Various - Teenage Glampage : Can The Glam 2 (4CD) (Pause Rewind Play)

 

Following on from Cherry Red imprint 7Ts original set which was both critically lauded and commercially successful original set comes a second volume. Again beautifully presented, the cover description covers what is here succinctly. 

There are lots of Glam Rock compilations that have been released that cover the hits, but this is far more interesting. There are some real surprises, but as stated, there are some shockers and some that could in no way be described as Glam.

There are some stonewall classics, Mott The Hoople's wonderful Roll Away The Stone, my favourite Sweet single, Teenage Rampage, Wizzard's 7 Inch debut, Ball Park Incident and The Glitter Band's Tell Him are forever Top Notch.

Then there are songs from artists that you will know but be unfamiliar with this particular song. All are enjoyable and feature Mungo Jerry, John Paul Young, Kenny, Hello, Suzi Quatro etc. There are also bands that are not and never will be Glam such as Geordie and Angel.

It is nice to be reminded of such as Hector, Buster and in particular, Bilbo Baggins. There are bands that you wonder how the hell they ever sold anything. I mean Child's mediocre tosh was released at the height of Punk and New Wave. I would also be delighted if I never heard anything again from The Barron Knights and especially the dreadful ITV band, Flintlock.

But it is the more obscure and surprises that are most intriguing. I had no idea that The Sorrows Ex Lead Singer, Don Fardon, had released a 1974 cover of Geordie's Don't Do That or Spark's Trevor White's solo single, Crazy Kids. A similar surprise to me was The Easybeat's Stevie Wright singing the Vanda and Young written Hard Road. 

There's also Tiswas's Sally James and Max Bygraves son, Anthony present. This isn't a compilation for the casual listener who wants to sing along to See My Baby Jive. It is for the true music fan who wants to discover songs from the era that they would never have come across and be delighted that they did.

Over the 4 discs, there is a surprising lack of filler and masses of pleasant surprises. Cherry Red have become really good at this type of compilation and in a ;ot of ways they are a musical education. Too many compilations are about licensing deals, Can The Glam 2 has obviously put the work in and the results are ace.

.......................................