oh you pretty things

​Oh! You Pretty Things (Various Artists from the album Oh! You Pretty Things compilation available on Cherry Red Records) (by Dave Steinfeld)
 
The folks at long-running English label Cherry Red Records have blessed us with another great box set. Not unlike Surrender to the Rhythm — The Cherry Red Pub Rock box from last summer (2020), Oh! You Pretty Things concentrates on a (mostly) British genre of music that surfaced in the Seventies: this time, Glam Rock.  Subtitled ‘Glam Queens and Street Urchins, 1970 — 1976’, this box-set includes 66 tracks spread across three CD’s.  Pretty Things is housed in a clamshell box and comes with an exhaustive 40-page booklet that contains vintage photos and liner notes by David Wells (who also did the honors for Surrender to the Rhythm… this guy obviously knows his stuff!). According to Wells, ‘we focus [here] on the twin central strands of Glam Rock: the cerebral and the visceral, with the artier, experimental element of the scene joined by the Ladbroke Grove street rockers and the Steve Marriott-channelling chirpy Cockney geezer street urchins, many of whom had been to drama school and knew how to strike a pose’.  So, as with many movements, Glam Rock was as much about style as it was about actual music. There is no shortage here of men in drag, feathered haircuts, pancake white makeup, space themes, and general theater. Indeed, quite a few of the artists in this collection (Leo Sayer, Tim Curry, etc) began as actors.  
 
Despite being named for a David Bowie song, the Thin White Duke himself is AWOL on this anthology. While it would have been nice to have included a contribution from Bowie, (“Ziggy Stardust” perhaps?), his shadow looms large over Pretty Things all the same. Disc One kicks off with “Pyjamarama” by Roxy Music — a band that was central not only to Glam but to English rock in general. (Roxy vocalist Bryan Ferry and guitarist Phil Manzanera both pop up again on Disc Two with solo offerings). Also, on that first disc are tracks from some A-list bands who skirted the edges of Glam Rock (pun intended!) like ELO and The Kinks, and some true obscurities (does anyone remember a band called Bearded Lady?!).  Disc Two probably features the most big names of the three offerings. You’ll find choice cuts from Slade, Lou Reed, John Cale, Iggy & the Stooges, and The Sweet (plus the aforementioned songs from Ferry and Manzanera). Also of note on Disc Two is the presence of two lesser known but seminal American artists: Wayne County and Jobriath. County was a Southerner whose career caught fire after he moved to NYC and played CBGB; probably the first transgender musician, she is alive and well and now goes by Jayne County. Jobriath — born Bruce Campbell in Pennsylvania — had already served time in the US Army and as a male prostitute before signing to Columbia for a huge advance (sadly, he died of AIDS in 1983). Disc Three feels a bit leaner by comparison, but still offers music from New York Dolls, Mott the Hoople, and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. All in all, Cherry Red has once again provided us with an excellent overview of a singular musical genre.
 
Listen and buy the music of Oh, You Pretty Things from AMAZON
For more info, check out the Cherry Red Records website
 
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