The Ongoing History of New Music, episode 1049: The surprising history of glam rock

At its best, rock is a transcendent experience, something that takes us somewhere away from the ordinary, the normal, and the safe. There’s a huge fantasy element to it and when done right, rock removes us from this universe and transports us someplace completely different where anything could happen—at least for a little while.

Sometimes the music alone is enough to take us there…but there’s so much more that can be done to enhance the experience.

Costuming, for one. Make-up and wild hair make a nice addition. How about going hard on the visuals and theatrics? Sure! Why not? Can’t hurt. How about dropping in some sci-fi? Good, good, What about sex and horror and shock and the occult and then really, really exaggerate everything?  Bring it on.

And you know what else might be fun? A big dollop of sexual ambiguity. That’ll freak people out.

What I’ve just described is a lot of today’s music. The rock era has been around long enough and has gone through so many bouts of extremism that it seems like there’s we can’t be shocked by anything a rock star does anymore.

But there was a time in the very late 60s and early 70s when a specific group of artists were very shocking. They did and said things that were so outrageous and wild that they kinda knocked the planet around on its axis a little bit. They also set in motion some knock-on effects that changed everything about rock. And then they became extinct,

But the influence and fallout from that four or five year period is still being seen and felt today. You just have to know where to look. This is the surprising history of glam rock. It still lives and it can still make things very interesting.

Songs heard on this show:

• • T-Rex, 20^th Century Boy
  • T-Rex, Ride a White Swan
  • T-Rex, Bang a Gong
  • David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust
  • David Bowie, Starman (Top of the Pops version)
  • Roxy Music, Virginia Plain
  • Roxy Music, Love is the Drug
  • Duran Duran, Hungry Like the Wolf
  • Suede, Metal Mickey
  • The Darkness, I Believe in a Thing Called Love

Eric Wilhite has this playlist for us,

The Ongoing History Music can be heard on these stations. Don’t forget that there’s a podcast version, too, in case you miss any episodes. Get them for free wherever you get your podcasts.

• • 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
  • Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
  • Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
  • 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
  • FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
  • Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
  • 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
  • Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
  • The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
  • The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10anm and 10pm
  • The Goat Network/Interior BC
  • Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
  • WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm

Don’t forget about my other podcast, Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry. If you love true crime with your music, you’ll love this. Get Uncharted wherever you get your podcasts.

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