glam Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Static “Toothpaste and Pills”

sfilzen — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 17:33:44 +0000

Static “Toothpaste and Pills” (Demos and Live 1978-1981), 2021. Third Man Records. Tonight we’ll be seeing Midwest hardcore punk OGs Negative Approach (along with 7 Seconds!) so I’m spinning Negative Approach’s John Brannon’s early glam-punk band Static. They were so young that the A-side, a collection of demos, was recorded at “Mrs. Brannon’s” in Grosse Pointe Park, aka his mom’s basement. According to the liner notes written by Negative Approach’s Pete Zelewski, by 1979 John’s mom “finally had enough of the late night Static rehearsals and parties.” Listening to the super-raw, loud and down-and-nasty demo tracks like “Punk Nation,” “TV Show” and “Toothpaste and Pills” I am more than a bit sympathetic to Mrs. Brannon’s point of view. It’s great garage punk in the spirit of The Stooges but the screams, yelps and heavy beats are hardly after-dinner relaxing tracks. “We’re So Cheap We’re Divine,” the final song on the Demos side of the record, is over-the-top glam silliness, with pounding piano and drunkenly show-tune vocals; it would fit in nicely on a Rocky Horror-like soundtrack. The Live Side is a collection of songs from ’79-’81 recorded at a Grosse Pointe High School (“Ain’t No Stranger” and, fittingly, “Hight School Riot” which is less of a song and more a total performance breakdown which finds them regrouping briefly into an impromptu and abbreviated “Anarchy in the UK” plus a lot of swearing) and three clubs: Plewa Hall and Nunzios (both in Michigan) and Coronation Tavern (Ontario). The recording quality is pretty shitty – the acoustics in a high school gym are generally not…great – and the club shows aren’t much better (too bad as “Video Deficiency” is a killer track). That said, it’s a really cool snapshot in the evolution of Midwest proto-punk/glam into what would become a hardcore punk band that is still kicking 40 years later.

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David Bowie “Hunky Dory”

sfilzen — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 20:02:22 +0000

David Bowie “Hunky Dory” released 50 years ago today, December 17th, 1971. My absolute favorite Bowie album was his fourth LP. After a slow start, it eventually hit #3 in the UK in ’72 and #57 in the US in 2016 after Bowie’s death. It is regarded as one of the best records ever, hovering at or around the top 100 on many publications’ lists (Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Time, etc.). Bowie released two singles from Hunky Dory: the first in early ’72 was the iconic “Changes” (#66 US in ’72 and then #41 in ’75; #49 UK in 2016), its b-side “Andy Warhol” obviously inspired by the artist of whom Bowie was a huge fan. Bowie performed the song for Warhol; it’s reported that Warhol didn’t say anything about the song to Bowie but “absolutely hated it” which is too bad because it is an excellent hard-strumming acoustic jammer (played by Mick Ronson) that is both glam and pastoral English folk. The other single was “Life on Mars?” which has a complicated and amusing history. Bowie originally wrote the bones of the song in ’68 as an English translation for a French song but they were rejected; Paul Anka rewrote it into “My Way” which had wild success with Frank Sinatra. Irritated, Bowie tweaked it again into “Life on Mars?” to parody Sinatra – the back cover has written next to the song’s title “Inspired by Frankie” The single hit #3 in the UK in ’73. Another fun fact: Bowie originally wanted Dudley Moore (who I associate with early 80’s comedy movies, namely Arthur) to play piano for the song. That plan fell through and Rick Wakeman from Strawbs got the gig. Bowie wrote “Kooks” for his newborn son Duncan (whose birthday is just 2 months before mine so I can pretend Bowie maybe wrote it for me, too) and “Song for Bob Dylan” has the more obvious tribute – Bowie even kinda mimics Dylan’s vocal style (but is a vastly superior singer). My absolute favorite song from Hunky Dory is “Queen Bitch,” an ass-shaking glam-pop rocker inspired by Velvet Unground’s Lou Reed. My kid contributed that song to the birthday playlist that friends and family put together for me this past summer when I also turned 50. I was thrilled because he knew how much I love that song but also amused/annoyed that it’s the song he most connects to me (queen/princess…yes, bitch…?).

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Queen “Sheer Heart Attack”

sfilzen — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 17:11:16 +0000

Queen “Sheer Heart Attack” 1974. Today, August 19th, is Queen bassist John Deacon’s 70th birthday (b. 1951). Sheer Heart Attack is Queen’s third album; it went to no. 2 in the UK and to no. 12 in the US. Hard-rocking glam rock, it’s considered by many critics as their best LP and is ranked among the best rock albums ever released. It’s totally over-the-top in all the best 70′s excess ways: massive guitar solos, epically long tracks, operatic/musical theatre vocals and song composition. Queen released two singles from the album: the glam anthem “Killer Queen” (#2 UK, #12 US – their first hit in the States) and the killer hard rock “Now I’m Here” (#11 UK). Also notable is “Stone Cold Crazy,” considered by some to be the very first thrash metal track ever recorded (Metallica covered it and it appears on the b-side to “Enter Sandman”) and “Misfire” which was John Deacon’s first individual writing credit for Queen; he also plays guitar on this track. I also really love the opener “Brighton Rock” – Brian May’s guitar solo is ranked #41 by Guitar World in their greatest solos of all time.

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Bauhaus “Ziggy Stardust”

sfilzen — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 22:16:36 +0000

Bauhaus “Ziggy Stardust” released October, 1982. 12″ single on Beggar’s Banquet. The masters of goth’s 8th single was a tribute to the master of glam – they were huge Bowie fans – and is close to perfection; it went to #15 on the UK singles chart. According to Far Out Magazine the video for “Ziggy Stardust” was shot in the catacombs of Camden Market (actually just a series of tunnels but that’s what the locals call them) and features a full mock-gig set up with complete backline and riotous fans. It would act as a catapult for the band, eventually landing them a spot on the acclaimed show Top of the Pops. Fittingly, I picked up this 12″ in Camden a couple of months ago (or maybe it was in Islington, possibly SoHo. I can’t remember). Also on this 12″ is a Bauhaus original, “Party of the First Part” which is really weird and seriously creepy (perfect for Halloween season), a swinging little number with dialogue from the cartoon The Devil and Daniel Mouhaus. Side B has the Brian Eno-penned track “Third Uncle” that is Peter Murphy’d and Daniel Ash’d up (dark and slinky vocals, a sinister screaming, vaguely industrial guitar; it also appears on Bauhaus’ 1982 LP The Sky’s Gone Out) and a fairly rough live cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Waiting for the Man,” recorded in October 1981 at Fagin’s in Manchester. Nico herself joined Bauhaus on stage for the song. Southern Death Cult (later, just The Cult) was the supporting act and Ian Astbury said about the scene, “Nico just ended up in Manchester on heroin. Southern Death Cult supported Bauhaus at Salford University when she did ‘Waiting for the Man’ with them, and Pete Murphy had to hold her up, she was so smacked out!” And Peter Murphy stated, “Nico was gothic, but she was Mary Shelley gothic to everyone else’s Hammer horror film gothic. They both did Frankenstein, but Nico’s was real.” (from dangerousminds)

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T. Rex “Light of Love”

sfilzen — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 16:45:32 +0000

T. Rex “Light of Love” 1974. Casablanca Records. Today, September 30th, would have been Marc Bolan’s 72nd birthday (b. 1947, d. 1977). Light of Love was T. Rex’s sole US-only LP release and the first to have Bolan on production (Bolan also wrote all the tracks), replacing Tony Visconti’s usual production duties (though he did help with some string arrangements on the album). Light of Love has three tracks that appeared on Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow (UK-only, 1974): “Teenage Dream,” “Explosive Mouth” and “Venus Loon.” “Teenage Dream” was released as a single and went to #13 in the UK and Bolan considered it the song with his best lyrics. The other songs on Light of Love were later included on the UK-release Bolan’s Zip Gun (1975), including the title track single “Light of Love” which went to #22 in the UK. Overall it’s a pretty good T. Rex glam-rock record, a bit over-the-top but it is glam, after all, maybe a bit too heavy on the orchestral strings and operatic doo-whop accents here and there. Unfortunately, Casablanca Records went bankrupt soon after the LP’s release and Bolan couldn’t find another US label to represent him so Light of Love was his first and only US-release (it also didn’t do very well in the US).

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Tyrannosaurus Rex “A Beard of Stars”

sfilzen — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 17:11:56 +0000

Tyrannosaurus Rex “A Beard of Stars” 1970. Blue Thumb Records. Gorgeously raw lo-fi psych rock, Marc Bolan’s – joined by Micky Finn – fourth LP as Tyrannosaurus Rex and the last before becoming T. Rex; “the turning point where Marc Bolan began evolving from an unrepentant hippie into the full-on swaggering rock star he would be within a couple of years.” You can hear this especially in the raggedly intense strumming and glammy vocals of “Fist Heart Might Dawn Dart” (expertly covered recently by Ty Segall on his 2011 Ty-Rex), the slinky sex appeal of Bolan’s vocal delivery on “By the Light of a Magical Moon” and the ferocious “Elemental Child.” There is still plenty of 60′s hippie/psych fascination with Anglican folklore (faeries, princesses, damsels, druids, etc.) both lyrically – “Great Horse,” “Dragon’s Ear” – and musically (“Wild Cheetah,” its organ instrumentation would be perfectly comfortable in a lord’s cavernous castle). Finn’s percussion leans both heavy hippie (i.e. Moroccan clay drums, bongos) and rock star grooving bass; Finn took over from the Tolkien-inspiried (obvs!) Steve Peregrine-Took just prior to A Beard of Stars in 1969.

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Mott The Hoople “All The Young Dudes”

sfilzen — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 19:18:28 +0000

Mott The Hoople “All The Young Dudes” released on this date, September 8th, 1972. David Bowie produced the album and also wrote the title track, a giant hit that reached #3 in the UK and #37 in the US, that has been described as the “ultimate ‘70s glitterkid anthem.” Bowie’s glam influence can be heard all over the album, from his suggestion of including the cover of Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane” to the saxophone on the swaggering “Sucker” (a song Allmusic describes as “less of a song, more a statement of vile intent, the confessions of your friendly neighborhood sadist”). “One of the Boys” is peacock-rock posturing at its best – it reached #96 in the US (and is weirdly introduced by the sound of an old rotary phone dialing – well, it would have just been “a phone” in ‘72) and “Ready For Love/After Lights” is epic arena-worthy glam rock, which was given new life on Mott The Hoople’s guitarist/vocalist Mick Ralph’s band Bad Company’s debut album.

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Adam and the Ants “Dirk Wears White Sox”

sfilzen — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 14:56:16 +0000

Adam and the Ants “Dirk Wears White Sox” 1979. Do It Records. Their debut studio LP and according to Wiki it holds the distinction of being the very first number one album on the UK Independent Albums Chart when the chart debuted in Record Week, 1980. Despite that accolade, the band didn’t do as well as expected and this iteration of the Ants bailed, going on to form Malcom McLaren’s creation Bow Wow Wow.

A friend posted about getting a copy of the second pressing of this LP yesterday so I decided to dig out ours, which is likely a second, possibly third UK pressing.

This is super-early Adam Ant: much less poppy and polished than subsequent releases, sounding slightly garage-y at points, but still with a bop beat and sometimes danceable. His glam-punk roots shine on “Nine Plan Failed,” where Adam and his Ants sound like a rawly produced David Bowie accented with woo-woo backup singers. “Tabletalk” has a stark goth flavor, reminiscent of post-punk contemporaries, Siouxsie and the Banshees, especially their “Scream” release. “Cleopatra” is musically post-punk and lyrically challenging:

Cle-o-pa-tra!

C-Cleopatra did a ten-thousand
In her lifetime
Now that’s a wide mouth
C-Cleopatra gave a service
With a smile-oh
She was a wide mouthed girl
A wide mouthed girl

C-Cleopatra did a hundred (1-0-0)
Roman centurion
For after dinner mints
C-Cleopatra used a suction
Oh so unheard of
She was a wide mouthed girl
A wide mouthed girl (believe it)

Show me a bigger mouth
Show me a bigger mouth
Show me a bigger mouth
Show me a bigger mouth (yeah)

What a weak distorted image
Elizabeth and Richard gave upon the screen
Of that wide mouthed girl
Wide mouthed girl (oh yeah)

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