The Glam rock period.

[Nonreality]

Is there anything better than Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars? I love Aladdin Sane also. Plus T. Rex and Mott The Hoople but I think Ziggy rules. All of this music influenced so many bands it's incredible. Just a few albums really set the tone for a lot of music to come. The New York Dolls are another of my vices but that's for another story. It was all quality stuff that was intended to be disposable but ended up being music that transcended the ages.

[Nonreality]

Is there anything better than Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars? I love Aladdin Sane also. Plus T. Rex and Mott The Hoople but I think Ziggy rules. All of this music influenced so many bands it's incredible. Just a few albums really set the tone for a lot of music to come. The New York Dolls are another of my vices but that's for another story. It was all quality stuff that was intended to be disposable but ended up being music that transcended the ages.

Come on people, I really thought this might be a good thread. I was hoping for some other good examples for this period. It was a fun time that influenced a lot of bands.

[mudlark]

I have a great memory of Glam rock and at the time i thought Marc Blan was the coolest guy on the planet.

My highlight band was Roxy Music who still reign as supreme examples of a weird idea gone right.

There were some low points though, Sweet, Mudd and most embarrassingly Gary Glitter.

Mostly good times though..

[Phil Leigh]

I have a great memory of Glam rock and at the time i thought Marc Blan was the coolest guy on the planet.

My highlight band was Roxy Music who still reign as supreme examples of a weird idea gone right.

There were some low points though, Sweet, Mudd and most embarrassingly Gary Glitter.

Mostly good times though..

I have to disagree about Sweet - they were a proper hard rock band who did some cheesy Chinn/Chapman singles. Live they were something else entirely - I saw them. Check out the live side of their double album (Strung Up not available on CD AFAIK).

Also while we are on this topic, what about early Sparks?, Sailor? and the fantastic Slade! (again a proper rock band who broke through in the glam era)

[eLR!C]

I was hoping for some other good examples for this period. It was a fun time that influenced a lot of bands.

Maybe it's hard for us to comment that period (I'm not the youngest here, but I was hardly a project in my parent's mind when the GlamRock period ended )

By the way, Queen, Lou Reed (and his Transporter) and Bowie (Ziggy period) are classics of Glam Rock AFAIC.
More recently, The Darkness made me laugh with their "I believe in a thing called love" (I consider they are pure heirs of Glam Rock style)

[Themis]

I'm a prog rock fan. And I've always liked Glam Rock, considering it with respectful amusement. Something like a cherry on the cake.
For me, it was a necessary link to reality : when prog rock became too intellectual, glam rock allowed me to re-attach myself to reality. Funny, when I think of it...

Besides, a cake is nothing without a cherry.

[Nonreality]

Maybe it's hard for us to comment that period (I'm not the youngest here, but I was hardly a project in my parent's mind when the GlamRock period ended )

Part of why I brought it up. I also agree that The Darkness brought back some memories of some of the lighter albums of that time. They kind of remind me of the New York Dolls.

[Goodsounds]

I love T-Rex and the androgenous Bowie stuff.

Some of these music/performer trends seem hard to take seriously in hindsight. Some were hard to take seriously at the time.

But many more than not still had enough essential musical content to be endearing. Styles I think are like this include Disco, Glam, Bubble Gum, etc., you get the idea. I didn't like all of it, still don't, but a lot of it is still great to listen to periodically.

Sometime within the past year, I came across a DVD (Netflix?) that had a T-Rex live performance. It seemed to be a live performance done expressly so that it could be filmed, not as a normal public performance that a camera crew was sent to. Needless to say, it was enough to show Marc Bolan's significant talent. From a musical standpoint, he WAS the band. His death was a tragedy. Sorry I don't remember the name of the DVD.

[ModelCitizen]

I love, and still listen to:

Slade... a very, very great band... they were also a great hard rock band.. some of their live stuff really rocks (I much prefer their version of Born to be Wild to SteppenWolfs).
T.Rex
Ziggy Stardust (of course)... whom I saw live when I was 15
Roxy music (I even still have the same synth Eno had then)
I love Gary Glitters Rock and Roll part 1 and 2
Even Mud and Suzy Quattro (do they count?)

Never had any time for The Sweet though.

One of the best (end of the?) glam period singles was David Essex's Rock On. A very rare and truly original track that seems to have been created directly from thin air.

MC