Glitter buries his past

Gary Glitter buries his past (publicity stunt report), Disc - January 20, 1973

of course Gaz has almost completely buried his Glitterpast too now as well

discoglam

 

it's already too long as a book, but S+A could have done with a chapter, or appendix, on disco as adjacent to glam - its cousin in so many ways: artifice, showbiz, razzle, escapism, narcissism, decadence, polysexuality, science fiction, fabulousness, fantasy, camp, proto-retro (covers, period looks, fancy dress)

the future-retro mish-mash a particularly shared attribute

and Chic were actually influenced by Roxy Music - the image and styling more than the music

Then again, there's another sense of "discoglam" - glam rockers going disco

The lighting in that seems to be an attempt to pictorialize the space of fame itself. Nice job, Cher show lighting technician!

Glitter's abject attempt to do a Young Americans -  complete with Luther Vandross on backing vocals

 And this sad moment in the downward arc of a superstar - credited to T.Rex Disco Party

 

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A bit better - slow'n'lowdown funk -  let's say "supernotbad"

rockclubbing

"The single was... mainly determined by what was left out... “we wanted to make it purely a tune and rhythm with no embellishments like harmonies or chords.” Mike Leander claimed that it was not black music, but in some sense, a rock’n’roll record. The r’n’r is “deep down”, but it seems to me to be mainly there by association, by lyrical suggestion. What there IS is a minimal dance-track, unprecedented except perhaps for James Brown’s spare disco breaks, and vocals that are mixed well back, with a fast, slight echo that makes them disembodied, all attack and no decay, all hard edges and hardly inflected. When the Human League covered it, it could have been a manifesto for vocals-and-synths-only, and the cover could only succeed in so far as it managed not to add anything" - Paul Oldfield, Monitor #4, October 1985

Between Fun House and Funtime - me on The Idiot-era Iggy Pop versus The Stooges