I just finished Dave Thompson's book on glam rock, titled "Children of the Revolution," and a prominent British glam rock musician is quoted as saying that Americans hate fun after his band toured the states.  Maybe glam was just too frivolous for American audiences.

I also read Barney Hoskyn's book on glam rock, titled "Glam:  Bowie, Bolan, and the Glitter Rock Revolution."  According to Hoskyns and several people that he interviewed for his research, most Americans were also turned off to glam because of the androgyny and the homoerotic overtones.  Alice Cooper hit it big because he downplayed the androgyny and went for more of a Hammer horror image; KISS sprung from the NYC glam scene and hit it big because they went for a more macho image with a harder rocking sound.  However, the New York Dolls failed because American audiences were repulsed by their androgynous image.  

Anyway, I'm paraphrasing those books because I'm too young to remember the original glam era.

matthew rosedon said:

It's fascinating reading all these comments about the obscurity of glam in the US.  If you're my age (53) and from the UK these bands were the soundtrack to your teenage years.  Glam was absolutely massive here - Slade had 6 number 1 singles when a number 1 single in the UK really meant something and Bolan was the biggest star since The Beatles (trust me, that is not an exaggeration).  And yet, as has been pointed out they all meant next to nothing in the States.  It's not as if the US has been totally resistant to UK music over the years so why didn't you Americans go for glam?  Your theories please...   

Oh absolutely a 70's Glam Rock fan!  Ziggy kind of saved my life, and was a gateway to Iggy, The Velvet Underground, the New York Dolls, and so on.  Also dig some of the bands that were pretty obscure in America like Mudd, so on.  I like the sweeter, teenybopper stuff when you get me in the right mood, and even though they were Glam as such, Be Bop Deluxe's Axe Victim is one of my all time fave albums.  For that matter, Marc Bolan and T.Tex were pretty damn inspirational for me too!

It's fascinating reading all these comments about the obscurity of glam in the US.  If you're my age (53) and from the UK these bands were the soundtrack to your teenage years.  Glam was absolutely massive here - Slade had 6 number 1 singles when a number 1 single in the UK really meant something and Bolan was the biggest star since The Beatles (trust me, that is not an exaggeration).  And yet, as has been pointed out they all meant next to nothing in the States.  It's not as if the US has been totally resistant to UK music over the years so why didn't you Americans go for glam?  Your theories please...   

 It's pretty funny , there's a club in Chicago called Club Foot (If you're in town , come on by. You will be amazed by the toy collection and the world's only known remaining Roy Wood air - freshener. You think I'm kidding , don't you?). Twice a year , they do Glam Night , and I usually spin , with some other folks....It cracks me up , sometimes , people ask me , "John Battles , why don't you play the more OBSCURE Glam Rock music?"

UHHHHHHHH.....BECAUSE IT'S ALL OBSCURE ? AND BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE DANCING ....

LOOK AT THE FIGURES. AS MANY GREAT RECORDS AS THESE PEOPLE MADE -

T -Rex - One US hit.  

Mott The Hoople - same.

Gary Glitter - same .

Slade - Two minor US hits , much lower down the charts , then , one major US hit , almost 10 years after Glam breathed it's last. 

Sweet - Several US hits , but I don't remember hearing "Ballroom Blitz" on the radio until it later became an FM staple. "Fox on The Run " , I never heard on the radio. Does'nt mean it did'nt get played. But , between "Little Willy" and "Love is Like Oxygen" , it was , as Brian Connolly said , "If you're asking me , do we have a plan for conquering America , forget it.".

Suzi Quatro - No US hits , barring "Stumblin' In" , but , we're talking the Glam era....

Roy Wood/Wizzard - You guessed it , none.

New York Dolls - No hits for the wicked. 

They were known , yes. But , still obscure. Regarded as losers where Alice Cooper and David Bowie were the winners (Certainly not putting them down.)

T-Rex and Slade toured their BALLS off , trying to make it in America , but their massive fame in The UK did'nt translate , over here. Sweet did'nt even do their first US gig until 1975. Gary Glitter NEVER toured The US . He performed two songs at the "Soccer Rocks The Globe" show in Chicago , when the World Cup was held here (In 1994?). The bill otherwise consisted of Yes , James , Scorpions and Fleetwood Mac (Who were down to Fleetwood and Mac.) and probably some other , equally odious , acts. I was'nt paying $40 to see THAT , when I knew the far - lesser known Glitter was only going to get two songs in. I was right.

Plus , I did'nt know how the Hell to get to the venue. 

I loved Hot Wacks, and bought every issue of the book (and it was later a magazine). Today its Bootlegzone and Collector's Music.

Yeah , you have to go back and re-live the fun , from when you first scored those records....Knowing you were taking a chance , and , sometimes , even less than terrific sound was no deterrent from playing 'em over and over again. A lot of times , a good bootleg will put you there , because you'll hear things you would'nt hear on an official release. I just taped my friend's copy of the Whitman's Punk Sampler....except for Tom Petty. I know he got lumped in with the New Wave before he was very well known , but , even he had to proclaim "We're not Punks !" , because his band was getting confused with Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers , who'd already been around the block. And , I DO mean , been around the block. My friend's copy of that record was just as you described , but , it did list the artists and titles.....I don't know if it's been "Re - booted".    Ever read "Hot Wacks" , friends? It was a magazine and book form guide to boots that were current , each release described in detail.....Plus , there were concert and girlie pictures of Bebe Buell and whatshername , the one who bought her own billboard on the Sunset Strip. Not Morganna , but.......and others.
  
Mike said:

Love this thread, making me revisit some stuff I haven't listened to in many years. I assume the Whitman's Punk Sampler had been rebooted by many different bootleggers just as many other boots had been. Mine has a 11 1/2" square piece of paper with artwork and no tracklisting. A previous owner must of written the tracklisting that is on the plain white labels. I can't remember the last time I played this one, maybe a decade or more ago. What a shame as the live recordings here are good. Here's a tracklisting:

Side 1: Patti Smith - 'Space Monkey' Tom Petty - 'Jaguar & Thunderbird', 'American Girl' Talking Heads - 'Psycho Killer' Runaways - 'Wasted'

Side 2: Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The U.K. Damned - 'Help', 'Stab your Back', 'So Messed Up' Ramones - 'Rockaway Beach', Sheena Is A Punk Rocker', 'Surfin' Bird' Iggy Pop - 'Neighborhood Threat' Patti Smith - 'Mafia'

John Battles said:

Wow. How did they get away with only selling Bootlegs? Were they Mob - owned or something?

My ex - GF got arrested for selling Boots on the East Coast , and we're not even talking enough reords to fill the "X" section at your local , AFTER removing ( L.A. ) X , (Aussie) X, and X-Ray Spex....we're talking maybe a half - dozen records....

That's pretty cool, that story about The Ramones. A friend of mine loaned me that "Whitman's Punk Sampler" , was'nt Tom Petty on that , too , though? ha ha ha ha ha.
 
Tony Jonaitis said:

Who remember "Back Room Records" in Amherst, Ma?  They only sold bootlegs (vinyl, of course).  I remember walking in there in 1980 and finding all four Ramones buying Ramones bootlegs!!!  Bliss!  Anyway, my first "punk" bootleg was "Whitman's Punk Sampler."  A great comp of live stuff by Patti Smith, Pistols, etc.

Interesting. I don't think they're as hardcore today , against Bootlegs. So many of them are produced in limited quantities , at best.
 
Tony Jonaitis said:

Back Room Records was in business for at least five years.  I don't know how they were able to survive in those bootleg-hating days.  There was also Second Coming Records in Cambridge, Ma...they had tons of boots. Most dealers/stores bought their stock from wholesaler "Still Rare Records" in South Carolina.  Still Rare was a mail-order company that exploited some Carolina loophole and could not be shut down.  They even advertised in Rolling Stone's back pages!  I can remember getting flyers about bootleg cut-out sales...unpopular or unsold boots selling for as low as $1.37! 

Back Room Records was in business for at least five years.  I don't know how they were able to survive in those bootleg-hating days.  There was also Second Coming Records in Cambridge, Ma...they had tons of boots. Most dealers/stores bought their stock from wholesaler "Still Rare Records" in South Carolina.  Still Rare was a mail-order company that exploited some Carolina loophole and could not be shut down.  They even advertised in Rolling Stone's back pages!  I can remember getting flyers about bootleg cut-out sales...unpopular or unsold boots selling for as low as $1.37! 

Mike said:

Love this thread, making me revisit some stuff I haven't listened to in many years. I assume the Whitman's Punk Sampler had been rebooted by many different bootleggers just as many other boots had been. Mine has a 11 1/2" square piece of paper with artwork and no tracklisting. A previous owner must of written the tracklisting that is on the plain white labels. I can't remember the last time I played this one, maybe a decade or more ago. What a shame as the live recordings here are good. Here's a tracklisting:

Side 1: Patti Smith - 'Space Monkey' Tom Petty - 'Jaguar & Thunderbird', 'American Girl' Talking Heads - 'Psycho Killer' Runaways - 'Wasted'

Side 2: Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The U.K. Damned - 'Help', 'Stab your Back', 'So Messed Up' Ramones - 'Rockaway Beach', Sheena Is A Punk Rocker', 'Surfin' Bird' Iggy Pop - 'Neighborhood Threat' Patti Smith - 'Mafia'

John Battles said:

Wow. How did they get away with only selling Bootlegs? Were they Mob - owned or something?

My ex - GF got arrested for selling Boots on the East Coast , and we're not even talking enough reords to fill the "X" section at your local , AFTER removing ( L.A. ) X , (Aussie) X, and X-Ray Spex....we're talking maybe a half - dozen records....

That's pretty cool, that story about The Ramones. A friend of mine loaned me that "Whitman's Punk Sampler" , was'nt Tom Petty on that , too , though? ha ha ha ha ha.
 
Tony Jonaitis said:

Who remember "Back Room Records" in Amherst, Ma?  They only sold bootlegs (vinyl, of course).  I remember walking in there in 1980 and finding all four Ramones buying Ramones bootlegs!!!  Bliss!  Anyway, my first "punk" bootleg was "Whitman's Punk Sampler."  A great comp of live stuff by Patti Smith, Pistols, etc.

Screamers - '1977 Demos' is a good one to own in my opinion. I do not believe there is any duplication of tracks that are on the official "In A Better World" double CD release. My only complaint is that they split up "122 Hours of fear" between the A & B sides.

Love this thread, making me revisit some stuff I haven't listened to in many years. I assume the Whitman's Punk Sampler had been rebooted by many different bootleggers just as many other boots had been. Mine has a 11 1/2" square piece of paper with artwork and no tracklisting. A previous owner must of written the tracklisting that is on the plain white labels. I can't remember the last time I played this one, maybe a decade or more ago. What a shame as the live recordings here are good. Here's a tracklisting:

Side 1: Patti Smith - 'Space Monkey' Tom Petty - 'Jaguar & Thunderbird', 'American Girl' Talking Heads - 'Psycho Killer' Runaways - 'Wasted'

Side 2: Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The U.K. Damned - 'Help', 'Stab your Back', 'So Messed Up' Ramones - 'Rockaway Beach', Sheena Is A Punk Rocker', 'Surfin' Bird' Iggy Pop - 'Neighborhood Threat' Patti Smith - 'Mafia'

John Battles said:

Wow. How did they get away with only selling Bootlegs? Were they Mob - owned or something?

My ex - GF got arrested for selling Boots on the East Coast , and we're not even talking enough reords to fill the "X" section at your local , AFTER removing ( L.A. ) X , (Aussie) X, and X-Ray Spex....we're talking maybe a half - dozen records....

That's pretty cool, that story about The Ramones. A friend of mine loaned me that "Whitman's Punk Sampler" , was'nt Tom Petty on that , too , though? ha ha ha ha ha.
 
Tony Jonaitis said:

Who remember "Back Room Records" in Amherst, Ma?  They only sold bootlegs (vinyl, of course).  I remember walking in there in 1980 and finding all four Ramones buying Ramones bootlegs!!!  Bliss!  Anyway, my first "punk" bootleg was "Whitman's Punk Sampler."  A great comp of live stuff by Patti Smith, Pistols, etc.

Wow. How did they get away with only selling Bootlegs? Were they Mob - owned or something?

My ex - GF got arrested for selling Boots on the East Coast , and we're not even talking enough reords to fill the "X" section at your local , AFTER removing ( L.A. ) X , (Aussie) X, and X-Ray Spex....we're talking maybe a half - dozen records....

That's pretty cool, that story about The Ramones. A friend of mine loaned me that "Whitman's Punk Sampler" , was'nt Tom Petty on that , too , though? ha ha ha ha ha.
 
Tony Jonaitis said:

Who remember "Back Room Records" in Amherst, Ma?  They only sold bootlegs (vinyl, of course).  I remember walking in there in 1980 and finding all four Ramones buying Ramones bootlegs!!!  Bliss!  Anyway, my first "punk" bootleg was "Whitman's Punk Sampler."  A great comp of live stuff by Patti Smith, Pistols, etc.

Who remember "Back Room Records" in Amherst, Ma?  They only sold bootlegs (vinyl, of course).  I remember walking in there in 1980 and finding all four Ramones buying Ramones bootlegs!!!  Bliss!  Anyway, my first "punk" bootleg was "Whitman's Punk Sampler."  A great comp of live stuff by Patti Smith, Pistols, etc.

Interview with Peter Aaron, check it out here!!

I remember talking to one of them (drummer Mike Boise) after their show here w/ the NY Dolls & Supersuckers (who Supersucked that night, btw), and he was really nice and friendly. Never got a chance to talk to Andy or Greg, though. But I can say that they were always really great in the promo department when I had my radio show... sent me all their albums to play, even sending signed Christmas cards every year and stuff. Not many bands do that sorta thing anymore!

Rob Filardo said:

they were always great onstage - it's *offstage* where they always sucked.

they were always great onstage - it's *offstage* where they always sucked.

Got to see them open up fer the Cramps about five years ago and gotta say, I don't dig their records at all but they were one helluva live band...(as I recall the lead singer got a bit too wild fer the club's liking and got ejected from his own show near the end of their act...to this day I think the Cramps were pist that CK was tryin' to one-up them in the rock star department)

herd about this. it sux. i haven't even got to see them yet and were from the same turf

no!!!!!!!

That's really stink news. Go hard Reg, don't let it grind ya down.

Note: Jacqueline Ryan , long time Troggs fan club Prez (And even the topic of their song , "Meet Jacqueline".) , specified cards , she did'nt say anything about letters , so , I guess that would mean cards are easier to deal with.

I'VE HEARD ABOUT SPECIAL AFFECT AND DV8.....SAW THE REFORMED EFFIGIES A COUPLE OF TIMES. I ACTUALLY FOLLOWED THEM , ONCE....TECHNICALLY. I WAS INVITED TO PLAY THE AFTER - PARTY TO THIS BIG 30 YEARS OF PUNK (IT WAS 2006. I WAS QUICK TO TELL THEM , IT'S BEEN FORTY YEARS SINCE PUNK BROKE.) FESTIVAL , MOSTLY BANDS I'VE NEVER HEARD OF. BUT , THE EFFIGIES CLOSED IT , THEY WERE GOOD , JUST TOO HUMORLESS , JUST LIKE WHEN I SAW THEM DO AN UNBILLED APPEARANCE AT A CHICAGO PUNK /NEW WAVE BANDS REUNION......THEN , THEY CALLED CURFEW , WHICH MEANT EVERYBODY UNDER 21 HAD TO LEAVE.  IT ALSO MEANT , THEY WENT FROM 300 TO 30 ATTENDEES BEFORE I HIT THE STAGE. BUT , I HIT THAT FUCKER , HARD.

Cool pics. Bo Diddley was also on the show with The Clash and The Undertones (Aragon Ballroom , Chicago.).
 
melissa scott said:

Mr. Rotten

I'm pretty sure this was the first photo I ever saw of Johnny Rotten. My friend Trixie came into homeroom and showed me a news article -- she'd clipped it to show me. Pretty sure I have the article plastered in a book somewhere. Around Dec '76 or Jan '77? I read the article, stared at the photo, then refused to give it back to her. Got told off by the teacher for wrestling over it. The rest of the school year was pretty much wasted on me.

She and I had already been hooked on old Who LP's -- and when the Ramones lp came out, we both went on an all-day mission to find our copies. Success!

So we were ready for The Pistols. There was an awesome newsagent in Evanston, IL who stocked PUNK. Seriously, the only one in town:

Wish I'd been the one to buy 'em. Read hers. :-(

I've checked my school diaries from '78-'81 and there are photos pasted in of The Clash on almost every other page for 2 years running. Wow. What an impression they made. I'm sure if I hadn't seen 'em live, I wouldn't have been so stuck on them for so long.

Funny, there aren't there any homework listings, but almost every show or gig I attended is marked in girlish handwriting. I love how many pictures I have of Blondie. And Mick Jones! I guess The Rose came out that year, huh?

Remember The Effigies? DV8? The Special Affect? Don't know why, but I had a habit of clipping the show ads from The Reader (Chicago) and pasting them in. At the time, it seemed like overkill, but now I'm glad I did it.

Thanks Dave for the trip down cloudy memory lane. Mel

My uncle played me a warped cassette of the Dead Boys - Young Loud and Snotty. Told me they were THE Cleveland punk band (I'm an Ohioan). A few weeks later, my best friend says his older sister gave him a burned CD of some awesome Cleveland band. It was the same Dead Boys album. I got a copy from him and to this day the Dead Boys remain a favorite of mine.

one of my favorite bands ever. the mummies rule!!!! and mummies peel sessions is one of my favorite albums they ever put out. i cant wait to get this on record.

Henry Rollins Interview, Oct. 2011

Towards the end of this audio interview Rollins goes into the state of music today...