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

 

Suzi Quatro and The Sweet were the heroes beside of T. Rex of my very young days when I took my first steps into music. They were almost everything what we now call glam more than 50 years ago. Of course it is not the music I listen now but they built the basis of everything that came afterwards. Maybe it is a sentimental journey back to the days when everything was easy and everything was possible and we didn't thought about the future days to come.

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.

Live Music On German TV

It was a series I had a few month ago. Most of the footage I saw the first time was on a monthly show called Musikladen. One of the earliest shows I remember was watching Slade performing. Getting big in the age of glam they were one of my earliest heroes. This band took me to the music and influenced my musical taste a lot. Now I know that I am not the only one who cited them as a main influence. The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Undertones and The Ramones cited them as well as a heavy influence. This are two classic songs of their early days. And Dave Hill was the first hooligan lookalike in these days.

16 from 2016 - 2/16

Public Access T.V. is another band from NYC based deeply in song writing by Nick Lowe, Tom Petty and Ric Ocasec they made a record that was my musical mate during last summer. You can name it old fashioned or new pub rock but it is a music you can join at most places you are. Never boring, still fresh and timeless. I am glad that there were some guys over the Atlantic ocean that will carry the pure essence of music in their sound. PATV combines a lot of of influences from the last 40 years. Not only collage rock they have alos influences by British glam from the early 7o's. Sometimes I think I hear Marc Bolan in their songs. Therefore I give them a nem in my personal rundown for this year. Muisc for good times and it might  work great sitting with a bottle of beer at the campfire.

Public Access T.V. - In Our Blood
Public Access T.V. End Of An Era
Public Access T.V. -Summertime
Public Access T.V. -  Remember

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.

The Age Of Glam

I think I will continue this series of pop music more than 40 years ago and feature the golden age of glam when most of us were kids. One of those bands I was attracted to in my youngest days was Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. Cockney Rebel was a band from the last days of glam but I liked the very much. Not only because they brought London dialect to my ears. If I have to say that a band was close to perfect pop songs - Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel were very close to it.

The Age Of Glam

I am not sure if this will be a new series or not but glam rock was the music of my youngest days. It was in these days when you sat in front of the TV watching the latest groups appear. And it was also in these days in the early 70's when bands performed to playback. If it was on German television or BBC. These bands made me step into music and they are the reason why I am still addicted to music. There should be no discussion about quality or musical relevance about this songs. For me it is a part of my musical education - nothing more or less. For me it makes fun to investigate the old songs from this era and I enjoy it from time to time. Most of this songs are classics and probably hidden favourites of you all. So be surprised what will happen the next.

One of my first steps into music was the music of Slade. I don't know any other band based on Wolverhampton (what are the Wonderers doing now?). They started their career when they appeared as skinheads and tried to force their career assosiciated to football hooligans. I liked Noddy Holders voice and Dave Hill's guitar in these days. And it is still fun to listen to their songs decades after.

Live Music On German Television

Cockney Rebel is one of the most underrated band of glam. I was fascinated of their sound as well as the voice of Steve Harley. What made them different form other glam bands was the arrangement of the songs. Filled with violins and orchestra. Very special and unique in the early 70s. And I was surprised to hear Make Me Smile in the movie The Full Monty years later. It is just a journey back 40 years ago and this music works even when I am in a sentimental mood.

Enjoy!

Live Music In German TV

Back in 1972 Alice Cooper appeared on German TV when I was a young kid. I can't remember this appearance but more than 40 years later Mr. Furnier shows what could happen when he and his band plays live. It's a mixture of classic rock, rhythm and blues and a whole lot of glam. It is not the music I use to play often but I like this old fashion sound sometimes.

Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile)

Cockney Rebel was a successful British Glam rock band in the early 1970s around the charismatic singer Steve Harley. He was very egocentrically but one of the first who put a clarinet into his pop songs. I was liked him and his songs. Especially he teched me trying to understand his dialect (another one was Steve Marriot with The Small Faces). Anyway a song who reached number one in the British top ten who is still worth to listen to.

Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel - Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile)

Violent Shiver

Benjamin Booker is a 25 year old musician  based in New Orleans. Influenced by The White Stripes, The Gun Club, traditional American Blues and British glam rock he plays some very own kind of music. Based on the described roots they play an energetic, forward driven punk/new wave style. It's one of the few records that brought back to times when everything was possible. I'm looking forward to their forthcoming output.

PS: How strange it was! Decades ago our friends across the ocean elected a Miss nuclear test.

Mambo Sun

Back in the glory times of glam rock when we where pretty as sun. Marc Bolan and T.Rex ruled the scene. It is more 40 years ago when I first heard this song. I still love it and T. Rex. It might be sentimental to look back to the days when I was young and pretty but this was the times they told me the how to to feel about pop music.

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