The Twisted Tale of Glam RockCovering four decades of music history, this engaging book explores a genre of pop music that has been overlooked, under-reported, and ineffectively characterized—but which nevertheless remains immensely popular. The very qualities that made glam unusual and undervalued are now being reintroduced into our culture through video, music, and cyber and computer mediums, while artists such as Lady Gaga have made glam popular once more. Carefully explaining this misunderstood genre, The Twisted Tale of Glam Rock explores glam's attraction and the reasons it has endured. With the help of copious examples, the book covers the style from the pre-glam British invasion of 1964-69 through the classical glam era (1970-75); the metamorphosis into glam goth, glam metal, and glam new-romanticism (1976-90); and the style's reemergence (1990-present). It provides a theoretical basis for musicians' attraction to this highly visual and theatrical form of pop music and sets glam in a historical context, following the format through MTV, videos, and vibrant stage and theatre presentations. Finally, the book explores the hybridization of glam with other styles, illustrating how the genre has progressively reemerged as a premier form of performance pop. |
Contents
| 1 | |
2 PreGlam | 19 |
3 Mr Bowie Meets Glam | 43 |
Glams Stable Progression | 67 |
5 Glams Casualties and Resurgence | 89 |
6 Glam in the Margins | 109 |
7 Postmillennial Glam Tension | 139 |
Top Glam Songs by Decade | 163 |
| 165 | |
| 171 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
actor aesthetic album Alice Cooper American art school audience band’s beat Beatles Bolan Bowie's British Bryan Ferry Bush career character Chemical Romance costumes critics dance dancers David Bowie Diamond Dogs disco dressed ensemble fame fantasy featured Ferry’s film genre girl glam artists glam performers glam rock glam’s Gorillaz goth Grace Jones guitar guitarist hair Hunky Dory ideas identity images influenced inspired Jobriath Kate Bush later live look Madonna Mael makeup Manzanera McLuhan Mercury Mercury's merged metal Monkees musicians persona Pet Shop Boys piano played pop bands pop culture pop music popular postmodern produced psychedelic punk Queen record rockers Roxy Music sense seventies sexual singer singing Siouxsie sixties solo song songwriting sound spectacle stage star stardom story strong studio style Suede suggested television theatre theatrical themes tour track tune visual vocal voice Warhol wearing wild wrote youth Ziggy