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Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, from the Seventies to the Twenty-first Century Kindle Edition

by Simon Reynolds (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 107 ratings
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“Tawdry, ridiculous, pretentious, and crass, glam produced some of the most sublime pop music of its era. Now it has a history worthy of it.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

NPR Great Read of 2016

Spearheaded by David Bowie, Alice Cooper, T. Rex, and Roxy Music, glam rock reveled in artifice and spectacle. Reacting against the hairy, denim-clad rock bands of the late Sixties, glam was the first true teenage rampage of the new decade. In Shock and Awe, renowned music critic Simon Reynolds takes you on a wild cultural tour through the early Seventies, a period packed with glitzy costumes and alien make-up, thrilling music and larger-than-life personas.

Shock and Awe offers a fresh, in-depth look at the glam and glitter phenomenon, placing it in the wider Seventies context of social upheaval and political disillusion. It explores how artists like Lou Reed, New York Dolls, and Queen broke with the hippie generation, celebrating illusion and artifice over truth and authenticity. Probing the genre’s major themes—stardom, androgyny, image, decadence, fandom, apocalypse—Reynolds tracks glam’s legacy as it unfolded in subsequent decades, from Eighties art-pop icons like Kate Bush through to twenty-first century idols of outrage such as Lady Gaga. Shock and Awe shows how the original glam artists’ obsessions with fame, extreme fashion, and theatrical excess continue to reverberate through contemporary pop culture.

“Giddy and wonderful . . . Shock and Awe is hard to rein in because it’s about more than glam rock. It’s about the magic of the popular (important word: popular) arts at their most inventive and curious, about adventure dressed up and turned up, brazenly changing the world.” —The Guardian
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  1. Print length
    704 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Dey Street Books
  5. Publication date
    October 11, 2016
  6. File size
    10214 KB
  7. Page Flip
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Reynolds' erudite yet readable approach will be of interest to glam fans as well readers of popular music histories.

-- "Library Journal"

Straightforward music/cultural history. For neo-glamsters, a blueprint for how to get things done; for oldsters, a nostalgic look into a shining, glittery era.

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

Rock historian Reynolds explores the genre that first shaped his perceptions of pop.

-- "Publishers Weekly"

From the Back Cover

The Glitter. The THEATRICS. The EXCESS. The Music.

The true story of the gender-bending artists who changed rock and roll.

Simon Reynolds has been hailed as “the foremost popular music critic of this era” (Times Literary Supplement [UK]), “unassailable” (New York Times), and “the most provocative pop music writer of his generation” (Boston Globe). Now, the acclaimed author of Rip It Up and Start Again and Retromania delivers the definitive cultural history of glam and glitter rock, celebrating its outlandish fashion and outrageous stars and tracking its vibrant legacy in contemporary pop.

Reacting against the drab, denim-clad long-hair bands of the hippie era, glam rock was the first true teenage rampage of the Seventies. Pioneered by David Bowie, Alice Cooper, T. Rex, New York Dolls and Roxy Music, this new look and sound reveled in artifice and spectacle over earnestness and authenticity. In Shock and Awe, Simon Reynolds takes you on a deeply researched and wildly entertaining cultural tour through the glam explosion—a period defined by glitzy costumes and alien makeup, thrilling music, and larger-than-life personas.

Shock and Awe offers a fresh look at the glam phenomenon, placing it the context of the era’s social upheaval and political disillusion. Probing the genre’s major themes—fame, androgyny, decadence, apocalypse—Reynolds traces glam’s influence as it reverberates across subsequent decades, from art-pop aesthetes like Kate Bush, Prince and Morrissey in the Eighties to contemporary pop icons such as Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé. Shock and Awe reveals how the original glam artists’ obsessions and provocations continue to ripple through our culture today.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0166IMIMM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dey Street Books (October 11, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 11, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 10214 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 704 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 107 ratings

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Simon Reynolds

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
107 global ratings
while he forgot to credit me for the extensive interview ...
5 Stars
while he forgot to credit me for the extensive interview ...
while he forgot to credit me for the extensive interview he did with me years ago concerning MainMan, Wayne/Jayne County, Cherry Vanilla, Rebel Rebel vs. Queenage Baby, Wayne County @ The Trucks vs. the Diamond Dogs show, etc I still give him 5 stars for a fab, glamtastic book about the Glory That Was Glam... since he didn't mention my name, I'm not mentioning his.. how's that for a "Queen Bitch"?
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Top reviews from the United States

P.K. White
5.0 out of 5 stars ... out there nowadays -- this is one of the best. Comprehensive
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2016
Verified Purchase
Quite a few books on GLAM out there nowadays -- this is one of the best. Comprehensive, articulate, and easy to read. What distinguishes this from some other fine books on GLAM (Philip Auslander, Barney Hoskyns, Alwyn Turner) is his discussion on post-GLAM and it's lasting legacy. Highly recommended.
10 people found this helpful
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Ham Sammich
5.0 out of 5 stars So good
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2017
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This was easily the most thorough and thoughtful music genre retrospective but also might be the best book I’ve ever read. It was awesome.
One person found this helpful
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J. Kopeny
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
Excellent overview of glam through the years with an interesting epilogue tying it into the pop of today. It's obviously heavily focused on Bowie, and the final few pages form an incredibly touching eulogy of sorts.
2 people found this helpful
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W.P.M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2017
Verified Purchase
Superb perspective of an influential genre. Erudite without being pedantic. Well written and full of lots of insights and anecdotes.
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Cajnik
3.0 out of 5 stars Love letter to Bowie
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2017
Verified Purchase
If this book had the title Love Letter to Bowie I wouldn't have bothered. So I learnt that Bowie invented everything, from changing musical directions (Bob Dylan going electric?), inventing fictitious character as band members (Beatles and Sgt Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band?), etc .... etc ... etc ... If you are obsessed with Bowie, this book is for you. If you want to read about glam bands, you will be able to, but with a lot of page skipping.
2 people found this helpful
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turco
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2017
Verified Purchase
Easily Reynolds' best book. I am pretty well versed in Bowie, Iggy and Bolan but there was plenty to learn and tons of great insights. Highly recommended for fans of the genre.
4 people found this helpful
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Jimi LaLumia
5.0 out of 5 stars while he forgot to credit me for the extensive interview ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2016
Verified Purchase
while he forgot to credit me for the extensive interview he did with me years ago concerning MainMan, Wayne/Jayne County, Cherry Vanilla, Rebel Rebel vs. Queenage Baby, Wayne County @ The Trucks vs. the Diamond Dogs show, etc I still give him 5 stars for a fab, glamtastic book about the Glory That Was Glam... since he didn't mention my name, I'm not mentioning his.. how's that for a "Queen Bitch"?
Customer image
Jimi LaLumia
5.0 out of 5 stars while he forgot to credit me for the extensive interview ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2016
while he forgot to credit me for the extensive interview he did with me years ago concerning MainMan, Wayne/Jayne County, Cherry Vanilla, Rebel Rebel vs. Queenage Baby, Wayne County @ The Trucks vs. the Diamond Dogs show, etc I still give him 5 stars for a fab, glamtastic book about the Glory That Was Glam... since he didn't mention my name, I'm not mentioning his.. how's that for a "Queen Bitch"?
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26 people found this helpful
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Bob Harper
4.0 out of 5 stars This is big book but it is well researched. ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2018
Verified Purchase
This is big book but it is well researched. The writing is lively. Anyone interested in "glam" rock will appreciate the author's research and insight.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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ronny23
5.0 out of 5 stars I read it in a magazine....
Reviewed in Canada on December 15, 2017
Verified Purchase
As if we needed proof there was more to glam than Gary Glitter and the Sweet. From the “shock rock” beginnings of Alice Cooper through the “high glam” touchpoints of Bowie and Roxy Music, Simon Reynolds takes us to the long shadow cast by glam influencing the likes of Prince and today’s pop superstars. The one constant, obsessive adulation by screaming crowds. Thoughtful analysis throughout make it a key tome on the subject.
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Ale Pozzi
5.0 out of 5 stars mi piace reynolds
Reviewed in Italy on February 5, 2019
Verified Purchase
apprezzo la sua scrittura e la sua disposizione dei fatti musicali in una storia coerente...
un genere musicale che da noi e' sempre stato snobbato, e che invece in UK e' parte fondante della tradizione musicale
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Martin Lindner
5.0 out of 5 stars Eigentlich eine Kulturgeschichte der 1970er Jahre
Reviewed in Germany on February 24, 2018
Verified Purchase
Am Ende mag reynolds gar nicht mehr aufhören uns der Begriff und der Kontext von Glam verwässert sich dan mehr und mehr und mehr. Vorher hat er aber eine sehr detailreiche Geschichte der Popkultur in den 1970er Jahren gesvchrieben, mit unendlich ielen interessanten Einzelheiten. Für mich, der in diesem Jahrzehnt Teenager in der entlegenen Provinz war, gab es überrschend viele Bezugpunkte, obwohl jemand wie ich natürlich ganz und gar nichts mit den britischen Glam-Rockern zu tun hatte. Ich kannte das nur aus der Hitparade und Ilja Richters "Disco"-TV-Sendung. Mich wundert nachträglich immer noch, wie ungerührt ich damals all die geschminkten Männer auf High Heels hinnahm. Es schien mir nie erklärungsbedürftig.
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muzz211
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on April 15, 2017
Verified Purchase
A brilliant book: engaging, witty, fascinating. 5-stars and then some.
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Some pages not cut properly.
Reviewed in Canada on December 17, 2016
Verified Purchase
Some pages of the book that was delivered were not cut properly, to close to Christmas to return.
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