Saturday, August 20, 2022

K's GLAM SPECIAL - VA - The 125 Greatest Glam Rock Stompers of the 70's (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) [2021] (6x CD's)

K's GLAM SPECIAL   -   VA - The 125 Greatest Glam Rock Stompers of the 70's (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) [2021] (6x CD's)

Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diverse sources across music and throwaway pop culture, ranging from bubblegum pop and 1950s rock and roll to cabaret, science fiction, and complex art rock. The flamboyant clothing and visual styles of performers were often camp or androgynous and have been described as playing with other gender roles.

The UK charts were inundated with glam rock acts from 1971 to 1975. The March 1971 appearance of T. Rex front man Marc Bolan on the BBC's music show Top of the Pops, 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 and Gary Glitter. Those not central to the genre, artists such as Elton John, Rod Stewart and Freddie Mercury of Queen, also adopted glam styles. 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. Other American glam artists include New York Dolls, Sparks, Suzi Quatro and Iggy Pop. It declined after the mid-1970s, but influenced other musical genres including punk rock, glam metal, New Romantic, death rock and gothic rock.

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. 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. Bolan was, in the words of music critic Ken Barnes, "the man who started it all". 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". 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". T. Rex's 1971 album Electric Warrior received critical acclaim as a pioneering glam rock album. 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!"

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. 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". Bolan and Bowie were soon followed in the style by acts including Roxy Music, Sweet, Slade, Mott the Hoople, Mud and Alvin Stardust. 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. 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.

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. While highly successful in the single charts in the UK (Slade for example had six number one singles, and were the biggest selling UK act of the 70s, eventually going on to sell over 50 million records worldwide), 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, and the New York Dolls often known as "glitter rock" and with a darker lyrical content than their British counterparts.

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. 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. Quatro directly inspired the pioneering Los Angeles based all-girl group The Runaways. 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. After seeing Marc Bolan wearing Zandra Rhodes-designed outfits, Freddie Mercury enlisted Rhodes to design costumes for the next Queen tour in 1974. Punk rock, often seen as 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, helped end the fashion for glam from about 1976.

Here is my own compilation of the 125 absolute best of the best glam rock songs that rocked the charts in the early to mid 70's. Compiled as always using the very latest and highest quality digital remasters for superior sound quality and enjoyment.

Enjoy!

K

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Pt.1    Pt.2 

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Track lists


CD1

01 Slade Cum On Feel the Noize 4:24

02 The Sweet Block Buster! 3:12

03 David Bowie Starman 4:13

04 T. Rex Get It On 4:25

05 Suzi Quatro Devil Gate Drive 3:47

06 Mud Tiger Feet 3:50

07 Gary Glitter Rock and Roll Part 2 2:58

08 Wizzard See My Baby Jive 4:58

09 Alice Cooper School's Out (Original 1972 7" Single Version) 3:31

10 Roxy Music Virginia Plain 2:58

11 Mott the Hoople Roll Away the Stone (Original 1973 UK 7" Single Version) 3:07

12 Queen Killer Queen 3:01

13 The Sweet The Ballroom Blitz 4:01

14 T. Rex Metal Guru 2:25

15 David Bowie The Jean Genie 4:08

16 Slade Coz I Luv You 3:25

17 Gary Glitter I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am!) 3:29

18 Hello Tell Him 3:07

19 Kenny Fancy Pants 3:25

20 Bay City Rollers Bye Bye Baby 2:48


CD2

21 The Sweet Teenage Rampage 3:34

22 Slade Mama Weer All Crazee Now 3:45

23 T. Rex Telegram Sam 3:45

24 David Bowie Life on Mars? 3:50

25 Elton John Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting 4:55

26 Mud The Cat Crept In 4:02

27 Alvin Stardust My Coo Ca Choo 2:47

28 The Rubettes Sugar Baby Love 3:32

29 The Glitter Band Angel Face 2:56

30 The Osmonds Crazy Horses 2:32

31 The Sweet Wig-Wam Bam 3:01

32 T. Rex Hot Love 4:57

33 Slade Take Me Bak 'Ome 3:16

34 Kiss Rock and Roll All Nite 2:48

35 Gary Glitter I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock and Roll) 3:21

36 Barry Blue Dancin' (on a Saturday Night) 3:12

37 David Bowie Queen Bitch 3:14

38 Mott the Hoople All the Way from Memphis (Original 1973 7" Single Edit) 3:24

39 Roxy Music Street Life 3:29

40 Sparks This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us 3:02

41 The Sweet Hell Raiser 3:17


CD3

42 Mud Rocket 4:07

43 Wizzard Angel Fingers (A Teen Ballad) 4:32

44 T. Rex Ride a White Swan 2:16

45 David Bowie Ziggy Stardust 3:13

46 David Bowie Suffragette City 3:25

47 T. Rex Children of the Revolution 2:29

48 Mott the Hoople All the Young Dudes 3:32

49 Cozy Powell Dance with the Devil 3:36

50 Suzi Quatro 48 Crash 3:55

51 Bonnie St. Claire Clap Your Hands and Stamp Your Feet 3:59

52 Gary Glitter Oh Yes! You're Beautiful 3:53

53 Slade Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me 4:29

54 Wizzard Ball Park Incident 3:42

55 Gary Glitter Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah) 3:19

56 The Sweet Little Willy 3:14

57 Showaddywaddy Hey Rock and Roll 3:23

58 The Rubettes Juke Box Jive 3:03

59 Bay City Rollers Shang-a-Lang 3:05

60 The Arrows I Love Rock 'n' Roll 3:02

61 Sweet Action (Original 1975 7" Single Version) 3:18

62 Alice Cooper Elected! (Original 1972 7" Single Version) 3:43


CD4

63 New York Dolls Personality Crisis 3:42

64 Lou Reed Walk on the Wild Side 4:15

65 Slade Gudbuy T'Jane 3:33

66 The Glitter Band Let's Get Together Again 3:59

67 Gary Glitter I Love You Love Me Love 3:11

68 Alvin Stardust Jealous Mind 2:41

69 T. Rex 20th Century Boy 3:37

70 David Bowie Rebel Rebel 4:33

71 Roxy Music Love Is the Drug 4:09

72 Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) 4:00

73 Ian Hunter Once Bitten, Twice Shy 3:53

74 Geordie All Because of You 2:43

75 Iron Virgin Rebels Rule 3:13

76 Hello New York Groove 2:45

77 Gary Glitter Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again 3:22

78 The Arrows Touch Too Much 2:59

79 Mud Dyna-Mite 2:58

80 Elton John Crocodile Rock 3:56

81 Mott the Hoople The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll 3:25

82 Lulu The Man Who Sold the World 3:50


CD5

83 Roxy Music Do the Strand 4:02

84 Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Judy Teen 3:41

85 Bay City Rollers Saturday Night 2:56

86 Barry Blue Do You Wanna Dance? 3:54

87 Kenny Baby I Love You, O.K! 3:49

88 Slik Forever and Ever 3:37

89 Pilot January 3:31

90 David Bowie Oh! You Pretty Things 3:13

91 Lou Reed Vicious 2:59

92 Brian Eno Needle in the Camel's Eye 3:11

93 Elton John Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long Long Time) 4:42

94 Hello Star Studded Sham 2:54

95 Barry Blue Hot Shot 2:54

96 Kenny The Bump 2:34

97 Bay City Rollers Give a Little Love (1975 UK 7" Single Version) 3:29

98 Suzi Quatro Daytona Demon 3:59

99 Sweeney Todd Roxy Roller 2:49

100 The Arrows Bam Bam Battering Ram 2:36

101 Cozy Powell The Man in Black 2:43

102 Alvin Stardust Red Dress 2:51

103 Barry Blue Miss Hit and Run 3:12

104 Hello Another School Day 2:52


CD6

105 The Glitter Band Goodbye My Love 3:47

106 Roxy Music Pyjamarama (Original 1972 Island 7" Single Version) 3:04

107 Sparks Amateur Hour 3:35

108 Alice Cooper Hello, Hooray (Original 1973 7" Single Version) 3:03

109 David Bowie Drive-In Saturday 4:30

110 David Essex Gonna Make You a Star 3:38

111 Pilot Magic 3:05

112 ABBA Waterloo 2:45

113 Sparks Something for the Girl with Everything 2:16

114 Roxy Music All I Want Is You 2:53

115 Suzi Quatro Can the Can 3:37

116 T. Rex Jeepster 4:10

117 David Essex Rock On 3:21

118 Blackfoot Sue Standing in the Road 3:55

119 Cozy Powell Na Na Na 3:28

120 Sweet Fox on the Run (Original 1975 7" Single Version) 3:22

121 T. Rex Solid Gold Easy Action 2:22

122 David Bowie Changes 3:35

123 Queen Bohemian Rhapsody 5:56

124 Wizzard I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday 4:39

125 Slade Merry Xmas Everybody 3:26

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9 comments:

  1. Thank you! For better or worse, I'm familiar with most, if not quite all of the material included here (as I grew up in England and was in my mid-teens during the glam/glitter period as such). In any case, it'll be good to revisit some of these tracks that I haven't heard for (gulp!) decades.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Crab Devil.
      While there not be too many surprises here for you, there will definitely be flashback moments that will bring a smile and memories of those times.
      Cheers.

      Delete
  2. Many thanks for this wonderfull music from the past.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Butter - just wanted to comment that back in the day, I went to see Slade at a concert hall and they were so loud and bad that over half the audience left! I know, just one show, but it colored my impression of them forever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi djmcblues2,
      I never saw them live but I guess every artist has a bad day and there have been some bad concerts. I remember in the day that I couldn't go to a party without Slade Alive being played over and over. That did sound good.
      PS I have been listening to VA - Alleyways set you posted and having fun with that. Thanks.
      Cheers.

      Delete
    2. K comments: Slade are the greatest live band to ever grace a stage. Many will attest to their footstompin’ crazee concerts. I’ve seen hundreds of bands, and no one has ever come close to Slade ‘alive’!
      Cheers.

      Delete
  4. Loving a lot of these epic K collections -- thank you for all your hard work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi MrDave.
      I am sure K will appreciate you comment.
      Cheers.

      Delete