honest intellectual
19th April 2003, 01:30
Glam/ Glam rock is a movement which reached its height in the late sixties - mid seventies. Glam rockers include David Bowie, Iggy Pop/ The Stooges, Roxy Music, New York Dolls, T-Rex/ Marc Bolan.
Musically, Glam is characterised by four-chord acoustic guitar things and simple vocals with weir and/ or poetic lyrics. As a fashion, it is characterised by adornment - glitter and make-up. Glitter, in particular, has come to symbolise Glam. It mixes haute couture ('glamour') with basse couture, the trashy and the vulgar.
Anyway, to get to the point, Glam is based on the belief that what is beautiful is to be valued more than what is genuine or natural. Therefore, what is fake and artificial is embraced, because it is more beautiful and more perfect than what is real. (This applies especially to the exteriors, the masks, that we all make for ourselves). You can't be perfect, but you can fake it.
I've only managed to find one decent site on Glam, namely All You Pretty Things (http://www.geocities.com/glamcandy). Pay particular attetion to the 'Posture' section (Although I don't agree with all of it, specifically the bits about decadence.
Also watch the film Velvet Goldmine. It's not all that good as a film (the structure is all over the place and it ends with a silly deus ex machina), but it does give an amazingly understanding and faithful representation of what Glam is about and the experience of a Glam fan
Musically, Glam is characterised by four-chord acoustic guitar things and simple vocals with weir and/ or poetic lyrics. As a fashion, it is characterised by adornment - glitter and make-up. Glitter, in particular, has come to symbolise Glam. It mixes haute couture ('glamour') with basse couture, the trashy and the vulgar.
Anyway, to get to the point, Glam is based on the belief that what is beautiful is to be valued more than what is genuine or natural. Therefore, what is fake and artificial is embraced, because it is more beautiful and more perfect than what is real. (This applies especially to the exteriors, the masks, that we all make for ourselves). You can't be perfect, but you can fake it.
I've only managed to find one decent site on Glam, namely All You Pretty Things (http://www.geocities.com/glamcandy). Pay particular attetion to the 'Posture' section (Although I don't agree with all of it, specifically the bits about decadence.
Also watch the film Velvet Goldmine. It's not all that good as a film (the structure is all over the place and it ends with a silly deus ex machina), but it does give an amazingly understanding and faithful representation of what Glam is about and the experience of a Glam fan