Glam Rock was a musical phenomenon which lasted from approximately mid-1970 to late 1974 and was characterised by very simple, retro music, escapist or apolitical themes and outrageously flamboyant costumes. Think Slade, Sweet, T.Rex, Wizzard at one end of the spectrum and David Bowie, Roxy Music and maybe Cockney Rebel at the other.

Coincidentally, 1970-75 were exactly the years of the premiership of Edward Heath (with a little bit of Harold Wilson too). Looking back, we all remember those years for political unrest: industrial action, economic difficulties, runaway inflation, power cuts, the Three-day week, violence in Northern Ireland and the 1973 Oil Crisis. Despite – or because of – this volatility, we were all buying Glam Rock records and wearing ridiculous platform shoes.

I am currently researching an MA at Oxford Brookes University that asks the question in this page’s headline. Was there was any correlation between the success of Glam and the miserable times. Did we all need cheering up so much that we went out bought fabulous escapist classics ‘Blockbuster’ or ‘Metal Guru’?

I don’t know but I wonder if you could help. I have put together a short-ish list of questions that should possibly take about 10-15 minutes and if you were a young kid in the early 70s and like a bit of Glam Rock, it would be really helpful to my research if you could take the time to complete the form.

Your answers will be kept anonymous and confidential, but if you would like to see the findings or a copy of the final dissertation, please give me your contact details at the end and I’ll send them when they are available.

Click here to take the survey.

Thank you in advance

Russell Clarke
The Rock’n’Roll Routemaster