Was Alice Cooper the godfather of glam?

[Foxhound]

Was Alice Cooper the first true glam rock band?

[Magic]

I would say Alice Cooper is one of the first American Glam artists, but to my understanding the full credit goes to Marc Bolan, and T.Rex. The history of glam goes back to artists from the UK.

[METALPRIEST]

Yeah I would say that also...Alice had british influences..and alot more of it begins there.

[ladyislingering]

I'd say Alice was the godfather of all things awesome, but that would be overdoing it just a little.

[Aktivator]

godfather? no
just one of the pioneers and a damn good one

[Astrid Kirchherr65]

Originally Posted by Aktivator godfather? no just one of the pioneers and a damn good one

Ditto

No I say it was :

David Bowie
Marc Bolan -T-rex
Roxy Music
Sweet
Slade
and dabbling in it...

Queen
Kiss
New York Dolls
Jobriath

[Astrid Kirchherr65]

More:

[Cosmic Harmony]

I'd say Alice was not the godfather of glam. That would be Marc Bolan but it was David Bowie who I feel perfectly the image of glam rock and made it as big as it was.

[Astrid Kirchherr65]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Harmony I'd say Alice was not the godfather of glam. That would be Marc Bolan but it was David Bowie who I feel perfectly the image of glam rock and made it as big as it was.

Yes, I feel thats the correct order of things//Marc started Bowie stylized it

[Magic]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Harmony I'd say Alice was not the godfather of glam. That would be Marc Bolan but it was David Bowie who I feel perfectly the image of glam rock and made it as big as it was.

I have to agree, Cosmic. David Bowie not only perfected Glam, but he was innovative enough to give his glam character a name "Ziggy Stardust".

[METALPRIEST]

^^^ Yeah I gotta give this one to Bowie too...let's not forget about Alvin Stardust though.

[rtbuck]

I've kind of avoided this thread because the truth is...I don't know.

Surprisingly,I've never been heavy into Bolan where I've had any interest to study his history so I don't want to say Cooper was the first. (I enjoy a lot of Bolan's work but I was never obsessed with it)

As far as Coop though I know that besides being influenced by the Stones, Beatles,& Yardbirds the Alice Cooper band was just as influenced by TV,Movies, Musicals,& theold burlesque/vaudeville type shows & all of this added to their look & style.By 1967 they were wearing the shiny, glittery, & colorful pants along with experimenting with the make-up & long hair. They wanted to shock the world when they changed their name to Alice Cooper in hopes that the flower children of the 60's generation were going to expect a blonde female folk singer. I know the NY Dolls were influenced by early Cooper (I will say though that guitarist Johnny Thunders did like Marc Bolan as well & Keith Richards for all that matters). Alice did have a huge impact at Kiss in fact Gene & Paul have said that after attending a Cooper show is where they got the idea of the make-up (& yes when they did begin before they went with their familiar make-up they did try to go with a NY Dolls kind of look). Obviously the Dolls style wasn't working for Kiss so after seeing Cooper in Concert they though "What if we have 4 Alice Coopers onstage?".

Iggy was part of what influenced Bowie to get into the glam & that is why he became Ziggy.Iggy & Coop were terrorizing the Detroit scene in the late 60's

[Magic]

Early Bolan with a Boa around his neck....a sure sign of early glam..

[Odysseus]

I love the original Alice Cooper band but Alice himself was more into the theatrics of presentation than glam itself, especially later on.

I agree with others that Marc Bolan easily lit the fire and Bowie defined it handily. Bowie initially kept a very close eye on what Marc was up to in the early days.

[Foxhound]

I say Alice Cooper was first since Alice Cooper was the first big time rock band with over-the-top makeup.