Tag Archive: Bryan Ferry


The prettiest stars of Glam Rock

Filed under: Books, Gender, Music — Leave a comment
October 31, 2016

SHOCK AND AWE – GLAM ROCK AND ITS LEGACY by Simon Reynolds (Faber & Faber,2016)

“Got your mother in a whirl ‘cos she’s not sure if you’re a boy or a girl” – David Bowie (Rebel Rebel)
“Even the greatest stars live their lives in the looking glass” – Kraftwork (Hall Of Mirrors)
“There’s something in the air of which we will all be aware yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah” – Sweet (Teenage Rampage)
“Whatever happened to the heroes?”- The Stranglers (No More Heroes)

glamIt’s fair to say Glam Rock has never really been taken all that seriously. Being casually dismissed as a joke genre is partly what drove Simon Reynolds to write this impressively weighty tome.

In so doing, he proves that this musical phenomenon deserves to be more than just an amusing footnote in the story of popular music. The author doesn’t claim that all the music tagged as Glam (or Glitter is you’re American) is of a universally high standard yet, even at its most crass and commercial, Reynolds endorses the viewpoint of Noel Coward who once wryly observed : “It’s extraordinary how potent cheap music is”. Continue reading →

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BACKTRACKING #12 : ROXY MUSIC

Filed under: Music — Leave a comment
April 27, 2011
2 - Roxy Music - Virginia Plain - UK - 1973--

The single

Part of an irregular series of bite-sized posts about 7″ singles I own – shameless nostalgia from the days of vinyl. (Search ‘Backtracking’ to collect the set!)

Roxy Music – Virginia Plain b/w Pyjamarama (Polydor, 1973)

Originally two separate singles, then a double A-side to die for. Neither song featured on their classic albums – Roxy Musc & For Your Pleasure, neither song has a chorus nor any coherent meaning but they are two of the finest pop songs ever recorded.

The band arrived  fully formed and brimful of swagger – part of the glam scene but also gloriously aloof from it.  The innovative qualities of the group gradually faded when Eno left (although Stranded is also a great album) and after Ferry began to embrace his lounge lizard persona too enthusiastically, but in 1972 and 1973 this was as good as it got!

Check out the hair and gear on their TOTP appearance:

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