Glam rock

History and character

Glam rock emerged in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, as both an extension of and a reaction to the psychedelia and art rock of the late 1960s. Marc Bolan's (T. Rex) performance of Hot Love on Top of the Pops in March 1971 is often cited as the starting point; Electric Warrior (1971) is a pioneering album. The original name was briefly "glitter rock."

Key figures: T. Rex, David Bowie (the Ziggy Stardust persona from late 1971), Roxy Music (more art pop), Slade (a heavier, riff-based variant), Sweet, Mott the Hoople, Wizzard, Mud, Suzi Quatro, Gary Glitter and the Glitter Band (the most extreme "glitter" version), Sparks; in the United States the New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed (Walk on the Wild Side), Alice Cooper. It dominated the British charts from 1971 to 1975 and declined in the second half of the decade; punk, partly a reaction to its artifice, ended it around 1976.

Musically, glam combines bubblegum pop, hard rock riffs, pounding stomp rhythms, 1950s rock and roll and late-1960s studio techniques, rejecting the complexity of progressive rock in favor of simple pop structures and sing-along choruses. The image (glitter, makeup, platform shoes, androgyny) is part of the language. It would influence punk, post-punk, goth, new romantic, American glam metal (Mötley Crüe, Poison) and Japanese visual kei; revivals came with Suede, Placebo and The Darkness.

Scales and keys

Major (Ionian) and major pentatonic

• Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 / 1 2 3 5 6.
• Example in E: E F# G# A B C# D#; pentatonic E F# G# B C#.
• Characteristic note: the major 3rd and the 6th, which give the "bubblegum," singable character.
• Chords: I E, ii F#m, iii G#m, IV A, V B, vi C#m.
• Use: sing-along choruses, simple melodies, rock and roll progressions.
• Real-world example: Slade — Cum On Feel the Noize; Sweet — Blockbuster!.

Minor pentatonic and blues (boogie riffs)

• Formula: 1 b3 4 5 b7 / 1 b3 4 b5 5 b7. In E: E G A B D.
• Use: T. Rex-style boogie riffs (Get It On: riff in E with the b7, i.e. D), short solos by Mick Ronson and Marc Bolan.
• Real-world example: T. Rex — 20th Century Boy (pentatonic riff in E); Sweet — Ballroom Blitz.

Mixolydian

• Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7. In A: A B C# D E F# G.
• Characteristic note: b7 → bVII.
• Chords: I A, IV D, v Em, bVII G.
• Use: I–bVII–IV choruses, boogie with I7.
• Real-world example: David Bowie — Rebel Rebel (riff on D with Mixolydian colors: D–E with passages on the pentatonic).

Natural minor (for the darker songs)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. In A: A B C D E F G.
• Chords: i Am, III C, iv Dm, v Em, VI F, VII G.
• Use: theatrical songs (Bowie — Five Years, Ziggy Stardust with more elaborate progressions), Roxy Music.

Theatrical chromaticism

• Chromatic chords and modulations by third (Bowie, early-glam Queen): not a scale, but borrowings from the minor (iv, bVI) and passing augmented chords (Ziggy Stardust, Life on Mars? with chromatic bass lines).

How to choose

• Stadium anthem: major + bVII. Boogie riff: minor pentatonic/blues. Theater and melancholy: natural minor and bass chromaticisms.

Harmony

Function

Simple, rock and roll harmony: I–IV–V, boogie on one chord, choruses with I–bVII–IV; in the songs of Bowie and Roxy Music, more cultured harmony (passing diminished chords, chromatic bass, modulations by third).

Riffs and loops

• Boogie riffs on a single chord (I7) throughout the verse (T. Rex).
• Choruses with full chords and backing vocals, harmonic rhythm of one bar.

Borrowings

• bVII, bVI, minor iv; augmented chords as passing chords (I–I+–I6–I7: the "chromatic line" on the fifth, C–C+–C6–C7).

Voicings

• Power chords and distorted open chords (Les Paul guitars through Marshalls), hammered piano, sax chords.
• Acoustic guitars often double the electric (T. Rex, Bowie) for brightness.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

4/4 with the stomp: kick on every beat like a stamping foot, snare and handclaps on 2 and 4, low toms doubling, tambourine; medium tempos (115–135). T. Rex's slow boogie has a slight shuffle; the faster songs (Ballroom Blitz) use eighth-note toms and gallops. The "Glitter beat" (Gary Glitter, Glitter Band) uses two drummers in unison with plenty of tom. The feel is heavy and danceable, designed for audience participation.

Drums

Role

Glam drumming is heavy, simple and theatrical: a march or stadium beat to get hands clapping and feet stomping.

Kick

• Four on the floor (steps 1, 5, 9, 13) in the stomp, or 1 and 3 with the low tom doubling.
• Big, muffled sound with little tail.

Snare and handclaps

• 2 and 4 (steps 5 and 13), doubled by overdubbed handclaps (often 4–8 people) and sometimes by stomping on a platform.

Toms

• Low tom on 1 and 3 or in eighths (Glitter beat, Sweet) for a "tribal" sound; tom runs as transitions.

Hi-hat, cymbals, percussion

• Hi-hat in eighths or absent in the pure stomp; crash on the accents; tambourine on the offbeat (steps 3, 7, 11, 15).

Interaction

• Bass and boogie guitar over the quarter-note kick; stops with only handclaps and voice create participation.

Sections

• Verse with stomp; chorus with crash and backing vocals; bridge with just handclaps and voice; ending with repeated stomp and fade.

Fills

• Heavy tom fills in eighths or triplets, rolls on snare and floor tom in unison.

Sounds

• Muffled 1970s kit, present room, handclaps in the room; double drum kit in unison for the Glitter sound.

Typical mistakes

• Hi-hat that is too present and "lightens" the stomp; stock handclaps all identical (you need multiple overlapping takes, slightly out of sync).

Bass

Sound

Precision or Rickenbacker, played with a pick, round and full sound; sometimes fuzz.

Role and notes

• Eighth notes on the root or boogie (root–sixth–seventh), in unison with the riff.
• More melodic lines in Bowie's songs (Trevor Bolder) and Roxy Music.

Relationship with the kick

Eighth notes over the quarter-note kick: the bass provides the movement, the kick the weight.

Examples

• T. Rex — Get It On; Sweet — Ballroom Blitz; David Bowie — Suffragette City.

Harmonic instruments

Guitars

• Les Paul through a Marshall with medium crunch (Mick Ronson used a wah pedal parked halfway as a filter), boogie riffs, open chords.
• Acoustic guitars doubled under the electrics (Bolan, Bowie).
• Layering: 2–3 guitars (electric riff doubled L/R + acoustic), melodic solos with heavy compression.

Keyboards and horns

• Hammered piano (Bowie, glam-era Elton John), sax (Roxy Music — Andy Mackay; Bowie), synth (Brian Eno with the VCS3 in Roxy Music), strings (Bowie — Life on Mars?).

Voicings

• Full chords with the third in the choruses, power chords in the riffs.

Melody and vocals

Vocals

• Theatrical, androgynous voices: Bolan (vibrato and whispers), Bowie (from baritone to falsetto), Slade's Noddy Holder (powerful scream), Sweet's Brian Connolly; also high falsettos (Sweet).
• Simple melodies with repeated hooks, stadium choruses.

Backing vocals

• Huge group backing vocals, stacked high falsettos (Sweet), shouted "hey!"s; third harmonies and unison.

Effects

• Doubled voice, tape echo, plate; group vocals with a wide room.

Instruments

• Electric guitars (Les Paul, Gibson SG), acoustics.
• Electric bass.
• Drums (often doubled), handclaps, tambourine.
• Lead and backing vocals.
• Piano, sax, synths (VCS3, Minimoog), strings, Mellotron.

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Piano V — Rock piano: Hammered chords and glissandi (Bowie, glam-era Elton John): bright grand piano, compression.
• Synthi V — Experimental synth: Brian Eno's VCS3/Synthi in Roxy Music: textures and treatments, resonant filter and modulations.
• Mellotron V — Strings and flutes: Glam ballads and Bowie of the Space Oddity period.
• Mini V — Synth lead: Leads and solos of 1970s glam/pop synth.
• Augmented Strings — Strings: Theatrical string arrangements in the Mick Ronson style (Life on Mars?).

Song structure

Form (2:45–4:00)

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Big, stomping and pop: drums and handclaps up front, crunch guitars with acoustics underneath, theatrical vocal, enormous backing vocals. References: T. Rex — Electric Warrior (1971), David Bowie — Ziggy Stardust (1972), Slade — Slayed? (1972), Sweet — Desolation Boulevard (1974).

Kick and toms

• Kick: HP 35 Hz, +3 dB at 70 Hz, −3 dB at 400 Hz, +2 dB at 2.5 kHz; compression 4:1, 4 dB.
• Low tom: +3 dB at 80–100 Hz, −4 dB at 400 Hz; compression and room.

Snare and handclaps

• Snare: +2 dB at 200 Hz, +3 dB at 4 kHz; plate 1.2 s.
• Handclaps: 4–8 overlapping, slightly out-of-sync takes (each take shifted by 5–15 ms), HP 300 Hz, +3 dB at 2 kHz, wide room; panned L30/R30.

Drums (bus)

• Compression 4:1, 4 dB; room in parallel. Double drum kit: two kits L50/R50.

Bass

• HP 40 Hz, +2 dB at 90 Hz, −3 dB at 250 Hz, +2 dB at 900 Hz; 1176 + opto compression.

Guitars

• Electrics L80/R80 (doubled), acoustic doubled L60/R60 underneath; electric EQ HP 90 Hz, −2 dB at 300 Hz, +2 dB at 1.2 kHz; acoustic HP 150 Hz, +2 dB at 8 kHz.

Piano, sax, strings

• Piano L40/R40, sax center or L20 with plate; wide strings with hall.

Lead vocal

• Chain: EQ (HP 100 Hz, +3 dB at 3 kHz) → 1176 5 dB → LA-2A 3 dB → saturation → double or ADT → plate 1.8 s + 1/8 tape echo.

Backing vocals

• Stack of 6–12 voices, heavy compression, room/hall, wide L/R; falsettos with HP 250 Hz.

Buses and groups

• Backing vocal bus and percussion bus (handclaps + tambourine) to control them together.

Sidechain

• No.

Master

• Target: −11/−9 LUFS integrated; true peak −1 dBTP.

Common mistakes

• Handclaps from a single repeated sample; stomp with no weight in the low end (toms and kick must be "felt" at 70–100 Hz); vocal too dry.

Reference tracks for the mix

• T. Rex — Get It On (1971); David Bowie — Starman (1972); Slade — Cum On Feel the Noize (1973); Sweet — Ballroom Blitz (1973); Mott the Hoople — All the Young Dudes (1972).

Reference listening

• T. Rex — Hot Love (1971)
• T. Rex — Get It On (1971)
• David Bowie — Starman (1972)
• Mott the Hoople — All the Young Dudes (1972)
• Roxy Music — Virginia Plain (1972)
• Slade — Cum On Feel the Noize (1973)
• Sweet — The Ballroom Blitz (1973)
• David Bowie — Rebel Rebel (1974)
• Suzi Quatro — Can the Can (1973)