Glitterbest: 20 Pre Punk 'n' Glam Tyerrace Stompers [Import]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 1, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: RPM Records UK
• ASIN: B00019FWQC
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,320 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. You Really Got Me

2. Bang Bang Bullet

3. Aggravation Place

4. Nothing to Do With Us

5. Good Friends

6. Sooner or Later

7. Crazy Kids

8. Jam Jam

9. You Won't Come

10. Goodbye

11. All for the Love of City Lights

12. I Need You

13. Coast to Coast

14. Ain't Misbehavin'

15. Pogo Dancing

16. Sweet Sweet Heart

17. Fat Judy

18. High School Dropout

19. City of Fun

20. Sick on You

Editorial Reviews

A welcome and long overdue re-press for this innovative compilation. Certain glam tracks were pre cursors to the first punk singles in sound and attitude. So taking this as the concept for Glitterbest (named after the Sex Pistols record company) is this collection of tracks that in some part laid foundations for the later movement. The set ranges across the terrace aggro stompers of the Jook and Hammersmith Gorillas, who both lead into other tracks by Trevor White (singer/guitarist with the Jook), and Crushed Butler (again led by the Gorillas legendary Jesse Hector); the trashy side with attitude that is the Hollywood Brats, recorded at Olympic in 73; the pub rock of Ducks Deluxe; the precursor bands such as Englands Glory lead by Peter Perrett, Lipstick - a 1973 vehicle for Knox of the Vibrators, and the Chris Spedding single that provided an early outing for the Vibrators name. Added to which are some delightfully obscure glam singles that are little gems of spiky attitude or chaotic performance in their own right.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Foppy Boot Stomp, June 11, 2006

By 

Roy Pearl (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Glitterbest: 20 Pre Punk 'n' Glam Tyerrace Stompers (Audio CD)

Don't let the cheesy cover fool you - this is a wonderfully fun collection that uncovers some of the missing links between bubblegum glam and early punk between the years 1971 - 1976. This is a must-hear for anybody, but especially those who think punk rock crawled out of the gutter fully formed in 1977. It's like a history lesson you can stomp along to.

Highlights include England's Glory (Peter Perrett's pre-Only Ones band) doing a version of "City Of Fun" from '73. Also the band Despair checks in with "Sweet Sweet Heart", a song that leader Knox took with him to his next band, the Vibrators, for their debut "Pure Mania". There's a version of Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin'" by a band called Tiger Lily that only months later changed its name to Ultravox.

Of the more well-known (hey, it's a relative term) acts, the awesomely powerful Ducks Deluxe are represented by "Coast to Coast". And the Hollywood Brats (UK's answer to the New York Dolls) - who later contributed its members to the Boys as well as Ian Hunter's Dirty Laundry - are included with their classic "Sick On You". Plus there's also the inclusion of Jet - not the recent Aussie retro-retreads, but the "glam supergroup" formed around the Sparks' Martin Gordon, David O'List (of the Nice and the original Roxy Music line-up), and John's Children vocalist Andy Ellison. Their song ("Nothing To Do With Us") was produced by Roy Thomas Baker.

The other bands on this comp are mostly a "who's who" of "who's that?" - but that doesn't detract from the magical spot they carved out for themselves in underground rock history. The title "Glitterbest" comes from the company run by Malcolm McLaren to manage the Sex Pistols, which is just further proof that by the time Lydon became Rotten (or Hyman became Ramone), the revolution had already started.