What Else Can Be Done to Bring Back Glam?

We're coming up on four years of BBG! Can you believe it? In that time, it really seems like the bands we love have honestly come back into fashion. There was Rocklahoma, then M3, then Shiprocked. The constant touring by Poison and Motley Crue. Just last night, the popular show How I Met Your Mother made two Guns n' Roses Chinese Democracy references.

We can do more. But what? What else can we - the people who love classic Glam bands - do to make sure the genre continues to rise out of history?

I'm always amazed at the people I meet via this website who constantly say "Yes! Let's bring Glam back!" The passion is amazing. It is these same people who go to club shows in the middle of the work week in a snowstorm or spend their entire vacation budget to see bands in 100 degree heat. These same people buy retro T-shirts on eBay and legally buy all the new albums put forth by our classic faves.

But what else? How do you personally Bring Back Glam?

Comments

[looksthatkill]

I still think it's possible for hard rock, glam bands from the 80's to still give the fans what they want and make an album that reflects what made them famous.
Too many of the bands we love have changed there sound, and overall ideas to sound completely different from where they started. Sure times change but an attitude shouldn't and a sound should still be the basis of what a band is. That feeling you get when you put on music from the past, that excitement and "hell ya!" that made life a little more easier, that is what is missing or needs to be re-captured in artists from this era.

Bands that have done this in a short list:

Danger Danger - Revolve
Winger - Karma
Tesla - Forever more & Into the now
Ratt - Infestation
Honeymoon suite - Clifton hill

+ get these bands back on the road and I think get 4 to 6 bands out at a time as to help pay for the costs.

I am still a fan, just feel looking back in the day, it was how that music made you feel, nothing more nothing less.

[Damnp78]

I for one am personally raising my own generation of HairNation Fans ! On any given day I can walk into my boys room and possibly see my 5yo perched on a chair listening to Appetite or belting out Loving You is a Dirty Job. OR watch my 9yo walk around w/ his iPOD knock-off jamming to the Crue or some other 80's fav. That to me is better than buying any t-shirt or download ! Their love of "our" music is the greatest !

[Shadow]

I crank it whereever I am and for the people that actually listen FUS's station thats what i play!!

[spence]

Glam is back. Just look to Sweden and the rest of Europe. Sure it is more motley crue sleaze tyle and less poison pure glam, but the scene there is amazing. Such bands as Wig Wam, Hardcore Superstar, Crashdiet, Crazy Lixx, Sister Sin, Reckless Love, and Jettblack are keeping glam alive.

Another idea is start a glam band and start delivering a new North American style of glam.

[spence]

I agree with Damnp78's comment. HairNation is going along way to introducing new fans to the beauty of glam. It truly is up to the parents to continue promoting their music to the youth. My Dad loved his 70s hard rock, and thus I continue to listen to it. There is something to be said by being brainwashed from the cradle!

[reptileblvd]

Spence brings up some great points about the Glam movement being on the rise overseas. I personally have five little headbangers of my own, ages 5 - 16. (my five yr old daughter recently approached a DjJ at a wedding and requested some Twisted Sister, all on her own - the DJ was blown away and for the rest of the evening Glam requests blow up the hall.)

Bands like Crashdiet, Tigertailz, The Poodles, and Hardcore Superstar are pounding out the tunes as well as American born rockers Dirty Penny. While I would like to sell them all playing sold out areas the fact is we need to hammer our local radio stations to get there music played. If they don't hear the love comming from the US they will never come to visit.

I'd also like to see more obscure bands of the genre who may no longer be together getting some write ups so we may learn of them and search out there music. I recently heard a rare cd by the band BAD LOSER out of Japan, sure I had no idea what the lyrics were but I headbanded my as off as soon as a friend started playing them. I suggest everyone try to hear them.

I personally pray for a reunion of the Rock City Angels as I feel they are a greatly underappreciated band the I would love to see play live.

Lastly Sun City records has signed some great old bands to there label. Biggest I'd say is they are releasing FEMM FATEL's second yet unreleased album Lady in Waiting. Also check out Sweet Teaze some personal friends from Detroit on there label as well as the infamous Alleycat Scrath.

Peace!

[Metalboy!]

Whoa, Man, we got some deep Glam Metal fans here, way into our music!

Rock City Angels, Sweet Teaze, Alleycat Scratch! Reptile Blvd, you know your stuff.

Rock City Angels is a band that I feel could actually reform, do it the way they always intended and would give us music so great it would be right up there with all of the bands out there that are still relevant on the level of the significance of Springsteen or U2 and, personally, better!

These guys were slated to be right up there with G'n'R and were horribly mishandled by Geffen's A&R people. But their album was killer and shows that if they got together today to make a new album it would be hellacious. And the story is equally unbelievable, which only adds to the cred it would recieve if they delivered the goods.

I'm all in favor of turning on the kidz to the old stuff, but there are so many Glam Metal Bands out there now that are made up of kidz in their late teens and early 20's, that I wish those bands were embraced as the latest cool thing to listen to, rather than constant rehash of our old faves, including some who just seem to never produce anything truly breakthrough on the level I think an 80's or 90's act like Rock City Angels would be able to do.

Hansel (check out the vid, "Murder 101" on YouTube) or Reckless Love (check out the vid, "Beautiful Bomb" on YouTube, too!) are perfect examples of new stuff that sounds right in the pocket of what we love, but can also truly be embraced as new because they are new bands whose members are kidz, for all practical purposes, not 45 year olds.

This is the Nu Metal Breed
Call it Glam, Call it sleaze
Bring Back Glam is all we need
Time to live The Rock And Roll Dream!

p.s. And now you really know I can't write worth a damn, but the sentiment is still there. Keep On Rockin', People...

p.s.s.t. We should also start WBBG!, Al! WBBG! All Glam. All Metal. All The Time!... We could play a mix of all Glam from the 70's (T Rex, Sweet, NY Dolls, Kiss, etc.), the 80's (Ratt, Def, Crue, Kiss, G'n'R, Hanoi Rocks, etc.), the 90's (Danger Danger, Casanova, Tuff, Kiss, G'n'R, Sargent Fury, etc.-- please add here), 2000's (Buckcherry, Dirty Penny, Hansel, Reckless Love, Crash Diet, Vains of Jenna, The Poodles, Dynazty, Crazy Lixx, etc.). Come on, Al and all you BringBackGlammerz and Glam Metal Kidz, it's time to Bring Back Glam once and for all! We need an alternative to HairNation, which just doesn't thoroughly nail it. We need a satellite station that mixes "the new", the "not as new", and the "not so new" all together, interviews of both old and new Glam Rock and Glam Metal bands, album debuts, etc., etc. Let's Rock & Roll!!!

[Blaine]

@Reptileblvd - I could not find the Femme Fatale release you were talking about. I've seen them three times in the past year, and have been searching for one of their albums forever. Think you could provide me with a link?

[Metalboy!]

Blaine!

Funny, I was wondering the same thing. I still don't see that Sun City has released that second Femme Fatale album.

Great label, but it's been a year or so since they announced they are doing it, yet still don't have it out, unless it happened in the last few weeks.

I haven't checked back on the Sun City site for awhile.

You should be able to find Femme Fatale's first one, which is killer, on Ebay. Just keep lookin' and it will pop up. Also, if you like them, get Robin Beck's "Trouble Or Nothin'", if you don't already have it. It's right up your alley, if you like Femme Fatale...

[Chip DiMonick]

I think Metalboy! hit the nail on the head. The key is to support the new breed of glam. Never in the history of US popular music has a style of music resurrected itself decades later with the old players and become the biggest thing with the kids.

So, instead of the "original glam metal fans" hoping that kids will like Crue, Poison, etc., everyone should be hoping that the kids make the new breed of glam - which should also appeal to the original Crue and Poison fans - the next big thing.

Allyson does a great job of periodically introducing new bands (like her recent review of Kissin' Dynamite) and I look forward to discovering more of these hidden gems.

[snoot]

Hey reptileblvd,
Rock City Angels are playing three shows to promote the cd with unreleased stuff that came out on FNA Records recently.
Get your ass to Fort Lauderdale on Nov. 12th, Nashville on Nov. 19th or Memphis Nov. 20th.!!!

[Metalboy!]

Son of a B*TCH!

I'm goin' on Shiprocked! on the 11th out of Fort Lauderdale on the 12th and Rock City Angels are playin' there on the 12th! Sh*t! Talk about bad timing.

If they had only known to play the 10th, a lot of us would have shown up for that show before hoping on the ship!

[Metalboy!]

Oops! It's too early. TYPO negative alert! I meant they are playin' on the 12th in Lauderdale and we are leaving the day before on Shiprocked! Ugh, this is killin' me!

[Chuck]

Support the bands and promote the heck out of them. It's hard to reach the target audience of the glam rock/80s rock fans. Alot of those people simply aren't online and you would be surprised at how many people who grew up with these bands don't know these bands still exist today. I've spent the last decade covering these bands and did some time on the Classic Metal Show here in Ohio with Neeley and Chris. You could promote the heck out of these bands, but unless you hit that target audience then all the promotion in the world can't help them. Here in my area I've found that there is a large following of the glam/80s bands in the rural areas outside of Cleveland. These people won't go into Cleveland for shows no matter what. However, if you bring the shows out of Cleveland, then the people come out. LA Guns is a good case in point. I can't remember the last time they sold a venue out in Cleveland over the last 10 years. Their last few club shows in the area were in Mentor, Ohio - about 30 minutes East of Cleveland and the shows were sellouts (500+). I covered the 2nd of these shows on my blog a few years ago. They did play to a good crowd in Cleveland a few months ago, but that was for the Cleveland Rib Festival/Burnoff. 90 percent of those people were there for the ribs. Reaching the people is only a part of the problem. Some of the labels, managers, booking agents, publicist sometimes really drop the ball in promoting these bands. Sun City Records is one label that comes to mind as one who missed a good chance to sell some cds. They put out a few releases by Cleveland area bands and they got zero promotion here in NE Ohio where those cds would have sold copies in good numbers. I tried to reach out to the label numerous times over the last few years but never heard anything back. Those bands could have had cover features in the local bi-weekly North Coast Voice entertainment magazine, the monthly Rhythm, Art, and Groove magazine and could have got received some heavy airplay complete with interviews on 107.5 The Fox, which has a strong signal that carries from the the Eastern Cleveland suburbs all the way to just South of Buffalo, New York. The label really missed out on hitting a key target audience there. That's just an example of one of the things I've found through the years on what works, doesn't work, and could work to help promote these bands.

I would say though that probably the biggest thing that hurts the glam/80's bands is that the people who grew up with this music don't realize that these bands are still out there. I graduated in 1989 and I would say that 75 percent of the people I grew up with aren't online and have no idea these bands still exist.

[north face backpacks]

HairNation is going along way to introducing new fans to the beauty of glam. It truly is up to the parents to continue promoting their music to the youth. My Dad loved his 70s hard rock, and thus I continue to listen to it. There is something to be said by being brainwashed from the cradle!

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