Last week I watched an old episode of Top of the Pops on BBC4 from 1976, and the opening act was Mud singing their penultimate hit “Shake it Down”. In the three minutes it took them to perform this song, I was reminded why we all loved “Glam Rock”. Despite eleven hits over three years, including three No1s, Mud were not complacent in the least – they performed this song as if their lives depended on it, with energy, swagger, fun and cheekiness. These were precise attributes of the Glam Rock era that endeared it’s stars to us between 1971 and 1975. Glam Rock gave us a bright, vivid and colourful musical tapestry in the grey days of 1970s Britain!! It involved charismatic men getting in touch with their feminine alter ego, donning make up, dresses and jumpsuits and having a good time!!

My introduction to chart music took place at the age of ten and coincided with the height of Glam Rock in 1973. At this juncture in my life, the transistor radio became surgically attached to my person, whether I was in bed ( listening to Radio Luxemburg under the bed covers ), in the shower, in the car……Wherever I went, the “Tranny” followed ( and I’m not alluding to the Glam Rock cross dressing tendency!! ). The two of us were inseparable, like Siamese Twins, and music and it’s vehicle of deliverance, the transistor radio, were my first love ( along with Leeds United who I also discovered in 1973 during their ill fated FA Cup Final, when they lost  against underdogs Sunderland!! ). 1973 was the year that Glam Rock peaked, when it’s leading forces of Gary Glitter, Slade , Sweet, Wizzard, Roxy Music, Suzi Quatro, David Bowie and Elton John dominated the charts with dynamic, inventive music. It was my sister who championed Gary Glitter, and he along with Mud became my Glam Rock Heroes – my bedroom becoming a shrine to them, with the walls re-papered with pin-up posters courtesy of my Look-in magazines and my sister’s Jackie magazines!!

The architect of Glam Rock was Marc Bolan’s T-Rex, who between 1970 and 1972 had four No1s and four No2s. Although Bolan’s vocals and music were excellent, I’ve always found his lyrics extremely repetitive. Somehow there was something missing!! The same could not be said of Slade, who’s music peaked in 1973 with the marvelous anthem “Cum on feel the noise”, “Skweeze me Pleeze me”, “My Friend Stan” and the ubiquitous “Merry Xmas Everybody” – for 18 months in 1972 and 1973 they had seven consecutive hits that either reached No1 or No2!! Their music gradually became more sophisticated and it could be argued that their hits the following year in 1974, “Everyday” and “Far, Far Away” were better crafted songs. Slade were not just good songwriters, but great entertainers with Noddy Holder’s powerful vocals being supported by Dave Hill’s farcical and fun behaviour and outlandish outfits!!

If Slade were the Bride of Glam Rock, then Sweet were the Bridesmaids, narrowly missing the No1 spot on five occasions with five songs peaking at No2!! After being forced by their record label RCA to produce “Bubblegum” songs in their early years like “Funny Funny”, “Co-Co”, “Little Willy”, and Wig-Wam Bam”, they were allowed to exhibit their rock credentials in 1973 with the Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman penned songs, “Blockbuster”, “Hellraiser” and the peerless “Ballroom Blitz”. The group had a slightly edgier and more sinister feel to their music compared with Slade, which may have been borne out of the fact that lead singer Brian Connolly was allegedly frustrated with, and very cynical about having to work to a pop song format. Apparently he would much preferred Sweet to heve been a heavy rock band, and their later music and leather clad image certainly supported this theory!! The same could be said for the rock orientated, leather clad Suzi Quatro, who’s best years were 1973 and 1974, recording two  No1s, “Can the Can” and “Devil Gate Drive”.

Although it’s not fashionable or politically correct, I can hardly chronicle the Glam Rock years without acknowleding the artist that put the glitz into the genre – Gary Glitter and the Glitter Band’s songs were incredibly anthemic and catchy, and for all the former’s “horrendous acts and crimes”, he is still one of the best acts I’ve seen live. The singles “Rock & Roll Parts One & Two”, “I didn’t know I loved you”, “Do you wanna touch me?”, “Hello, Hello, I’m back again”, “I’m the leader of the gang” and “I love you love me love” are some of the best anthemic songs of the decade. That said, I will gloss over the rest of the Gary Glitter contribution to the Glam Rock movement!! Equally I will merely pay lip service to other Glam Rock acts who evolved well beyond the music genre as great artists – namely Roxy Music, Elton John and David Bowie. They dressed “glam”, but ultimately were much more serious performers.

When recollecting the Glam Rock era, we must not forget the part played by Roy Wood’s Wizzard, Alvin Stardust and Showaddywaddy, arbiters of recycled 1950s Rock and Roll tunes. So that just leaves my favourite Glam Rockers Mud, with charismatic lead singer Les Gray’s tongue in cheek Elvis Presley  impressions and bass guitarist Rob Davies’ cross dressing / transvestite antics. Their songs were total nonsense, epitomised by their back to back feline orientated hits, “Tiger Feet” and “The cat crept in”. But it didn’t matter, because Mud and their music were cheeky and fun. Like all their Glam Rock peers, they brought colour, vibrancy and fun as a distraction to what were socially and economically depressing times with industrial unrest, strikes, three day working weeks and nightly powercuts.

The economy and country in 1973 was in crisis and on it’s knees but Glam Rock put a smile on our faces, by reminding adults that the childhood escapades of playing with Mum’s make up, dressing up in Auntie’s wardrobe and “playing with Mud” were not just OK, but great fun and preferable to being a “grown up” in a miserable, grey and dark world!!

You can capture, preserve and re-live the memories of the fun and frolics we all had with Glam Rock, by ordering your favourite Slade, Sweet, T-Rex, Suzi Quatro or Mud vinyl record or CD, framed and mounted, by clicking on…….. http://www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/

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