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Spit and Glitter: Punk & Glam

The Dead Boys have a song called "All This And More" (Young Loud and Snotty, 1977). It opens with a crawling, chugging, dirty guitar riff, punctuated by handclaps. Before any lyrics are sung, you hear lead singer Stiv Bators sigh, breathing heavily, almost choking. Until his hoarse, cracked voice comes in, those sighs are really very reminiscent of the little inarticulate sounds that Marc Bolan made on T.Rex records.

Glam rock directly preceded punk rock as a mass media phenomenon in the UK and was sonically and lyrically a big influence on the first generation of punk records. Proof if proof were needed can be found in the downright cheesy glam sound of post-Sex Pistols hits like "Ghosts Of Princes In Towers" by the Rich Kids and "Silly Thing" by Steve Jones. See also the glittery gold lamé dream/trip scene in HCL, proof that glam rock is the subconscious of punk. Or something....

But if you're wondering if glam is queer, the answer is actually only "kind of". The same way that jazz is queer, but also there are a million ideologically heterosexual people who luv luv luv jazz. Glam was a mass pop music in many countries, and although it was shaped by/helped shape the emerging gay consciousness and gay culture of the early 70s it was being presented to a largely straight audience by a mix of straight and queer performers.

The way a work of art is received is dependent on who is receiving it, and in many case straight people received glam rock without conceiving of it as queer. Bono likes glam rock for god's sake.

What was my point again? I've forgotten.