This is for the impulse buyer, hence the brash and colourful sleeve and a host of hit records. There’s no liner notes, nothing to tell the casual buyer and listener about any of the artists, just four CDs, each crammed full with twenty tracks and all at a bargain price which is probably its saving grace.
The glam groups are all here, Marc Bolan’s T-Rex, Slade, Wizzard, David Bowie, The Sweet, but I don’t think Gilbert O’Sullivan, Lieutenant Pigeon, Jigsaw, The Jackson 5 or Lou Reed were ever classed as ‘glam pop’ back in the day, but, hey I’m being picky; The label needed a hook to hang these tracks on and ‘Glam Pop’ just happened to be handy. Did we actually call it Glam Pop anyway, wasn’t it Glam Rock?
Many of the eighty tracks have been compiled time and time again before, but it is nice to see Slik’s Forever And Ever, Cozy Powell’s Dance With The Devil and Jigsaw’s Sky High in the mix and, so too, Euro-popsters Mouth And McNeil’s I See A Star and George Baker Selection’s Una Paloma Blanca among the lesser-compiled offerings. Baker had a titanic battle with a version of that song by Jonathan King in 1975; JK won, but he’s persona non grata now, so his bigger hit version couldn’t be included.
But look, if you want a snap-shot of 70s pop, this will fit the bill. Showaddywaddy, Cockney Rebel, Chicory Tip, The Rubettes, Elton John, Alvin Stardust, David Essex, Clodagh Rogers, Pickettywitch, Donny Osmond, Sweet Sensation, First Class and The Bay City Rollers are all here, even Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs’ Sea Side Shuffle, so just forget the ‘Glam Pop’ title and enjoy this fun collection of hits from the 1970s.
Now 70s Glam Pop
Sony Music CDNNNOW105
Author: AUSTIN POWELL
Austin Powell has spent his entire working life in the music business. From being an agent and manager of ‘beat groups’ in the sixties to working for major record companies in the seventies and eighties, he has also held management positions at radio stations in England, Wales and on the Isle Of Man. He continues to act as a consultant to several record companies and artists and presents a weekly 'oldies' show on Monday evenings on 101.8 WCR FM in Wolverhampton.
