Search - Glam Rock Compilation on DVD

Glam Rock? Well some of it anyway...

Malixe | Seattle | 09/24/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"OK first of all, I -like- this DVD. It's got some very good moments on it. But it appears that they've burrowed through the archives of a german music show, "Musik Laden" roughly the equivalent of the American "Midnight Special", with some live performances and some obvious lip syncs.

The only real problem is that apparently the archives don't go that deep, so they decided to stretch the label and concept of 'glam rock' farther it was ever meant to be able to go, just so they could have enough material to fill up a DVD. So there are some blatant boners here, where anyone who has any acquaintance with REAL glam rock is left scratching their head and asking 'What the hell???'

So let's hit the high points-- First of all, what makes rock 'Glam'? Well there's room for interpretation, but contrary to popular belief, while wardrobe and make-up were a significant accessory for some, it was the SOUND that identified it.

The 'glam rock' spells it out nicely-- "Its main identifying mark wasn't the clothes worn or the name of the singer (Larry Lurex anyone?) but the rhythm of the music. A very basic tribal 4 on the floor pervades glam rock.. sometimes played on the floor tom tom ala' Gary Glitter/Suzi Quatro sometimes the whole band just stomped along on the beat like Slade or T-Rex, but this was rock'n'roll.. pure and simple."

So here we go-- on the Glam Rock DVD, there's REAL GLAM:
*T. Rex, 'Jeepster'--one of the classics.
*Roxy Music, 'Virginia Plain'-- Well, almost. More avant garde/early new wave. Definitely cool, but lacking the crunch of glam.
*Suzi Quatro, '48 Crash'-- I've got no idea what this song is about, but it's the real thing.
*Sweet, 'Teenage Rampage'-- absolutely.
*David Essex, 'Rock On'--his only song that even remotely qualifies, but it does.
*Medicine Head, 'How Does it Feel'--the wimpy vocals nearly knock it out of the running, but it's got that glam thump'n'crunch. *Lulu, 'The Man Who Sold the World'-- Lulu turns it into more of a chanteuse number, but it's from Bowie's glam period and it's close enough that I'll count it.
*David Cassidy, 'Rock Me Baby'-- oh boy, just barely. I'm being generous...

And with additional cuts by T. Rex (20th Century Boy) and Roxy Music (Do the Strand), that's pretty much it. And that's what, 10 songs I guess.

But that's just barely half of the performances on the DVD; the rest?

*Bay City Rollers were 'glam' in the same way that N'Sync are punk rockers. OK, maybe one song--Saturday Night, but that's not on here.
*Smokey? A Journey-esque folkie ballad? I don't think so.
*Steve Harley...who? Doing a lame version of George Harrison's 'Here Comes the Sun', complete with pantomime body language and bad clothes? Shudder, shudder...
*Tom Robinson Band, '2-4-6-8 Motorway'-- Great band, great song, fun to watch. NOT Glam. Great early punk rockers, you bet! *Showaddyaddy--'You got what it takes'. Heh. Jon Bon Jovi's older brother does a choreographed number with a whitebread version of the Ojays or the Spinners. Fun song, cute to watch. Glam? Not even remotely.
*Nazareth, 'Love Hurts'-- Great american rock ballad. Not Glam. Nuh uh.
*Dave Edmunds 'Here Comes the Weekend'? I love Dave. One of the best live club shows I have EVER seen. Power-Pop/Rockabilly, that's our Dave. Glam? Never ever in his life.
*Rod Stewart, 'Tonight's the Night'. This someone's idea of a bad joke?
*Alice Cooper, 'Public Animal #9'. Fun to watch, and there's part of me that -wants- to push Alice under the 'Glam' umbrella-- but glittery clothes and elaborate make-up aside, Alice was a good old American 70's style Hard Rocker. I love Alice to death, but he wasn't a glam rocker.

So ultimately all I can say is that the DVD is worth having, but for genuine glam rock purists, all I can say is 'Caveat Emptor'."

"GLAM ROCK: The DVD"

Johnny Kim Hembd | Los Angeles | 08/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It states "20 Original TV Recordings" on the cover and it's SUPERBLY done at that. I didn't expect this dvd to be this good when I first saw this at "Tower Records". It's a pity why Amazon do not list the track title of the songs. They would sell more DVDs that way (at least for DVDs with music is concerned). I wasn't sure about ordering this before until I saw the track listing. All music videos are the original, tv recordings (some I noticied were from "MUSIKLADEN") in crisp clear visual and with an incredible sound to go with it and all the music videos start from the very beginning to the very end without any interruptions from some announcers. Similar production/concept as "Disco Inferno" DVD which even has the live images but syncronizes perfectly with audio recording (without the people screaming, etc...). I'm a club DJ/VJ and I can tell you that you won't be disappointed with this dvd. 64 minutes total. Tracks include:

1. T. Rex "Jeepster"
2. Roxy Music "Virginia Plain"
3. Suzi Quatro "48 Crash"
4. David Essex "Rock On"
5. Sweet "Teenage Rampage"
6. Bay City Rollers "Bye Bye Baby"
7. Medicine Head "How Does It Feel"
8. Lulu "The Man Who Sold The World"
9. David Cassidy "Rock Me Baby"
10. Smokie "If You Think You Know How To Love Me"
11. Steve Harley "Here Comes The Sun"
12. Tom Robinson Band "2-4-6-8 Motorway"
13. Showaddywaddy "You Got What It Takes"
14. Nazareth "Love Hurts"
15. Dave Edmunds "Here Comes The Weekend"
16. Rod Stewart "Tonight's The Night"
17. Roxy Music "Do The Strand"
18. T. Rex "20th Century Boy"
19. Mungo Jerry "Alright Alright Alright"
20. Alice Cooper "Public Animal #9"

Rod Stewart's "Tonight's The Night" is live version, sung so well and this version has some French vocals added in which I wasn't cognizant of before. Nicely done! Nazareth "Love Hurts" was by far my most favorite and this one was the best I've seen.

For music video clips that's over 40 years old to be this good is something you wouldn't expect and the production and the concept of this DVD is TOTALLY AWESOME! The only thing I wish they would do next time is get rid of that huge "GLAM ROCK" written with every title of the group and the song at the beginning of the videos. It wouldn't be bad if it didn't linger too long. :-)

"

Missing Persons...

Nathan Long | Los Angeles | 01/09/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I agree with Malixe, only about half the acts on this DVD qualify as glam. They are of the time period (except Tom Robinson, who is about four years later) but not of the genre.

The nice thing about it is hearing a few live versions of favorite songs by favorite glam acts. That's why I've given it three stars.

The thing that kills me is the acts that are missing. Undoubtedly this is because of rights issues or somesuch, but where are Slade, Gary Glitter, Alvin Stardust, Mott the Hoople, David Bowie, or even, uh, Chicory Tip?

The DVD seems to have been made, not by a lover of Glam, but by someone trying to figure out how to package and sell a bunch of old TV clips of people in funny clothes they have lying around in their archives.

Good for half of what it's got. Bad for what it's missing."