The Stardust Kid

The Last Days of Glam

2011-08-24T20:58:00.000+01:00

“Thanks for the memory
thanks for it all
Wham bam thank you mam
thanks for the ball”.
Slade – Thanks for the Memory (wham bam thank you mam)

So sang Slade in 1975 when glam was all but dead. It had been a relatively short ride, but a memorable one.

From 1971-1975 everything (musically at least) was tainted by glam rock, from Rod Stewart to The Rolling Stones. Glam Rock came to mean something different to everyone. Ultimately, glam became an opportunity for just about anyone to explore and exploit.

Some good bands had appeared during its twilight period, the most enduring being Cockney Rebel and Queen, but glam rock as a youth movement and a musical sub-genre was essentially over by the end of 1975.

It had been in slow decline since early in 1974. The best of the glam anthems had been and gone and established glam artists had either moved on to new pastures or were simply treading water.

A few artists were hanging on for grim death, trying to keep the whole thing going, but essentially glam was dead, its ability to outrage and shock had long since passed in the eyes of the public and mainstream media.

The last days of glam could almost have been some half drunken pub/club act singing ‘My Way’ to bleary eyed, partied out, disinterested punters for all anyone cared.

It was like a time travelling Sid Vicious catapulted back three years singing his trashy and dare I say ‘punk-glam’ version to a shell shocked audience.

“And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain”.

Maybe Frank Sinatra’s more laid back version would be better suited to the lazy, ‘end of days’ feel of glam’s decline, but Frank is obviously not glam in any way, although I’m sure he would have looked great in satin and tat singing ‘Queen Bitch’.

So ‘Whatever happened to the teenage dream”?

Well it just sort of fizzled out as the kids woke up to other things, eventually showing distain and disinterest in an old sound and style. There was still the odd twitch here and there of the glam corpse, even as late as 1976/77, but by then it really was the end.

With Ziggy now in 'retirement', Bowie went on to create the album ‘Diamond Dogs’, which many interpreted as his farewell to the glam movement. His next incarnation would be as a soul crooner, albeit of the ‘plastic’ variety.

Likewise, Marc Bolan made a move toward soul music, though less successfully than Bowie. A combination of substance abuse, and internal strife all helped derail the career of Bolan and T. Rex, as well as alienating fans with a rapid change of styles.

The band quickly faded from the musical mainstream as their album sales and popularity collapsed. His later work produced rather messy and monotonous records with banal lyrics and recurring riffs.

Slade and the Sweet had hits well into the mid 1970s, but when punk arrived, both bands eventually became passe. In 1977, the Sweet changed their image and sound to be more 'progressive,' while Slade carried on as they were, until they found more commercial success (albeit sporadic) in the 80s.

Mud also continued to have smaller hits for a few years, but their future was in the cabaret and club circuit.

Others searched for integrity in their music, Roxy Music carried on until their 1976 split, although when the band reformed they experienced their greatest period of commercial success in the new wave movement of the early 1980s.

Former keyboardist Brian Eno released a few albums of glam leanings before becoming a pioneer in ambient music and a popular producer.

In the United States, the New York Dolls split in 1975, and Lou Reed and Iggy Pop were doing their own thing in their own way.

Gary Glitter carried on as an even greater parody of himself well into the new millennium, until his decidedly un-musical activities caught up with him.

Glam also-rans like Alvin Stardust and the Glitter Band continued for a while before sliding into semi obscurity/retirement. And even Suzi Quatro, eventually turned to musical theatre and an acting career.

There was a storm on the horizon, moving quickly towards the safe harbour where glam was sheltering. A lot of the glam artists were after all already just the “Flotsam and Jetsam of the Music Biz, the Walking Dead and Has-Beens of the Recent (and Not-So-Recent) past”.

‘Year Zero’ and punk rock was about to end their comfortable state of affairs and calm waters for good.

Even in the glam heyday of 1973 a Melody Maker review of the first Queen LP was captioned ‘The Fag-end of Glam’. So from that point of view it had already out stayed and out played its welcome.

“There were times when he wanted to be a musician, and times he wanted to be a star. That was his main internal struggle”. Producer Tony Visconti said when talking about Marc Bolan, but he could just as easily have been talking about glam rock in general.

A friend of mine stopped buying records after 1975, and didn’t really start again until 1979. He couldn’t give me a reason, possibly a hangover from the sweetness and sickliness of the glam years, or maybe he just lost interest. Who knows?

I left glam rock behind at 12, not really listening too, or thinking about it for a good many years, but it was always there, lingering just below the surface to jump out when I least expected it.

Often during some drunk Christmas or New Year disco, where I would be minding my own business and out would pop Slade over the sound system wishing me a merry Xmas and a glittering ‘Ho Ho Ho’.

It is only now in my middle age that I have come to appreciate the music and leave behind any prejudices that I had and can just simply listen to the songs and enjoy.

So rest in peace glam rock, and sincerely; wham bam thank you Glam, thanks for the ball.

Photo copyright Mick Rock

Slade: Thanks for the Memory (wham bam thank you mam) - Last days of Glam Mix

Happy Holiday

2011-06-23T12:24:00.000+01:00

Off on holiday for 2 weeks.
Here's the always great Pans People with a 1973 classic to keep things going.

The Arrows: Touch Too Much (a-side)

2011-06-22T12:34:00.004+01:00

‘Touch Too Much’ is a 1974 top 10 UK hit by the Arrows.

The song was composed by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, and according to the ‘Songfacts’ website, the song was turned down by David Cassidy, Suzi Quatro and The Sweet.

The recording was produced by Mickie Most and released on RAK Records.

The Arrows: Touch Too Much

Mott the Hoople: One of the Boys (b-side)

2011-06-17T08:47:00.000+01:00

"know that I grow my hair just to scare my teacher". B-side to 'All the Young Dudes' released in 1972.

Mott the Hoople: One of the Boys

Bay City Rollers: Give a Little Love (a-side), Kenny: Fancy Pants (a-side)

2011-06-10T16:42:00.000+01:00

Some songs you love because they are simply great songs. Some songs you love because they say something to you personally, or evoke memories of happy times.

Some songs you love for no real reason. And some songs you love but (even under torture) wouldn't admit to liking.

These are the so called 'guilty pleasures'. A whole industry has sprung up around this from compilation CD's to night clubs.

Here are two glam guilty pleasures of mine. But don't tell anyone.

Give a Little Love is a UK #1 by the Bay City Rollers from 1975.

Fancy Pants is a 1975 single by Kenny.

Bay City Rollers: Give a Little Love
Kenny: Fancy Pants

Life After Glam (part 2)

2011-06-06T12:04:00.000+01:00

Roy Wood & Wizzard: Indiana Rainbow (a-side) released in 1976 this did not chart, a sign of things to come for ex glam rock artists.

Suzi Quatro: She's In Love With You (a-side) released in 1978 this ChinniChap song reached #11 but was her last big hit.

Mud: L, L, Lucy (a-side) released in 1975, reaching #10. Mud had a few more moderate hits, but then they too slipped into semi obscurity.

Roy Wood: Indiana Rainbow

Suzi Quatro: She's In Love With You

Mud: L L Lucy

Life After Glam (part 1)

2011-06-02T13:14:00.000+01:00

So with the glam rock years slowly fading into memory - what music was produced by some of its guiding lights?

Slade: Nobody's Fool (a-side) released in 1976 - This song did not chart at all even in the UK, the first Slade song to do so. In fact they didn't have another top 40 hit until 1981.

Sweet: Stairway to the Stars (a-side) released in 1977 - As with Slade this song did not chart in the UK. They would only have one other major hit with Love is Like Oxygen in 1978.

T Rex: Dandy in the Underworld (a-side) released in 1977 - This also didn't chart. For Marc Bolan and T Rex it was a case of diminishing returns as far as chart action was concerned.

I guess the time for the big glam acts to have major hits was over. But I can't help thinking that had the above songs been released in 73 or 74 they would have been top 10.

Slade: Nobody's Fool

Sweet: Stairway to the Stars

T.Rex: Dandy in the Underworld

Suzi Q's Glam Rock Jukebox

2011-05-07T20:44:00.002+01:00

Glam Rock Mix Vol 3

20th Century Boy

Gudbuy T' Jane

Wig Wam Bam

Drive In Saturday

The Cat Crept In

Rock N Roll part 1

The Golden Age of Rock N Roll

Can the Can

Juke Box Jive

Mr Soft

Dancing (on a Saturday Night)

Rock and Roll Winter

Rubber Bullets

All Because of You

Streetlife

Mix by Stardust Kid 2011

Bobbie McGee: Rock and Roll People (a-side)

2011-04-27T10:44:00.000+01:00

The spectacularly named Lady Teresa Anna Von Arletowicz, was better known as Bobbie McGee and released the single “Rock and Roll People” in 1973.

Originally from London via South Africa she was nicknamed “Gladys Glitter” by the British press at the time. Sadly any great success was to elude her in the UK where there was only room for one glam rock chick in Suzi Quatro.

She continued to release singles until 76 but never really got the recognition she deserved and now has something of a cult following.

Bobbie McGee: Rock and Roll People

Turn another page on the Teenage Rampage Now!

2011-04-21T14:30:00.000+01:00

Fellow blogger “Steve Does Comics” ran a post a few weeks ago about how certain songs reminded him of comics that he had bought.

One of my own posts explained how I associate Sparks ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us’ with The Avengers # 100 and a holiday in Great Yarmouth.

So with that in mind I thought I would put together my own list of the glam rock songs that remind me of certain comics, magazines or books.

1. Avengers UK # 28 – March 1974

Ah yes the joys of playing truant from school and buying a comic to read in the bus station while Roll Away the Stone by Mott the Hoople plays on someone's portable radio. (Don’t do it kids, besides I got caught so no pocket money for weeks).

Who could resist the kung fu-tastic Shang-Chi bursting through the comic cover and into my young life. And all for 6p.

2. Shiver and Shake – 1973

Rockin and boppin with Frankie Stein and Sweeny Toddler to Mud’s Rocket.

3. Raven Sword Mistress of Chaos – 1978

The first book didn’t come out until 1978 but it always reminds me of Bowie’s Rock and Roll Suicide from the Ziggy Stardust album.

There’s nothing like a classic Bowie album on the stereogram and a book about a half naked woman with a sword. I was 15; young; hormones and all that. A great cover illustration by Chris Achilleos was a bonus.

4. Look In - 1973 onwards

The classic British TV related picture and story magazine and the Glitter Band’s Angel Face.

5. Spider-Man Comics Weekly UK # 109 – March 1975

Great cover – well worth the wait to see the Black Widow in her new and improved costume. Anyway this always makes me think of the Sweet’s Teenage Rampage.

6. The Three Investigators: The Secret of Terror Castle and others

I bought all this series of books as a kid. My friend Brian and I even tried to set up our own investigating agency. Never quite worked out, The Mystery of the Rickety Gate didn’t have the same ring as the above.

But we enjoyed listening to My Friend Stan by Slade while we were dreaming of becoming great detectives.

"Childhood is a journey through another land, lost to us now, to be found only in memory"

Suzi Q's Glam Rock Jukebox

2011-04-12T12:59:00.000+01:00

Glam Rock Mix vol 2

Get It On

Hell Raiser

Dyna-Mite

Cum On Feel The Noize

Always Yours

Devil Gate Drive

Killer Queen

Lets Get Together Again

Rebel Rebel

Shang A Lang

See My Baby Jive

Metal Guru

Ballroom Blitz

Mix by Stardust Kid 2011

2011-04-02T21:46:00.004+01:00

Taken from “The Glory of Glam” Radio 2 2010, presented by Gary Kemp.

Glam was glorious. Brought on by rock's self indulgent pretensions in 1970 when psychedelia and prog rock were at their peak, glam brought a satin and sequin-fuelled return to the frivolous basics of rock 'n' roll and created the biggest, brightest, shiniest beast the music business had seen.

In the first programme, The Birth of Glam, Gary looks at the fascinating relationship between Marc Bolan and David Bowie and considers how it helped fuel the flamboyant creation of glam. As Angie Bowie says: "David and Marc liked each other very much and at certain times were great friends, but they were also bitter rivals."

Both Marc and David had spent the 60's as itinerant musicians, drifting through a succession of image changes whilst searching for pop stardom. In the mid 60s they were mods, then hippies, as they experimented with a variety of styles in search of their own musical niche.

Inspired by Syd Barrett's early work with Pink Floyd, and assisted by the producer/engineer Tony Visconti, Marc and David began incorporating fantasy and theatrics into their live and recorded work. In 1970, following a night spent at Eric Clapton's house watching him play guitar, Marc ditched the acoustic guitar, which he'd used for four albums worth of hippie folk with Tyrannosaurus Rex, and plugged in a brand new Fender Stratocaster.

On July 1, 1970 he recorded a startling 2 minute piece of perfect pop that re-launched the single as a work of art in electrifying fashion. Ride a White Swan, released by the newly abbreviated T-Rex, quickly peaked at No 2 on the charts.

Inspired by his first taste of major pop success Marc began a short but explosive era of chart domination that included the singles Hot Love, Get It On, Jeepster, Telegram Sam, Metal Guru, Children of The Revolution, Solid Gold Easy Action, 20th Century Boy and the albums Electric Warrior, The Slider and Tanx .

In support of their hit singles and albums, Bolan and T-Rex toured constantly and flounced on to stages around the world in ever more flamboyant costumes of sequins and satins, all propped up on impossibly high platform boots, as the glam craze they helped create became incredibly popular.

While Marc was incorporating electric guitar into his music, and sourcing outrageous costumes from trendy boutiques, he was a regular visitor to David Bowie's home in Beckenham, Kent. Haddon Hall had become a musician's commune which one visitor compared to "Dracula's living room".

With various members of his band and their accompanying girlfriends, wives and boyfriends as housemates, David wrote and rehearsed songs for the album The Man Who Sold The World, which Tony Visconti began recording once he'd competed work on the album T-Rex.

Inspired by Andy Warhol and American bands like the New York Dolls and Velvet Underground, David's new album had a tougher edge to it and encouraged by his new wife Angie he began experimenting with new androgynous outfits and was photographed for the album cover wearing what he called a "man dress".

For the follow up album Hunky Dory, David channelled Greta Garbo for the cover and with songs like Changes and Oh You Pretty Things he re-inforced the bi-sexual persona he was promoting on stage. The album also included Life on Mars, a precursor to the next persona unleashed on the world in June 1972, with the release of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars.

Over an 18 month period Ziggy became the epitome of glam. Released the same month as T-Rex released The Slider album, and Roxy Music released their debut self titled LP, the Ziggy Stardust album became a benchmark by which all other glam albums were judged.

With Marc, David and Roxy Music all dominating the charts in late 1972 and 1973, several rock bands who had been carving out solid but unspectacular careers for several years, also decided to add satin and sequins to their stage outfits and suddenly The Sweet, Slade, Mud, Wizzard, Gary Glitter and Alvin Stardust were among the bands that rode the crest of the wave.

Contributors include David Bowie, Tony Visconti, Bryan Ferry, Phil Manzanera, Noddy Holder, Mike Chapman, Rick Wakeman, Angie Bowie, Steve Harley, Antony Price, Mick Rock, Iggy Pop and archive interviews with Marc Bolan.

In Dressed To Kill, the second part of The Glory of Glam, Gary Kemp highlights the most successful acts of the glam era and discovers why their influence is still being heard in many of today's new bands.

In the summer of 1972, as T-Rex released The Slider and David Bowie released The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars, Roxy Music released their debut self-titled album and began touring their own version of glamorous art-influenced rock'n'roll. With stunning outfits created by designer Antony Price, Roxy became as influential as Marc and David.

In fact Roxy Music and The Spiders From Mars shared the bill at several venues in 1972, playing to small audiences who according to Phil Manzanera "weren't quite sure what they were seeing with all that glitz and glam."

Inspired by the chart success that glam artists were achieving, several rock bands who had been carving out solid but unspectacular careers for years, also decided to add satin and sequins to their stage outfits and suddenly The Sweet, Slade, Mud, Wizzard, Gary Glitter and Alvin Stardust were among those enjoying chart success.

Along with 10CC, Sparks, Mott The Hoople, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Queen, Cockney Rebel, and even Suzi Quatro, who enjoyed chart success with the help of a bit of additional glitter. Even major acts like Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones and Elton John dabbled in a bit of sparkly make-up.

As Angie Bowie recalls, "thanks to David and Marc they all realised that girls like pretty boys".

Not really a pretty boy.

Contributors include John Lydon, Alice Cooper, Gene Simmons, Steve Harley, David Bowie, Tony Visconti, Bryan Ferry, Boz Boorer, Pete Phipps, Noddy Holder, Roger Taylor, Marc Almond, Paolo Hewitt, Storm Thorgerson, Antony Price, Phil Manzanera, Mike Chapman, Rick Wakeman, Angie Bowie, Mick Rock, Suzi Quatro, Iggy Pop and archive interviews with Marc Bolan.

Sweet: Tom Tom Turnaround (album track), New World: Tom Tom Turnaround (a-side), Light Fantastic: Jeanie (a-side)

2011-03-27T11:15:00.040+01:00

To put it in boxing terms; in the first round we had the Sweet vs. Tony Blackburn (see here); a knock-out to the Sweet and strictly lightweight.

To kick off round two we have the Sweet vs. New World and 'Tom Tom Turnaround'. I think a technical knock-out to the Sweet in this lower middleweight contest.

Round three puts the Sweet up against journeymen Light Fantastic and 'Jeanie' (see here). A fair result would be a draw.

But the heavyweight championship of glam songs pits the Sweet against king of the ring David Bowie. It’s the ‘slammer in the glammer’, a ‘Hitter in the glitter’ a ‘Shake up with the make up’, its 'Blockbuster' vs. 'the Jean Genie'.

It’s a points win for the Sweet by virtue of it reaching # 1 in the UK charts.

The opening riff of the song is not the only thing they have in common. Both songs were released in 1972 and both were on the RCA record label.

The Sweet's single, written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, was recorded and released slightly later than Bowie's song, but it went on to reach #1 in the UK charts while "The Jean Genie" could only reach #2.

When asked about the songs similarities, Nicky Chinn stated: "Oh, absolute coincidence. The ridiculous thing was, of course, they were both on the same record label (RCA). But I know we had never heard Bowie's 'Jean Genie' and to the best of my knowledge he hadn't heard 'Blockbuster'.

There was a lot of fuss about it at the time. I think it's interesting to note, and again it was not a conscious thing on our part, but the riff is extremely similar to 'I'm A Man' by The Yardbirds. Fortunately, we went to No. 1 and Bowie went to 2." - Record Collector (1998) talking to Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman

Chinn went on to describe a meeting with Bowie at which the latter "looked at me completely deadpan and said 'Cunt!' And then he got up and gave me a hug and said, 'Congratulations”

Sweet: Tom Tom Turnaround

New World: Tom Tom Turnaround

Light Fantastic: Jeanie

Suzi Q's Glam Rock Jukebox

2011-03-20T12:53:00.031Z

This is the 100th post, so in celebration I present -

Glam Rock Mix vol 1

Blockbuster

Jean Genie

The Groover

Tiger Feet

48 Crash

Crazy Horses

Rock On

Bangin Man

I Love You Love Me Love

Angel Fingers

Ziggy Stardust

All The Way From Memphis

Schools Out

My Coo Ca Choo

Sugar Baby Love

Mix by Stardust Kid 2011

Mott the Hoople: Hymn for the Dudes (album track), T Rex: Raw Ramp (b-side)

2011-03-12T10:57:00.002Z

Ok, the first one isn’t a b-side, I just like it.

The second track is a b-side and appeared on the T Rex # 1 single “Get It On” in 1971. I love the way it goes from a slow, string infused song into a more trademark Bolan rock n roll boogie.

Mott the Hoople: Hymn for the Dudes

T Rex: Raw Ramp

2011-03-05T20:40:00.010Z

Glam on TV

Unlike its coverage in the movies glam rock had a better time on British TV, although this did come towards the end of glam rock’s popularity, and in the case of “Marc” well after glam rock's heyday.

The major music programme of the time was Top of the Pops. TOTP has already been covered here on this blog, so I will start with ‘Supersonic’ a British children's television music show which also featured pop music artists of the day.

Launched in 1975, it was produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network and ran for two years. The show lasted 30 minutes and was broadcast, firstly, on Thursday afternoons and then moved to a Saturday afternoon slot. The programme was presented by film and music producer Mike Mansfield.

Although the show starred performers with songs in the music charts, unlike its BBC rival Top of the Pops, it was not chart-based. Whilst Top of the Pops ran all year, Supersonic had a limited run with season one consisting of 30 editions and season two consisting of 28.

The show was recorded in front of an audience of children at the South Bank Television Centre and had a style of production in which cameras were highly visible and areas such as the production gallery were featured.

Its host also doubled up as producer and director, cueing in performances from the studio gallery instead of presenting conventional links to camera.

“Shang-a-Lang” was a children's pop music series starring the Scottish band, the Bay City Rollers. It was produced in Manchester by Granada Television for the ITV network and ran for one 20-week series in 1975.

It featured the band in a number of comedy sketches and performing their songs to a live studio audience made up of their teenage fans. This resulted in chaotic scenes at times as some members of the audience attempted to run onto the studio floor to meet their heroes, resulting in security officers having to forcibly restrain or even eject them from the studio.

The show's theme song "Shang-a-Lang” was a hit single for the group, peaking at number 2 in 1974 in the UK.

In 1976/77 the ITV network also produced “The Arrows Show”. The band would perform their own songs, and would also introduce guest artists, that included Marc Bolan, The Bay City Rollers, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Peter Noone, Alvin Stardust, Slade, Pilot and many more.

The band were popular in the teen print media in the mid 1970s, appearing in interviews and as pin-ups in all the glossy fan magazines of the day. They even had their own weekly cartoon strip which ran in ‘Music Star’ magazine.

The Arrows are the only band in pop music history to have a weekly TV series of their own and no records released. Although they had hit singles before their series, the band released no recordings during the entire run of the shows, both series.

This unusual situation was due to a legal wrangle with their record label. Their last single release was two months before the first broadcast Arrows TV show. There were 28 Arrows Shows in total.

Historically, The Arrows are now best known for writing, recording, and releasing the first version of the song "I Love Rock 'N Roll" in 1975, a year before the band had their TV series.

And last but not least was “Marc”.

In early 1977, Bolan got a new band together, released a new album, ‘Dandy in the Underworld’, and set out on a fresh UK tour, taking along punk band The Damned as support to entice a young audience who did not remember his heyday.

Granada Television commissioned Bolan to front a six-part series called Marc, where he introduced new and established bands and performed his own songs. By this time Bolan had lost weight, appearing as trim as he had during the height of T. Rex's popularity.

The show was broadcast during the post-school half-hour on ITV earmarked for children and teenagers; it was a big success. The last episode featured a unique Bolan duet with David Bowie during which Bolan fell off the stage. With no time for a retake, this occurrence was aired and Bowie's amusement was clearly visible and is reported to have called out "Could we have a wooden box for Marc [to stand on]?”

The show gave Bolan a chance to showcase punk bands, including Generation X, The Jam and Eddie and the Hot Rods. T. Rex performed three songs each week - a mixture of new versions of their old hits, and fresh tracks - while the guests were slotted in between.

It ran for six weekly episodes in the autumn of 1977, before its host died in a car crash on 16 September that year. The final show was recorded on 7 September 1977, but not broadcast until after Bolan's funeral on (20 September 1977).

Cozy Powell: Dance with the Devil (a-side), Mud: Watching the Clock (b-side)

2011-03-01T10:42:00.000Z

Here are a couple of glam rock instrumentals to check out.

Cozy Powell, was an English rock drummer who made his name with many major rock bands over the years.

Powell stopped playing in other bands long enough to record two singles including "Dance with the Devil" which reached #3 in the UK singles chart during January 1974. The track featured Suzi Quatro on bass.

Cozy Powell died on 5 April 1998 following a car crash while driving his Saab 9000 at 104 mph (167 km/h) in bad weather on the M4 motorway near Bristol.

In 1978, the distinctive drum patterns, march breaks and chants formed the basis of Boney M's disco track "Nightflight to Venus" The chorus melody is taken from Jimi Hendrix's “Third Stone from The Sun” and would also be sampled for Right Said Fred's early Nineties hit "I'm Too Sexy."

After Mud had released "The Cat Crept In" in 1974 they also released another track from their album “Mud Rock”, a cover of "In the Mood". This was released under the name of Dum (Mud spelt backwards), but failed to chart.

The b-side to this was "Watching the Clock". This seemed to be a popular song for Mud who also released slightly different versions as b-sides on their singles ‘Oh Boy’ and ‘The Secrets that you keep’, where it was re-titled as ‘Still Watching the Clock’.

Cozy Powell: Dance with the Devil

Mud (Dum): Watching the Clock

Top of the Pops LP

2011-02-26T22:07:00.046Z

If you were to take a close look at my record collection back in the 70's (such as it was) you would have seen a few strange yet alluring compilation albums called "Top of the Pops".

In among the Bowie, T Rex and Slade were record covers that demanded your attention, and (to a ten year old boy) even appeared daring and risqué if a little embarrassing.

The record sleeves were great, but the music was rubbish; modern day hits played and sung by session musicians. I'm sure when I got these albums as gifts from various aunts and uncles I appeared grateful, but deep down I really wanted an "Airfix" model or a "Warlord" annual.

These days a full collection of these albums would bring a great price on "Ebay", but sadly the few that I owned are long gone.

Vol 36, 1974

They were first released in the late 60’s, (as an unauthorised spin off from the Top of the Pops TV show) by Pickwick Records on their Hallmark label.

The records contained anonymous cover versions of recent and current hit singles. The recordings were intended to replicate the sound of the original hits as closely as possible. The albums were recorded by a studio group comprising session musicians and singers who remained unaccredited, although they included Elton John and Tina Charles before their fame.

Record producer Alan Crawford conceived the idea for the Top of the Pops albums, having noted several UK labels such as Music for Pleasure pioneer the anonymous covers format during 1967 and 1968.

Crawford's key idea was to create a continuous series of albums with the same title. The Pickwick label agreed to undertake Crawford's idea and the first volume was issued in mid-1968.

Vol 27, 1972

In 1969 new volumes began appearing at generally regular intervals, with a new LP released every six to eight weeks. Volume numbers were not stated on the record sleeves, each edition simply called "Top of the Pops", the name derived from the un-trademarked BBC television show with which there was no direct connection.

During the early 1970s, the Top of the Pops series enjoyed considerable success and buoyant sales. Budget albums were accepted into the main UK album charts for a few months in 1971, during which four Top of the Pops LPs charted, and two made No. 1.

Vol 50, 1975

However they were disqualified in early 1972 since their budget selling price was perceived as giving them an unfair advantage in the market.

The albums continued to be released at regular intervals throughout the 1970s, with the general theme and cover art largely unchanged throughout. The cover designs are iconic, featuring female models in period attire, some with the models in skimpy clothing such as miniskirts and bikinis.

10cc: The Dean and I (a-side)

2011-02-21T07:44:00.000Z

"Humdrum days and a humdrum ways" so sang 10cc in 1973.

Britain in the early seventies may have been endless days of blackouts, strikes and three day weeks, but glam rock was an attempt to add colour to the grey landscape.

Not that I noticed any of the depression of the seventies, the harsh realities of everyday life were for my parents to worry about. As a young boy I was more concerned with comics, football, bikes, and what colour ‘Slade’ socks to choose.

All of this during long endless summers and deep, snow filled winters. The world is great when you’re ten and even better when viewed through rose tinted shades riding a Raleigh ‘Chopper’.

Anyway 10cc consisted of four musicians/songwriters - Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Crème. They had written and recorded together for about three years, before assuming the "10cc" name in 1972.

"The Dean and I" is a song from their 1973 eponymous debut album, written by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The song was released as the third single from the album in August 1973 and peaked at #10 on the UK Singles Chart.

“The song is written from the perspective of an American father telling his children about how he met and fell in love with their mother, with the first real line of the song being "Hey, kids, let me tell you how I met your mom. We were dancing and romancing at the senior prom". The epic poem Paradise Lost by John Milton is mentioned in the lyrics. The later part of the lyric tackles the grim realities of middle-aged married life "...when the paint is peeling, and all the chips are down..."

Songfacts

10cc: The Dean and I

Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco

2011-02-16T20:49:00.005Z

In late 1971 music industry publicist Rodney Bingenheimer moved to London after becoming fed up with the American music industry.

While in England he saw the birth of the Glam Rock movement and it was David Bowie who suggested Bingenheimer open a Glam club in Los Angeles.

Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco opened on the Sunset Strip from late 1972 until 1975. Kids came from all over to listen to the latest glam pop sounds from England such as Bowie, Queen, Suzi Quatro and Roxy Music.

It was also the place to come mingle with those rock stars. A young Joan Jett would hang out here, along with Marc Bolan of T-Rex, Led Zeppelin. Glam rock was huge with the underground scene.

The following quotes are taken from various sources.

Kim Fowley recalled, "The English Disco was more a public-toilet version of the E Club. The new location gave it the teenage stench it needed. Everybody had great hair and great make-up, and there were Lolita girls everywhere”.

It soon became the centre of the new ‘Glitter Rock’ movement in Los Angeles. Bowie's biography noted, "The crowd at the club ranged in age from twelve to fifteen... nymphet groupies were stars in their tight little world. As they danced they mimed fellatio and cunnilingus in tribute to David's onstage act of fellatio on Ronno's guitar."

In November 1973 writer Richard Cromelin reported, "Once inside, everybody's a star”.

Newsweek magazine reported in January 1974 that "The dance floor is a dizzy kaleidoscope of lamè hot pants, sequined halters, rhinestone-studded cheeks, thrift-store any things and see-through every things. During the breaks, 14-year-old girls on 6-inch platforms teeter into the back bathrooms to grope with their partners of the moment. Most of the sex is as mixed as the drinks and the drugs the kids bring with them”.

Iggy Pop, who had become a forlorn figure in the glam world, was often seen at the club. Kid Congo, later guitarist with The Cramps and Gun Club, remembered "Iggy on the street outside the Disco, pulling his dress up and exposing himself, and Rodney crying because he thought he was going to be arrested."

Writer Nick Kent also recalled, "I saw Iggy there many a time, stoned out of his gourd, lost to the world and to himself as well, staring at his face and form in those mirrored walls - staring at his reflection like Narcissus drugged out in teenage-disco-hell”.

The club had its dark side, however. In 1999 writer Lisa Fancher wrote how Joan Jett "was walking up to Rodney’s one Friday night when she saw a dead body out front, an obvious OD, and nobody was paying any attention at all. The kids just kept walking into the club. The Sweet was flooding out the door and everybody just kept on dancing”.

By the fall of 1974 Glitter Rock in the US was waning in popularity. In October the Palladium held a "Death of Glitter" night, with performances by the New York Dolls, Iggy Pop and Silverhead. Rodney's deejay Chuckie Star recalled, "All over Hollywood that night it was glitter! Glitter! The line to get into the Palladium was incredible-everyone in LA knew it was their last chance to wear platform shoes and eyeshadow.

This was it! Surfers from Malibu were there in midriff shirts, silver space boots, and blue eye makeup, hugging their girlfriends as they waited to get in."

The New York Dolls ended the show as Chuckie Star was carried onto the stage in a glitter coffin, into which the crowd threw roses, glitter and lipstick. Nick Kent wrote, "If it wasn’t quite The Beautiful and the Damned it was certainly the pretty and the damned- everyone was, you know, 'going to hell' and nobody cared.

Remembering the end of the LA Glitter groupie scene Pamela Des Barres wrote, "You couldn’t trust the new LA groupies, who were desperate, discouraged, groveling ego seekers. The love of music had become secondary to preening in Star magazine, standing next to anybody in a Band. It was scary out there. It was fictitious and haunted."

Partnership and licensing problems led Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco to close in early 1975. Pleasant Gehman later wrote, "We were a crowd of groupies, teenage hustlers, bisexual schoolgirls, and fringy, juvenile sluts looking for a good time. We’d hang out at weird coffeeshops (like Arthur J’s, the Gold Cup, and Danielle’s, where drag-queen hookers would meet their tricks in the bathroom), or we’d go to Westwood to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show for the millionth time.

These places didn’t serve alcohol, so of course they didn’t card you. And you could feel totally at home in your fishnets, heavy makeup, and divinely decadent attitude. I mean, who was going to hassle you over your hair color? A drag queen? Rodney’s English Disco had closed down, and the Masque wasn’t yet open so these were our haunts."

David Bowie told ‘Q’ magazine in 1993, “Alone in L.A. Rodney seemed like myself, an island of anglo 'nowness'. He even knew British singles and bands that I wasn't aware of. There was nothing about him that wasn't 'on'. Rodney single-handedly cut a path through the treacle of the 60's, allowing all we 'avants' to parade our sounds of tomorrow, dressing in our clothes of derision"

Q&A With Rodney Bingenheimer from Feb 10 2005.

Chris Tilly catches up with Rodney Bingenheimer - Radio DJ, nightclub owner, pop impresario and star of the new documentary 'Mayor of the Sunset Strip'.

Q: Looking back is there any period you remember with the most fondness?

A: Definitely glam rock – Bowie, T-Rex, Slade – those were all bands I loved and played in my club, Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco. I started the club after I went to London and stayed in Ealing Broadway.

There was this little place called The Cellar near the tube where they played this amazing music. Bowie suggested that next time I went to LA I start a club like that and I ended up doing it!

Q: Was that how you got so heavily into the English bands then?

A: I'd always been into English music growing up – watching the Beatles and great TV shows like Ed Sullivan and Shindig – hearing all that music that was so happy and positive.

Suzi Quatro: The Wild One (album track), Sweet: Fox on the Run (album track)

2011-02-12T13:18:00.027Z

Sometimes a song can take on a whole new sound and personality just by a little bit of re-styling and re-mixing. A once lacklustre album track can be turned into a big and bold 45 RPM release.

Here are two good examples of that. These are the original versions of the respective songs; note how different they are from the ones that were eventually released.

The original post for ‘The Wild One’ can be found here.

The production on the single version is a lot brighter, and the original version has a more prominent male backing vocal.

This version of ‘Fox on the Run’ can be found on the “Desolation Boulevard” album from 1974 produced by Chinnichap. In 1975, Sweet went back into the studio to re-arrange and record a more pop-oriented version of the track.

It was Sweet's first self-written and self produced single. The single reached #2 in the UK.

Suzi Quatro: The Wild One (album version)
Sweet: Fox on the Run (album version)

2011-02-09T13:06:00.011Z

A while back TV station Channel 4 in the UK ran a ‘Glam Top Ten’ show that went through the top ten glam acts based on chart position/performance. They used a points system to score each acts chart performance during the glam rock years.

I couldn’t find a link either to the program or the results, so I thought I would compile my own chart to show (in this case) the top thirteen glam acts based on points awarded for chart positions in the UK.

I can’t remember what system the makers of the program used so I made up my own. So for what it’s worth the straight forward and (some might say) simplistic points system is:

10 points are awarded for a #1 record, 9pts for #2, 8 pts for #3 and so on to 1 pt for a #10 song. To make it more accurate and representative I then divided the score by the number of singles each act released in the period as this gives a more accurate score.

To keep it simple I am only using top 10 chart hits from the period Jan 71 to Dec 75. A lot of the acts had other hits outside the top ten, but I thought it would be easier to stick with this rule.

Anyway in case you’re interested the results are as follows:

So the award for best chart action goes to the "Beatles of Glam" – Slade.

No great surprise there then they did have six #1’s, and it pretty much follows the list on the TV show, although they did include such non-glam acts as the Bay City Rollers and Elton John. Yes I know not every glam act has been included here, but there you go.

Pointless Fact #209: Bowie would have polled slightly higher, but he is the only act in the top nine not to have scored a #1 during the period used. I didn’t include the re-released Space Oddity which was #1 in the UK in Nov 1975.

Re-posts

2011-02-05T10:14:00.002Z

All the Young Dudes (Bowie guide vocal) - David Bowie & Mott the Hoople

original post here.

Children of the Revolution (alternative version) - T Rex

original post here.

Star Studded Sham - Hello

original post here.

La Maison de L'amour - Son of a Gun

original post here.

Teenage Lament 74 - Alice Cooper

original post here.

“Glam singles became great events, full of sirens, explosions, shocked expressions, themed with mysterious plots, chock-full of chants that sounded meaningless but who really knew”?

“The songs were ultra-ludicrous platform-booted forced marches through exclusively teen domain, designed specifically to annoy dad as he relaxed in front of Thursday nights Top of the Pops. Hell, Sweet’s Steve Priest even delivered his camp one-liner dressed in a Nazi uniform.

Ultimately, Glam Rock may have had no more message than a simple ‘Wake Up!’ But it was unashamedly attempting to be top entertainment at a time when most so-called serious rock was so far up its own ass that even putting on stage clothes was considered gauche by the delicate flowers of the singer/songwriters scene.

And considering David Bowie’s enlightened demand that rock’n’roll be reborn by becoming a parody of itself, the reality as it descended upon the 1970’s pop charts was, at times, quite spectacular and inventive. That we still have trouble defining this apparently simplistic phenomenon is a true testament to its clod-hopping Will ‘o’ the Wispiness”.

From ‘Re-Make/Re-Model’ by Julian Cope – a ‘GlamRockSampler’
http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/1990

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy*

2011-02-02T11:48:00.000Z

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy was born Norman Carl Odam in 1947 in Lubbock, Texas. He is a rock and roll performer who invented an early example of the genre that came to be known as psychobilly in the 1960s. (Thanks Wikipedia)

He recorded his only hit, the song "Paralyzed", in 1968. It often appears prominently in lists of the worst recordings ever made.

So why does he get a mention on this blog? Well mainly because he has the word ‘stardust’ in his name, but also (and more importantly) his connection to David Bowie.

Odam has recorded a number of songs including, “I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship". This was covered by David Bowie on his 'Heathen' album. Odam returned the compliment by recording his version of "Space Oddity".

Bowie himself has said that the term "stardust" in "Ziggy Stardust" is taken from The Legendary Stardust Cowboy.

Odam currently lives in the bay area in California, and performs regularly. In May 2007 he played the David Bowie High-Line festival in New York City, at Bowie's invitation.

* I once thought of writing a musical for a glam rock western but then I came to my senses, although I still quite like the idea. ‘The Legendary Stardust Cowboy’ would have been a great title

Mud: Mr Bagatelle (b-side), Do It All Over Again (b-side)

2011-01-31T12:34:00.000Z

Today is B-Side special day and first is a re-post of the Mud b-side 'Mr Bagatelle'; original post can be found here.

‘Do It All over again’ is the b-side to Mud’s # 4 single ‘Dyna-Mite from 1973.

Mud: Mr Bagatelle
Mud: Do It All Over Again

Ava Cherry: People from Bad Homes (album track), Dana Gillespie: Andy Warhol (a-side), Lulu: Watch that Man (b-side)

2011-01-27T10:30:00.000Z

Bowie's Babes

Someone else who liked a little “musical collaboration” with the ladies was Mr Z. Stardust himself:

Hardcore David Bowie fans are probably familiar with the name Ava Cherry, but for the benefit of everyone else, Ava was Bowie’s lover in the early to mid ’70s, as well as one of his backup singers in the Astronettes during the Diamond Dogs/Young Americans Tour.

Bowie had plans for Cherry and the other Astronettes, producing an album for the trio that was ‘new wave’ before the term existed. It also ended up being shelved for twenty years when things with their mutual management MainMan went sour.

'People From Bad Homes' is taken from sessions in 1973 with Bowie as producer, where he wrote a number of new songs for her including this one. The title was later recycled for the lyrics to Bowies song 'Fashion' in 1980.

After performing backing vocals on the track "It Ain't Easy" from David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Dana Gillespie recorded an album produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson in 1973, called ‘Weren't Born a Man’.

Subsequent efforts have been in the blues genre, appearing with her London Blues Band. She is notable for being the original Mary Magdalene in the first London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar which opened at the Palace Theatre in late 1971.

She also appeared on the Original London Cast album which was released the following year.

This is a 1971 version of the song 'Andy Warhol' that pre- dates the version on the 'Weren't Born A Man' album.

Lulu's 1974 release of Bowie's ‘the Man Who Sold the World’ has been featured on this blog elsewhere. The b-side to this single was another Bowie composition this time from ‘Aladdin Sane’ called ‘Watch That Man’.

Lulu herself has admitted that after her marriage (to Maurice Gibb of Bee Gees fame) had ended she had an affair with David Bowie. She adored him but was disturbed by his dark hedonistic life. She knew that if she stayed with him too long, she'd be trapped in a “fog of decadence”.

“I was crazy for Bowie,” she says.

“I worked with him; he’s a very charismatic man and way ahead of his time. His look could be feminine but that didn’t stop him being a major heartthrob in the Seventies, did it, girls!”

Ava Cherry: People From Bad Homes

Dana Gillespie: Andy Warhol

Lulu: Watch That Man

Marsha Hunt: Hot Rod Poppa (b-side), Gloria Jones: Sailors of the Highway (album track), Sister Pat Hall: Jitterbug Love (album track)

2011-01-21T20:17:00.001Z

Bolan's Babes

The little elf obviously had a thing for the ladies, so here from the Bolan harem:

Marsha Hunt first met Marc Bolan in 1969 when she went to the studio where Bolan's group was recording "Unicorn".

Tony Visconti said that when Bolan and Hunt met, "you could see the shafts of light pouring out of their eyes into each other.... We finished the session unusually early, and Marc and Marsha walked out into the night hand in hand."

In 1973, as a member of a panel organized by British magazine Melody Maker to discuss women in music and options open to black women, Hunt suggested that black women needed to make use of the "side-door" in the industry, entering as "the statuary representative" before they could make music under their own terms.

Hot Rod Poppa a Marc Bolan penned song was released as a b-side in 1969, pre-dating his metamorphosis into T.Rex.

Gloria Jones also first met Marc Bolan in 1969 while performing in the musical "Hair".

While touring in Europe, Bolan and Jones met for the second time at the Speak-easy in London. In 1972, she was recommended by Warner Brothers Bob Regere to sing backing vocals behind T. Rex at the Winterland in San Francisco.

She sang backing vocals and played clavinet with T. Rex from 1973 to 1977. Jones released an album in 1976, called ‘Vixen’, featuring several songs written by Bolan, who was also the producer. Sailors of the Highway is taken from this album.

She was the driver of the car that crashed and killed Bolan on 16 September 1977. Jones nearly died herself in the accident, and was in the hospital for several days afterwards. She did not learn of Bolan's death until the day of his funeral.

Sister Pat Hall was a backing singer for T.Rex. On the album ‘Marc Bolan presents Sister Pat Hall’ she sings Marc Bolan compositions. The album was again produced by Bolan.

She was a well-respected session back-up singer prior to joining T. Rex. Her most notable sessions work was with Ray Charles and Joe Cocker.

Sister Pat was part of Marc Bolan’s three female back-up singers during the T. Rex tours from 1972-1974. She also appears on the 'Zinc Alloy and The Hidden Riders of Tomorrow' album.

'Jitterbug Love' was a T.Rex b-side re-arranged into a more soulful version for Sister Pat to sing on the album. It features strong Bolan backing vocals through out the song.

Marsha Hunt: Hot Rod Poppa

Gloria Jones: Sailors of the Highway

Sister Pat Hall: Jitterbug Love

Paper Lace: The Black Eyed Boys (a-side), Pilot: Magic (a-side)

2011-01-15T11:21:00.003Z

Last post we had bands that jumped on the glam bandwagon, this is where glam "jumped the shark".

Jumping the shark is a colloquialism coined by John Hein and used by TV critics and fans to denote the point in a television program’s history where the plot veers off into absurd story lines or out of the ordinary characterisations.

The term was originally used for an episode of the American TV series ‘Happy Days’ where the Fonz uses water-skis to jump over a shark. Shows that have jumped the shark are typically deemed to have passed their peak.

You could argue that glam rock was born jumping the shark. Suddenly the serious singer songwriter, progressive musical hangover from the 60’s was given a pair of water-skis and a motorboat and told to head for the nearest shark infested fancy dress shop.

So it is with tongue firmly in cheek that I present the next acts that at some level attached themselves to glam rock’s fading glory. It was glam rock without the glitter and silver foil admittedly, but it still had a glam heart beating somewhere in the distance.

Paper Lace was a Nottingham based pop group who originally formed in 1969, but chart success didn’t arrive until 1974, when a victory on ‘Opportunity Knocks’ an ITV talent contest series (the 70's version of X-Factor) helped to give them the hits they were after.

Thanks to that show, songwriters/producers, Mitch Murray and Peter Callender quickly signed them.

The smash hit "Billy Don't Be a Hero" spent three weeks at # 1 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1974. It was followed by an equally catchy story song, which reached the # 3 called "The Night Chicago Died". Another release, "The Black-Eyed Boys", took Paper Lace to # 11 in late 1974.

Pilot was a group, formed during 1973 in Edinburgh, Scotland by the former Bay City Rollers members, David Paton and Billy Lyall. Joined by Stuart Tosh and Ian Bairnson, the band recorded several demos during 1973 and 1974. They eventually signed to a worldwide recording deal with EMI Records.

The 1974 single "Magic" from their first album, produced by Alan Parsons and written by Paton, was a #11 in the UK and #5 in the U.S. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in August 1975.

The song "January" gave them their greatest success in the UK, securing the # 1 spot in the UK Singles Chart in January 1975.

However, the group failed to make the Top 30 again.

Paper Lace: The Black Eyed Boys

Pilot: Magic

Gone, but not forgotten

2011-01-12T10:17:00.000Z


Marc Bolan - T Rex


Freddie Mercury - Queen

Brian Connolly - Sweet

Mick Tucker - Sweet

Mick Ronson

Les Gray - Mud

Dave Mount - Mud


Gary Sheppard - Glitter Band

Jobriath

Ringo Starr: Back Off Boogaloo (a-side), Slik: Forever and Ever (a-side)

2011-01-08T20:40:00.001Z

The definition of jumping on the bandwagon is to “join a growing movement in support of someone or something often in an opportunist way, when that movement is seen to have become successful”.

So to kick off this post we have forever ‘ex-Beatle’ Ringo Starr who jumped on the glam bandwagon quite early with Back off Boogaloo.

Released in 1972 this was the second solo single by Ringo Starr. It got to # 2 in the UK and #9 in the US.

Starr explained – “the song was inspired when he and fellow musician and close friend Marc Bolan had dinner one night, and Bolan used the word boogaloo multiple times in his sentences".

Midge Ure is better known for his success with Ultravox and the Band Aid single, but before all that he was singer and guitarist with glam hopping group Slik.

Slik were a Scottish pop group formed in the mid 1970s, remembered for their UK # 1 hit 'Forever and Ever' released in 1975.

The band began with a glam rock image but soon changed their style to soft rock/bubblegum. In 1974 the band linked up with the pop songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, who were also writing for the Bay City Rollers at the time.

Ringo Starr: Back Off Boogaloo

Slik: Forever and Ever

David Essex: Stardust (a-side), Slade: Far Far Away (a-side)

2011-01-05T07:43:00.001Z

Glam @ the Movies

You would think that glam rock was made for the movies, and to a certain extent it was.

Movies were a big theme and influence in the whole glam rock sound and look. But in the great scheme of things it didn’t come out very well on the TV or on the big screen.

For a genre that was as bold and brash, bright and glittering as glam rock, most movies connected with it were grim and depressing or just plain crap.

How about this; crooner David Essex dying of a drug OD at the end of ‘Stardust’, and Slade in ‘Flame’ instead of a ‘Help’ style glam romp we got a gritty, cynical drama about the rise and fall of a Northern rock band.

‘Never too Young to Rock’ was meant to be upbeat and colourful, but ended up being as lukewarm and greasy as the food served in the café shown in the film, even the real actors were bad.

Other films that have attempted to capture some essence of glam include:

Velvet Goldmine

Phantom of the Paradise

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Born To Boogie

Remember Me This Way

Side by Side

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

‘Stardust’ is the theme song from the movie of the same name and is a great 70’s pop song, with a fantastic Chris Spedding guitar solo, up there with the best of the decade.

The tagline to the movie was - “Show me a boy who never wanted to become a rock star and I’ll show you a liar”

Martin Gore of Depeche Mode who covered the song said:

“Firstly it was just a song from my youth. I was never a massive David Essex fan, but I liked a few of his tracks and stardust was one of them, and probably my favourite one. It’s a good emotional song and I think it does sum up, somehow the loneliness of being a rock star at times".

“Ah look what they’ve done to the rock n roll clown.

Ah rock n roll clown, look he’s down on the ground.

Well he used to high fly but he crashed out the sky.

In a stardust fling, hey rock n roll king is down”.

‘Far Far Away’ is a # 2 single from 1974, and is from the movie ‘Slade in Flame’.

From the ‘Songfacts’ website:

“Frontman Noddy Holder penned the song after a long period of touring when he was thinking of home. He told Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie on their BBC Radio 2 show that he was looking out of a hotel window overlooking the Mississippi with Slade's manager Chas Chandler when he uttered, ‘I see the yellow lights go down the Mississippi’ and Chandler said, ‘write that song, now!’ So he went next door and after half an hour he came back with the track”.

David Essex: Stardust

Slade: Far Far Away

Glam's Greatest Lyrics part 2

2011-01-03T19:35:00.000Z

“I ain't no square with my corkscrew hair”

Into the New Year and part two of glams greatest lyrics and more from Marc Bolan.

“Automatic shoes, automatic shoes

Give me 3D-vision and the California Blues

And me I funk but I don't care

I ain't no square with my corkscrew hair”.

Telegram Sam 1973

And probably one of his best, although not when he sings it as a duet with Cilla Black.

“I could have loved you girl

Like a planet

I could have chained your heart

To a star

But it really doesn't matter at all

No it really doesn't matter at all

Life's a gas. I hope it's gonna last.

I could have built a house

On the ocean

I could placed your love

In the sky

But it really doesn't matter at all

No it really doesn't matter at all

Life's a gas. I hope it's gonna last.

I could have turned you

into a priestess

I could have burned

Your fate in the sand.

But it really doesn't matter at all

No it really doesn't matter at all

Life's a gas. I hope it's gonna last”.

Life’s A Gas 1971

Noddy Holder penned this ode to homesickness in 1974.

“I've seen the morning in the mountains of Alaska

I've seen the sunset in the East and in the West

I've sang the glory that was Rome And passed the 'Hound Dog' singer's home

It still seems for the best

“I've seen the Paris lights from high upon Montmartre

And felt the silence hanging low in No Man's Land

And though those Spanish nights were fine it wasn't only from the wine

It still seems all in hand”.

“I've seen the yellow lights go down the Mississippi

The Grand Bahama Island stories carry on

And though those aligator smiles stay in your memory for a while

There still seems more to come”.

Slade – Far Far Away 1974

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T00:01:00.005Z

Ringing in the changes.

“Time may change me

But I can't trace time

I said that time may change me

But I can't trace time”

David Bowie Changes 1971

Happy Christmas

2010-12-25T13:21:00.004Z

Christmas time again; Santa, mistletoe, mince pies and Slade.

Always loved it when Mud were on TOTP singing’ Lonely This Christmas’ Les Gray doesn’t even attempt to cover up the miming. He just uses a ventriloquist dummy for the spoken part of the song.

So here it is Merry Christmas, hope you have a good one.

Glam's Greatest Lyrics

2010-12-20T10:53:00.000Z

“This ain’t rock n roll, this is genocide”

I’m afraid lyrics are not one of glam rock’s great strengths, (Bowie aside) but here is a selection of the better lyrics from glam’s greatest and best.

I could include almost all of Bowie's output, but special mention goes to the following verses from 'Diamond Dogs'.

“Halloween Jack is a real cool cat

And he lives on top of Manhattan Chase

The elevators broke, so he slides down a rope

Onto the street below, oh Tarzie, go man go

Meet his little hussy with his ghost town approach

Her face is sans feature, but she wears a Dali brooch

Sweetly reminiscent, something mother used to bake

Wrecked up and paralyzed, Diamond Dogs are sableized

In the year of the scavenger, the season of the bitch

Sashay on the boardwalk, scurry to the ditch

Just another future song, lonely little kitsch

(There's gonna be sorrow) try and wake up tomorrow”

Diamond Dogs 1974

Also from Bowie via Mott the Hoople

“Television man is crazy saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks

Oh man I need TV when I got T Rex”.

“And my brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones

We never got it off on that revolution stuff

What a drag too many snags”.

All the Young Dudes 1972

And blasting out of 1974 with regal abandon…

“She's a killer queen

Gunpowder, gelatine

Dynamite with a laser beam

Guaranteed to blow your mind (Anytime)”.

Killer Queen: Queen 1974

We all know that Marc Bolan died in a car accident, but he also liked to sing about them quite a lot as well. Cars not accidents I mean.

“You're built like a car, you've got a hub cap diamond star halo”

Get It On 1971

“I drive a Rolls Royce 'coz it's good for my voice”

Children of the Revolution 1972

“Just like a car you're pleasing to be hold

I'll call you Jaguar if I may be so bold”

Jeepster 1972

From the pen of glam rock’s Lennon and McCartney; Chinnichap

“I'm reaching out for something touching nothing's all I ever do

I softly call you over, when you appear there's nothing left of you

And the man in the back is ready to crack

As he raises his hands to the sky

And the girl in the corner is everyone’s mourner

She could kill you with a wink of her eye”.

Sweet-Ballroom Blitz 1973

“She's a hell raiser, star chaser, trail blazer

Natural born raver, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah”.

Sweet-hell raiser 1974

And Mr wizzard himself, Roy Wood

“As I was lying in my bedroom fast asleep

Filled with those famous teenage pictures that you keep

Will Dion still be so important to you on your wedding day?”

Wizzard-angel fingers 1973

Sweet: Chop Chop (album track), Tony Blackburn: Chop Chop (a-side)

2010-12-17T13:15:00.001Z

Ah yes, songs about woodcutting, you don't get many of those nowadays.

It's the Sweet in a head to head with ex Radio 1 DJ Tony Blackburn singing a song composed by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn.

It seems that DJ's have always had a hankering to test the old vocal chords out on some song or other. It's hard to believe now but old Tony was seen as something of a sex symbol back in the early seventies. So it was inevitable that he would release a single at some point.

I can see the headline now; "Superstar DJ shows audience his big chopper".

Chop chop is not one of 'Chinnichaps' greatest moments, but it has a certain charm I think.

The Sweet had already recorded this song for their 1971 debut album 'Funny How Sweet Co Co Can Be'. When Tony Blackburn recorded his version.

The Sweet even played on the backing for the track, which is strange because at the time they didn't even play on their own singles.

Steve Priest said of the sessons, "Blackburn had no timing, we had to do the chorus over and over again until we virtually got it in time with him"

Blackburn would become a great supporter of the Sweet on his radio shows, and they returned to the studio with him again in 1972 to do more chinnichap songs.

This is from a review of the single in August 1971.

Tony Blackburn: Chop Chop (RCA) From the Chinn-Chapman current hitwriting team, a wee fantasy sort of song which suits Tony's style very well. It's into a bubblegum and rather undemanding sort of range, and the chorus is positively instantly catchy. The arrangement helps the story-line song along. I've a pretty confident feeling it's an upcoming chart-er. (26 August 1971)

In 2007 Blackburn held a question and answer session for the BBC website, one of the questions was;

"If you could never hear one song again, what would it be"?
His honest and simple answer was;

"My record of Chop Chop. It's atrocious".

All together now...."Timber, Timber"

The Sweet: Chop Chop

Tony Blackburn: Chop Chop

2010-12-17T13:14:00.000Z

All That Glitters
A commentary on Gary Glitter

One of the more glaring omissions from this blog (considering the theme is glam rock) is that of Paul Gadd, better known as Gary Glitter. Apart from a few cursory mentions; he is conspicuous by his absence.

For anyone that doesn’t know. In November 1997 Glitter was arrested after child pornography images were discovered on the hard drive of his laptop that he had taken to be repaired. He was later sentenced to four months imprisonment and listed as a sex offender in the UK.

Early in 2006 he was convicted of committing obscene acts with minors and sentenced to three years imprisonment in Vietnam. By appeal in 2007 this was reduced by three months. He was released from prison in 2008 and returned to London, after being refused entry into Thailand and Hong Kong.

Despite his present situation and reputation, it can’t be denied that his songs were a big part of the glam rock era. He was one of the biggest selling and popular glam artists, having three singles top the UK chart in the early seventies.

Nowadays he is seen as a pervert, at best a joke, who even in the seventies was perceived (by older music fans and parents) as an "overweight, slightly ludicrous and creepy figure, a little too old for the ‘teenage scene’ and his music a little too lightweight for the more serious music fans, even if they secretly enjoyed it".

Critics in England gleefully took shots at his outrageous stage clothes, his recurring weight problems, his age (critics often suggested he was forty or more) and of course his music. One critic called him “200lbs of fatback cabaret artist wrapped tightly in aluminium foil”.

After his conviction his songs faced a blanket ban in the media, and although he continued to release music, it received no airplay. His music would never win any awards for being artistic or influential, but is it right that it be air brushed out of musical history? What he did was wrong, but is that a reason to pretend that the music never existed?

So why haven't I posted any of his songs on this blog.

I suppose the simple and obvious answer is that it is forever tainted by what has happened. Back in the seventies we bought his records innocently, hearing only feel good, stomping, hands in the air glam rock. Now whenever I hear any of his songs (not that you do nowadays on either TV or the radio) I feel guilty at the sense of pleasure and nostalgia that they can still bring.

It is nostalgia for a more innocent and carefree time, a time (especially in the seventies) when you didn’t worry or think about such things as child abuse. There is also a sense of anger at the times when I feel like playing some of Glitter’s songs (and would maybe even enjoy them) but can’t anymore because of the circumstances.

But mostly I just feel sad at the loss of any pleasure I gained from listening to his records, and sad at the loss of the part of my childhood landscape that has now changed forever. We trusted that ‘what you see is what you get’, a larger than life pantomime character there to entertain the kids, with no ulterior motives or hidden agendas.

If I’m honest his music was never a big part of my life or record collection even as a young boy. He is way down on my list of favourite and influential glam artists and way, way down on the list of my own overall musical preferences. But the music that you listened too and loved in your youth somehow has a disproportionate influence and standing in your musical psyche.

I’m sure that outside Britain he is not seen as the pariah he now is. His records may even still sell elsewhere in the world. After all they are still for sale on places like Amazon, eBay and iTunes.

In the end it is a personal decision not to include any of his music on this blog; it can be found elsewhere if you really want it. Although the odd Glitter song may appear on future 'Glam Mix' posts.

I still have Gary Glitter 45’s in my vinyl collection, they will always be a big part of the glam rock scene, and I have no intention of throwing them out any time soon. But can I listen to them without feeling sadness or anger?

He will only ever be a footnote in the history of rock and pop and then for the wrong reasons. So maybe it isn’t possible to comment on his music in an honest way, not without being coloured by what he has done.

We should just leave it and say; the ‘Glitter’ sound was born overnight as a result of an experimental recording during a studio lock-in. Gary Glitter and producer Mike Leander forged a new sound from a combination of fifties rock n roll guitar, saxophone and multi-layered double drum sound.

One of Glitter’s later singles was called ‘Remember Me This Way'. I’m sure he would rather we remember him as a slightly humorous, overweight clown who did a few good pop records back in the day, but we can’t, not anymore. I’m afraid he will always be remembered more for the crimes he committed than for any musical reasons.

Brett Smiley: Va Va Va Voom (a-side), Hobnail: She's Just A Friend Of Mine (a-side)

2010-12-11T12:59:00.008Z

Junk Shop Glam part 2

“Va Va Va Voom…A manic amalgam of vintage Marc Bolan and playful Bowie, brought to a shattering three minute climax by a brilliant Steve Marriott guitar solo and a characteristically dramatic Oldham production.

He was, to put it bluntly, beautiful. Pouting, blonde and so pretty in pink, 19 year old Brett Smiley exploded out of British TV one evening in fall 1974, and if the country had not already been deeply in love with glam rock, he would have started it off there and then. At a time when David Bowie was still most people's vision of androgynous perfection, Smiley made Ziggy look like a bricklayer."
Dave Thompson, Goldmine, 1996

This track can be found on Brett Smiley’s debut album or on the ‘Velvet Tinmine’ CD available HERE.

‘She’s Just a Friend of Mine’ by Hobnail was first released in 1972 on a bell records EP. In 2005 RPM Records released a 20-song compilation called ‘Boobs the Junkshop Glam Discotheque’ available HERE.

Brett Smiley: Va Va Va Voom
Hobnail: She's A Friend Of Mine

The Rats: Turtle Dove (a-side), The Sensation: Black Eyed Woman (a-side)

2010-12-05T12:30:00.012Z

The next few posts are from a sub-genre of glam that came to be known as ‘Junk Shop Glam’.

“Flick through any 50p record bins/racks in charity shops and record fairs and you will find them. Lost gems from glam rock’s 1970s heyday.

They were the worst bands of the glam rock era, shifting so few singles they were swiftly forgotten – until now. They may remain worthless on the collectors market, but they are what Junk Shop Glam is about – a foot-stomping concoction of the trashy, the brilliant and the bizarre.

The more raucous bands combined the DIY roughness of punk with the teen war cries of classic glam. Indeed, the best of these lost singles reveal punk and glam to be two sides of the same coin, a prole liberation music blessed with the power to piss off parents and muso peers alike.

Fallen idols they may have been, but it’s their pop purity that captivates, in all its trashy, bargain-basement glory”.
Tim Cumming, the Guardian, Tue 19th March 2002.

'Turtle Dove' is taken from the album 'First Long Playing Record' a collection of David Kubinek (ex World of Oz) songs recorded by producer Adrian Millar with session musicians. This is the only single released off the album in 1974 on the Good Ear label.

'Turtle Dove', is a classic Junkshop Glam single, and features on the compilation 'Boobs: The Junkshop Glam Discotheque' (RPM 298) available HERE.

'Black Eyed Woman' is an obscure single from about 1974. This version is also taken from the Junk Glam compilation 'Boobs: The Junkshop Glam Discotheque'.

I couldn’t find much info about this track except a little bit on Foob’s ‘Underrated Albums’ website.

“This is an obscure single I was lucky enough to find in a sell-out bin over 15 years ago. When I started writing reviews for this site, I tried to find out something about it. But nada! It proved impossible to find any information about this band on the Internet. It's not even possible to find out what year this was released (the record doesn't tell) or where the band came from. So, I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more about this.

My guess is this is a release dating back to inbetween 1968 and 1974. The style is the kind of Glam Rock that was popular at the time. Bands like T.Rex and Gary Glitter topped the charts with stuff like this. What's interesting about this single is that it contains simple Glam Rock but with such a high fun level that it'll put a smile on your face. While the Boogie Rocker 'Black eyed Woman' is the best of the two tracks, it's 'Baby' that's the funniest, as the lyrics simply go "Baby, Babe, Baby, Baby" from start to end. Times were simpler then”.

The Rats: Turtle Dove
The Sensation: Black Eyed Woman

2010-12-01T08:24:00.000Z

Sparks would have featured before this on the blog, in fact they did for a few hours before the post was taken down by Blogger in response to a DRM notice.

Fair enough, many people have commented on the rights and wrongs of this so I won't add to it, but it's a shame as Sparks are one of the more unusual and innovative artists connected to the glam genre, they released some great singles and in 'Kimono My House' one of the best albums from the early 70's.

Like many bloggers I was trying to give more exposure to a style of music that I love. Anyway here's the original (edited) post but without the music.
......................................................................................................................................................................................................

For most of the seventies I read ‘Marvel’ comics and one of my abiding memories is a holiday at Great Yarmouth where I picked up a 6p copy of The Avengers # 100 from a comic rack in some newsagent on the seafront.

My joy at finding this edition is further seared into my memory by the Sparks song ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us’ playing on the shop radio.

I spent the rest of the day trying to explain to my father why Hawkeye was a better 'Avenger' than Hercules. My father died four years later, so I remember this time with great fondness. I never did get him to understand about Hawkeye, or what “tacky tigers” meant.

Anyway, Sparks are an American band formed in Los Angeles in 1970 by brothers Ron (keyboards) and Russell Mael (vocals), initially under the name Halfnelson. Best known for their quirky approach to song writing, and the contrast between Russell's wide-eyed hyperactive front man antics and Ron's scowling, looking not unlike Adolf Hitler on a bad day.

They relocated to London in 1973 and recorded their breakthrough album ‘Kimono My House’ in 1974, scoring a # 2 hit with the single "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us".

“The rain is pouring on the foreign town,
the bullets cannot cut you down

This town ain't big enough for both of us

And it ain't me who's gonna leave”
(c) Sparks 1973

Alvin Stardust: Red Dress (a-side), The Glitter Band: Goodbye My Love (a-side)

2010-11-28T10:56:00.020Z

After the initial burst of glam activity from 1971 onwards, a whole host of second stringers got in on the act. Where the acts here (in my opinion) differ from the so called fake glam acts is in the sound and presentation of the music.

People like Alvin Stardust and the Glitter Band may have come late to the genre, but they are still unquestionably glam rock.

Alvin Stardust (or Shane Fenton) had been in or around the music scene for a decade before getting a ride on the glam rock bandwagon and finding success as Alvin Stardust.

His debut number 1 single was ‘My Coo-Ca-Choo’ in 1973. In total he had seven top ten entries during his chart career. ‘Red Dress’ is a single from 1974 Reaching number 7 in the charts.

He was also part of the Green Cross Code road safety campaign in 1976, directing children to cross the road safely. It came with his famous tagline of "You must be out of your tiny minds".

Remember; Be Smart, Be Safe

The Glitter Band initially worked as Gary Glitter's backing band before starting to release their own records in 1973. In total they had seven UK top twenty hit singles and three hit albums.

'Goodbye My Love' was a number 2 record in 1975.

Alvin Stardust: Red Dress

The Glitter Band: Goodbye My Love

2010-11-24T13:14:00.001Z

"I once asked (John) Lennon what he thought of what I do. He said 'it's great, but its just rock and roll with lipstick on'."
David Bowie

Barry Blue: Do You Wanna Dance (a-side), The Rubettes: You Could Have Told Me (b-side)

2010-11-20T10:53:00.006Z

Many people tried to jump on the glam rock bandwagon and many fell off. This next post is dedicated to the fake glammers, the ones who tried their best but never quite got it right.

Some artists such as Elton John still sold shit loads of records even without the glam influence, but he used it to kick start his career. Others such as the Bay City Rollers inspired the same teenage screams and wet knickers last seen at the height of T Rextasy.

Barry Blue is a singer, producer and songwriter from the UK. He is best known for the songs, ‘Dancing on a Saturday Night’ from 1973 and ‘Do You Wanna Dance’ a Gary Glitter inspired single that reached number 7 also in 1973.

Arriving at the tail end of the glam rock movement, the Rubettes were an English pop band, assembled in 1973 by the song writing team of Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington.

The songs are greatly influenced by doo-wop and 1950’s American pop. Their first release was ‘Sugar Baby Love’ an instant hit that was number 1 in the UK for four weeks in 1974. ‘You Could Have Told Me’ is the b-side to this song. Not really glam rock in style, but I like it.

Barry Blue: Do You Wanna Dance

The Rubettes: You Could Have Told Me

Forever: Roy Wood (a-side), Farewell: Ayshea (a-side)

2010-11-16T15:12:00.006Z

I've had a few requests to re-post Roy Wood's single 'Forever'. Original post can be found HERE.

This made me think of a track that was released by Ayshea in 1973. Ayshea Brough was a British singer, model and actress who presented the 'Lift Off with Ayshea' ITV show from 1969 to 1974.

'Farewell' is a song written, produced and played by Roy Wood, and was written especially for Ayshea. The two had become friends when Roy Wood and Wizzard had appeared on her TV show. The single didn't perform very well chart wise, but is a good example of Roy Woods style at the time.

Farewell can be found on various 'Junkshop Glam' compilations and I will be featuring a few other songs from this glam sub-genre in the near future.

Lift Off with Ayshea also featured many up and coming glam acts during its time. One notable performer was David Bowie who performed 'Starman' in 1972. Although most of the memorable performances have been criminally wiped from tape, including this song.

Marc Riley formerly of The Fall, and now the BBC Radio 1 broadcaster Lard said:

"I first I saw Bowie performing ‘Starman’ was on a kids’ TV programme called Lift Off, presented by Ayshea Brough and an owl puppet called Ollie Beak. June 15th 1972 I believe. I’ll never forget the moment my friendly little mate Ollie left the screen and on came this… thing with his weird mates.

I was absolutely gob-smacked. My gran was shouting insults at the TV, and I just sat there agog. I was experiencing a life-changing moment. I know it sounds ridiculous - but it really did knock me for six. It was three weeks later when he popped up again on Top Of The Pops…and for the second time in my life I was transfixed by a bloke in a quilted jump-suit and red leather boxers boots!

There’s no doubt that Bowie’s appearance on Top Of The Pops was a pivotal moment in British musical history. Like the Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester in ’76 - his performance lit the touchpaper for thousands of kids who up till then had struggled to find a catalyst for their lives.’

The tracks posted here, are as always, ripped from my personal collection at 128kbps. They will be left up for a few weeks and then removed. If you would like anything re-posted then just leave a comment.
Farewell: Ayshea
Forever: Roy Wood

Sights & Sounds

2010-11-16T12:50:00.000Z

It's good to be back. I feel I have a bit more time to put into this blog again.

To start with (and to get me back in the 70's mood) i'm posting a few clips from some kids TV shows that i used to watch back in the brown and orange glow of the 70's.

Ace of Wands

Double Deckers

Marine Boy

2010-06-08T11:05:00.002+01:00

I hope to be back on the blog soon.

Sorry for the length of time since my last post.

2010-03-03T08:09:00.005Z

I've had a couple of the annnoying DRM notices drop into my inbox in recent weeks. While this is a pain in the arse it has given me the push to do a 'spring clean' on this blog.

I also needed to clear some space in my 'Mediafire' account, so most of the links in all but the most recent posts have now gone. If you see something on here that you really like, then let me know by commenting on that post and I will then re-link.

Anyway as I said, i'll be taking a short break but hope to be back in a few weeks.

Short Break

2010-03-01T13:48:00.002Z

I will be taking a short break from this blog for a few weeks, family commitments, new baby etc.
Hope to be back soon.

Lou Reed: Satellite of Love (a-side), Iggy Pop: I Need Somebody (album track)

2010-02-26T08:38:00.001Z

American Glam part 5

Much has already been written about the work that David Bowie did with Lou Reed and Iggy Pop in the early seventies, so I won’t add much more here.

‘Satellite of Love’ is taken from the album ‘Transformer’ a Bowie and Mick Ronson produced record from 1972. It was issued as the second single in February 1973. Transformer introduced Reed to a wider audience especially in the UK, with the record proving to be Reed’s commercial and critical zenith.

This was to cause resentment in Reed because of the shadow that the record cast over the rest of his career. After the records release Reed and Bowie had a fairly public argument that ended their working relationship for many years.

Mick Ronson, who was at the time the lead guitarist with Bowie's backing band, played a major role in the recording of the album, serving as the co-producer and primary session musician (contributing guitar, piano, recorder and backing vocals) and arranger, notably the lush string arrangement for 'Perfect Day'.

Reed has praised the beauty of Ronson’s work on the album. David Bowie, can be heard providing background vocals throughout the record, and especially on Satellite of Love.

Though this song first saw the light of day on Transformer, it dates back to Reed's previous band The Velvet Underground, and a version of the song recorded by The Velvet Underground surfaced on the ‘Peel Slowly And See’ box set.

Iggy Pop and David Bowie first met in 1971, and there is no doubt that Pop's career received a boost from his relationship with Bowie. The album ‘Raw Power’ was originally produced and mixed by Pop himself, unfortunately, Pop's first attempt wasn’t very good as he mixed most of the instruments into one stereo channel and the vocals into the other.

‘MainMan’ management demanded that the album be remixed, but Pop initially refused. So MainMan informed Pop that if the album were not remixed by Bowie, the album would not be released. Pop eventually agreed.
Due to budgetary constraints, Bowie remixed the songs (except ‘Search and Destroy’ which still retained Pop’s original production) in a single day in an inexpensive Los Angeles studio.

It is said that Columbia executives insisted on two ballads, one for each side of the record. These two "ballads" were 'Gimme Danger' and 'I Need Somebody', both much more ominous and menacing than traditional ballads.

Guitarists James Williamson and Ron Asheton have both stated that they prefer Bowie's original mix of the album to Pop's re-mastered version that appeared many years later. The version of I Need Somebody here is the Bowie mixed version.

After the albums release Bowie continued to support Iggy Pop, but drug abuse was again to blame for stalling Pop’s career for some time. Years later Bowie and Pop would relocate to West Berlin where Bowie helped write and produce 'The Idiot' and 'Lust for Life' during 1977. These became Pop's two most acclaimed albums as a solo artist.

New York Dolls: Lonely Planet Boy (album track)

2010-02-13T13:26:00.017Z

American Glam part 3
The New York Dolls formed in 1971, and over the next three years they became the premiere American glam rock band. Musically they are based in the "dirty rock of the Rolling Stones, girl-group pop, the Stooges and Bowie glam".

The band's proto-punk sound signposted much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 80s era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later spawned the Ramones, Blondie, Television and Talking Heads.

Initially, the group was composed of singer David Johansen, guitarists Johnny Thunders and Rick Rivets (who was replaced by Sylvain Sylvain after a few months), bass guitarist Arthur "Killer" Kane and drummer Billy Murcia. The original line-up's first performance was on Christmas Eve 1971 at a homeless shelter, the Endicott Hotel.

Late in 1972, the New York Dolls embarked on their first tour of England. During the tour, drummer Murcia died after mixing drugs and alcohol. He was replaced by Jerry Nolan. After Nolan joined the band, the Dolls finally secured a record contract with Mercury Records.

Todd Rundgren whose sophisticated pop seemed at odds with the band's crash-and-burn rock & roll produced the band's eponymous debut, which appeared in the summer of 1973. The record received overwhelmingly positive reviews, but it didn't stir the interest of the general public; the album peaked at # 116 on the U.S. charts.

The band's follow-up, Too Much Too Soon, was produced by the legendary girl group producer George "Shadow" Morton. The album was another commercial failure, only reaching # 167 upon its early summer 1974 release.
The band are another American glam act championed by Morrissey. A Jobriath compilation put together by the ex Smiths vocalist was called ‘Lonely Planet Boy’ after the New York Dolls song.

In 2004 the band reformed with three of their original members, two of whom, David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain, continue on today and have released two records of new material. The original bassist, Arthur Kane died shortly after their first reunion concert.

Jobriath: Heartbeat (album track), Movie Queen (album track)

2010-02-07T13:05:00.011Z

American Glam part 2
Jobriath was the stage name of Bruce Wayne Campbell an American glam rock singer from 1973 to 1974. He is credited as being the first mass-marketed pop star, and the first to be openly gay. Even today with his music championed by people such as Morrissey, he is still a largely forgotten figure on the musical landscape.

Jobriath's first, self-titled album was well-publicized at the time, but sold poorly. With its Broadway-style vocal flamboyance and thinly veiled lyrical references to homosexual love, male prostitution and sadomasochism, the songs were wrapped in huge arrangements with overwrought orchestral interludes and a bevy of female backup singers.
Oddities like "Morning Star Ship" shared vinyl with emotive piano ballads like "Inside" and bizarre, songs like "What a Pretty."
The first album was quickly followed by the second “Creatures of the Street”. Although his two LPs sound amazing even today, he was inevitably viewed as a Bowie copyist by the music press, who cruelly dismissed the artist. The public, who had been initially interested in the hype surrounding Jobriath soon unleashed a backlash of ridicule and indifference.
And so his LPs, treasured by many collectors as forgotten gems of the original glam era, went out of print for thirty years, with Elektra seemingly uninterested in reissuing them on CD.

In later years Jobriath sought to distance himself from his previous solo career, taking a new name, Cole Berlin, and adopting a new style - cabaret. He played out the rest of his life in local cabarets, clubs and parties. By the time the contract was up, Jobriath was dying of AIDS, which eventually took his life on August 3rd 1983. He was 37 years old, and his passing went largely unnoticed and unsung.

The following is taken from an article by Rob Cochrane that appeared in the November 1998 issue of Mojo Magazine.
“Glam rock was a movie in search of a soundtrack. Today, Velvet Goldmine is that movie, but 25 years ago the publicity machine roared into action to kick-start the strange yet true story of Jobriath.

In late '73 you couldn't open a music magazine without seeing rock impresario Jerry Brandt barking up the qualities of what he claimed would be the year's hottest new star. With Bowie busting out all over Britain and even stirring a sensation Stateside, the flamboyantly theatrical and shockingly un-closeted Jobriath would surely clean up in the biggest rock market in the world.

Eddie Kramer, producer of Jobriath's eponymous debut solo album, was famed for his work with Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. He remembers Jobriath as "a romantic soul, really. He wanted orchestrations like old film music, though he knew nothing about scoring. So he bought a book on orchestration and within a week he'd come up with scores of a haunting quality. These were recorded in Olympic Studios in London with a nine-foot grand piano and a 55-piece orchestra.

On the album's release in October '73, a media blitz ensued. Full-page ads were placed in Vogue, Penthouse, Rolling Stone and the New York Times, all reproducing the sleeve image of Jobriath as a discreetly nude statue creeping on smashed legs. The image dominated Times Square on a 41ft by 47ft billboard over the festive period and was also plastered across 250 New York buses.
A mere six months after the release of the debut came Creatures Of The Street, a rapid follow-up by any standards. "Some of the music is very haunting. If Jobriath had come out, excuse the pun, let's say during The Village People's success in the late '70s, he could have very well become a major star. "Timing is everything."

Alice Cooper: Teenage Lament 74 (a-side)

2010-02-01T11:34:00.016Z

American Glam part 1

In America, unlike the UK, glam rock (or glitter rock as it was known) was much less successful as a commercial genre. Bands that became popular on the US glam scene were a lot heavier and raw and less ‘bubblegum’ than their UK counterparts. Eventually Popular American glam rock acts such as Alice Cooper, The New York Dolls and Kiss rivalled the success of similar British artists such as David Bowie, by using a different stylistic and sound in their music.

Although glam rock is primarily a UK-centred genre and initially had a nebulous impact in the US (artists such as T Rex and Roxy Music had only a fraction of the success they had in the UK), glam rock rapidly influenced popular culture to the point where acts as disparate as The Osmonds and the Rolling Stones wore some glitter and makeup. Even though their music didn’t have much to do with glam rocks general themes.
......................................................................................................................Alice Cooper’s (real name Vincent Damon Furnier) career spans more than four decades. With a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, boa constrictors and baby dolls, Cooper has drawn equally from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a grandly theatrical and violent brand of heavy metal that was designed to shock, and fitted in perfectly with the emerging glam rock scene.

Alice Cooper was originally a band consisting of Furnier on vocals and harmonica, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar, and drummer Neal Smith.

The original Alice Cooper band broke into the international music mainstream with the 1971 hit "I'm Eighteen" from the album ‘Love it to Death’, which was followed by the even bigger single "School's Out" in 1972. The band reached their commercial peak with the 1973 album 'Billion Dollar Babies'.
"Teenage Lament" was a UK # 12 in 1974. The song features backing vocals by US divas Liza Minelli and Ronnie Spector. The song can be found on the 1973 album ‘Muscle of Love’.
Image taken from "Marvel Premiere" # 50 by Marvel Comics Group.

The Successors Of Glam

2010-01-26T12:09:00.003Z

Glam rock as a youth movement and a musical sub-genre was essentially over by the end of 1975. It had, if I’m being honest, been in slow decline since early in 1974. The best of the glam anthems had been and gone and established glam artists had either moved on to other pastures or were simply treading water.

There were a few ‘Johnny come lately’ artists hanging on for grim death or trying to keep the whole thing going, but essentially glam was dead, its ability to outrage and shock had long since passed in the eyes of the public and mainstream media.

But can any musical genre ever truly be finished? In today’s world of unlimited access to music, (often highlighted in blogs such as this or accessed through sites like ‘Spotify’ and ‘You Tube’) every form of music is at your fingertips.

Even after its immediate mark on mainstream music had ended, the glamorous, aesthetic styles, unusual clothes and hard pop-rock sounds were a major influence upon the punk rock movement that followed.

Bowie, Bolan, and the New York Dolls among others directly influenced early punk bands such as The Ramones, Blondie, The Sex Pistols, The Damned (with whom Marc Bolan toured during 1977) and Siouxsie & the Banshees.

Glam would be an even bigger influence on post-punk bands such as Joy Division, The Cure, Adam and the Ants, on later ‘New Romantic’ artists such as Culture Club and Japan, and on late 70’s, early 80’s synthpop.

Artists like Gary Numan, Ultravox and Soft Cell were strongly influenced by glam in both image and sound, with some even starting out in glam bands.

The Gothic rock movement that also came from post-punk took cues from glam, and in particular Roxy Music and David Bowie. Artists such as these were a great influence on bands like Bauhaus who covered Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, and later Telegram Sam by T Rex.

In fact it has always been acknowledged that Roxy Music and especially David Bowie played a large part in shaping the new wave sounds that followed glam. Both used the genre and their retrospective influence to gain large commercial success in the early 1980s.

The Alternative and indie rock scene in the 90’s would also be influenced by glam, particularly in the UK. In the 1990s, Britpop referenced glam rock, with bands like Oasis using Slade and Mott the Hoople as primary influences.

Others include, Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Heavy Stereo, and even Morrissey whose album ‘Your Arsenal’ also had glam rock leanings, with production by Mick Ronson.

At the 2004 Brit awards David Bowie appeared with Placebo to sing a cover of T Rex’s 20th Century Boy, and in a direct line from glam via the Sex Pistols were one hit wonders Sigue Sigue Sputnik who recreated the glam sound in the 80’s with ‘Love Missile F1-11’, later to be covered by David Bowie himself, so the glam sound came full circle.

In America the glam rock influence can be seen in the emergence of ‘Glam Metal’. Hanoi Rocks (formed in 1979) are widely regarded as one of the first glam punk/metal bands.

In the beginning the American glam metal movement would take huge influence from glam rock bands like the New York Dolls. Quiet Riot had their first huge commercial success by covering Slade's 'Cum on Feel the Noize' in 1983.

However as time went on there was less of a pure glam rock sound in glam metal and it began to be more influenced by a number of different styles of 1980s pop music. Nonetheless, the Los Angeles music scene spawned many glam metal bands, including Poison and Twisted Sister.

In the UK (where glam was always more popular) bands such as The Quireboys and Girlschool emerged forging a glam metal sound to rival the American version.

In the intervening years, glam has enjoyed sporadic and modest revivals through bands as diverse as, The Darkness, Placebo, Gay Dad, Scissor Sisters, Goldfrapp and Marilyn Manson. Even into the present day with Lady Ga Ga and The Stereophonics, whose new single ‘Innocent’ has a definite glam rock rhythm and feel.

What's in a name?

2010-01-21T13:13:00.015Z

A little name changing didn't hurt in the glam rock world.

David Robert Jones - David Bowie Marc Feld - Marc Bolan
Bernard William Jewry - Alvin Stardust
Paul Gadd - Gary Glitter
Barry Ian Green - Barry Blue
Frederick Bulsara - Freddie Mercury
Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice - Steve Harley
and best of all

Luther James Grosvenor - Ariel Bender (guitarist with Mott the Hoople)

Tyrannosaurus Rex - T Rex
The Sweetshop - The Sweet
Ambrose Slade - Slade

A couple of classic album tracks, a lost 45 and a Bowie out-take to check out.

'Baby Boomerang' taken from the album 'Slider' 1972
'How Can It Be' taken from 'Old New Borrowed and Blue' album 1974
'Turn It Down' was a single released in 1974 reaching #41 in the UK charts
'Sweet Head' is an out-take from the 'Ziggy Stardust' album in 1972

The Polecats: John I'm Only Dancing & Jeepster (cover versions)

2010-01-13T14:10:00.004Z

The Polecats were a rockabilly style band formed in the late seventies, originally calling themselves the Cult Heroes.A record deal lead to the release in early 1981 of the double A-side, “John I'm Only Dancing/Big Green Car" on Phonogram's Mercury label. This got to #35 in the UK charts.Their third single release was another glam cover this time the old T Rex track "Jeepster". This got to #53 in the UK charts.
These cover songs are a bit different from the straight versions you normally hear. They have been given a rockabilly make over, which I think suits the styles of the songs perfectly.

Re-post/Re-mix/Re-wind

2010-01-10T11:39:00.003Z

This is an edited repeat of the very first post on this blog for any one who missed it the first time around. I just wanted a bit of a re-cap about the philosophy behind the blog. The Sweet's live 1976 version of Ballroom Blitz has been added for good measure.

I bought my first 7" record in September 1973. I was ten years old. It was the Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz". I obviously had a lot of pocket money that week as I went out the next day to buy two more; "Angel Fingers" by Wizzard and "Life On Mars"? by David Bowie. That was only the beginning.

Glam Rock had some great music, (it also had lots of crap music) songs that would stand the test of time. But even at it's worst, it could still entertain, but with tongue firmly in cheek. Glam gave pop back to the kids after years of progressive rock doodling and fret-wank. To many it was a beacon of light in a country that was literally in the dark.

In most respects glam rock is totally fake, but to young kids like me it was real and alive. It may have been "Brickies in eyeliner" but to the kids it was "stardust for the dudes"?

This blog isn't here to give total insight into the glam rock genre and it's protagonists, it's here to give a taste of the sights and sounds of that era. The forgotten A-sides and album tracks that weren't fully appreciated the first time, and the equally forgotten and long lost B-sides that were the flip-side of what glam was all about.
I have tried to restrict myself to sharing songs from the period 1971 - 1975, these are considered to be the main glam rock years, but I'm sure songs either side of these dates will sometimes creep in. Others have walked through, and flirted with the glam world; the Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart to name two. For every Bowie and Bolan there was an Alvin Stardust or Barry Blue. But even some of these 'second generation' glam artists could produce a decent song or two.
Of course I am looking back on all this from the perspective of a 46 year old man; wife, children and all that comes with that, but when I write this blog I am ten years old again and it's perpetually 1973. So I guess I will always have my rose tinted specs firmly on when looking back at that time.

I have loved other music with a greater passion since, but not with the same youthful joy, or with such a sense of longing and nostalgia when I hear it played. And now 36 years after buying that first single I sit here writing this.

I think that maybe when you find yourself, like me, at 45 RPM in life, your mind naturally returns to the past and your own inner groove.

"Are you ready Steve? Aha!
Andy? Yeah!
Mick? OK!
Alright fellas, lets go"

Electric Light Orchestra: Ma Ma Ma Belle (Alt take)

2010-01-07T12:43:00.010Z

"I feel that i've told the story of Marc Bolan playing double lead guitar with me on 'Ma Ma Ma Belle' so many times that I won't mention it again. Anyway it's true. What a nice thing"

"Marc Bolans a friend of mine from a few years back. He was in the studio just over-dubbing something, and we had a good laugh, a bit of a reunion. It was really good because it's given the whole thing a new feel"

Jeff Lynne sleeve notes from re-issue of 'On The Third Day' 2006

Mick Rock (photographer)

2010-01-06T13:08:00.003Z

all photos copyright Mick Rock

Mick Rock is a photographer best known for his iconic shots of 1970s glam rock icons and early punk stars such as David Bowie, Queen, Mick Ronson, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones and Blondie.

By 1972, Mick Rock was already becoming well-known as a photographer, particularly for his photographs of Bowie and Ronson during the Ziggy Stardust tour, on which Mick Rock was the official photographer.

He is responsible for album covers including Queen's "Queen II" and "Sheer Heart Attack", David Bowie's "Space Oddity", Lou Reed's "Transformer" and Iggy and The Stooges "Raw Power". He also directed several of David Bowie's early music videos, including those for "Life on Mars?", "The Jean Genie" and "Space Oddity".

See Life On Mars? video here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueUOTImKp0k

His book “Moonage Daydream: The Life and Times of Ziggy Stardust” features hundreds of photos of Bowie in his Ziggy period, and Rock was the only photographer to access all areas at the filming of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”.

In 2005, he released a photo book called “Glam! An Eyewitness Account”.
It documents the evolving glam and later punk movements.

The following interview is taken from, “Q & A With Mick Rock”.

“The aptly named Mick Rock was the go-to photographer of the glam scene, creating a visual record of the era's icons -- from David Bowie provocatively chewing on Mick Ronson's guitar strings to a slinky Iggy Pop on the cover of Raw Power, to the Frankensteinian shot of Lou Reed on Transformer.

The newly reissued photo book "Glam!: An Eyewitness Account" (originally published as "Blood and Glitter" in 2001) documents all the major players and brings the makeup-caked men, women, and not-quite-sure-what-they-are into focus. Here, Rock reminisces about those debaucherous years”.

E.W: In the intro to "Glam!," you write: "First you seduce the retina, then you subvert the other senses. The first rule of glam." What does that mean?
Mick Rock: That was how David Bowie operated in the early days: get people's attention by the way you looked. Once they were intrigued with that, then they'd start listening to the music. To some degree, that was always true in rock & roll -- look at Elvis Presley. With glam it was very self-conscious to tart yourself up, attract attention, and then deliver the goods.
E.W: Was it really as hedonistic and wild as your photos make it seem?
M.R: Oh, yes, people got away with all kinds of stuff, though the press didn't really pry into it too much.
E.W: What did they get away with?
M.R: I'm gonna leave that to you, darling! [Laughs]
E.W: C'mon!
M.R: You know, partner swapping, the multisexual thing, the kinky stuff started to come out. It was a great time to be young and out of order. It was absolutely self-indulgent, but it was very creative.
EW: You also write in the intro that you acquired a taste for makeup -- why did you try it out?
M.R: I liked the way it looked... and the girls found me more attractive. Glam was not just a gay thing, it was absolutely equally a heterosexual scene. And if you wanted to get near all the hip girls, you needed to be tarted up a bit.

Glam! An Eyewitness Account by Mick Rock is available from Amazon.

"We couldn't have pounced without Marc Bolan. The little imp opened the door. What was so great, however, was that we knew he hadn't got it quite right. Sort of Glam 1.0. We were straining in the wings with versions 1.01 and 1.02, while Marc was still struggling with satin. But boy, he really rocked. He did, Y'know"
David Bowie from the foreword to Glam! An Eyewitness Account.

Kenny: The Bump (a-side), Mungo Jerry: Wild Love (a-side)

2010-01-01T12:41:00.004Z

It was way back in 1974-75 when I was still a scruffy little 11 year old, and still reading "Buster" & "Shiver & Shake" comics that I first experienced the 'school disco'. Every Friday evening at 7 myself and all my friends would boogie on down to our Junior school gym to be put through one and a half hours of the latest and greatest 70's sounds.

Two of the songs that stand out from all the others at these sweaty gatherings were: "The Bump" by a band called Kenny and "Wild Love" by Mungo Jerry. The Bump, because it was always a way to get close to the girls (via the medium of dance) and maybe get to walk one of them home after the disco.

The Bump usually involved 'bumping' your hips together in some strange pre-pubesant mating ritual, where you only succeeded in actually inflicting injury and brusing to both parties.

The other song I remember was Wild Love. This time because the same girls who we tried to dance with during the Bump would put on a Pan's People style dance routine (that had obviously been practiced on in secret) for the benefit of all us boys.

As with most things time colours our perception of the past. Most of these evenings were just an attempt at (out of time) dancing while at the same time trying not to break an ankle in our platforms, or in my case squeeking away on the polished floor in black 'Converse' trainers.

Anyway incase your interested: In 1974 songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter were looking for a group to promote some new songs. One of which was called "The Bump" which had recently entered the charts under the name of Kenny. This was really Coultier on vocals and a remixed backing track from the" Bay City Rollers".

The problem was that they desperately needed a group to be Kenny, and whoever became Kenny would have instant stardom and would appear on UK music show "Top of The Pops".

They agreed and felt that they needed a better lead singer to go with a new image. Therefore Rick Driscoll was recruited as lead vocalist. The Bump reached #3 in the UK in 1974 released on the RAK label.

.....................................................................................................................................................................

Mungo Jerry are an English rock group whose greatest success was in the early 1970s, although they have continued throughout the years with an ever-changing line-up, but always fronted by Ray Dorset.

They are best remembered for their hit "In the Summertime", and they made their national debut at the Hollywood Festival at Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire in May 1970, the week "In the Summertime" was released.

The record topped the UK Singles Chart for seven weeks,and made number one in 26 countries around the world. Their second single "Baby Jump" also topped the UK chart in March 1971.

Ray Dorset has received three Ivor Novello Awards as a composer.

is an underated single released in 1973, only reaching #32 in the UK charts. I think it has stood the test of time better than other more successful Mungo Jerry songs.

"Wild Love"

Happy New Year.

It's Christmaaas

2009-12-25T13:11:00.009Z

It seemed like a good idea to get a bit ahead of schedule with some of the blog entries I was intending to write, and to set some sort of order to the songs being posted. So with that in mind I began planning this Xmas post way back in August at the height of the British summer. As it turned out we didn't get much of a summer (as usual).
Anyway the point is, that it nicely links in with the song posted here, namely "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade. It is now a well known fact that this song was recorded in the (not very Christmasy) heat of June in a studio in the USA, to be released in the winter of 1973. It went on to become one of Slade's best selling and best loved 45's.

Originally a #1 in December 73, it has been re-released (in the UK) almost every year since then, giving Noddy and the boys a nice little pension in the process. Rather than posting the 7" version that everybody has heard, I have posted a rocking live version by the band from 1975.
The glam rock years were a golden period for Xmas singles, with Wizzards "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" only a #4 in December 1973 (such was the standard of other singles released at the same time). Mud's "Lonely This Christmas" a #1 the following year, and other less famous ones such as "Step Into Christmas" by Elton John and even "Wombling Merry Christmas" by the Wombles obviously.

The Origins of Glam Rock

2009-12-23T08:53:00.001Z

Glam rock emerged in the post hippie period of the late 60’s and early 70’s. It is commonly accepted that it began when Tyrannosaurus Rex an acoustic, psychedelic, folk rock band lead by one time mod Marc Bolan, shortened it’s name to T. Rex and released the number 1 UK single “Ride A White Swan” in December 1970.

Marc Bolan also changed his professional image by wearing makeup and glitter, first seen during an appearance on Top of the Pops in late 1970. It was this appearance along with a mix of bisexuality and a 1950s-futurist hard rock-pop sound that laid the foundation for glam rocks early sound and image.

Following Bolan's successful metamorphosis, David Bowie (seen as the other major player in the scene) altered his own professional persona to fit the new concept (and further explore the bisexual glam image), by creating Ziggy Stardust. Ziggy was strongly influenced visually by Stanley Kubrick's movies ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, and as with Marc Bolan, the music was harder-sounding and more aggressive than his previous work.

It was David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust character that brought Glam rock its relatively modest popularity in America, and lead to American artists such as Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, The New York Dolls, Jobriath, and Alice Cooper adopting Glam or Glam-influenced styles.

Also caught up in Bolan’s wake, previously existing pop-rock bands and artists such as, Slade and Sweet (originally called Ambrose Slade and The Sweetshop respectively) would emerge and have greater commercial success during 1971-72. Pure pop artists like Mud, Gary Glitter and Alvin Stardust would also rise to fame in 1972-73, as a second generation of glam acts conquered the charts, making glam a national music phenomenon in the UK.

Glam itself can be seen as a nostalgic mixture of various styles, from both the visual and musical arts. This ranged from 1930s Hollywood glamour, and 1950s rock n' roll teenage rebellion, to a bit of pre-war cabaret theatrics, with some ancient and occult mysticism and mythology added for good measure.

But it was science fiction imagery that was at the core of glam rock's stylistic pallet. Themes of spaceflight and alien encounters were common in the glam rock spectrum. Glam style strongly referenced the "space Age" with silver astronaut-like outfits and multicoloured hair. This trend was often musically represented with science-fiction/fantasy-oriented lyrics and music tinted with early synthesizers such as the Moog.

So with its flamboyant costumes, androgyny and colourful visual styles, together with a camp, theatrical blend of old style glamour, transvestism and futurism, glam rock dominated the early seventies musical backdrop in the UK. Although seen predominantly as a teenage and youth phenomenon, glam rock also consciously wallowed in more adult themes and 1970’s drug and sleaze excess. The stars of Andy Warhol's films and his stage play ‘Pork’ were crucially influential to the nascent glam movement. The Warhol set were provocatively camp, flamboyant, and sexually ambiguous.

Another element in the melting pot of glam rock was recent homosexual reforms in the United Kingdom and the militant Stonewall Riots for gay rights in the US. Sexual ambiguity was briefly in vogue as an effective cultural "shock tactic". David Bowie caused a media uproar in 1972 when he told the UK press he was bisexual. But while glam rock went against traditional gender-representation, genuinely gay glam rock musicians were rare. The late Jobriath was amongst rocks first openly gay performers, while Queen's Freddie Mercury stayed mostly "in the closet".

“Though primarily a UK-centred genre and of somewhat nebulous impact in the US, glam rock rapidly influenced popular culture to the point where acts as disparate as The Osmonds and the Rolling Stones wore some glitter or makeup. Even though their own work had little if any connection to science fiction, sexual ambiguity or high art, the genre's pop stars also wore makeup and 'futuristic' garb. However, as the genre progressed, it became stylistically diluted and commercialised”.

By the end of 1975 glam rock was in its final days. Acts like Slade, Sweet and T Rex were losing popularity and record sales, as the public found other music and trends to take there place. While artists such as David Bowie and Roxy Music were exploring different musical avenues and genres that didn’t have glam rocks restrictions.

“Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide.
No escape from reality”.
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen, December 1975

Suzi Quatro: I Wanna Be Free (b-side)

2009-12-22T21:53:00.002Z

"I Wanna Be Free" was the b-side to the 1974 single "Too Big" a moderate hit reaching # 14.

The song is written by Quatro and her then husband Len Tuckey.

Sweet: The Six Teens (a-side)

2009-12-18T22:40:00.002Z

This song is often regarded as the best track written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman for The Sweet. It details the lives of six teenagers who have to deal with the change from the idyllic and idealistic 1960's to the more confronting 1970's.

It was also the last Chapman and Chinn song to feature on a Sweet single release. It shows a more plaintive side of the songwriters usual glam rock stomp. When released in 1974 it got to #9 in the UK charts.

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel: Sebastian (a-side)

2009-12-15T10:21:00.002Z

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel are an English rock band who’s music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years they have had five albums in the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles in the UK Singles Chart.

The band comprised Steve Harley (who was also the songwriter) on vocals and acoustic guitar, Stuart Elliot on drums, John Crocker on violin, mandolin and guitar and bass player Paul Avron Jeffreys. Keyboards man Milton Reame-James was invited to join and the band went straight into the studio and recorded their first album "The Human Menagerie" in 1973.
The first single from this album was "Sebastian" it wasn’t a hit in the UK but did spark interest in the band, and was a huge hit in Holland and Belgium, staying at # 1 for weeks on end. The album rapidly drew attention and the violin/electric piano sound was soon recognised as the bands trademark.

Cuddly Toys: Madman (cover version)

2009-12-11T10:38:00.002Z

was originally one of two songs written by David Bowie and Marc Bolan in September 1977. The other being "Sitting Next to You".

"Madman"

The original plan was to play these on Bolan's TV show "Marc" on which Bowie was a guest on the last show of the series.

However filming of the show had over-run, and they were only half a minute into the first song when Marc fell off the stage and technicians on a work-to-rule overtime ban stopped filming. Only a week later Bolan was dead, so any more collaborations were not to be.

The originals of Madman and Sitting Next To You have appeared on various bad quality bootlegs over the years.

It's said that Marc had given a tape of Madman to some fans, and the song first saw the light of day as this Cuddly Toys single in 1980. The Cuddly Toys started out as punk band "The Raped". Having little success they changed their name, sound, and image and became The Cuddly Toys.

The song reached #19 in the UK Indie Chart.

Mud: Morning (b-side)

2009-12-07T08:52:00.002Z

"Morning" is the b-side to "The Cat Crept In". Released in 1974 it reached # 2 in the UK charts.
It follows a similar mellow, acoustic sound to "Mr Bagatelle" and is again written by the band.

Slade: How Does It Feel? (a-side)

2009-12-04T10:37:00.003Z

In 1975 Slade made the film "Slade in Flame". Partly semi-autobiographical, it was not the film that critics and fans expected of the band. Instead of colourful "Monkees" style musical comedy it showed a more gritty and cynical side of the music industry, and I think it is all the better for that.
It chronicles the rise and bitter break up of a Northern rock band, and the movie's theme is the song "How Does It Feel?" which I think is one of the best singles released in the 70's. But the change in style for the band did not go down well with all fans with the song only getting to '#15 in the charts, a relative failure for Slade, making it their first single in three and a half years that failed to make the top 10.
It is a melancholy and reflective ballad using flutes and piano with string and brass orchestration, not something you would usually associate with their records. Noddy Holders voice shows genuine emotion and it was this song more than any other that gave Noddy Holder and Jim Lea the title of "The Lennon and McCartney Of Glam"
In 2000 on the Big Breakfast TV show Noel Gallagher of Oasis said it was his favourite Slade tune. He said:

"Slade were never pretentious. It was just music to them. Pop, rock, soul... it was all the same to Slade. They wrote great songs. And, besides, I'd like to raid their wardrobe."
"Do you know what it's like
to be searching in your own time?,
to be searching and suddenly find.
All your illusion, all your confusion,
all left behind.
How does it feel turning away?,
and how does it feel facing another day?.
Coz many years from now
there will be newer poisons
and new horizons.
How does it feel?"
Noddy Holder & Jim Lea 1975

The Glitter Band: You Wouldn't Leave Me Would You (b-side)

2009-11-30T10:39:00.002Z

"You Wouldn't Leave Me Would You" is the b-side to "Angel Face" a #4 single from 1974.

T Rex: Children of the Revolution (alternative version)

2009-11-25T08:34:00.005Z

"Children of the Revolution" is a song by T.Rex. It was a #2 hit single in September 1972. The song broke their sequence of four official single releases all reaching #1 ("Hot Love", "Get It On", "Telegram Sam", "Metal Guru").

It did not receive a regular album release, but was featured in "Born to Boogie" a 1972 film based around a T Rex concert at Wembley Empire Pool. The movie was directed by Ringo Starr, and was released on The Beatles' Apple Films label.
Born to Boogie consists of concert footage; recorded studio scenes with guest stars Ringo Starr and Elton John, and various vignettes reminiscent of The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, shot at Denham and Tittenhurst Park, Sunninghill. The Tea Party sequence was filmed at John Lennon's estate in the same spots as Lennon's Imagine video was filmed.
The song is about teenage rebellion, and upon its release, some critics blasted the song, as it marked a change in the band's sound. This is an alternative version played in the film with Elton John on piano. A string quartet version of the song also appears in the film.
"The film was made purely as a piece of rock and roll entertainment. I feel it documents the phenomenon that has been T.REX through the past year – and that was the purpose of the film initially. But as Ringo and I became more involved in the making of “Born to Boogie” we decided to add several more scenes, bringing in “accidental” humour and to shoot actually “live” without dubbing. By doing so we were endeavouring to to get a spontaneity which does not come naturally from some films.
In some of the scenes outside of the concert we let our imaginations take their courses and, with the aid of props and a dwarf, let which ever happened, happen. And it did. We made the film strictly for a teenage audience who demand youthful excitement of the cinema – as well as on television and in the theatre. I think the film does that – no more, no less".
Marc Bolan 1972

Marc Bolan & Gloria Jones: City Port (b-side)

2009-11-20T10:10:00.002Z

Gloria Jones is an American singer who is famous for recording the 1964 northern soul song, "Tainted Love".

Her career began in a church gospel choir, which led to spots singing backing vocals for artists like Phil Spector and Bob Dylan. Her singing talent and years of studying piano and composition led to a job writing for Motown.

Gloria Jones first met Marc Bolan of T. Rex in 1969 while performing in the musical Hair. In 1972, she was recommended by Warner Brothers to sing backing vocals behind T. Rex at the Winterland in San Francisco.

Soon after joining T. Rex, Jones and Bolan became romantically involved. Together, they had a son, Rolan Bolan.

She sang backing vocals and played clavinet with T. Rex from 1973 to 1977. Jones released an album in 1976, called "Vixen", featuring several songs written by Bolan, and he also was the producer.

Tragically she was also the driver of the car that crashed and killed Bolan on 16 September 1977. Jones also nearly died in the accident, and was in the hospital for several days afterwards. She did not learn of Bolan's death until the day of his funeral.

"City Port" is a song that originally appeared on the last official T Rex album "Dandy in the Underworld" in 1977. While not falling within the official glam rock period, it is still, in style and context a glam record.

Hot Chocolate: Emma (a-side)

2009-11-15T10:27:00.002Z

Hot Chocolate were an English pop band from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and were formed by singer Errol Brown. The band were chart regulars throughout the 1970s and 1980s. They have had at least one hit every year between 1970 and 1984 and "You Sexy Thing" made the Top 10 in three decades.

Again they are not really classed as a glam rock act, but as with Smokie they were on Mickie Most’s RAK record label.

Emma is a song by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson released as a single by Hot Chocolate in 1974. It made #3 in the UK charts and #8 in the US.

The song details the love of the (nameless) singer and a girl called Emmaline from the age of five all through a wedding at seventeen until her suicide at an unspecified later date. Emma it seems wanted to be a "movie queen" but could never find the breaks and eventually kills herself with the line "I just can't keep on living on dreams no more."

Smokie: If You Think You Know How To Love Me (a-side)

2009-11-12T11:26:00.002Z

Smokie are an English rock band from Bradford, UK, who found success in Britain and Europe in the 1970s.

While not really a glam rock band, most of their best known singles were written by the hit song writing team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman.

In 1975, Smokie released their second album “Changing All the Time”. This LP sounded much softer than their debut a year earlier, containing string arrangements on some songs, with an emphasis toward acoustic guitar arrangements and close harmony vocals.

The first single from the album was, "If You Think You Know How to Love Me", which quickly became a big hit in many European countries, peaking at # 3 in Britain. At this point the band still spelt their name 'Smokey' as seen on the label. They later changed the spelling of their name due to a dispute with Smokey Robinson at Motown.

Mickie Most (Producer)

2009-11-09T20:24:00.002Z

Mickie Most was born Michael Peter Hayes in 1938 and died in 2003. He was a successful English record producer, who had a string of Number One singles on his own RAK Records.

RAK Records was set up in 1968 by Most and Peter Grant. But with Grant's involvement with The Yardbirds, and soon with Led Zeppelin, this meant that Most had full control by late 1969.

The record label came into its own during the glam rock era, and was home to a growing roster of artists such as Suzi Quatro, Mud, The Arrows, Hot Chocolate and Smokie. By hiring the song writing production team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, RAK scored several British #1 singles with Suzi Quatro, Mud and Smokie

From the beginning he knew what market he wanted to corner. He said:
"I decided that, as all of the major companies were now leaning towards dumping singles and signing artists with the album concept in mind, I would take care of the singles market myself."

RAK developed a reputation for producing bubblegum pop, mostly written and produced by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. But it was Mickie Most himself that produced the band that had the largest commercial success for RAK: Hot Chocolate. Their singles including "Emma" in 1974 and "You Sexy Thing" in 1975 became international hits.

RAK records went on to have a constant stream of hits throughout the 70’s and into the early 80’s. In 1973 for example fourteen out of 18 of RAK releases were top 30 hits or better.

RAK Publishing is based inside the legendary RAK Recording Studios in St Johns Wood, London which was created in 1976 by Mickie Most. He sympathetically converted an imposing Victorian schoolhouse and church hall into a state-of-the-art recording studio complex.

"In the whole of pop, he's the only man I can think of who has unnatural powers, who really knows what will hit and what won't. He rarely misses."Nik Cohn – Rock from the Beginning

Golden Earring: Radar Love (a-side)

2009-11-08T13:09:00.002Z

"Radar Love" is a 1973 song performed by Dutch rock band Golden Earring, reaching #13 in the UK charts.

While seen as one hit wonders in the UK, in their home country, they had over 40 hits and made over 30 gold and platinum albums and are still performing today.

Like "Crazy Horses" by The Osmonds this is one of the great underated, classic glam songs, and can often be found in lists of the top 'driving' songs of all time.

Roy Wood: Forever (a-side)

2009-11-03T07:24:00.004Z

Much like Bryan Ferry with Roxy Music, Roy Wood maintained a parallel solo career, while still releasing singles with Wizzard.

“Forever” is a Wood solo single that broke into the U.K. Top 10 in January 1973, reaching #8. The song is evocative of both early rock and roll and the soaring melodies of Brian Wilson.

Happy Birthday

2009-10-29T15:29:00.002Z

This blog is one year old today.

"I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring".
David Bowie

People stared at the makeup on his face
Laughed at his long black hair, his animal grace
The boy in the bright blue jeans
Jumped up on the stage
And lady stardust sang his songs
Of darkness and disgrace

And he was alright, the band was all together
Yes he was alright, the song went on forever
And he was awful nice
Really quite out of sight, really quite paradise
And he sang all night long

Lady Stardust by David Bowie
from the album 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'