LA Glam and Glitter

Shady Lady in their heyday.

In one of my recent posts, I talked about some of the more interesting and obscure 70’s glam bands I’ve found and like—Mud, Jobraith, Cockney Rebel, Silverhead, etc.  Glam never caught on nation-wide in America like it did in England, but in some regions it became quite big.  Los Angeles was a particular hot spot of glam rock and the scene was the starting point for several notable post-glitter genres in LA, including powerpop and punk. 

The history of LA glitter rock has to start with Sparks—yes, the same Sparks that gave us such 80’s new wave classics as “Moustache” and “Eaten By the Monster of Love”; before achieving international fame as a new wave band, Sparks was one of the most original, innovative and bizarre rock bands in history.  Sparks grew out of a previous band, Halfnelson, formed by Ron and Russell Mael and guitarist Earle Mankey in 1968; rock critic John Mendelsohn was their drummer for a time (he would go on to play in another seminal early LA glitter band, Christopher Milk; see below).  Hafnelson was strongly influenced by the British Invasion bands of the early/mid 60’s.  They recorded an album which was produced by Todd Rungren in one of his first production efforts outside his group the Nazz and which was eventually released in 1971.  This album was re-released as Sparks’ first album and is on iTunes; it may be one of the most unusual albums ever.  According to AMG, Todd Rungren famously said of Sparks that “ a lot of their stuff was strange, the words were strange and the whole approach was very left field”, and this album certainly underscores this.  This album spawned a hit, “Wonder Girl”, which is foot stomping, catchy glitterpop in the vein of the Sweet or the Bay City Rollers.  Other tracks veer between cabaret, show tunes, and even prog rock, with lots of bizarre studio sounds, electronic effects, and other weird stuff.  A very excellent album.  “No More Mr. Nice Guys” is a more rocking number that presages future Sparks songs like “Whippings and Apologies”.

  Curiously, a few songs from a legendary demo cut several years prior to their album’s release are also available on YouTube.  These songs are very organ heavy but already have in place many of the musical aspects that would make Sparks legendary:  complex/unusual lyrics, grandiose vocals, strange time signatures and song structures, etc.  “Landlady” in particular has an almost cartoonish feel to it, lots of organ, and hysterical lyrics (“Landlady, landlady, turn on the heat!!!”).  “Jane Church + The Factory” (Not sure if this is two tracks or one) is similarly bizarre, with more electronic effects and bizarre percussion. 

Their record company convinced them to change their name to Sparks, and throughout the remainder of the 70’s, Sparks would record and release albums of notable quirkiness, mixing everything from opera and sea chanties to straight out rockers.  The second, A Woofer in Tweeter’s Clothing, contains two of their best and strangest songs, “Moon Over Kentucky” and “Whippings and Apologies”, which have to be heard to be believed.  They are truly bizarre and were a clear influence on bands like Cheap Trick and Celebrity Skin.  This album is also available on iTunes. 

A second seminal LA glitter band was Christopher Milk, formed when John Mendelsohn and bassist Ralph Oswald left Halfnelson in 1970.  Christopher Milk made operatic, cerebral pop similar to that of Sparks.  They recorded two albums for United Artists but sadly neither is available online as of this writing.  Several songs are on YouTube and on the band’s Facebook site, however.  “Dynamite” sounds like it could have come off Sparks’ first album, especially the off-kilter Ron Mael-like warbling lyrics, and their cover of  the Beatles’ “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, sung in faux-Dylan and Walt Disney’s Goofy styles, respectively, are interesting documents of this band’s bizarre musical vibe. 

Another LA glitter pioneer was Shady Lady, which was formed by vocalist Stefan Shady and bassist Gerhard Helmut in the late 60’s in New York before moving to LA , reputedly to elude some bad dealings with the Mafia in 1970.  They hooked up with guitarist Bones DeNault and drummer Billy McCartney and started playing the Whiskey and other LA clubs.  Their sound is eerily like that of the New York Dolls, with a bluesy, Stones-y vibe; legend has it that when he was forming the band in NYC in ’69, Stefan asked Johnny Thunders, whom he knew, to be his guitarist but Johnny was playing bass at the time and said no.   They supposedly recorded three albums worth of material but none of it was ever released.  However, several songs off these sessions are available for listen on their MySpace page.  “Ain’t No New York Doll” is an interesting song given that it sounds like it WAS recorded by the Dolls!!  A slow, bluesy rocker, it ends with a fast-paced blast that sounds very punk-like today.  “Down To Dirty” is another great, raunchy rocker that lurches along like early Stooges (both lyrically and musically it sounds like “Loose” off Fun House) or Alice Cooper.  It’s a terrific song and shows why the band was the toast of LA until their demise in 1973.  “Nightwitch” has a very Jaggeresque vocal and some rollicking piano and is another interesting track. 

The New York Dolls sound was carried on by another LA glitter band, the Berlin Brats. Led by front man Rick Wilder, the Berlin Brats started in 1973 playing bluesy music that can barely be told apart from that of the Dolls.  Amazingly, an anthology of their work is available on iTunes; “Tropically Hot” sounds like it could have come right off Too Much, Too Soon.  “No Time for Romance” carries on this Dolls/Stones vibe, with a thundering bass line and terrific guitar licks accompanying the pouting vocal.  “I’m Psychotic” has a similar feel and sounds like a 60’s garage rock version of “Puss In Boots” by the Dolls.  “Vinyl” slows things down a bit, sounding a bit like “There’s Gonna Be a Showdown” or “Subway Train” or even “Chatterbox”, but I really love the shimmering guitar and pounding drums and catchy vocals here, its my hands-down fave by this woefully unheralded group.  The band could be faulted for being a bit too derivative of the Dolls, but hell, even the DOLLS didn’t make it big, so in my book anyone who was doing a similar thing wasn’t exactly doing it to become famous, they clearly believed in the sound. 

After the breakup of Shady Lady, drummer Billy McCartney changed his name to Zory Zenith and formed the band Zolar X with pianist/vocalist Stephen Della Bosca and bassist Bruce Courtois, who changed their names to Ygarr Ygarrist and Zany Zatovian, respectively.  Zolar X has achieved near-legendary status in the musical iconography of the LA pre-punk scene, and has undergone a renaissance of sorts, with a documentary on them, re-releases of their 70’s work along with newly recorded material, and many excellent videos on YouTube of them performing back in the day.  Zolar X reportedly came together when Zory/Billy walked into Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco and saw Ygarr and Zany had the same exact spaceman haircut as him!  Clearly they were meant to work together. 

Zolar X was a conceptual band in the most extreme sense of the word:  the band claimed to be aliens and wore alien outfits both off stage and on stage, rarely breaking character.  They even spoke in an alien language they invented.  It is reputed that Ace Frehley of Kiss developed his “Space Man” look from them; at any length, he was also an early supporter of the band.  Their sound centered on a crunchy, guitar-driven but pop-sounding space rock vibe taken mostly from the Ziggy Stardust mold, with lyrics centered on/obsessed with space, aliens, etc.  They frequently played at the English Disco and opened for many bigger-named glam groups such as Iggy and the Stooges, Jobraith, Silverhead, etc.  They recorded one album, which was released after the band broke up in the early 80’s amid escalating drug use and other conflicts; it was released posthumously and was then re-released on Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles label in 2004.  Some of the best songs are the grandiose and driving “Timeless” (which almost sounds like pre-hardcore at times) and the equally fast and catchy “Jet Star 19”.  “Nativity” is a slower and heavier acid drenched rocker with strangled, soaring vocals that sounds like an out-take from Ziggy Stardust or like a cut from the "Phantom of the Paradise" soundtrack.  “I Pulled My Helmet Off (I’m Going To Love Her)” is more introspective, with large instrumental portions that build toward a hysterical and pounding ending.  But perhaps my favorite track from this era is the phenomenal “Parallel Galaxy”, a seven minute long opus that starts with a mellow, introspective guitar riff and builds to a pounding crescendo, though the high pitched, spoken word lyrics get a little silly.  A few years ago, Zolar X reformed and in 2007 they released an album of all new songs, X Marks the Spot.  “Retro Rockets” from this album is a fantastic blast of their guitar-driven space rocket rock (its one of my four year old son’s favorite songs) and is highly recommended.

Finally, the Quick formed in 1974 at the tail end of the glitter scene in LA, and their music represents a bridge from the glitter era through the powerpop era and into the punk period.  Heavily influenced by Sparks (Earle Mankey, guitarist of Sparks, would co-produce along with legendary impresario Kim Fowley their first album, Mondo Deco, which alas is not currently available digitally though a compilation Untold Rock Stories collects some of their best songs on iTunes), their songs shared that band’s quirky song structures; they were also influenced by the nascent powerpop scene in America, particularly the Raspberries, and many of their songs contain the lush vocal harmonies for which the ‘berries are renowned.  “No No Girl”, “Hillary”, their cover of the Four Seasons’ “Rag Doll”, and “Hi-Lo” are excellent examples of this Sparks-meets-Raspberries sound.  “Teacher’s Pet” is slightly more rocking, with big guitar flourishes accompanying the heavy glam boot-stomp rhythm and singalong lyrics.  “Pretty Please Me” starts with wailing guitar harmonies and then settles into a driving, punchy rock blast with less saccharine vocals; this song is arguably their best and achieved some airplay on LA’s definitive alternative rock station KROQ.  It was also covered by early LA punk band the Dickies (and Redd Kross); indeed, Stan Lee, guitarist for the Dickies, was supposedly the Quick’s drug dealer in the mid-70’s, and learned how to play guitar from Steve Hufsteter in between drug deliveries.   The Quick can therefore be seen as a direct musical bridge between the glitter rock of Sparks and the punk of the Dickies. 

After the Quick broke up in 1978, several members went on to other projects of note.  Vocalist Danny Wilde went on to co-form the Rembrandts, who achieved everlasting fame/notoriety for recording “I’ll Be There for You”, which was adopted as the theme song for the sitcom “Friends” in the 90’s.  Guitarist Steven Hufsteter would later become a founding member of the Cruzados. 

Glitter rock was already dying in LA even before the Quick formed; in fact, it even had a funeral, at Rodney’s English Disco, when famed glitter DJ Chuckie Starr was ceremonially carried in a coffin to the service.  But it lived on in the powerpop and punk movements in LA.  The Berlin Brats played several gigs with emerging powerpop bands like 20/20, the Zippers, and the Nerves; the Brats broke up in ’77 and Rick Wilder formed the Mau Mau’s, who were one of the first Masque bands; the Dickies formed in ’77 and started playing goofy cartoon punk that was heavily influenced by the Quick.  And many of the first-wave LA punk bands, including the Germs, the Skulls, and the Weirdos, were heavily influenced by the sound and look of the glitter rock movement.