NE’ER DO WELL – Fun Days EP

Described as Motley Crue meets Fall Out Boy, Ne’er Do Well is a project helmed by singer/songwriter Bryan Rolli. This debut EP is a superb showcase of a versatile one man band, dropping massive chorus hooks against a variety of equally massive riffs, on a short rollercoaster journey that never sells the listener short when it comes to excitement. Granted, a lot of Rolli’s influences are laid on with a trowel, but it’s what he does with those that counts, and this release makes a lot of familiar sounds feel really sparky. What’s more, it’s always clear that the performer really believes in the material.

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FASTER PUSSYCAT – Babylon: The Elektra Years 1987-1992

Before the arrival of grunge, the US was awash with sleazy bands sporting huge hairstyles and huge attitudes. Guns N’ Roses would go on to achieve world domination, and MTV made huge stars out of many others, including Ratt, Motley Crue and Poison. For every band that hit the big time, of course, there were many that didn’t achieve quite the same levels of success. Kik Tracee, Tuff, and Jetboy were bands that very much fell into this category, along with LA’s Faster Pussycat, but even these “also rans” gained more than their fifteen minutes of fame at the height of the music television boom.

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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Oh You Pretty Things: Glam Queens & Street Urchins 1970-1976

There are few things as ubiquitous with the 1970s as glam rock. The first half of the decade’s music was shaped by David Bowie in his Ziggy and Aladdin pomp, Marc Bolan’s colourful pixie-like antics on Top of The Pops, and a run of stompin’ great hits from Birmingham’s finest, Slade. Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn penned a truckload of hits for Mickie Most’s RAK label, making the music mogul’s yacht almost as famous as the acts themselves. In full leathers, Suzi Quatro helped pave the way for a generation of female rock stars and self-confessed “navvies in mascara” Sweet hadn’t “got a clue what to do”. On the artier end of things, there were Roxy Music’s appearances on the Old Grey Whistle Test where Bryan Ferry and company looked – and, indeed, sounded – like they’d been dropped to Earth by aliens and Sparks’ appearances between the likes of The Hollies and Wings on your favourite Thursday evening pop show had ability to frighten small children. It was very much a fertile time for new pop music.

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Watch: New York Dolls – Live on Musikladen & Old Grey Whistle Test 1973

The words innovative and iconic are muchly overused when describing bands in the twenty first century. Both are very much words that apply to New York Dolls. A band that championed excess and trashiness in every sense, they ushered in a sleazy style that joined The Stooges in laying the groundwork for punk, but also providing a core influence for the likes of Motley Crue and the LA glam metal scene that dominated MTV during a decade long after the Dolls first burst of stardom had burnt out.

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HELL IN THE CLUB – Hell Of Fame

When Hell In The Club released their debut album back in 2011, it was almost impossible not to be impressed by their retro sound. The Italian rock band truly went back to basics, borrowing riffs from early Skid Row and Motley Crue. By coupling those with anthemic choruses inspired by early Danger Danger, they obviously realised that a job well done would trump any originality at every turn. The result was an album with hooks so massive, it couldn’t fail to win over fans of glammy hard rock with a party attitude. The band worked the same formula for another three albums over the next six years, and although this never resulted in any huge sales, the routine appearance of their records was to the delight of their fan base. Despite changing musical fashions in the rock world, there was still clearly an audience ready to embrace the sounds of their youth…and with open arms.

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