Or, whatever happened to the Glam Slam? It’s still here (the previous song was from
the RAK factory, after all) but it seems to be slowing down somewhat. This song isn’t so much about Glamour as it
is about Politics. And yet Politics is
glamourous for some; almost all politicians, no matter their stripe, have
something of a high when they win and take power, much, I suppose, like the
honeymoon period of a marriage. Sweet
don’t concern themselves too much with that here – it’s the kids – teenagers! –
who are going on a rampage and taking over with their rules, their choices,
their own constitution. (Yes, the kids
are going to form committees and hash out their rule - democratically!) Say “teenage rampage” now and people think of
a melee, a riot, looting, cats and dogs in the street, COMPLETE CHAOS. And yet that is not really happening
here. The music is by-the-book glam; the
delirium documented, however, is real.
The Baby Boom peaked in the late 50s/early 60s, which is in part why so many songs
at this time had the word “teenage” in them (“Teenage Dream” by T. Rex and “Teenage
Lament ‘74” being the main ones, though as a rule the Glam Slam was all about
teenagers, more or less). Of course
there is the fact that this song
(stopped only by the biggest song of the year, Mud’s “Tiger Feet”)
appeared just as the effects of the three-day week were really kicking in –
more freedom for parents, more freedom for the kids? Or more chances to seize power, to do whatever
they want, to discard the present and think up a future. Their time is coming, and in looking around
who can blame them for wanting to take over?
Just about everybody who would become major figures in punk
and post-punk were teenagers at this time, and I can well imagine some of them
are already getting into music that is more adventurous than this; and they
were to make music that held to no constitution or united scene
whatsoever. The Sweet had another
Chinn-Chapman hit on their hands here, but in the end it sounds more like what
would speak to, oh, Tony Blair more than John Lydon (though the Glam Slam got a
free pass from the punks – how could something so shiny and unpretentious be
bad)?
Next up: Face to face
with…who?
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