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Glam rock

Not to be confused with Glam metal.

Glam rock
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsEarly 1970s, United Kingdom
Derivative forms
Fusion genres
Other topics

Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter.[1][2][3] Glam artists drew on diverse sources, ranging from bubblegum pop and 1950s rock and roll to cabaret, science fiction, and complex art rock.[4][5] The flamboyant clothing and visual styles of performers were often camp or androgynous, and have been described as playing with other gender roles.[6] Glitter rock was a more extreme version of glam rock.[7]

The UK charts were inundated with glam rock acts from 1971 to 1975.[8] The March 1971 appearance of T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan on the BBC's music show Top of the Pops—performing "Hot Love"—wearing glitter and satins, is often cited as the beginning of the movement. Other British glam rock artists included David Bowie, Mott the Hoople, Sweet, Slade, Mud, Roxy Music, Alvin Stardust and Gary Glitter. Though not central to the genre, artists such as Elton John, Rod Stewart and Freddie Mercury of Queen also adopted glam styles.[9] In the United States, the scene was much less prevalent, with Alice Cooper and Lou Reed the only American artists to score a hit in the UK.[8] Other American glam artists include New York Dolls, Sparks, Suzi Quatro, Iggy Pop and Jobriath. Glam rock declined after the mid-1970s, but influenced other musical genres including punk rock, glam metal, death rock and gothic rock. The New Romantic movement, which began as an underground fashion subculture movement in nightclubs in the late 1970s before becoming mainstream in the early 80s, was also inspired by the visuals of the glam rock era.

Characteristics

David Bowie as his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust during the 1972–73 Ziggy Stardust Tour

Glam rock can be seen as a fashion as well as musical subgenre.[10] Glam artists rejected the revolutionary rhetoric of the late 1960s rock scene, instead glorifying decadence, superficiality, and the simple structures of earlier pop music.[11][12] In response to these characteristics, scholars such as I.Taylor and D. Wall characterised glam rock as "offensive, commercial, and cultural emasculation".[13]

Artists drew on such musical influences as bubblegum pop, the brash guitar riffs of hard rock, stomping rhythms, and 1950s rock and roll, filtering them through the recording innovations of the late 1960s.[11][14][15] Ultimately, it became very diverse, varying between the simple rock and roll revivalism of figures like Alvin Stardust to the complex art pop of Roxy Music.[10] In its beginning, it was a youth-orientated reaction to the creeping dominance of progressive rock and concept albums – what Bomp! called the "overall denim dullness" of "a deadly boring, prematurely matured music scene".[16]

Visually, it was a mesh of various styles, ranging from 1930s Hollywood glamour, through 1950s pin-up sex appeal, pre-war cabaret theatrics, Victorian literary and symbolist styles, science fiction, to ancient and occult mysticism and mythology; manifesting itself in outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots.[5] Glam rock is most noted for its sexual and gender ambiguity and representations of androgyny, beside extensive use of theatrics.[17]

It was prefigured by the flamboyant English composer Noël Coward, especially his 1931 song "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", with music writer Daryl Easlea stating, "Noël Coward's influence on people like Bowie, Roxy Music and Cockney Rebel was absolutely immense. It suggested style, artifice and surface were equally as important as depth and substance. Time magazine noted Coward's 'sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise'. It reads like a glam manifesto."[18] Showmanship and gender identity manipulation acts included the Cockettes and Alice Cooper, the latter of which combined glam with shock rock.[19]

History

Marc Bolan of T. Rex performing on ABC's In Concert, 1973

Glam rock emerged from the English psychedelic and art rock scenes of the late 1960s and can be seen as both an extension of, and a reaction against, those trends.[10] Its origins are associated with Marc Bolan, who had renamed his acoustic duo T. Rex and taken up electric instruments by the end of the 1960s.[16] Bolan was, in the words of music critic Ken Barnes, "the man who started it all".[16] Often cited as the moment of inception is Bolan's appearance on the BBC music show Top of the Pops in March 1971 wearing glitter and satins, to perform what would be his second UK Top 10 hit (and first UK Number 1 hit), "Hot Love".[20] The Independent states that Bolan's appearance on Top of the Pops "permitted a generation of teeny-boppers to begin playing with the idea of androgyny".[18] T. Rex's 1971 album Electric Warrior received critical acclaim as a pioneering glam rock album.[21] In 1973, a few months after the release of the album Tanx, Bolan captured the front cover of Melody Maker magazine with the declaration "Glam rock is dead!"[22]

Noddy Holder (right) and Dave Hill (left) of Slade, near the height of their fame in 1973, showing some of the more extreme glam rock fashions

From late 1971, already a minor star, David Bowie developed his Ziggy Stardust persona, incorporating elements of professional makeup, mime and performance into his act.[9] Bowie, in a 1972 interview in which he noted that other artists described as glam rock were doing different work, said "I think glam rock is a lovely way to categorize me and it's even nicer to be one of the leaders of it".[23] Bolan and Bowie were soon followed in the style by acts including Roxy Music, Sweet, Slade, Mott the Hoople, Mud and Alvin Stardust.[9] The popularity of glam rock in the UK was such that three glam rock bands had major UK Christmas hit singles; "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade, "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" by Wizzard and "Lonely This Christmas" by Mud, all of which have remained hugely popular.[24][25] Glam was not only a highly successful trend in UK popular music, it became dominant in other aspects of British popular culture during the 1970s.[8]

A heavier variant of glam rock, emphasising guitar riff centric songs, driving rhythms and live performance with audience participation, were represented by bands like Slade and Mott the Hoople, with later followers such as Def Leppard, Cheap Trick, Poison, Kiss, and Quiet Riot, some of which either covered Slade compositions (such as "Cum On Feel the Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now") or composed new songs based on Slade templates.[26] While highly successful in the single charts in the UK (Slade for example had six number one singles), very few of these musicians were able to make a serious impact in the US; David Bowie was the major exception, becoming an international superstar and prompting the adoption of glam styles among acts like Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, New York Dolls and Jobriath, often known as "glitter rock" and with a darker lyrical content than their British counterparts.[27]

In the UK, the term glitter rock was most often used to refer to the extreme version of glam pursued by Gary Glitter and the independent band with whom he often performed known as the Glitter Band. The Glitter Band and Gary Glitter had between them eighteen top ten singles in the UK between 1972 and 1975.[7] A second wave of glam rock acts, including Suzi Quatro, Roy Wood's Wizzard and Sparks, had hits on the British single charts in 1973 and 1974.[9][28] Quatro and T.Rex directly inspired the pioneering Los Angeles based all-girl group The Runaways.[29] Existing acts, some not usually considered central to the genre, also adopted glam styles, including Rod Stewart, Elton John, Queen and, for a time, the Rolling Stones.[9] After seeing Marc Bolan wearing Zandra Rhodes-designed outfits, Freddie Mercury enlisted Rhodes to design costumes for the next Queen tour in 1974.[30] Punk rock, in part a reaction to the artifice of glam rock, but using some elements of the genre, including makeup and involving cover versions of glam rock records,[31] helped end the fashion for glam from about 1976.[27]

Influence and legacy

A figure in the new romantic movement, Boy George of Culture Club (performing in 2001) was influenced by glam rock icons Bolan and Bowie.[32]

While glam rock was exclusively a British cultural phenomenon, with Steven Wells in The Guardian writing "Americans only got glam second hand via the posh Bowie version", covers of British glam rock classics are now piped-muzak staples at US sporting events.[33] Glam rock was a background influence for Richard O'Brien, writer of the 1973 London musical The Rocky Horror Show.[34] Although glam rock went into a steep decline in popularity in the UK in the second half of the 1970s, it had a direct influence on acts that rose to prominence later, including Kiss and American glam metal acts like Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe and Ratt.[35]

New Romantic acts in the UK such as Adam and the Ants and A Flock of Seagulls extended glam, and its androgyny and sexual politics were picked up by acts including Culture Club, Bronski Beat and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.[36] Gothic rock was largely informed by the makeup, clothes, theatricality and sound of glam, and punk rock adopted some of the performance and persona-creating tendencies of glam, as well as the genre's emphasis on pop-art qualities and simple but powerful instrumentation.[27]

A wax figure of a red-haired man with a gold "astral sphere" across his forehead.
Wax figure of Bowie at Madame Tussauds, London

Glam rock has been influential around the world.[37] In Japan in the 1980s, visual kei was strongly influenced by glam rock aesthetics.[38] Glam rock has since enjoyed continued influence and sporadic modest revivals in R&B crossover act Prince,[39] bands such as Marilyn Manson, Suede, Placebo,[40] Chainsaw Kittens, Spacehog and the Darkness,[41] and has inspired pop artists such as Lady Gaga.[42]

Its self-conscious embrace of fame and ego continues to reverberate through pop music decades after the death of its prototypical superstar, Marc Bolan of T. Rex, in 1977. As an elastic concept rather than a fixed stratosphere of '70s personalities, it is even equipped to survive the loss of its most enduring artist, David Bowie.

— Judy Berman writing for Pitchfork in 2016, From Bowie to Gaga: How Glam Rock Lives On.[42]

Relationship to the LGBT community

The glam rock scene that emerged in early 1970s London included numerous openly bisexual musicians, including Queen's Freddie Mercury, Elton John, and David Bowie.[43][44] Medium's Claudia Perry felt that "Glam rock was a queer paradise of sorts. Watching Mick Ronson and Bowie frolic onstage gave hope to every queer kid in the world. John's flamboyancy was also of great comfort. Marc Bolan of T. Rex is still the subject of speculation (a friend who worked at Creem remembers him coming on to just about everyone when he came through Detroit, but this clearly isn't definitive)." Glam also rock helped to normalise androgynous fashion.[45] Jobriath, the rock scene's first openly gay star, was also part of the glam rock scene.[46]

Glam rock hits "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed and "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie also brought attention to non-heteronormative situations in the world of rock.[47] When discussing "Rebel Rebel", Tim Bowers of The New York Times recalls that "glam's vocals had a fruity theatricality, supporting lyrics that presented as a boast: "Your mother can't tell if you're a boy or a girl." Glam was butch and femme at once: bisexuality in sound."[48]

The Rocky Horror Show, soundtracked by primarily glam rock, was a keystone of LGBTQ media in the 1970s.[49] A song from the show, "Sweet Transvestite", was noted as "the first big, glam rock aria of the musical" and that glam rock "was a queering (or camping) of the genre of rock music" in the book Trans Representations in Contemporary, Popular Cinema.[50] The musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch from 2001 also used glam rock to tell the story of a gender-affirming surgery gone awry. In discussing why glam rock was used for Hedwig, the article goes on to say "by showcasing a more fluid approach to gender expression, glam rock artists like David Bowie, Marc Bolan, and Freddie Mercury became icons for the LGBTQ+ community. They helped pave the way for greater acceptance and understanding."[51]

Film

Movies that reflect glam rock aesthetics include:

See also

References

  1. ^ "Glam Rock Style Guide". attitudeclothing.co.uk. 9 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Glam Rock". Encarta. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  3. ^ Bess Korey (16 July 2010). "The Sirens and '70s Female Glam Rockers". girlsinthegarage. Archived from the original on 21 September 2010.
  4. ^ "Glam Rock | Significant Albums, Artists and Songs". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. ^ a b P. Auslander, Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006), ISBN 0-472-06868-7, pp. 57, 63, 87 and 141.
  6. ^ Reynolds, Simon (1995). The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion, and Rock n' Roll. London: Serpents Tail. p. xiii.
  7. ^ a b V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul (Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), ISBN 0-87930-653-X, p. 466.
  8. ^ a b c Auslander, Philip (2006). Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music. University of Michigan Press. p. 49.
  9. ^ a b c d e P. Auslander, "Watch that man David Bowie: Hammersmith Odeon, London, 3 July 1973" in I. Inglis, ed., Performance and Popular Music: History, Place and Time (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), ISBN 0-472-06868-7, p. 72.
  10. ^ a b c R. Shuker, Popular Music: the Key Concepts (Abingdon: Routledge, 2nd edn., 2005), ISBN 0-415-34770-X, pp. 124-5.
  11. ^ a b Reynolds, Simon. "Simon Reynolds Speaks at Fordham on History of Glam Rock". Fordham English. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  12. ^ "Glam Rock". Britannica. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  13. ^ Gregory, Georgina (2002). "Masculinity, Sexuality, and the Visual Culture of Glam Rock" (PDF). Culture and Communication - University of Central Lancashire. 5: 37. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
  14. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2001). All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 3.
  15. ^ Farber, Jim (3 November 2016). "Growing Up Gay to a Glam Rock Soundtrack". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  16. ^ a b c Barnes, Ken (March 1978). "The Glitter Era: Teenage Rampage". Bomp!. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via Rock's Backpages.
  17. ^ "Glam rock", AllMusic. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
  18. ^ a b "Box-set billed as the definitive guide to Seventies music genre has further ostracised its disgraced former star". The Independent. Retrieved 15 September 2017
  19. ^ P. Auslander, Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006), ISBN 0-472-06868-7, p. 34.
  20. ^ Mark Paytress, Bolan – The Rise And Fall of a 20th Century Superstar (Omnibus Press 2002) ISBN 0-7119-9293-2, pp. 180–181.
  21. ^ Huey, Steve. "Electric Warrior – T. Rex | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  22. ^ Bolan, Marc (16 June 1973). "Glam Rock is Dead!". Melody Maker. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  23. ^ "David Bowie is the Newest Rock Star Imported From England". Nashua Telegraph. Associated Press. 4 November 1972. p. 14. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  24. ^ "UK's most popular Christmas song revealed". NME. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  25. ^ ""PRS for Music announces top 50 Christmas Songs (United Kingdom)". 14 December 2012 PRS press release.
  26. ^ "Kiss Founder Gene Simmons Says Band's 'Heart and Soul Lies in England'". Ultimate Classic Rock. 8 January 2021.
  27. ^ a b c P. Auslander, "Watch that man David Bowie: Hammersmith Odeon, London, July 3, 1973" in Ian Inglis, ed., Performance and Popular Music: History, Place and Time (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), ISBN 0-472-06868-7, p. 80.
  28. ^ Rhodes, Lisa (2005). Ladyland: Women and Rock Culture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 35.
  29. ^ P. Auslander, Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006), ISBN 0-7546-4057-4, pp. 222-3.
  30. ^ Blake, Mark (2010). Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen. Aurum.
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  32. ^ Murray, Robin (30 October 2013), "Boy George: How To Make A Pop Idol", Clash, retrieved 6 November 2021
  33. ^ Wells, Steven (14 October 2008). "Why Americans don't get glam rock". The Guardian.
  34. ^ Reynolds, Simon (2016). Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, from the Seventies to the Twenty-First Century. Faber & Faber.
  35. ^ R. Moore, Sells Like Teen Spirit: Music, Youth Culture, and Social Crisis (New York, NY: New York University Press, 2009), ISBN 0-8147-5748-0, p. 105.
  36. ^ P. Auslander, "Watch that man David Bowie: Hammersmith Odeon, London, July 3, 1973" in I. Inglis, ed., Performance and Popular Music: History, Place and Time (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), ISBN 0-7546-4057-4, p. 79.
  37. ^ Chapman, Ian; Johnson, Henry (2016). Global Glam and Popular Music: Style and Spectacle from the 1970s to the 2000s. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781138821767.
  38. ^ I. Condry, Hip-hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization (Duke University Press, 2006), ISBN 0-8223-3892-0, p. 28.
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  40. ^ P. Buckley, The Rough Guide to Rock (London: Rough Guides, 3rd edn., 2003), ISBN 1-84353-105-4, p. 796.
  41. ^ R. Huq, Beyond Subculture: Pop, Youth and Identity in a Postcolonial World (Abingdon: Routledge, 2006), ISBN 0-415-27815-5, p. 161.
  42. ^ a b "From Bowie to Gaga: How Glam Rock Lives On". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  43. ^ Parys, Bryan (12 June 2023). "Queer artists who shaped music history". Berklee. Archived from the original on 17 June 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  44. ^ Hardison, Ryan; Sullivan, Jacob (27 April 2021). "A timeline of LGBTQ+ influence in music". Daily Aztec. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  45. ^ Farber, Jim (17 October 2014). "Growing up Gay to a Glam Rock Soundtrack". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  46. ^ Megarry, Daniel (2 May 2018). "The tragedy of Jobriath, the world's first openly gay rock star". Gay Times. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  47. ^ Einav, Dan (20 May 2019). "Lola — The Kinks' 1970 hit was controversial for its risqué lyrics, and its reference to a soft drink". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019.
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  49. ^ Roach, Jackie (25 April 2023). "The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Impact on Queer Communities". Storymaps. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  50. ^ Richardson, Niall; Smith, Frances (23 August 2022). Trans Representations in Contemporary, Popular Cinema: The Transgender Tipping Point. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-61877-8. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  51. ^ Guzzanti, Flor (28 June 2023). "Hedwig And The Angry Inch: Celebrating 22 Years Of Glam Rock And Gender Identity". rockandart.org. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  52. ^ P. Auslander, Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006), ISBN 0-7546-4057-4, p. 81.
  53. ^ "The BBC have released some archive footage of The Sweet and it's pure glam magic". Louder Sound. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
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  56. ^ "On The Film Programme this week". The Film Programme. BBC Radio 4. 6 April 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
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  60. ^ Holden, Stephen (20 July 2001). "FILM REVIEW; Betwixt, Between on a Glam Frontier". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  61. ^ Emerson, Jim (3 August 2001). "Hedwig and the Angry Inch Movie Review (2001)". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  62. ^ Travers, Peter (20 July 2001). "Hedwig and the Angry Inch | Movie Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  63. ^ Turner, Kieran (19 July 2012). "Jobriath A.D.: His Time Has Come". Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 September 2012.

Further reading

  • Chapman, Ian and Johnson, Henry. (eds) Global Glam and Popular Music: Style and Spectacle from the 1970s to the 2000s. New York: Routledge, 2016 ISBN 9781138821767
  • Rock, Mick, Glam! An Eyewitness Account Omnibus Press, 2005 ISBN 1-84609-149-7
  • Reynolds, Simon Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, from the Seventies to the Twenty-first Century Day Street Press, 2016 ISBN 978-0062279804
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