70s Glam mix

The early 70s saw rock hit its first reactionary movement. A new generation of fans and musicians, weaned on tinny AM radio trash and their older siblings' record collections, came of age with a chip on their shoulder and a desire for something beyond the classic rock cliches that were already fossilized in amber. They looked simultaneously to the past and the future for inspiration. In the past, they found the excitement and simplicity of good ol' 50s rock 'n' roll, and in the future they found an alien androgyny based in apocalyptic sci-fi, and they smushed those two seemingly disparate elements together and created an indefinable beast that ended up getting called glam.

Glam, or glitter, as a term is an admittedly large umbrella spread out over a highly dissimilar bunch of acts. The somewhat foppy UK variant (typified by Bowie, T.Rex, The Sweet, and a parade of one hit wonders) was quite clearly at odds with the darker, messier US strain (which included the Dolls, Iggy, Alice Cooper, and even Lou Reed). What ties them together is their mutual influence and similarity to what was then just lurking around the corner: punk rock. The energy, the distorted guitars, the trash aesthetic, the rediscovered faith in rock and roll, and the rejection of established cliches - those very tenets of punk were the same booster rockets that powered the best of the glam bands.

Don't Blame Us, You 96 Decibel Freaks

1. Mott the Hoople The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll
2. New York Dolls Personality Crisis
3. Alice Cooper Under My Wheels
4. The Sweet Hellraiser
5. Suzi Quatro Glycerine Queen
6. Be Bop Deluxe Maid in Heaven
7. T. Rex Sunken Rags
8. Slade Gudbuy T' Jane
9. Jobriath Rock of Ages
10. Crushed Butler High School Dropout
11. Hobnail She's Just A Friend Of Mine
12. The Rats Queen
13. Brett Smiley VaVaVa Voom
14. Hollywood Brats Sick On You
15. Iggy and the Stooges Search and Destroy
16. David Bowie Suffragette City
17. Wizzard Ball Park Incident
18. Mud Tiger Feet
19. David Werner Whizz Kid
20. Alastair Riddell Scars of Love
21. Roxy Music Virginia Plain
22. American Jam Band Jam Jam
23. Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Make Me Smile
24. Sensational Alex Harvey Band Last of the Teenage Idols Pts. I-III

Note: I found it difficult to contain this mix to 80 minutes, so it's the first one on this site that doesn't fit onto a standard CD.