Rasmus
offlineMember
PostCount: 1
Hi there.
I'm from Denmark and i'm about to write a big school project (15-20 pages) about glam metal, combining the two school subjects music and history. What i need to know is, if anyone of you can help me with the question of why did glam metal originate in LA. Was it a reaction to something at that time in USA? Could you please give me all your knowledge on why glam originated and became so big in LA at that time? (viewed from the historical side)
metalrulesall
offlineMember
PostCount: 1782
listen dude...i think your best bet would be to ask stanely or glamster...they'd probly know
Retroman
offlineModerator
PostCount: 778
Here is a start for some of your research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glam_metal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Strip
Dave Mustaine, lead singer of Megadeth once said GLAM stands for Gay L.A. Metal.
Good luck
Retroman (UK)
RockLibertyWarrior
offlineMember
PostCount: 715
"Here is a start for some of your research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glam_metal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Strip
Dave Mustaine, lead singer of Megadeth once said GLAM stands for Gay L.A. Metal.
Good luck
Retroman (UK)"
- Retroman
I remember when I was really young and my dad had his glam band going, the thrash metal people hated I mean flat out heated glam. Now most radio stations play glam and thrash back to back calling it all hair metal which must piss off some of those bands. Mustaine was also in the awesome rock doc "Fall of Western Civilization part 2 the Metal years" which you can watch on google, its a pretty good documentary on the whole hair metal scene. Funny thing is my dad and his band Crucial Mercy got interviewed but it was never used in the movie. Hope they issue a DVD with special features. Listen to Retroman though he has the right links that will get you started. I just always thought Van Halen and Quiet Riot being two bands in LA really set the tone and spawned alot of bands, not only that I lived in LA for years and there is a certain vibe and culture in that area: Lots of sunshine, lots of decadence, lots of partying and there used be opportunites all over the place in that area. LA was a place of glitz, glamor and dreams which the artists living in that area tried to embody. Then there was the gutter of Hollywood and in the 80's when I was a kid, Hollywood was far from the dreamland it was in the 40's and 50's. There was junkies all over the street, pimps, prostitutes, murderers, rapists you name it, I mean shit the famous serial killer metal fan Richard Ramirez hid and stalked some of his victims in Hollywood, that got reflected in some of Motley Crue's and Guns and Roses lyrics. Thats just my two cents having seen some of it.
Retroman
offlineModerator
PostCount: 778
Well said RockLibertyWarrior, I can't comment on the L.A. scene as I grew up in England, we had our own scenes in the UK including the new wave of British heavy metal. European bands copied the L.A. style as it was popular. I guess the UK is blessed with starting Glam rock back in the 70s 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Wave_of_British_Heavy_Metal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glam_rock
RockLibertyWarrior
offlineMember
PostCount: 715
I love NWOBHM!!! Its flat out awesome shit. I love Venom, Sledgehammer, Bitches Sin, Saxon, Angelwitch, Atomkraft etc. and shall I also say when Def Leppard started they were NWOBHM and eschewed that label later on. Also Iron Maiden was and still considers themselves just that. Oh fuck without you Brits I don't think rock would've lived on, I mean we birthed it and shit, but our great union jack cousins across the pond gave it a straight kick in the ass thats for sure! Without T Rex, Slade, Sweet, Bowie etc. there'd be no Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt etc. My dad started his band because of the old glam shit and bands like Sabbath, and Zeppelin. Anyways LA was pretty interesting in the 80's, barely remember it since I was a little kid in those days. Those are the things I remember about it when me and mom were able to watch my dad's band play and my dad relates some pretty crazy stories about the strip and Hollywood, hope that Heavy Metal Years interview sees the light of day though.
Glamrockerfs
offlineMember
PostCount: 103
To me the origins are in Glam Rock (bowie, cooper, the sweet, slade, t. rex), 70s hard rock (Aerosmith, Kiss, Zeppelin), early Heavy Metal (Sabbath, Judas Priest, Maiden, Motorhead), early rock (Stones, Who), and Arena Rock (Boston, Styx, Journey). The degree of each (or at all) depended on the group. Earlier bands had a more of a glam rock and early rock with heavy metal (they got their melodic ideas from early rock and glam rock), later bands had much more arena rock influence. It all depends on who classifies as a the first glam metal band. I think it did originate in LA as Quiet Riot, Van Halen, Dokken (all LA) were around in the 70s. Motley Crue and Quiet Riot are most often thought of as the bands that broke down the doors to mainstream sucess( both LA), it may depend on if you concider Def Leppard Glam or Kiss(kindof proto glam metal)full fledged glam bands at their inception. But also i hear,a certain LA Metal sound vs other places. LA bands most commonly had Eb standard tuning (GNR, LA Guns, Ratt, Van Halen, Wildside, Poison(after moving to LA/first album), Dokken, Odin,...) also with alot of LA bands, the rhythm style wasn't always strait (swung or layed back a bit a la Van Halen beautiful Girls). IF you listen to most of the Brit, Euro bands, they were most often in Standard Tuning with a straiter rhythm approach, many Bands from the SOuth (Southgand, Baton Rouge, Mcqueen Street, Tora Tora) had a certain rock n'rolly influence to them, with a certain groove and drawl. Just some stuff to chew on
You must log in to post.