US.

matthew rosedon said:

Thanks for the responses to my Why glam meant next to nothing in the US query.

Some further thoughts:

The UK has a tradition of camp theatricality from the music hall and the pantomime.  It's often said that the average Englishman can't wait to drag up.  This is reflected in The Kinks, Madness, the Smiths and many others who are quintessentially English in their approach (I know the Kinks enjoyed American success but not in their 'English' period of 1965-71 approx.)  Perhaps this doesn't translate across the Atlantic beyond cult status.  When I think of mainstream US rock of the early 70s names like Lynryd Sknyrnd and the Doobie Brothers spring to mind - music (I use the term loosely) and image as far away from The Sweet and Roxy Music as it's possible to get.  Perhaps good old fashioned prejudice played a part whereby glam was seen as limey faggot music and not rawk.

Like punk a few years after, glam was reaction music - reaction against the grey and dreary 70s that was life in England, and also a reaction against the grey and dreary music of Pink Floyd, Yes etc.  A generation gap was opening up in popular music in the UK where your big brother listened to prog rock and wore an ex-army greatcoat while your kid sister had pictures of Bolan on her bedroom wall and wore glittery make-up.

To ask another question:  Glam rock was teenage music.  If glam meant next to nothing in the US what was a 13 year old listening to in Montana or Massachusetts in 1973?  Did a specific teenage music still exist?

[MikeL]

I'm surprised this thread still gets replies every now and then.

BTW, I'm off to Cleveland tomorrow to see Prima Donna at a venue called Now That's Class.

[trashman]

to throw a kink into the discussion.  A friend and I were trying to pigeon hole Van Halen into a genre - they are not heavy metal, not really a hair band, and he said how about Glam rock and it seemed to work.  Never thought of it that way before.

I just read this thread for the first time and MikeL's orginal post brought up "not the 80's metal bands" so it made me smile after the discussion I just wrote about.  

So what say thee - Van Halen - Glam band?  maybe new world Glam?

[Joanie Lindstrom]

Not at all IMHO.  I'd say hard rock.

[caryn lavender]

Okay...IMHO...Van Halen = Butt Rock...Poison = Butt Rock...bands with the hair and the spandex and lots of mild rock with chicks crawling on cars in their videos...the song Cherry Pie...all of that to me = Butt Rock...just saying