Customer Reviews

Glitterbest: 20 Pre Punk 'n' Glam Tyerrace Stompers

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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.