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SEx dru s And rock & roll
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GLAM ROCK'S IMPACT ON THE '70S AND '80S Written by Rachel Hale, Culture Editor Photographed by Molly Jacobs, Staff Photographer Modeled by Rachel Hale and Austen Wallenfang Makeup by Riley August, Makeup Director
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latform boots, outrageous hair and cocaine galore: It was the 1970s, and dreamy psychedelic sound had given way to a louder, more ostentatious celebration of celebrity culture, style and music. Sandwiched between the catchy bubblegum pop of the late ‘60s and rocker hair metal of the ‘80s came punk’s flamboyant younger sibling: glam rock. Highlighted by stars like David Bowie and Marc Bolan, the rockand-roll subgenre came to represent an era of music that pushed gender norms, embraced the avant-garde and brought performance back to the forefront of the arts scene. As was true of the boy band hysteria of the ‘60s, America has its neighbor from across the Atlantic to thank for glam rock. Originating on the British pub scene, glam rock cut through much of the heavily politicized music of the ‘60s to return to simpler, ‘50s inspired lyrics and aggressive chords. Musically, the sound was dominated by heavy guitar and shaped by hardrock and pop.1 In a subsequent counterculture of their own, glam rockers were, as English musician Robert Palmer put it, “rebelling against the rebellion.”2 The genre fought against rock ideology insisting a musician’s persona and music must be one-andthe-same, embracing a hyperbole of performance so outlandish that it challenged the music itself. Though Bowie is perhaps glam rock’s most well-known artist, his teenage friend, Bolan of T-Rex, is largely credited with ushering in the movement’s origins. Forming T-Rex in 1967 England, Bolan’s signature curls, pink feather boas and androgynous satin silver ¹ The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Glam rock,” Britannica, Nov. 28, 2013. ² Ibid.
FALL PRINT 2021