Glam It Up
Glam Rock (also known as glitter rock), was a style of rock and roll music popularised in the early 1970s. It was an English phenomenon and at its peak (1971 to 1973) was made famous by acts such as Slade, The Sweet, David Bowie, Gary Glitter, Elton John & T. Rex. Later, this stlye was to have an influence on such groups such as Queen and Kiss. In the US, Glam made less of an impression and was largely confined to selected fans in New York and Detroit.
By 1970, music had arrived (arguably) at a crisis. Glam was a reaction to "progressive rock" and serious blues songs. Using lavish and effeminate clothes, along with heavy make-up, male performers embraced the lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous. Lyrical emphasis was often on "teenage revolution" and the male glam acts evoked images of “blurring gender lines and diminishing social divisions” (Wikipedia). David Bowie (or Ziggy Stardust as he was known for a time) was one of the most mainstream of the glam rock acts, but Elton John was one of the first glam rock performers who crossed over into the mainstream enjoying huge success in a long and prominent career.
Credit for starting the Glam genre is often given to Marc Bolan of T. Rex.
In America, glam rock was represented by the proto-punk ‘New York Dolls’, whose Rolling Stones-influenced ‘rawk-n-roll’ was matched by the feminine look of the band. On the other hand, female glam rocker Suzie Quatro cultivated a masculine, rough girl look, appearing in a leather jacket. Interestingly, Kiss, the most enduring of the glitter bands were from New York yet wrote the song Detroit Rock City which became one of their more popular songs.
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Glam rock was a major influence on the late 1970s UK ‘Punk Rock’ movement. Bands like the Sex Pistols and The Damned (the latter took Marc Bolan on tour around 1977), took heavy influence from Glam rock. This was also true of another movement from around the early 80s, dubbed the "New Romantics". This style included Adam and the Ants, Culture Club, and Duran Duran (among others).
The New York Dolls adopted a form of glam-rock-heavy-metal androgyny. The band formed in 1971 and was fronted by guitarist Johnny Thunders and singer David Johansen. The band wore make-up, jewellery, high-heeled boots and spandex. Queen rivalled most other glam bands with Freddy Mercury as front man. He built up the visual potential of the band, staging excessive live shows. Mercury often favoured dresses or leather storm-trooper outfits. Today, traditional glam rock is not largely represented, though there are a few examples, such as the Scissor Sisters.
Sources: Larry Levan 2006: A History of Disco Music, Wikipedia, Media KnowAll: Popular Music, Piero Scaruffi: History of Rock Music, Encyclopedia Britannica 2002, BBC Online – Music.Thanks for the images, go to: Yahoo! Images
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