KARISHMA D’MELLO
Rock ‘n Roll
and Stilettos
The Rise and Fall of Glam Metal
Welcome to the world of spandex, lipstick, and lace. Today,
we take a trip down Sunset Strip, where metal met glamour
to form the notorious, but brief alliance that defined the ‘80s.
Where rockers once portrayed themselves in a hyper-
masculine aesthetic, glam or hair metal was the transition
into the exaggeratedly feminine stylings of drag. This
transition was extremely controversial – creating a rift
between the contrasting metal-heads. To some, glam metallers
were the scum-of-the-earth sellouts who dared venture
into everything metal stood against – the celebration of
superficiality, preening and airbrushing - that eventually
earned them the dreaded “pop” prefix, to the metal sub-genre.
It’s influential relative – glam rock had its roots in the
United Kingdom – led by the likes of Bowie and Freddie
Mercury. Other notable influences were Kiss, Alice Cooper,
and Van Halen, who while did not entirely embrace
the label, definitely contributed to the movement.
In fact, the glam metallers saw themselves quite differently.
It was nothing short of revolutionary. Bands that defined
the era, said they wanted to do the opposite of what
they’d done before, visiting the other end of the spectrum,
one defined by lace, lipstick and all things drag.
“It’s a rebellion against what men are supposed to be like;
grabbing on to signs that are supposed to be associated
with women, make-up, clothes that are colorful and
flashy… that becomes your hyper-masculine identity – to
look like a woman. I read in a magazine somewhere, that
describes it as having the guts to be glam – where being
feminine was the most masculine thing you could do.”
Robert Walser – Musicologist, UCLA
(Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey)
In 1986, Poison released “Look What the Cat Dragged
In”, where you were meant to judge an album by its
cover. It featured the band members, glammed up
to the nines, in a full head of make-up, airbrushed
to look like models on a glamour magazine.
Despite being largely defined by the androgynous
trajectory of image, there was more to the genre. Bands
of glamorous persuasions also had an affinity for high-
pitched vocals, power ballads and distinctive emphasis
on melody. It was stilettos, depravity and rock ‘n roll.
In an interview, Dee Snider said one of his motivations
behind it was the attention and the ability to freak people
out. And freak people out, he did – as the hairspray queen
from your nightmares. The Parents’ Music Resource Centre
(PMRC) campaign added We’re Not Gonna Take It (Twisted
Sister’s rebellious single) to their list of 15 tracks that they
claimed needed stronger censorship. Their campaign was
largely opposed to hair metal bands claiming they were far
too extreme, sexually explicit and downright disruptive.
Penelope Spheeris’ The Decline of the Western Civilization
–The Metal Years, with its emphasis on hair metal, tracks
down rockers of the time, featuring some notoriously
controversial scenes, that have been critiqued for their
contribution to the fall of glam. One of the arguments
being, that exposure to the behind-the-scenes lifestyles of
the bands and club owners – particularly Bill Gazzarri, the
Cathouse Club and their blatant sexualization of the fairer
sex aggravated the decline of the genre. This claim drew
support from Dave Mustain as well, who insinuated similar
theories in his autobiography – Hell Bent for Leather.
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The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
Either way, towards the ‘90s a new genre was meant
to take over. A genre that emerged from Seattle’s
underground, and the pioneers did not concern themselves
with hairspray nor ballads. They were all power
chords, punk rock and angst. And with that, the reign
of grunge began, and the fall of glam was complete.