GLAM BAM Thank You, Ma’am!

As I write this article, the British media is turning its attention back to the 70s – yes, it’s that time again! Channel Five has screened an entire series on the era, That Was The Decade That Was. In addition to this, there have been documentaries and dramas on the dying days of English Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s regime, others recalling the ‘Three Day Week’, strikes, documentaries on terrorist bombings, various fashion disasters – and the inevitable retinue of talking heads proffering their recollections of the era. All of a sudden, the 70s are everywhere, and we’re wallowing in reissues and tours. There have been several recent DVD releases featuring Marc Bolan & T.Rex. And although it’s not from the same era, the David Bowie Serious Moonlight concert DVD has hit the stores. High time we turned our attention, therefore, to one of the most maligned and misunderstood genres in the rock’n’roll pantheon – glam rock. Tacky, disposable rubbish, or the source of a greater rock’n’roll truth? Brickies in drag, or moonage daydreamers? Or somewhere in between? Strap yourselves in – it’s going to be a bumpy ride…

WELCOME TO THE GLAMIVERSE ...

Let’s set the scene a little here. By the time that T.Rex had become a fully ‘electric’ band, recruiting bassist Steve Currie and drummer Bill Legend to augment the sound of bongo-playing Mickey Finn, Marc Bolan had already made his much sought-after chart breakthrough with Ride A White Swan in late 1970. Consolidating said breakthrough with the fabulous Hot Love in March 1971 (which gave T.Rex their first chart-topper), Bolan set about enhancing his visual image, and quickly threw off any vestigial trappings of his former hippy persona.

Meanwhile, the broader British music scene of the time had cleaved along a distinct line which separated the world of the ‘serious’, ‘progressive’ bands (basically the album charts) and the domain of the ephemeral and disposable – the singles listings. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Yes and ELP just didn’t see the value in releasing singles; it was hard to distil what they were about in the context of a two-minute-30-seconds 45. The power successfully wielded by The Beatles and the Stones in negotiating more favourable, artist-friendly record deals filtered through to the acts that had risen to prominence on the cusp of the 70s, and skewed the emphasis to the album as both the more artistically and financially rewarding …

by Alan Robinson
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