Happy Beltane to all the old hippies, from the most famous pop idol to come from my neighbourhood, Stoke Newington.

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Is there a Glam revival? If there is – and this would seem to suggest as much – then it’s crept up on me unawares. Rather like that cat Mud sang about. Apparently this video has gone viral, and I can see why: it’s like a pastiche of something from an early 70s Top of the Pops.

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As punk was mutating and evolving in 1978, a new band called Japan surfed in on the New Wave. I went to see them at the Music Machine, attracted mainly by their image.

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Punk before punk was invented, The New York Dolls made a sensational debut on British television’s Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973 – much to the disgust of host Bob Harris. (more…)

Watch this! Alice Low unveils new song and video Sodomizer

In the mid-Seventies, away from the pop charts but working hard at the coal face of the live music scene, one of the more entertaining bands on the London circuit was The Heavy Metal Kids. (more…)

Dutch singer Bonnie St. Claire represented the European wing of 1970s Glam but failed even to cross over the Channel – because she sounded like a shit Suzi Quatro.

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Hello were strictly second-division Glam. They had the second – and last – of their hits when they got back together with Russ Ballard of Argent, who had first discovered them when they were a covers band. (more…)

This was the 14th single by The Sweet – or ‘Sweet’ as they had just become – and the first to be written by the band themselves. (more…)

I’d forgotten about Kenny. I kinda wish I hadn’t remembered, though the story behind them is worth telling – especially the fact that Cheggers was nearly their singer. And that Kellogg’s took offence (and legal action) at their signature style of wearing tops with a big ‘K’ for Kenny on the front. (more…)