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

"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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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)

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

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

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

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

"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.

Mud: Morning (b-side)

"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.

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

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

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

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.

David Bowie: Holy Holy (b-side)

"Holy Holy" is a song by David Bowie, originally released as a single in 1971. It was recorded shortly after the completion of The Man Who Sold the World album.


This is a more frantic version of the song recorded for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album. It was dropped from the LP, but subsequently appeared as the B-side to "Diamond Dogs" in 1974.

Queen: See What a Fool I've Been (b-side)

Queen formed in London, England in 1971 following the demise of the band Smile. Queen consisted of vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. In 1973 they signed their first record deal with EMI and released their first album “Queen”.

Mercury explained, "I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid, it’s a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it."
Mixing glam-rock with hard-rock, the group’s ornate, multi-tracked recordings stood out among other songs recorded at the same time.
But beyond the flamboyant exterior there was genuine power and daring in their music. Over the years their music has ranged from rockabilly and disco-funk to heavy metal and acoustic ballads. Their most famous song “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a densely layered rock operetta, that is among the most ornate and intricate productions in music history.

While promoting their debut album, the band were writing new material and anxious to record it. Several new songs were written immediately after the first album, and some dated from even earlier.
By August 1973 the band were back in Trident Studios to record what is generally considered to be one of their best albums, "Queen II". For an album as complex as “Queen II”, It was recorded in a relatively short time, taking only a month in total.

A full version of "Seven Seas of Rhye" was recorded for the album with the specific intention of being the album's leading single. After the commercial failure of "Keep Yourself Alive", which was taken from the first album, Queen decided it needed a single that did not take "too long to happen" (without a lengthy guitar intro). So, Queen and producer Roy Thomas Baker made sure that the song began in a way which would grab people from the off.

The b-side to “Seven Seas of Rhye” was "See What a Fool I've Been" which was a song left over from the Smile days (and was actually built around May's recollection of a blues ditty he had heard on a television program; the song was "That's How I Feel" by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
“Queen II” was released in 1974. The album reached number five on the British album charts, and the Freddie Mercury written lead single "Seven Seas of Rhye," reached number ten in the UK. The band also toured as support to Mott the Hoople in the UK and US during this period.

Of all the bands and artists related in some way to glam rock, Queen are by far the most successful in terms of record sales, becoming one of rock’s most popular and influential acts.

As of 2009 their total album sales have been estimated at over 300 million worldwide, including 32.5 million in the United States alone, making them one of the worlds’s best selling artists. In 2006, their Greatest Hits album was found to be the United Kingdom's all-time best selling album. Their 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best live rock performance of all time in a recent industry poll, and the band is also the only group in which every member has composed more than one chart-topping single.

Mud: Last Tango in London (b-side)

“Last Tango in London” is a Mike Chapman/Nicky Chinn song written for Mud, that was released on the B-side of “Hypnosis” in June 1973. It reached number 16 in the British charts.

Sweet: Rock & Roll Disgrace (b-side)

“Rock & Roll Disgrace” is the B-side to “Ballroom Blitz” a number 2 single by the Sweet released in September 1973.

Slade: Wonderin Y (b-side)

When starting this blog it was always my intention to highlight the great glam songs that were relegated to the B-sides.

So with that in mind the next few posts will stick to the flip sides of the original single releases, starting with “Wonderin y” by Slade which is the B-side to “Take Me Bak Ome” a number 1 for them in 1972.

Geordie: Electric Lady (a-side), Arrows: I Love Rock n Roll (b-side)

"I didn't want to get sucked into that second-generation glam rock, My next thing won't be glam rock. I'm telling you that, babe. I don't want to be involved in any of that. I don't put down anyone who is involved in it, but once the vision takes over from the music they're in bad shape." Marc Bolan 1973
We were never to find out if Marc Bolan would ever get any distance between himself and glam rock, but he was right about the so called "second generation" of glam acts. For most it was a case of image over any clear musical talent, with most performers just jumping onto the glam rock band wagon while it was still popular. Some had tried their hand at other styles long before glam came along (Alvin Stardust, Gary Glitter), while others were just manufactured, purpose made glam acts (Hello, Slik).

Fitting into the first category are Geordie who were a rock band from Newcastle upon Tyne. They had been around for some time before their first single, "Don't Do That" broke into the UK Top 40 in December 1972. Their sound was influenced by British rock bands of the day such as Led Zeppelin, as well as glam acts like Slade. They only had one UK Top 10 hit, 'All Because Of You' in April 1973 and one UK Top 20 hit, "Can You Do It" in July 1973.

Geordie are best known for their lead singer Brian Johnson, who would later join AC/DC after the death of their former frontman Bon Scott in 1980.

'Electric Lady' is an up tempo rocker in the Slade style released in August 1973, but only reaching number 32 in the UK. Although not having any great success this song is one of their better offerings and deserved to get higher than it did.
The Arrows fit more into the manufactured glam acts category. Originally a three piece who had hit singles in 1974/75 with Chinnichap songs 'Touch Too Much' and 'Toughen up', they were produced by Mickie Most for his RAK record label.

They also had two 14-week television series (The Arrows Show) in 1976 and 1977 on Granada Television, and are the only band to have two weekly TV series and no records released during the run of either series. Their final single "Once Upon A Time" was released two months before the first show of their first series in 1976. The reason given for this was contracts and lack of record label co-operation. They eventually split in 1977.

In spite of the lack of label cooperation, they left their mark and legacy in a song. The Arrows are now known in rock history as the band that wrote, recorded, and released the first version of "I love rock n roll", a song that has lasted 30 years in cover versions, most famously by Joan Jett which was a US number one in 1982. Britney Spears and others have also released versions of the song.
This version was first released as a B-side, but was soon re-recorded and flipped to A-side status on a subsequent pressing of the record. The song was not a hit in its original version as a result of non-existent promotion by the band's label.

Mud - Mr Bagatelle (b-side)

Between 1973 and 1976 Mud were a constant presence in the British charts. Notching up eleven top ten hits, which included three number 1’s. (Tiger Feet, Lonely This Christmas and Oh Boy)

Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman (Chinnichap) after their success with Sweet were looking for another band to write for and manage. That band was Mud (Les Gray, Ray Stiles, Rob Davis and Dave Mount).
Mud were signed To Mickie Most’s RAK label and their first Chinnichap penned single ‘Crazy’ was released in January 1973. Eventually reaching number 12 in the charts.

By October 1973 the Chinnichap sound was beginning to make a bigger impact on the charts and in teen magazines. Their third single ‘Dyna-mite’ was released at this time and was the first single of Mud’s that I bought. The following January saw the release of ‘Tiger Feet’ Mud’s most enduring and biggest hit. It spent four weeks at number 1 in February 1974, and became the biggest selling single of the year.

The B-side of ‘Tiger Feet’ was Mr. Bagatelle. Like the Sweet; Mud wrote most of their own B-sides of which this is a good example. It is an acoustic strum that rambles along quite nicely. But again it was a favourite of mine as a kid.

Rob Davis the guitarist in Mud and co-writer of this song eventually went on to bigger and better things. Writing "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" for Spiller in 2000; and "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" for Kylie Minogue in 2001.

In 1975 Mud’s relationship with Chinnichap was coming to an end, and the last Chinnichap song released by the band was ‘Moonshine Sally’. The song had actually been recorded some years earlier but for some reason was kept back until now. It reached number 10.

Sweet - Spotlight (b-side), Jeanie (b-side)

Poppa Joe: The Sweet
It’s funny the way music can polarize normally sane and level headed people. Glam rock was seen as a joke at the time by many so called serious music fans. Why listen to Slade or T.Rex when you could bore the pants off everybody by playing The Grateful Dead at 2 o clock in the morning.

One of the greatest dividers of musical taste in the early 70’s was The Sweet. They had a slow start in the UK charts; and it was not until they teamed up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman (commonly known as Chinnichap) that they started having top ten hits. At heart Sweet were no nonsense rockers and at times some of the ‘bubblegum’ songs Chinnichap were providing was at odds with their true musical identity.
It was not until 1972’s Wig Wam Bam that the group even started to get a harder edge to the sound. In fact this was the first song where the band had actually played their instruments. On all earlier singles the backing music was played by session musicians, something which always pissed off the band as they were all accomplished musicians in their own write.

They (Brian Connolly, Andy Scott, Steve Priest and Mick Tucker) had always written and played on the B-sides of their records, so it was only a matter of time before they began to write and produce the A-sides as well. This signaled a heavier, rockier Sweet sound. The first of these self written singles Fox on the Run was released early in 1975, but by then the glam rock boom had almost run its course.

It may be time for a Sweet re-appraisal. One of the biggest sellers in the glam era but also one of the most underrated. Maybe it was because of the way they looked or because they didn’t play the instruments on their early recordings, who knows. Ask anyone for a list of their favourite ‘Glam’ anthems and I’m sure a Sweet song will be in there somewhere. Blockbuster, Hell Raiser, Ballroom Blitz, the list goes on.

Spotlight is the B-side to Alexander Graham Bell which reached number 33 in 1971. Written by the band members it is not as heavy as later B-sides penned by them, and shows a lighter musical touch.
Jeanie is the B-side to Poppa Joe a number 11 from 1972. This is almost as ‘bubblegum’ as the songs Chinnichap were writing for them. A light hearted love song to ‘Jeanie’ not much more to say other than its bright and ‘poppy’ and I used to play it more than the A-side.
The two B-sides highlighted here are from their earlier Chinnichap singles. As with most glam rock the music and lyrics would never win any awards for being sophisticated, intellectual or philosophical. Still, writing a song about the guy who invented the telephone has got to get some praise and kudos. In their own way the lyrics are quite tender and poetic.
“A candle flickers in a window
Two thousand miles away she waits there
There's a young man thinking by a window
How was she to know just how much he cared
The sun rises early in the morning
Millions of people still unaware
of something he discovered without warning
so he could show a girl just how much he cared”Alexander Graham Bell – Nicky Chinn & Mike Chapman 1971.

Slade - My Town (b-side), She Did It To Me (b-side)

Based on overall chart performance Slade were the most successful artist of the glam rock era. This was highlighted in Channel 4’s ‘Top Ten Glam Rock Artists of All Time’, where Slade and strangely the Bay City Rollers came in first and second respectively.

At their peak Slade were the most commercially popular band in the UK. They achieved 12 top five hits from 1971 to 1974. This included six number 1’s, three number 2’s and two songs at number 3. Three of their singles went straight into the chart at number 1, a feat last accomplished by the Beatles. After 1975 Slade’s success faded however, but they did have some further success in the early 80’s with another two top ten hits, Run Runaway and My Oh My.

I must admit that at times during the early seventies I think I preferred Slade over even Bowie or T.Rex. For great, stomping, heavy, guitar driven pop they couldn’t be beaten. Apart from the great song writing, Slade’s greatest asset was having Noddy Holder as front man. Noddy (Neville) Holder had one of rock’s great voices and unlikely as it seemed had one of glam rock’s great iconic images, the mirrored hat. Along with Bowie’s Aladdin Sane lightning flash and Bolan’s “Corkscrew hair,” that mirrored hat is the most recognisable thing associated with glam rock.
Even now I still get misty eyed when certain songs come unexpectedly on the radio. We had a black Fidelity record player at home when I was a kid in the 70’s, and playing Skweeze Me Pleeze Me (sic) over and over again is one of the happiest memories from my childhood. The intentional misspelling of the song titles was also a good way to wind up teachers and parents.

My Town is the B-side to My Friend Stan released in 1973 and eventually reaching # 2 in the charts. Both are from the album ‘Old, New, Borrowed and Blue’. My Town is the harder hitting flipside to the bar room piano style evident on the A-side. No introduction, no messing about, just straight in after a single snare beat.



She Did It to Me was the flip-side to Bangin Man a 1974 Slade song that reached # 3. This was a slow, piano driven ballad in the style of Everyday the single that Slade released earlier that year. Proving that they could do slow and sensitive with the best of them.