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.

[Johnny sic]

The Sweet!!! It doesn't get any better.

[MikeL]

I like the Sweet too:)  BTW, you should check out Dave Thompson's book about the Sweet, titled "Blockbuster."

Johnny sic said:

The Sweet!!! It doesn't get any better.

[John Battles]

Little Willy was the first 45 I bought with my own money. I felt so proud. THEN , of course , my Brother brings home a K-Tel LP with Little Willy on it.....I saw SWEET in '90 , with Mick and Andy. Then , later , with just Andy .....Brian was too out of it , and , sadly , losing his voice , to pass muster when given the option of rejoining the group. Reportedly , he'd kicked the bottle by then , but , there's documentary footage of his last tour , or one of the last...It's terrifying. He still seems very polite and reserved , overall , but he looks like he'd just passed an audition for the part of The Crypt Keeper. Bryan Gregory just LOOKED the way he did. Everyone knows Brian Connolly was once the ace face on the Glam and mid - 70's Hard Rock scenes. To see him looking THAT horrifying , less than 20 years after leaving theoriginal band , it's beyongdtragic.

[Davi Rodriguez - ORANGE DISASTER]

Garagepunk Catwalk!

:P

I really really like it.

[John Battles]

...I saw the connection , with SOK's "Oh , Yeah" , but I always thought of "Blockbuster" and "The Jean Jeanie" as sounding more like a Yardbirds kinda thing. Esp. the Guitar solo on 'Jean Jeanie" , which is why it's no surprise Jeff Beck made an "Unplanned" appearance , playing Guitar on the song at the last appearance by Bowie with The Spiders From Mars.

"Blockbuster" and "Jean Genie" were released , both on RCA , in the same week.Andy Scott later claimed The Sweet were not aware of the song's similarities until they were both in the can.

Bowie , for his part , put out "Pin-Ups" in the 'tween time , all MID - 60'S UK Rock covers , and rumor had it , he planned to do a "Sequel" , with "Nuggets " - era US Garage covers....

I did hear him say in a later interview "There were bands in America that just did'nt give a damn , like The Seeds and The 13th Floor Elevators and...Have you ever heard THE JEFFERSON HANDKERCHIEF?!".

[Chris Henniker]

The other day, I was exploring London and ended up at the V&A In Kensington. I coughed up £12 to go to the exhibition on British design from 1948-2012 and I even got to see the costumes of David Bowie, Brian Ferry & Brian Eno.  The workmanship is incredible on each of them and they still looked amazing, even today.

I also got to see the Factory Records early stuff there, which looks awesome today.  

Talking of hair metal, were there any bands who mixed it with 60's psychedelia, or power pop,  noise rock, punk or R&B?  

[John Battles]

Chris Henniker said:

The other day, I was exploring London and ended up at the V&A In Kensington. I coughed up £12 to go to the exhibition on British design from 1948-2012 and I even got to see the costumes of David Bowie, Brian Ferry & Brian Eno.  The workmanship is incredible on each of them and they still looked amazing, even today.

I also got to see the Factory Records early stuff there, which looks awesome today.  

Talking of hair metal, were there any bands who mixed it with 60's psychedelia, or power pop,  noise rock, punk or R&B?  

[John Battles]

Chris , That's so cool that you got to see some of that stage gear. You're right, a lot of great workmanship went into these clothes, particularly Bowie's Japanese stage wear. Bolan , unfortunately , was criticized for not spending as much money on his clothes as Bowie , and for not hirng fashion consultants. The clothes did'nt write songs , play guitar or sing.

Good question about whether Hair Metal bands ever diversified. Chicagoland's Enuff Z'nuff (Briefly popular , with an MTV video.)called themselves "The first band to combine Metal and Psychedelia " (Uhh, Blue Cheer , anyone?), but leaned more toward Power Pop (Still do.).
Chris Henniker said:

The other day, I was exploring London and ended up at the V&A In Kensington. I coughed up £12 to go to the exhibition on British design from 1948-2012 and I even got to see the costumes of David Bowie, Brian Ferry & Brian Eno.  The workmanship is incredible on each of them and they still looked amazing, even today.

I also got to see the Factory Records early stuff there, which looks awesome today.  

Talking of hair metal, were there any bands who mixed it with 60's psychedelia, or power pop,  noise rock, punk or R&B?  

[MikeL]

Since you mention this, I saw Lou Reed's costume from his "Transformer" days at the Hard Rock Cafe in NYC during my last trip back in January.  I'll admit it's nothing all that spectacular, but it was still cool to see.

Chris Henniker said:

The other day, I was exploring London and ended up at the V&A In Kensington. I coughed up £12 to go to the exhibition on British design from 1948-2012 and I even got to see the costumes of David Bowie, Brian Ferry & Brian Eno.  The workmanship is incredible on each of them and they still looked amazing, even today.

I also got to see the Factory Records early stuff there, which looks awesome today.  

Talking of hair metal, were there any bands who mixed it with 60's psychedelia, or power pop,  noise rock, punk or R&B?  

[Chris Henniker]

Did you get any shots of it? I couldn't get any for copyright reasons.

MikeL said:

Since you mention this, I saw Lou Reed's costume from his "Transformer" days at the Hard Rock Cafe in NYC during my last trip back in January.  I'll admit it's nothing all that spectacular, but it was still cool to see.

Chris Henniker said:

The other day, I was exploring London and ended up at the V&A In Kensington. I coughed up £12 to go to the exhibition on British design from 1948-2012 and I even got to see the costumes of David Bowie, Brian Ferry & Brian Eno.  The workmanship is incredible on each of them and they still looked amazing, even today.

I also got to see the Factory Records early stuff there, which looks awesome today.  

Talking of hair metal, were there any bands who mixed it with 60's psychedelia, or power pop,  noise rock, punk or R&B?  

[MikeL]

Afraid not:(.



Chris Henniker said:

Did you get any shots of it? I couldn't get any for copyright reasons.

MikeL said:

Since you mention this, I saw Lou Reed's costume from his "Transformer" days at the Hard Rock Cafe in NYC during my last trip back in January.  I'll admit it's nothing all that spectacular, but it was still cool to see.

Chris Henniker said:

The other day, I was exploring London and ended up at the V&A In Kensington. I coughed up £12 to go to the exhibition on British design from 1948-2012 and I even got to see the costumes of David Bowie, Brian Ferry & Brian Eno.  The workmanship is incredible on each of them and they still looked amazing, even today.

I also got to see the Factory Records early stuff there, which looks awesome today.  

Talking of hair metal, were there any bands who mixed it with 60's psychedelia, or power pop,  noise rock, punk or R&B?  

[The Fnords]

For the hair metal /glam /punk /surf /etc. mix, might I suggest Hanoi Rocks?

D.