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GLAM ROCK BEAR'S GLAM ROCK SITE
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Films, Shows and TV
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A number of early 70's films undoubtedly had an influence on the look adopted by glam rockers, among them CABARET, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and PERFORMANCE, along with the theatrical productions of HAIR, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and GODSPELL..
Richard O’Brien’s THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, and later the film spin-off THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW became massively successful in London during the glam rock era and epitomised all that the movement stood for. The success of the film on the midnite movie circuit has ensured the longevity of the glam sensibility. Several other glam Rocky connections: Gary Glitter played the role of Frank'N'Furter in a late 70's New Zealand production, and Jook singer Trevor White was the singing voice of Rocky in the film.
The Rocky Horror phenomenon was also responsible for launching the (largely commercially unsuccessful) musical careers of TIM CURRY and LITTLE NELL, and the slightly better selling fortunes of MEAT LOAF. The show’s creator RICHARD O’BRIEN also released several 70’s singles with his wife Kimi Wong under the name KIMI AND RITZ.
Brian DePalma’s PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE was less impressive from a glam standpoint, though the character of Beef (Gerrit Graham) obviously has strong glam links. Unfortunately Paul Williams’s score had more in common with his own BUGSY MALONE than ‘Sweet Transvestite‘. The film was frequently placed on a double-bill with Rocky Horror, and leading actress Jessica Harper went on to star in Rocky’s belated sequel, SHOCK TREATMENT.
Glam rock artists inspired and appeared in a number of feature films, including T.Rex (plus Elton John and Ringo Starr) in BORN TO BOOGIE, Slade in, er, SLADE IN FLAME, Gary Glitter in REMEMBER ME THIS WAY, Fox and Hello in the little seen SIDE BY SIDE, and Mud, The Glitter Band and The Rubettes in NEVER TOO YOUNG TO ROCK. Elton John also added a glam element to Ken Russell's film adaptation of The Who's TOMMY.
David Bowie launched his semi-successful acting career in THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH. Other glam artists who have appeared in acting roles in films and on TV include Suzi Quatro (Happy Days), Iggy Pop, New York Dolls’ David Johansen, Noddy Holder and Alice Cooper.
David Essex’s THAT’LL BE THE DAY had no real glam credentials, although the sequel, STARDUST, did at least boast a killer glam theme tune. As for Robin Asquith in CONFESSIONS OF A POP PERFORMER, this was probably a lot nearer to the truth than most bands would care to admit.
Scraping in at the tail end of the glam era, hit TV series ROCK FOLLIES featured songs written by Roxy’s Andy Mackay. The sequel, ROCK FOLLIES OF '77, went a step further by drafting in Rocky stars Tim Curry and Little Nell.
Without a doubt the most important TV show of the era was the BBC’s TOP OF THE POPS, an appearance on which virtually guaranteed chart success. Today the best place on British TV to find glam is on BBC2's twice weekly TOP OF THE POPS 2, which usually features at least one glam act in it's weekly scheduling.
Kids late afternoon television was the best place to catch the poppier end of glam with SUPERSONIC (with it‘s catchy theme song by ANDY BOWN - who also released several other glam sounding singles), LIFT OFF (with Ayshea), and TV shows fronted by the likes of MARC BOLAN himself and the BAY CITY ROLLERS catering to the demand. Several Monkee’s style shows tried with limited success to launch glam teen bands on an unsuspecting world, such as the DOUBLE DECKERS and the aforementioned FLINTLOCK (See Glam Pop), and not forgetting animated glam-girlies JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS. On top of all this we had to contend with MAGPIE presenter MICK ROBERTSON being allowed to make an album. Glam artists with more serious pretensions, such as Roxy and Sparks, were more liable to be found on the likes of THE OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST.
The importance of Todd Haynes' film VELVET GOLDMINE in introducing glam music to today's audience cannot be underestimated. The first mainstream feature film to deal with the glam phenomenon, it's characters were thinly veiled homages to Bowie, Iggy et al, and the soundtrack contained both original glam classics and excellent cover versions. A must see for any glam fan!
Glam music has often been featured in feature films, an early instance being Martin Scorsese's use of Mott's 'All The Way From Memphis' over the opening of ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE. In 2001 Baz Luhrman took that one step further by using glam songs such as 'Children Of The Revolution', 'Diamond Dogs', 'Heroes' and 'Your Song' to great advantage in his musical MOULIN ROUGE.
Also worthy of mention is the off-Broadway show (who's cast at one time featured Joan Jett) and subsequent film of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH.
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Little Nell & Tim Curry in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
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Key Glam Tracks
TIM CURRY
Sweet Transvestite
I Will
LITTLE NELL
Stilettos And Lipstick
Beauty Queen
JESSICA HARPER
Little Black Dress
RICHARD O’BRIEN
Shock Treatment
ROCK FOLLIES
Rock Follies
Talking Pictures
Biba Nova
OK
ANDY BOWN
New York Satyricon Zany
Supersonic
JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS
Josie & the Pussycats
MICK ROBERTSON
The Tango’s Over
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Gerrit Graham in PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE
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Ringo Starr & Marc Bolan in BORN TO BOOGIE
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LINKS
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ROCK FOLLIES
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Mick Robertson
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Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in VELVET GOLDMINE
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Andy Bown
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