The Glam Rock Bible: 15 essential hits that defined an era

1 May 2026, 13:37

Slade, Suzi Quatro and T.Rex. Picture: Alamy

By Mayer Nissim

Get yer make up and boots on!

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Glam rock! One of the all-time great scenes in music.

The reputation of glam came in for a bit of a kicking by the end of the 1970s and beyond, but thankfully in recent years there's been a growing appreciation of the influence and sheer fun of the original era.

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And if you're looking to get into glam rock or are an old fan wanting a sharp blast of some of the biggest and best hits, we've got just the list for you.

Below, we've rounded up 15 of the glammiest songs of the era. Despite the lingering influence of the scene to this day, we've very much focused on the peak glam era of the mid-1970s, and focused more on the British side, though there's a little sprinkling from over the Atlantic.

Despite being massive fans, we've consciously left off too-cool-for-proper-glam-school proto-glammers like Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls. Sparks were just on the side of art rock over glam, too.

Oh, and we've restricted ourselves to ONE song per artist, picking what we've measured as their glammiest moment. And no Christmas songs, either (this means you, Slade, Wizzard and Mud).

The Rubettes - Sugar Baby Love

1974 THE RUBETTES "Sugar Baby Love" HD !!! UNSEEN !!! 1974

Some dismissed The Rubettes as pure bubblegum, but that sound (and that vibe) was very much part of the glam era, and this debut single, written by Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington, had proper glam dynamics and swagger.
Originally planned for Eurovision, it was turned down by Showaddywaddy and Carl Wayne before letting the demo/session guys sing it. The song went to number one, and – albeit without the actual singer Paul Da Vinci – The Rubettes became a real band off the back of it.
Other glam hits: Tonight, Juke Box Jive, I Can Do It
Alvin Stardust - My Coo Ca Choo

Alvin Stardust - My Coo Ca Choo (Official Music Video)

Who is Alvin Stardust?
Well, Bernard William Jewry aka Shane Fenton was a guy with a spring;e of pre-Beatles hits, who resurrected his career in the 1970s as glam rocker Alvin Stardust.
But it was Peter Shelley (not the guy from Buzzcocks) who actually wrote and recorded 'My Coo Ca Choo', before handing over the character to Jewry, who mimed the song on Top of the Pops and went on to sing his future hits.
With that level of artifice and shenanigans, 'My Coo Ca Choo' has to be on the list of top glam songs.
Other glam hits: 'You, You, You', 'Red Dress', 'Good Love Can Never Die'
Wizzard - See My Baby Jive

Wizzard - See My Baby Jive (TOTP 1973) HD

After The Move and ELO, Roy Wood formed Wizzard. Truthfully, the band was a bit like Mark E Smith's ("If it's me and yer granny on bongos, it's The Fall"). Wizzard were essentially a short-lived Roy Wood project, but a glorious one.
Yes, the sound veered towards intricate prog, but there was plenty of joyous glam vibes there, too, especially on the Wall of Sound-inspired 'See my Baby Jive' - a chart topper and the band's biggest single.
Other glam hits: Angel Fingers (A Teen Ballad), I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, Rock 'n' Roll Winter (Loony's Tune)
Roxy Music - Virginia Plain

Roxy Music - Virginia Plain - Top Of The Pops - 24th August 1972

Very much on the artsy, pretentious (in the very best way) side of glam rock, Roxy Music burst on to the scene with the influential and fabulous debut single 'Virginia Plain' in 1972.
It was written by frontman Bryan Ferry and featured an excellent improv solo from Phil Manzanera and weird FX from Brian Eno. On the clever (clever) side of glam, but glam nonetheless.
Other glam hits: Street Life, Love is the Drug, Trash
Queen - Killer Queen

Queen - Killer Queen (Top Of The Pops, 1974)

Are Queen a glam rock band? Well, they started off as a proper hard rock outfit, ended up as a pure pop rock juggernaut, and dabbled in disco, funk, jazz and music hall.
But there were moments, especially on 1974's Sheer Heart Attack, where Queen's fabulous look and sound definitely qualified, and the best example was 'Killer Queen'. All glam dynamics and lyrics that fit the part ("Dynamite with a laser beam").
Other glam hits: Seven Seas of Rhye, Flick of the Wrist, Now I’m Here
Elton John - Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

Elton John - Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) (Central Park, NYC 1980)

Elton John is another artist who preceded glam and survived and evolved long past it. But when the scene moved in that direction (in no little part influenced by his own look and sound), he dived in happily on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
It's a Stones-y rock 'n' roll throwback with a full glam wardrobe (braces, boots, greased up hair), and one that wallows in the the gloriously skeezy machismo of the whole era.
Other glam hits: Bennie and the Jets, The Bitch Is Back, All the Girls Love Alice
Alice Cooper - School's Out

Alice Cooper - School's Out (1972) HD 0815007

Asked about the three greatest minutes of your life, Alice Cooper mentioned Christmas morning and also "the last three minutes of the last day of school when you're sitting there and it's like a slow fuse burning".
A rare American presence on our list, but one that more that earns its place. Make-up, dress-up, brilliant androgynous stage name, for "the girls and boys", big guitars. It's glam! A US number 7 and UK number 1, too.
Other glam hits: I'm Eighteen, Elected, Be My Lover
Suzi Quatro - Can The Can

Suzi Quatro - Can The Can (Official Music Video)

Another American (albeit an American-Brit who moved here in 1971)... and an all-too rare female figure in the generally male-dominated genre.
Like Alice Cooper, Suzi Quatro was on the harder rockin' edge of glam, and this Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn-written classic is all shiny glam vibes ("Don't let the cat get into the eagle's nest at night") and energy.
Her second single, it stormed to number one in the UK and made Suzi a star.
Other glam hits: Devil Gate Drive, 48 Crash, Make Me Smile
David Bowie - Starman

David Bowie - Starman (Official Video) [4K]

Talking of stars... David Bowie is the biggest star on this list. And you could argue that he's got the biggest and best songs, too. You might even wager that 'Starman' is the "best song" on this list.
And it might be, but it's not the out-and-out "best glam song" on this list, which is why it misses out to some otherwise lesser hits. Still though. Bowie. 'Starman'. Space, Ziggy, boogie-ing children, and that TOTP performance.
Other glam hits: Queen Bitch, Rebel Rebel, The Jean Genie
Bay City Rollers - Shang A Lang

"SHANG-A-LANG" Bay City Rollers

Like The Rubettes and Alvin Stardust, the Bay City Rollers were always on the less cool, poppier side of the glam coin, but that was very much part of the appeal of the Rollers (that and the fetching tartan).
They had a proper run of hits but the bolshy stomp of 'Shang-A-Lang' was probably their best glam moment, with writer/producers Bill Martin and Phil Coulter getting their best Phil Spector impression all the way to number 2 in the charts.
Other glam hits: Remember (Sha-La-La-La), Summerlove Sensation, Give a Little Love
Mud - Dyna-Mite

Mud - Dyna-Mite (Live on Austrian TV, 1974)

Another glam hit from the pen of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, the songwriters actually wrote 'Dyna-Mite' for The Sweet.
But their loss was Mud's definite gain, and Les Gray took this proper glam rocker to number 4 in the charts with a quarter of a million sales.
Other glam hits: Tiger Feet, The Cat Crept In, Rocket
Sweet - Blockbuster

Sweet - Blockbuster - Top Of The Pops 25.01.1973 (OFFICIAL)

Yet ANOTHER Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman number, and one that took a Muddy Waters-esque riff and glammed it up (in fact, much like David Bowie had done coincidentally for his own 'The Jean Genie' shortly before).
The Sweet took the track all the way to number one (their only chart-topper) - platinum seller helped along by some OTT TV performances.
Other glam hits: The Ballroom Blitz, Hell Raiser, Teenage Rampage
Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes

Mott the Hoople - All The Young Dudes

Musically just on the maybe-too-cool-for-pure-glam side of things, the lyrics push 'All The Young Dudes' into the glam stratosphere.
Mott were actually on the verge of splitting up when famous fan David Bowie threw them a bone. They were actually offered 'Suffragette City' but turned it down (!) but couldn't say no to '.. Dudes', which went to number three in the charts and saved the band.
Bowie went on to record his own version, which was fine enough, but it was Mott whose starry-eyed (and starry-face) original that has endured and will continue to.
Other glam hits: One of the Boys, Sweet Jane, The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll
T-Rex - 20th Century Boy

T.Rex - 20th Century Boy (Full Version) [HD]

If glam had a truly totemic figure, then it was maybe Marc Bolan. Even to his detriment. While his fellow London boy David Bowie managed to throw off the glam shackles when they became too heavy, despite his folkier beginnings Bolan felt too closely associated to the scene to escape it.
But that meant his glam hits were the purest distillation of the genre. You can stick a pin in the catalogue and they're all classics, but we'll opt for this gender-bending, future-nostalgic, glitter ball of a track that got to number 3.
Other glam hits: Get It On, Jeepster, Children of the Revolution
Slade - Cum on Feel the Noize

Slade - Cum On Feel The Noize • TopPop

Bowie and Bolan were hipper. Sweet and Mud were more bombastic. Bay City Rolllers and Rubettes had poppier sensibilities. But it's Slade that encapsulated he inherent contradiction at the very beating, shiny heart of glam.
Slade were West Midlands working class lads with, yes, swagger and confidence, but also a rugged blokey charm and no small amount of machismo, but they were also F A B U L O U S. That, essentially, is glam rock.
And their finest AND glammiest moment was this thrilling singalong.
Other glam hits: Mama Weer All Crazee Now, Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me, Merry Xmas Everybody