Glam rock, also known as “glitter rock”, is a genre that emerged in the 1970s, characterized by sequined clothing, guitar solos and completely offbeat styles. But is it a musical style or rather a distinct fashion style?
Welcome, young rock star, to our online store! Here, we’re talking music, style, metal… 🎸
Sometimes called “glitter rock”, glam rock is a genre that emerged in the 1970s. It’s characterized by bold costumes and masculine make-up. But it’s also a combination of music and theatrical performances created to shock. David Bowie is one of the artists behind this counter-culture that emerged in the late 1970s in the UK.
In this article, you’ll discover what glam rock really is, both musically and stylistically. We’ll look at the contributions to the rise of this style, as well as the 20 best glam rock tracks and albums. 🎸
Let’s get started! 🔥THE MOST POPULAR PRODUCTS🔥
Defining Glam Rock
In terms of the music itself, glam rock bands were a major alternative to the emerging genres of progressive rock and heavy metal. Their songs were reminiscent of the good old rock ‘n’ roll of the 50s and 60s. These bands attracted a teenage audience similar to that of the Beatles and Rolling Stones in the last decade.
What really set glam rock apart was its emphasis on image. It was a time of eccentric costumes and theatrical performances, often with sexual overtones. Just as the music seemed intent on embodying rock’s rebellious attitude, the fashion and energetic performances aimed to lend it an exaggerated grandeur. 🕺
Glam rock was particularly popular in the UK, where it was divided into three sub-genres. Art lovers were seduced by the artistic stylings of David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust persona. Teenagers adored rock ‘n’ roll bands such as T. Rex, Gary Glitter, Mott the Hoople and Showaddywaddy. Finally, there were harder bands like Slade, Sweet and Queen’s later work, which fused pop melodies with powerful guitars and drums, exerting a significant influence on hair metal a decade later.
Although its heyday is now over, glam rock has had a considerable influence on the development of pop music. Hair metal is an obvious example, but it’s also hard to find a British punk rock, post-punk, new romantic, new wave or goth rock band that isn’t influenced by Bowie or Bryan Ferry. His simple style and image-conscious approach have also had a major influence on Britpop and many contemporary indie rock bands.
Another Name: Glitter Rock
Glam rock, also known as “glitter rock”, emerged in Britain in the early 1970s and celebrated the staging of rock stars and their concerts. Musicians took to the stage dressed in sequins, make-up and feminine clothing, adopting theatrical personas and creating glam music productions, often characterized by a futuristic space-age aesthetic. 💅🏻
Self-glorifying and decadent, glam rock was a reaction to mainstream rock in the late 1960s. On the bangs of society and rock culture, glam rockers rebelled against rebellion, as critic Robert Palmer pointed out. At the heart of glam was a powerful guitar sound, influenced by hard rock and pop styles, although the movement also encompassed incarnations of heavy metal, art rock and punk.
David Bowie, one of the movement’s key players, set the standard with The Man Who Sold the World in 1970, followed by The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in 1972. Other artists associated with British glam rock include Elton John, Queen, Roxy Music, The Sweet and, in the early 1980s, Culture Club. Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground launched his solo career as a representative of American glam rock with the album Transformer (1972), co-produced by Bowie.
In the USA, glam took a rockier turn with the proto-punk stylings of the New York Dolls and the glittery hard rock of Kiss and Alice Cooper. In the 1980s, glam evolved into excessive heavy metal with American bands such as Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe and Poison. In the 1990s, Marilyn Manson stirred up controversy with his own glam style designed to shock American conservatives. 🇺🇸
Glam Rock Music
In its first classic incarnation in the UK, circa 1972-1974, this musical style grew out of a number of distinct trends:
- A rejection of the overwhelming gravity of metal, progressive rock and hard rock bands, which would later constitute what came to be known as “classic rock”.
- A related love for the retro three-chord rock and roll of the ’50s, as well as the rise of bubblegum music aimed at teenagers in the late ’60s.
- And a general misogyny exacerbated by the cultural conflicts of the period.
Thus, the typical song of British glam rock was powerful, catchy, simple and flamboyant, with big guitar riffs and repetitive choruses that encouraged crowds to sing along. The glam songs of the day also featured heavy, tribal rhythms and a lead vocal that blurred at least some gender distinctions. Other artists, too adventurous to limit themselves to a single genre, also experimented with glam rock, including Queen, David Bowie, ELO and Cheap Trick.
Of course, America took note. Sweet achieved success in the U.S., and the New York Dolls fully embraced the movement, transforming the city’s rock scene for the rest of the decade. It was also around this time that Alice Cooper incorporated the genre’s style and attitude into his personal mix of goth and Doors-inspired hard rock. 🤘
All this helped make glam a hugely influential movement: early punks and the New Wavers embraced the style’s anti-hippie stance and brutal simplicity. Metal and hard rock bands, seeking to attract a younger, more diverse audience, also began to incorporate the genre. Among the most popular were KISS, Van Halen and Aerosmith, who enjoyed huge success on American radio with their bluesier, more hard version of glam. In the ’80s, their success spearheaded the whole “hair metal” movement (which, unfortunately, is often confused with glam by many Americans).
Glam Rock albums
David Bowie’s 1972 album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars” perfectly embodies glam rock in its most ambitious form. It revolves around the character of Ziggy Stardust, a Martian musician who arrived on Earth for the last five years of his existence. Ziggy’s fame eventually causes his downfall, a victim of his own success. 👀
Bowie enjoyed considerable success with his albums in the early 1970s. These included Aladdin Sane released in 1973, Pin-Ups in 1973 and Young Americans released in 1975. He was undoubtedly the most influential glam rocker and remains active to this day. In his heyday, he was backed by a solid trio of musicians including guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey. Ronson created particularly powerful riffs in songs like “Rebel Rebel”.
The Glam Rock Style
Glitter rock isn’t just about music, it’s also a style of dress. It emphasizes outrageously flamboyant fashions: platform shoes, sequined suits, feminine make-up for men, gaudy vestes and many other out-of-the-ordinary accessories. ✨ Bowie was the most important trendsetter, and his image was as important to many fans as his music. Offstage, however, he kept a certain distance from his glamorous image.
His daring style of dress broke traditional gender constraints. Male singers and musicians took to the stage in a multitude of sequins, tight-fitting satin garments, eyeliner and a wide variety of colors in general.
Over the years, glam rock musicians pushed the genre’s aesthetic to greater and greater extremes, somewhat obscuring its modest beginnings. It was a revolution focused on the self, experimenting with identity, self-expression and sexuality. You could say glam rock was more about style and individuality than music. 💃
In 1973, Elton John appeared in sparkling orange sunglasses when he performed “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, which led to him being associated with the glam rock style. The image of a singer with long hair, singing into a microphone while wearing a spandex bodysuit, with his chest exposed for all to see, is now familiar to the general public.
Top 20 Best Glam Rock Songs
Young rock star, we’ve selected for you the 20 best glam rock songs of all time. Some of them are available on YouTube with often incredible clips, so we invite you to do your research 😉
#20) T-Rex, “Hot Love” – 1971
Marc Bolan’s third big hit in a row, number 1 for four weeks. His performance on Top of the Pops shows him becoming truly imperial, with V-shaped guitar, pink pants, silver jacket and, at the instigation of his friend and colleague Chelita Secunda, glitter on his cheekbones.
#19) David Bowie, “Queen Bitch” – 1971
“There should be real, unscrupulous prostitution in this business,” Bowie told Cream magazine in late 1971. He did his best to achieve this with this homage to the Velvet Underground, saturated with homosexuality and sleazy Manhattan life. Mick Ronson’s guitar works wonders. 🎸
#18) Alice Cooper, “School’s Out” – 1972
Hailing from Detroit and passing through Los Angeles, these hard rockers had been sporting makeup and dresses since 1969, preparing them perfectly for the glam imperative. “School’s Out” was an essential track in their ascent, reaching number one for three weeks during the summer vacations.
#17) Roxy Music, “Virginia Plain” – 1972
With Bryan Ferry’s ultra-stylish performance and Eno’s synthesizer screams, this one truly sounded like it came from the planet Mars in the late summer of 1972. Peppered with references to pop art and pop culture, “Virginia Plain” was nothing less than a manifesto for a new era: “So you and me, just the two of us, we’ve got to look for something new”. 🧐
#16) Mott The Hoople, “All the Young Dudes” – 1972
Bowie may have provided the source material, but Mott offered the definitive interpretation of this iconic song for an entire generation, with its mocking allusions to the Beatles and the Stones. The musicians clustered and unfurled around Ian Hunter’s snarling voice: “Oh, is there concrete all around/Or is it in my head”.
#15) Lou Reed, “Vicious” – 1972
Another Bowie production, and another career revival. “Vicious” opens Reed’s second solo album exactly as you’d expect, with Manhattan’s poet laureate spitting out the Warhol-inspired lyrics “Vicious: you hit me with a flower”, while Mick Ronson embodies the song’s menace. 🔊
#14) David Bowie, “Le Génie Jean” – 1972
Bowie returned to the R&B days of the ’60s with this one, based on the old “I’m a Man” riff, but updated with Ronson’s buzzing guitar, teasing rhythms and double entendres. The band put on a fantastic performance that year.
#13) Slade, “Cum On Feel the Noize” – 1973
This was their fourth number one in 18 months, giving guitarist Dave Hill an excuse – as if he needed one – to wear increasingly extravagant stage outfits. A chorus and lyrics that directly invite us to “let loose, let loose, let loose”. 😛
#12) Roxy Music, “Editions of You” – 1973
“For Your Pleasure”, with model-singer Amanda Lear on the cover, is one of the few coherent albums from this period. This rocker was one of the most vocal opponents of homophobia, with phrases like “boys will be boys will be boyoyoys”.
#11) Bonnie St Claire, “Clap Your Hands and Stamp Your Feet” – 1973
With its catchy melodies and rock’n’roll roots, glamour was at an all-time high. And here’s a great Dutch debut, with Beach Boys-style backing vocals, beach claps and, of course, Chuck Berry’s ubiquitous riffs.
#10) T-Rex, “20th Century Boy” – 1973
This could have been any of T-Rex’s four 1972 hits – especially “Metal Guru” – but this was the most hard of them all. A furious rocker with a heroic riff that showed, for all to see, just how well Bolan understood the nature of pop stardom.
<#9) Iggy and the Stooges, "Search and Destroy" – 1973
The Stooges were produced by David Bowie and the record sounded glamorous, not least thanks to the high notes and guitar. But “Search and Destroy”, like its parent album “Raw Power”, went far beyond what almost anyone could have expected in 1973. 😵
#8) New York Dolls, “Trash” – 1973
At once ridiculous and hard, sloppy and tough, vicious and tender (just listen to those airy girl-group harmonies), “Trash” was, along with “Jet Boy”, the Dolls’ pop peak.
#7) The Sweet, “The Ballroom Blitz” – 1973
The Sweet was on the rise after “Blockbuster” and may well have been the archetypal glam rock song. A frantic rhythm, electric guitar riffs and masterful vocals. Unstoppable and always exciting: a masterpiece. 🎧
#6) Mud, “Dyna-Mite” – 1973
Written by Sweet gurus Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, “Dyna-Mite” still occupies a special place in our top. With its ridiculous flares and a bit of self-mockery thanks to a clumsy biker dance, the future Sex Pistols were already showing their talent.
#5) Suzi Quatro, “Devil Gate Drive” – 1974
Quatro had golden garage credentials. Her first band, the Pleasure Seekers, had recorded “What a Way to Die” in 1966, which had been number one for two weeks. It blends rock’n’roll with a touch of Burundian rhythm, while continuing the explosive club/ballroom theme of the time with a hint of autobiography.
#4) Sparks, “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us” – 1974
Sparks was the last great flash glamour: delicate, contrived, catchy and conceptual, with a hard rock band and ultra-shiny outfits. They released a song with the lyrics “you hear the thunder of stampeding rhinos, elephants and tacky tigers” and it went to number one in the charts at the time.
#3) David Bowie, “Rebel Rebel” – 1974
Bowie bid farewell to the youth movement he’d helped create with this song. With lyrics like “You’ve got your mother in trouble, because she’s not sure whether you’re a boy or a girl” and his last top 10 hit for 18 months. This American version features stunning harmonies, extra percussion and phased guitar.
#2) Iron, “Virgin Rebels Rule” – 1974
Almost all the great glam rock records have been hits, but this is one of the best. An abrasive slice of Sweetarama from a Scottish band, who toughened up the raging teens while wearing costumes inspired by “Clockwork Orange”. The singer had a padlock on his crotch with the inscription: “Entry forbidden”. ⛔️
#1) Sweet, “The Sixteens” – 1974
A four-minute mini-opera about the failed youth revolution, and a Top 10 hit of the summer, showing the band rebranded. Rising to the complex song structure with a totally convincing performance, “The Sixteens” is a classic of teenage disillusionment, bordering on glam rock caricature. 🔥THE MOST POPULAR PRODUCTS🔥
