Glam Rock in the 70s: Britain's Charts, America's Silence
Glam rock in the 70s ruled British record shops in a way this site's own US chart data barely reflects.
This site has no dedicated glam rock artist file.
The real roster comes from two other buckets instead: 9 glam-tagged acts inside hard rock, 7 more tagged glam-pop inside pop crossover.
Sixteen real artists in all.
Only one of the nine hard-rock-tagged acts ever touched this site's own US chart archive.
Marc Bolan of T. Rex, ABC In Concert taping, May 15, 1973.
Image credit: ABC Television, public domain (published in the US without copyright notice, 1931-1977), via Wikimedia Commons.
What Counts as Glam Rock in the 70s
No Dedicated File, So the Roster Was Built by Hand
Glam rock in the 70s has no dedicated artist file on this site, unlike funk, disco, or prog rock.
The real roster had to be pulled by hand from two other buckets instead.
Hard rock's own data tags 9 real glam acts: Angel, Gary Glitter, Ian Hunter, Mott the Hoople, New York Dolls, Slade, Suzi Quatro, T. Rex, and The Sweet.
Pop crossover's data tags 7 more under glam-pop: David Bowie, David Essex, Elton John, Mud, Pilot, The Rubettes, and Wizzard.
Sixteen real artists in all.
One Name Excluded on Purpose
A tenth hard-rock artist carries a glam metal tag, but it doesn't belong here.
Dokken's tag points to glam metal, a different genre built in the 1980s.
The band itself didn't form under that name until October 1978.
Its first album didn't arrive until the following decade.
Real 70s glam rock and 80s glam metal share a word, not a sound or a decade, so Dokken sits this post out.
Elton John and Bowie Already Have Their Own Spotlight
Two names on this roster already carry real depth elsewhere on this site.
Elton John charted 12 times in this site's own pop-crossover data, already the subject of its own section on the Pop Songs of 70s post.
David Bowie gets his own short section on the live 70s Rock overview too.
That section covers Young Americans, Station to Station, and a real Johnny Rotten quote about glam's influence on punk.
Neither gets repeated here.
That's the real shape glam rock in the 70s takes once the overlap is set aside.
Marc Bolan and T. Rex Started It, Then It Ended Suddenly
Marc Bolan built glam rock's whole visual language before almost anyone else tried it.
He renamed his acoustic folk duo Tyrannosaurus Rex to the shorter, sharper T. Rex in 1970.
Glitter, satin, and an electric guitar replaced the old acoustic sound almost overnight.
"Bang a Gong (Get It On)" is the only glam-tagged hard-rock act's song to ever chart in this site's own US archive, reaching number 56 in 1972.
T. Rex's real commercial dominance happened in Britain instead, where the band scored four number ones across 1971 and 1972.
A Sudden End, Two Weeks Before His 30th Birthday
Bolan's story ended abruptly, and unexpectedly early.
On September 16, 1977, a purple Mini driven by his girlfriend Gloria Jones hit a tree on a London side street.
Bolan never learned to drive himself.
He died instantly, two weeks before turning 30.
Bowie and Rod Stewart both attended his funeral at Golders Green.
David Bowie's Gift Saved Mott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople almost didn't make it to glam rock's biggest years at all.
Four patchy albums in, the band had already decided to split up.
David Bowie, a genuine fan, talked them out of it.
He wrote and produced a song specifically to save them, "All the Young Dudes."
Recorded in May 1972 with Bowie behind the desk, the song became a UK number three hit.
It also brought the band under the wing of Bowie's own manager, Tony DeFries.
Ian Hunter Kept the Band's Voice Distinct
Frontman Ian Hunter made sure Mott the Hoople never became a Bowie tribute act.
His own gravelly delivery and streetwise lyrics kept the band's identity separate from its benefactor's.
Hunter later carried that same voice into a long solo career once Mott the Hoople itself split for good in 1974.
Slade Ruled Britain While America Barely Noticed
No other glam act on this roster shows a bigger gap between UK success and US silence.
Slade scored six UK number ones across the decade, more than any other British group of the 1970s by sales.
The band deliberately misspelled almost every title it released.
- "Cum On Feel the Noize"
- "Mama Weer All Crazee Now"
- "Coz I Luv You"
Teachers in Britain reportedly complained about the spelling.
None of it mattered to the charts.
Despite all six of those number ones, Slade has zero entries in this site's own US chart archive.
Suzi Quatro and New York Dolls Pushed Glam's Edges
Suzi Quatro Broke Glam's Gender Assumptions
Suzi Quatro didn't just front a glam rock band, she played bass in one herself.
She did it in a leather jumpsuit, years before that image became familiar.
"Can the Can" gave her a UK number one in June 1973, her first as a solo artist.
She later carried that same leather-clad image into a recurring US TV role, Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days.
Like Slade, none of it reached this site's own US chart archive during the decade itself.
New York Dolls Never Charted, But Punk Borrowed Their Blueprint
New York Dolls never charted at all, in either country, and still changed what came after them.
Their cross-dressing image and raw, distorted sound blended British Invasion rhythm and blues with proto-punk noise.
Manager Malcolm McLaren worked with the band briefly before moving on to a different client a year later.
That client was the Sex Pistols.
Read the fuller story of what McLaren built next in this site's own 70s Punk Rock post.
Curious which 70s act matches your own mood today?
Try the Random Artist Picker and see who comes up.
Or pull a random hit from the whole decade with the Random 70s Song Generator.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as glam rock in the 70s on this site?
Glam rock in the 70s on this site covers 16 real artists pulled from two source files: 9 glam-tagged acts inside hard rock and 7 glam-pop acts inside pop crossover.
A tenth hard-rock artist carries a glam metal tag instead, a different 1980s genre, so it's excluded here.
The roster spans everyone from T. Rex to Suzi Quatro to David Bowie.
Did glam rock chart in the US the way it did in Britain?
Not even close, at least inside this site's own archive.
Only one of the nine hard-rock-tagged glam acts, T. Rex, ever charted here at all, and only once.
Slade, despite six UK number ones and status as Britain's best-selling group of the decade, has zero US entries in this site's own data.
How did Marc Bolan die?
A car crash ended his life on September 16, 1977.
His girlfriend, Gloria Jones, was driving a purple Mini that hit a tree on a London side street.
Bolan, who never learned to drive himself, died instantly, two weeks before his 30th birthday.
David Bowie and Rod Stewart both attended his funeral.
Why did David Bowie write a song for Mott the Hoople?
Bowie wrote "All the Young Dudes" specifically to keep the band from breaking up.
Four uneven albums in, Mott the Hoople had already decided to split, and Bowie, a genuine fan, talked them out of it.
He produced the song himself in May 1972, and it became a UK number three hit.
Was Suzi Quatro glam rock's only major female star?
She was its most visible one, at least among this site's own confirmed roster.
Quatro fronted a hard rock band while playing bass herself, in a leather jumpsuit, years before that image became common.
"Can the Can" gave her a UK number one in June 1973, her first as a solo artist.
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