Our Time to Shine

Androgyny has always fascinated me, so I guess it comes as little surprise that I'm such a huge fan of glam rock. After all, the genre is typified by men with big hair, even bigger egos and a ton of eye liner.

If you look at the cover of Poison's Look What the Cat Dragged In, you see four men more akin to the cover of Vogue instead of Metal Mania. So what does this say about our society and culture?

The early 1980s were the last gasp of the sexual revolution. Indeed, glam bands sang proudly of their conquests with little consequence until the AIDS epidemic became front page news.

It's hard to imagine a rabid metal scene today like the Sunset Strip salad days of, say, 1984 when it was common for each glam band to sport a bevy of beauties on each arm, party backstage and snort about a thousand dollars worth of cocaine for good measure.

Was this the epitome of rock? Of course not, but lyrics reflected the lifestyle  no holds barred, and nothing held back.

Now, when we look to the stage, we see a reflection of ourselves. Is it so wrong to want to see a performer actually perform? Is it wrong to want my rockstars to wear more make-up than I do? I don't think so. 

Later this week: a deeper look at hom0-eroticism in heavy metal.

Comments

[Hard Rock Hideout]

I remember seeing a copy of this disc when a DJ buddy of mine got an advance copy almost a full year before anyone knew who the band was. The first time he showed it to me, I was a mere 17 years old, and thought they were girls. LOL.

[Metal Mark]

I think that U.K.'s Wrathchild or Madam X were the first band's I saw with such heavy make-up. So that was like 1984.