'Glam Rock'. I snorted the first time I heard it. WTF is glam rock? Paris Hilton with big hair and shiny clothes rocking it on stage? Strangely, it is just that minus Paris or Parez or a stick with a head, whatever.
Glam rock isn't just a genre, it's really a movement. It took UK by storm during the early 1970s. David Bowie and T-Rex are probably one of the most famous glam rockers, the pioneers more like, followed by Alice Cooper. Although Glam stemmed from Rock& Roll and Blues rock, it shared a strong Psychedelic background. For the first time in history it erased the arbitrary gender lines. Glam rejected all the falseness and claimed simplicity of rock and shamelessly borrowed from a wide range of genres - from hard rock to progressive metal.
What really underlined the genre were the theatrics associated with it - outrageous clothes, big hair and loads of makeup, lot's of glam and glitter and fishnets and fur.
The flamboyant costumes and visual styles of glam performers were often camp or androgynous, and have been connected with new views of gender roles [Wikipedia]
The song that I'm talking about today is borrowed from a Musical - Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Glam was the only language in which Hedwig's story could be told.
She makes her entrance like a star dying to be born – goose-stepping through the audience with the arrogant aplomb of Marlene Dietrich and Jim Morrison; decked out like a trailer-park tart’s idea of a glam-rock fox, in stone-washed denim, an Aryan-yellow, blow-dried mane and red-glitter lipstick; accompanied by the refried-Queen strains of "America the Beautiful" and marvelously surly introduction by her crusty Serbian valet boy toy Yitzhak: "Ladies and gentlemen, whether you like it or not – Hedwig!"
Wicked Little Town - Hedwig & The Angry Inch
Glam rock isn't just a genre, it's really a movement. It took UK by storm during the early 1970s. David Bowie and T-Rex are probably one of the most famous glam rockers, the pioneers more like, followed by Alice Cooper. Although Glam stemmed from Rock& Roll and Blues rock, it shared a strong Psychedelic background. For the first time in history it erased the arbitrary gender lines. Glam rejected all the falseness and claimed simplicity of rock and shamelessly borrowed from a wide range of genres - from hard rock to progressive metal.
What really underlined the genre were the theatrics associated with it - outrageous clothes, big hair and loads of makeup, lot's of glam and glitter and fishnets and fur.
The flamboyant costumes and visual styles of glam performers were often camp or androgynous, and have been connected with new views of gender roles [Wikipedia]
The song that I'm talking about today is borrowed from a Musical - Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Glam was the only language in which Hedwig's story could be told.
She makes her entrance like a star dying to be born – goose-stepping through the audience with the arrogant aplomb of Marlene Dietrich and Jim Morrison; decked out like a trailer-park tart’s idea of a glam-rock fox, in stone-washed denim, an Aryan-yellow, blow-dried mane and red-glitter lipstick; accompanied by the refried-Queen strains of "America the Beautiful" and marvelously surly introduction by her crusty Serbian valet boy toy Yitzhak: "Ladies and gentlemen, whether you like it or not – Hedwig!"
Wicked Little Town - Hedwig & The Angry Inch
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