Leather Friday

 

For no particular reason, I was watching old videos of The Doors again a few days ago and realized what a presence Jim Morrison was. The fact that he has achieved cult status is certainly also due to his clothes, especially his leather trousers. In music, leather generally stands for freedom, rebellion and wanting to be different. The more I thought about it, the more musicians came to mind who celebrated the leather look and gave me the idea of presenting this in a small series.

At the end of the 60's, Jim Morrison was the idol of many who wanted to be different. His metaphorical lyrics, hypnotic gestures and radical attitude to life made him a superstar. However, he also knew how to present himself visually and so his leather trousers became the outfit of his rebellion.

To stand out in the whole glam scene, Alvin Stardust decided to dress completely in black leather. His music is strongly reminiscent of early rock ‘n’ roll and what could be more obvious than to dress like this?

In the wake of new wave, a Belgian singer emerged at the end of the 70s who was also a huge chart success dressed in leather. Plastic Bertrand is just a footnote in music history, but even his song and outfit are memorable.

Back Then

 

Last weekend a few of my pals watched the Stuttgart game for the Bundesliga and we were all disappointed by the result. Stuttgart were the far better team but they lost at home 0:1 at home against Freiburg. After we got over our frustration we went to a friends home to finish the afternoon, There was nothing more to do than talking and have good conversations until a friend started to play some music. Step by step each of us took over the controls and finally it was my decision DJing for half an hour. I didn't know much better than to go back to the early 70's to play some glam rock. We all enjoyed this evening and so it is a pleasure for me to kick you all back to music more than 50 years ago. Enjoy this little journey.

Back To The Days Of Glam

When we remember the days of glam we also will remember a few one-hit wonders from this age. Alvin Stardust with his retro-styled Rock 'n' Roll attitude and Gary Glitter with his dazzling glam outfit were those who made me to investigate for the originals they copied. In my very younger days I liked to watch them on TV and they were a kind of hero for a summer until I got involved to the originals they copied for their sound.

Glam Again

Next week I will fulfill 60 years being on this planet and the more I come to this date the more I reflect what happened in these decades. Many great things happened to me as well some horrible times I had to stand. So I am in a sentimental mood for my very young days when I raised with glam rock. It was the days I fell in love with music and can't resist it after all these years. So today I will feature some of these songs that made my very younger days.

The Age Of Glam

Glam wasn't only for bands. There were always a few artists that made a solo career of being the object that was important. One of those was Alvin Stardust. Dressed in a full black leather outfit with massive sidebums and Rock 'n' Roll quiff he gave us some of the mid 70s trademarks in glam.

The other one I will remember is Gary Glitter (though he was imprisoned for possession of child pornography at the end of the last century). I still remember him in his glam outfit and his plateau shoes. Nothing but straight rhythm I fell in love more than 40 years ago.

Twanging Tuesday # 7

Impressed by the music of Gene Vincent and Elvis Presley Vince Taylor started to sing. With his brother in law he came to England for a business trip. He met there the other musicians  to form the Playboys. His first single records Pledging my love and Brand New Cadillac weren't big successful. He was famous for his outfit dressed full in black leather and crazy wild live shows. Using drugs and his extrovert life-style ruined his career. He would be presumably forgotten, if The Clash did not have covered his song on London Calling. His legacy was his great influence to Glam Rock an Punk with his outfit and his wild shows (remember Gary Glitter and Alvin Stardust)

Vince Taylor - Brand New Cadillac