Far Out 40: The best songs of the glam-rock wave
In 1967, The Beatles released the quintessential psychedelic rock album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. From its vibrantly coloured artwork to the tangerine trees of ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’, the album popularised a burgeoning movement and laid the tracks for early genre stalwarts such as Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Pink Floyd. This kaleidoscopic genre would soon birth two pivotal subgenres: prog-rock and glam-rock.
Like most musical terminology, the distinction between glam and prog is foggy, but the names do much of the explaining. As an offshoot of psychedelic rock, the glam movement was packed with progressive material, but its crucial attribute was an androgynous star-encrusted aesthetic with musical themes to match.
Marc Bolan, who set out with Tyrannosaurus Rex as a psych-rocker in 1967, represented glam’s genesis most succinctly. The band’s debut album, My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair… was remembered for its ethereal compositions of bongo-style rhythms and acoustic guitar. Three years and five albums later, Bolan and a rebranded T. Rex released their early glam masterpiece, Electric Warrior.
Electric Warrior shared its release year with David Bowie’s Hunky Dory. The album was another vital release of the early glam era and marked the beginning of the artist’s overdue breakthrough. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars followed in 1972 as arguably the most consummate glam release of all. The Starman consolidated his position as the ‘King of Glam Rock’ with Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs before moving to more soulful pastures in 1975.
Bowie’s personal output alone would be enough to warrant a position on the glam throne, but his influence reached even further underground. Alongside his bandmate Mick Ronson, Bowie helped Lou Reed return to eminence in 1972 following his Velvet Underground departure. The pair helped Reed by contributing to and producing his second solo album, Transformer, another undeniable glam essential.
Elsewhere, Bowie joined Iggy Pop and The Stooges to produce their third and final album, Raw Power, in 1973 and saved Mott the Hoople from destitution and demise by offering them his song ‘All the Young Dudes’ in 1972.
As Bowie led the glam charge, the British bands Sweet and Slade established the genre’s most notorious rivalry, and Brian Eno began his illustrious career as the synth extraordinaire to Bryan Ferry’s right in Roxy Music.
Glam-rock’s candle had flickered to a smoky wick by the time punk swung around in the late 1970s, with its progenitors dispersing into deeper niches and losing the glitter. Sweet, Kiss and Thin Lizzy continued on a hard rock trajectory while Roxy Music laid the groundwork for the 1980s synth-pop era, sans Eno.
Today, we’re celebrating the glam rock era by scraping together 40 of its greatest compositions. With this selection, we look to represent all corners of the genre, from the twee time capsule that is Shawaddywaddy to the avant-pop stylings of Brian Eno’s early solo career. For the sake of variety, we couldn’t simply list the songs from For Your Pleasure, Transformer, Ziggy Stardust and Electric Warrior.
The best glam-rock songs:
- ‘Beauty Queen’ – Roxy Music
- ‘All the Young Dudes’ – Mott The Hoople
- ‘Ziggy Stardust’ – David Bowie
- ‘Vicious’ – Lou Reed
- ‘Rocket Man’ – Elton John
- ‘Virginia Plain’ – Roxy Music
- ‘Cosmic Dancer’ – T. Rex
- ‘Cum on Feel the Noize’ – Slade
- ‘The Ballroom Blitz’ – Sweet
- ‘Search and Destroy’ – The Stooges
- ‘Perfect Day’ – Lou Reed
- ‘Personality Crisis’ – New York Dolls
- ‘Mother of Pearl’ – Roxy Music
- ‘In Every Dream Home A Heartache’ – Roxy Music
- ‘Tiger Feet’ – Mud
- ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us’ – Sparks
- ‘Third Uncle’ – Brian Eno
- ‘Killer Queen’ – Queen
- ‘Benny and the Jets’ – Elton John
- ‘The Motivator’ – T. Rex
- ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’ – David Bowie
- ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ – Lou Reed
- ‘Strutter’ – Kiss
- ‘Starman’ – David Bowie
- ‘Baby’s On Fire’ – Brian Eno
- ‘Rock & Roll Part 2’ – Gary Glitter
- ‘Love is the Drug’ – Roxy Music
- ‘Queen Bitch’ – David Bowie
- ‘The ‘In’ Crowd’ – Bryan Ferry
- ‘Lady Stardust – David Bowie
- ‘Ride A White Swan’ – T. Rex
- ‘She’s in Love with You’ – Suzi Quatro
- ‘Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)’ – Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
- ‘Life on Mars?’ – David Bowie
- ‘Far Far Away’ – Slade
- ‘All the Way from Memphis’ – Mott the Hoople
- ‘The Jean Genie’ – David Bowie
- ‘Casanova’ – Bryan Ferry
- ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ – Thin Lizzy
- ‘Under the Moon of Love’ – Showaddywaddy