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Any interest in the musical roots of "glam?"
For example, the basic rythm of Maddy Prior's "I Saw Three Ships" sounds very much like the intro to "Can the Can." Not so farfetched, as Nicki Chinn and Mike Chapman, not to mention Phil Coulter and Phil Wainman, have their roots in Gaelic(Irish/Scottish/etc)musics. A lot of it also has the Caribbean stamp all over it, as the "redlegs" brought the basic patterns with them from Eire. It all goes back to the Moors, anyway.
Comments?
Ehhh...I guess I'd have to stick to commenting on other people's topics...
The first Glam tune was "Twinkle Twinkle little star" Mozart aged 6.
It all comes from the blues baby.
H
<font size="4" face="Arial">Hard to deny that one. Listen to Willie Johnson, and it's amazing how easy many of his songs could be covered today and easily be turned into hits. The old Delta stuff is probably the most timeless music ever written.Quote:
Originally posted by Hud McG:
It all comes from the blues baby.
H
It's not that simple.
Why not? Do you really think Marc Bolan went on some crazy ass "Paul Simon" like journey trying to find umpteen million styles to incorporate? You don't think that maybe, just maybe, Sweet, Slade, whoever, wrote up a simple RnR tune and said "fuck man, why not add a shitload of toms into it and make a stomping type sound!". Why does it have to be some "ya know...when I was in the jungles of Guam I ran into this tribe who did this crazy bass beat on the dried out skins of a monkey's ass" while another member answers with a "oh yeah, and while I was researching sound I hopped into Peabody's 'way back machine' and we took a trip to a lost island off the South Pacific that was inhabited by a lost tribe of Trappist monks who believed in using combs like kazoo's and doing a funky vocal harmony after chewing the entrails of a caterpillar which caused your voice to escalate like when Jesus used to do these crazy hymns (don't forget...we have a 'way back machine' so we know what he sounded like...boy...did that guy love BBQ, by the way) while contemplating the true reason behind "Sanford and Son" (he borrowed our 'way back machine' after a wild night of BBQ and drinks brought by the Trappists)". Why do you think that a style as utterly simplistic as the original "Glam" must have come from some wild sources. Chinn and Chapman (or one of them) may have had an interest in some areas of the stuff you mentioned, but I don't think the driving force behind it all was anything more than the simple idea of "stomping", which in reality can be traced back to some form of caveman.
Well, considering that Sweet started out doing calypso-ish tunes, and Mike Leander actually admitted his love for Caribbean music and based early GG music around it, I would say that lets reggae and highlife sneak in a bit.
Slade covered the Mac Kissoon cover of the Shirley and Lee medley first covered by Bunny Siegler. Slade then covered the MK cover. Mac Kissoon was/is from Jamaica, and his version had definite SA/Carib elements to the sound. BTW....Twisted Sister covered the Slade version live and released it live as the B side of the "YCSRnR" 12 inch single.
No, Robert Johnson was a great guitarist, but he was not as much of an influence as some would like you to believe.
I'm not even mentioning the Italian choral influence, or the influences from Bavaria etc...
I just really wanted to get a visual of Jesus using Peabody's "Way Back Machine" to get beer and BBQ into peoples heads.
Johnson was good, but McTell smoked him on the playing front. Johnson is just the "trendy" guy to be into.
But I am pretty sure NY Dolls had a somewhat big Blues influence.
Oh, plus, I hate Calypso and Reggae...so...yeah...
<font color="#FF0099" size="1">[ April 02, 2006 11:59 PM: Message edited by: Carl I. ]</font>
Sweet didn't 'go glam' until AFTER they did the calypso stuff though. It was when they first performed 'Little Willy' on a television show and they thought it'd be a laugh to follow the current trend - but really overdo it. There's an interview where Mick Tucker describes them all pissing themselves laughing when Steve Priest put on hot pants and a top that was virtually a 'bra'.
The Dolls had a huge Latin Soul influence. Yes, they did have blues influence, Lone Star Queen is a great song! Johansen was in a band named after Harry Smith, porch-blues guy, before he and Syl formed The Two York Dolls.
Go ahead and hate reggae and calypso, just don't deny their influence on glam! Poppa Joe...CoCo...great!!!!
Actually, if you look at early footage of them, you can see elements of what would become "glam" already in their outfits. I surely recall the WigWhambam era, and the facepaint and satin gear, but I'm talking about before it as well.
As for their saying they were taking the piss, you know that most, if not all, of those bands like to deny they ever were glam, or else they use the piss angle. Sweet protested too much, in my not so humble opinion. Andy, especially, wanted so much to be taken seriously by the likes of Rolling Stone, him being a prog(Elastic Band)and all that. They all were really, but him especially. Recall the media despised glam, I'm sure you do.
As for Buddy Rich, yes, the influence of those ornate drummers from the Big Band Era was felt a lot in glam. Mick got his chance in Man With The Golden Arm to show his stuff.
BTW...that about Cozy is on a site about him.
<font size="4" face="Arial">Didn't he have a band with his brother, and then the two of them move to Angleterre and enlist members of Jook to back them up?Quote:
Originally posted by Buttz:
The first Glam tune was "Twinkle Twinkle little star" Mozart aged 6.
Wait, that was Ron Mael of Sparks. Honest mistake.
No,.. I think you're right....
Could be.
Bump...
*Sniff*...I sense the essense of oranges...
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...nudge...