Let Your Hair Hang Down: Golden Years Of Glam Rock (1971-1977) – Mixcloud Exclusive

Adam Holtrop

Relive the golden years of seventies glam rock as a Mixcloud Exclusive! 😊

John Lennon once called glam rock “just rock & roll with lipstick on”, according to David Bowie in an interview. The keywords for this seventies music style were fun, energy and extravaganza. Popular acts were Slade, Sweet, Mud, David Bowie and the inventors of the genre, T-Rex. Marc Bolan, the frontman of the band, accidentally put some glitters on his face for a Top Of The Pops performance in 1971 and glam rock was born. Around the mid-seventies tables turned when disco and punk gained popularity in favour of glam rock, although disco and punk borrowed heavily from the genre. Disco took the looks and punk the simplicity of the music. The New Romantic movement, which started as a fashion subculture in British nightclubs in the late 1970s, before becoming a mainstream music genre a few years later, was also inspired by the visuals of the glam rock era. And today’s superstar Chappell Roan is clearly indebted to glam rock in terms of her outfits.

“Most of the music was unabashedly catchy, with melodies drawn from teenage bubblegum pop and hip-shaking rhythms from early rock & roll. But those innocent-sounding influences were belied by the delivery, which was all campy, glitzy showmanship and sexuality.” (Allmusic)

To find inspiration, songwriter Barry Green listened to as many popular songs on the radio as he could to create a glam rock song himself. He then wrote Dancin' (On A Saturday Night) with singer Lynsey De Paul and released it under his moniker Barry Blue. Not only did he co-write hits for himself and Lynsey De Paul, Barry Green also composed Devil’s Gun from C.J. & Co, the first record that was played in famous New York club Studio 54. His backing band would later be known as The Rubettes and they are on this cloudcast as well.

Mike Chapman not only wrote and produced many hits for The Sweet, Suzi Quatro and Mud, he played rhythm guitar and sang on most of their songs as well. Rob Davis, guitarist of Mud, even called him the fifth member of the band during their heyday. When the glam rock years were over Chapman produced breakthrough albums for Blondie and the Knack. He also continued to write hits, including Exile's Kiss You All Over and Toni Basil's Mickey, a reworked version of Kitty, a song he had composed with his writing companion Nicky Chinn for Racey, a few years earlier.

From the early to the mid-seventies American singer and bass player Suzi Quatro was undoubtedly the first lady of glam rock in Europe, but she stayed under the radar in her home country. She would finally break big in the States in 1978 with a more pop-oriented single, Stumblin' In. Eventually she became mostly known in her domestic country for her role as Leather Tuscadero in the TV hit series Happy Days.

Tracklist:

David Bowie – Golden Years (1975)
The Rubettes – You’re The Reason Why (1976)
Hello – Night Watcher (1978)
The Glitter Band – People Like You And People Like Me (1976)
T. Rex – Hot Love (1971)
Shabby Tiger – Slow Down (1974)
Sparks – Amateur Hour (1974)
Lynsey De Paul ‎– Sugar Me (1972)
Cherrie Vangelder Smith – Goodbye (Guitar Man) (1973)
Slade – Far Far Away (1974)
Suzi Quatro – Devil Gate Drive (1974)
Hank The Knife And The Jets – Guitar King (1975)
The Sweet – Little Willy (1972)
Alvin Stardust – Jealous Mind (1973)
Catapult – Let Your Hair Hang Down (1974)
Mud – The Cat Crept In (1974)
Bay City Rollers – Shang-A-Lang (1974)
Barry Blue – Dancin' (On A Saturday Night) (1973)
Showaddywaddy – Hey Rock And Roll (1974)
David Essex ‎– Gonna Make You A Star (1974)
Steve Elgin – Don't Leave Your Lover Lying Around (Dear) (1974)
Barry Ryan – Do That (1975)
Mott The Hoople – Roll Away The Stone (1973)
Buster – Goodbye Paradise (1977)