# Glam Rock



## E Cristobal Poveda (Jul 12, 2017)

Couldn't find any thread for Glam Rock, so decided to start one.

Glam Rock is, in my opinion, one of the best genres of music to develop after the 60s. We know the giants, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Boy George, and Prince (although he had poppish tendencies).

What are some of the lesser known Glam rock artists? In modern times, it's experiencing a minor revival under Harry Styles, whose self-titled album has garnered some success.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Viva Hanoi Rocks!


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## Guest (Apr 20, 2018)

With the exception of Bowie OP that isn't a list of Glam Rock stars. It was primarily a British based phenomenon from the early 70s featuring artists such as T Rex, Sweet and Gary Glitter.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Sweet as candy!


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## Guest (Apr 20, 2018)

Glam rock was my second musical project (the first my mother's singles collection). I was there man.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Goldfrapp - the_ Black Cherry_ and _Supernature_ albums. As she says herself, 'wonderful electric...' - but this is not your usual push-button digital c**p, lots of thought and invention has actually gone into this!


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Ghost, I like it. But are we expanding the category (glam) beyond its usual boundaries? Or, as usual, am I way behind the action?

Edit: I Feel Love, I Feel Love, I Feel Love..... Coincidence?


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)




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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Great choice, Ed - always reminds me of a cross between 10cc's _Rubber Bullets_ and Suzi Q's _Devil Gate Drive_.


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## Guest (Apr 21, 2018)

Yes Strange, this is all something completely different. On the other hand, it wasn't called Glam Rock in it's day, so I suppose the term could be interpreted as widely as people like.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Strange Magic said:


> Ghost, I like it. But are we expanding the category (glam) beyond its usual boundaries? Or, as usual, am I way behind the action?
> 
> Edit: I Feel Love, I Feel Love, I Feel Love..... Coincidence?


Are we expanding the category? Might be, but that's no bad thing - it's good that glam can be found outside the strictures of its early 1970s heyday. I always thought Giorgio Moroder's pulsing synth beats on Donna Summer's _I Feel Love_ could actually qualify. Goldfrapp's use of synthesisers is often somewhat removed from that of Moroder, but the same principle applies, I think - those two Goldfrapp albums have just as many glam elements as they do anything else.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Let's then cross-breed Glam and Lite Metal again with the immortal Cinderella; Sir, I Am _Nobody's Fool!_


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## Guest (Apr 21, 2018)

Tulse said:


> it wasn't called Glam Rock in it's day,


Well, allegedly, it was, though I'm struggling to find a relevant quote. Wiki refers to a contemporary Melody Maker headline that 'Glam Rock is Dead' (1973, I think - can't quite make out the date on the picture)

https://newtopiamagazine.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/glam-rock-dead.jpg

but I've not found one that refers to its origins.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

In 1973 glam rock or whatever it was called (in Dutch it was known as nichtenrock = gay rock) was very much alive, so it's probably one or two years later.


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## Guest (Apr 21, 2018)

You're correct Mac. That looks like June 16 1973 and is confirmed by the reported death of Tubby Hayes who died in June 1973.



MacLeod said:


> Well, allegedly, it was, though I'm struggling to find a relevant quote. Wiki refers to a contemporary Melody Maker headline that 'Glam Rock is Dead' (1973, I think - can't quite make out the date on the picture)
> 
> https://newtopiamagazine.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/glam-rock-dead.jpg
> 
> but I've not found one that refers to its origins.


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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)




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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)




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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)




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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)




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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)




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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)




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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)




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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)

OOooops got side tracked Glam hey


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

^ Glad you got back on track ...............


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

Well, there's gonna be some crossover musically. 'Glam' seemed to be more a visual thing than a specifically musical thing; resulting in some strange bedfellows.

*Epic Queen*






*Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)*






Best wishes
Metairie Road


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

Norman Gunston

You OK Norman?

You kind of drifted off into classic rock for a while.

By the way, my son went to see *The Darkness* in Atlanta last week. A nine hour drive at $2.50 a gallon for gas. he said it was a great show.

Best wishes
Metairie Road


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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)

^ Yeah, youtube can take you strange places


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## Guest (May 4, 2018)

Metairie Road said:


> Norman Gunston
> 
> A nine hour drive at $2.50 a gallon for gas.


We can only dream of petrol being that cheap on this side of the pond. Enjoy it while you can!


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Metairie Road said:


> Norman Gunston
> 
> You OK Norman?
> 
> ...


Yeah, jeeze that's cheap- that's only 82.28cents per litre here its $1.20/ litre


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

Resistance is useless.

The opening riff always sends a chill down my spine.

*David Bowie- Ziggy Stardust (live)*





The remastered version of the Ziggy Stardust album sounds like crap to my ears. I'll keep my unmastered version thanks.

Maybe it's just me.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

My teen years were in the '70s, so I really did grow up with Glam Rock. Forgive me therefore if I question the inclusion of Yes, King Crimson and Black Sabbath into the genre when they really are better suited in the Prog Rock and Metal camps - indeed it can be argued that Yes and King Crimson were the creators of the Prog Rock genre along with Genesis and The Nice.
For me the real stars of Glam Rock were T-Rex, Sweet, Gary Glitter (yes, I know - but he was), Wizzard, Bowie and even Roxy Music. Others included Suzi Quatro, Cockney Rebel, Barry Blue (who remembers him?), The Glitterband (who released a few excellent singles in their own right), Slade, and to a point Queen & 10cc though both these bands had a unique musical style which contained elements of Glam, but weren't strictly of that ilk.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

^
^

_'Barry Blue (who remembers him?)...'_

Barry Blue? Yes, I remember him, but I tended to put him more at the teenybopper end of the market even if he sort of latched onto glam a bit. If I recall correctly he did _Do You Wanna Dance?_ on TOTP with a troupe of dancers dressed as Cossacks.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

elgars ghost said:


> ^
> ^
> 
> _'Barry Blue (who remembers him?)...'_
> ...


Close, but not quite; the Cossack one was called Hot Shot.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Good man yourself - that's one heck of a memory you have!


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## E Cristobal Poveda (Jul 12, 2017)

Tulse said:


> With the exception of Bowie OP that isn't a list of Glam Rock stars. It was primarily a British based phenomenon from the early 70s featuring artists such as T Rex, Sweet and Gary Glitter.


Other than Bowie and Queen, I never particularly listened to the others I mentioned. I've always heard them grouped in as glam rock though, so I dunno.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Tulse said:


> With the exception of Bowie OP that isn't a list of Glam Rock stars. It was primarily a British based phenomenon from the early 70s featuring artists such as T Rex, Sweet and Gary Glitter.


Tulse's post here hit the nail directly on the head. It seems some merely take long hair (on the male head anyway) to be a key defining hallmark of glam. Is Led Zeppelin glam? Peter Frampton? I think not.


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## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Strange Magic said:


> Tulse's post here hit the nail directly on the head. It seems some merely take* long hair (on the male head anyway) *to be a key defining hallmark of glam. Is Led Zeppelin glam? * Peter Frampton?* I think not.


Not anymore, anyway!


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Dressed more conservatively than usual - I recall they wore tops with a large red 'K' on them during other TOTP appearances. But this was at the end of the glam period when the glitter and make-up image was beginning to fizzle out.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)




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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Since hair and hair length did come up as possibly a defining attribute of glam, it put me in mind of one of the finest hairstyles seen atop a male head in pop music. I refer to Limahl's fantastic 'badger color & cut" as lead singer of Kajagoogoo. He definitely was not _Too Shy_ about it. Great pop!


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)




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## Cosmic Cowboy (May 31, 2018)

The Wikipedia article on glam rock is quite good -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glam_rock

The list of "glam rock" bands is questionable at best and spurious at worst -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_glam_rock_artists

For me this is the defining moment of glam rock and serves as a template to measure all others against -


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I've seen most of the British glam bands of the 70s live. Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Cockney Rebel, Gary Glitter, Mott the Hoople, Alice Cooper (not particularly glam per se), The Rubettes, Mud, etc but the best two live are Sparks (superb band live) and Slade who were one of the best bands I've ever seen live. Saw Slade on their comeback tour at the start of the 80s and they played a very packed Manchester Polytechnic just before Xmas. Everyone was blethered and they played a 2 hour set (about 4 encores). Noddy Holder must be one of the most underrated singers I've ever heard and Jim Lea was a brilliant songwriter. They tore the roof off that night and were loud as hell. Remember them playing 'Everyday' and the WHOLE crowd were singing along. Merry Xmas Everybody was just mental (and the crowd refused to leave until they'd sung the whole song again acapella at the end, all the way thru (even though the band had gone off 5 minutes earlier). Noddy and the boyz came out to applaud us and shake as many hands as possible. Incredible gig.


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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)

^ very cool never saw slade but they have always seemed a cool band


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

> Merl: "I've seen most of the British glam bands of the 70s live. Sweet, *Suzi Quatro*, Cockney Rebel, Gary Glitter, Mott the Hoople, Alice Cooper......"


I never thought of Suzi Quatro as "glam". Leatherette, tomboy, yes. Glam? Not so much.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Norman Gunston said:


> ^ very cool never saw slade but they have always seemed a cool band


Immense live band. Shame Noddy and the guys couldn't sort out their differences. They were a very special band live (and in the studio). How does it Feel could be one of the greatest songs ever written.


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## Norman Gunston (Apr 21, 2018)

Her songs were written by chin/chapman just like mud and the others so she was glam


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## Cosmic Cowboy (May 31, 2018)

Strange Magic said:


> I never thought of Suzi Quatro as "glam". Leatherette, tomboy, yes. Glam? Not so much.


Agreed - don't see it either -






And alleged "glam rock" cred surely became a tad tarnished when she started appearing as "Leather Tuscadero" in US programme "Happy Days"






At some point I really must catch my flight to America. I keep asking them to delay the flight until I can finish posting but they seem to be getting a bit shirty about my continually asking.


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## Cosmic Cowboy (May 31, 2018)

Norman Gunston said:


> Her songs were written by chin/chapman just like mud and the others so she was glam


Not everything written by Chinn (two "n"s you prat) and Chapman was glam to wit -

1. Exile - Kiss You All Over (#1 1978)
2. Toni Basil - Mickey (#1 1982)
3. Sweet - Little Willy (#3 1973)
4. Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman - Stumblin' In (#4 1979)
5. Tina Turner - Better Be Good To Me (#5 1984) (also with Holly Knight as co-songwriter)
6. Sweet - Ballroom Blitz (#5 1975)
7. Huey Lewis & The News - Heart and Soul (#8 1983)
8. Smokie - Living Next Door to Alice (#25 1976)
9. Exile - You Thrill Me (#40 1979)

Advice to live by - just take the opposite side of whatever Norman is prattling on about and you'll always be on the side of the angels...

Speaking of The Angels - (even though they did start out in Adelaide they had enough sense to leave and relocate to Sydney; this has nothing whatsoever to do with glam rock but I rather like this tune and I've inserted it into at least seven other threads here - adding it to one of those tedious and tiresome Wagner threads didn't go over to well though... prats...) -


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Merl said:


> Immense live band. Shame Noddy and the guys couldn't sort out their differences. They were a very special band live (and in the studio). How does it Feel could be one of the greatest songs ever written.


I saw Slade at Donnington Park race circuit on a wet and miserable day in 1981, the year of their comeback with _'We'll Bring the House Down'_. And they certainly did - Slade were past masters at getting audiences on-side whatever the circumstances, so it was never going to easy for whoever were on stage next - Blue Öyster Cult had that honour and they bombed.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Seen BOC many times too. Not glam tho.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Cosmic Cowboy said:


> Not everything written by Chinn (two "n"s you prat) and Chapman was glam to wit - .....
> 6. Sweet - Ballroom Blitz (#5 1975)


That's glammer than a glam thing on planet glam!


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

techniquest said:


> Cosmic Cowboy said:
> 
> That's glammer than a glam thing on planet glam!


Maybe not the Oompah version- Note Mike Chapman on the panel


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)




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## Prat (Jun 15, 2018)




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## Cosmic Cowboy (May 31, 2018)

techniquest said:


> That's glammer than a glam thing on planet glam!


You are absolutely correct and I must concede that I was inserting my own prejudice and bias into that listing which was wrong on my part. I was guilty of stating my misconception and misperception of them as being closer to the "pop" end of the spectrum rather than glam in the Roxy Music sense that I was using as a basis to judge by because I absolutely cannot bear to hear "Little Willy" and think that it is just such awful rubbish. Their transformation from glam to hard rock with the 1975 release of "Give Us A Wink" followed by "Off the Record" (1977) and "Level Headed" (1878) after which Brian Connolly left has lead me to think of that period as being more significant to their identity than "Sweet Fanny Adams" or "Desolation Boulevard" but as stated previously I have to concede and defer to you on this matter. It was a good point well taken. Here's a couple of tunes to make amends...











And with that I think that I have said all that needs to be said and shall be on my way...

And if I have offended anyone by my description of "Little Willy" as "awful rubbish" please let me assure you that I couldn't possibly care less. It was difficult enough for me to refer to them as "hard rock" as it was... If you want "hard rock" it doesn't come any "harder" than the Bay City Rollers - the group to which all others are measured against - but who made such a rather unfortunate choice when it came to choosing trousers that the trousers themselves now overshadow their musical heritage which is a pity when you come to think of it -

















If it wasn't for those bloody awful trousers you would have listed them before AC/DC as the reigning masters of the hard rock realm.

And with that I exit...


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## RogerExcellent (Jun 11, 2018)

Hard rock Bay City Rollers, I think cosmic had too many cowboys


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Can't be doing with the BCRs - a bunch of Jock sparrow-chested shortarses who for Scottish standards happened to have decent teeth.


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## Cosmic Cowboy (May 31, 2018)

elgars ghost said:


> Can't be doing with the BCRs - a bunch of Jock sparrow-chested shortarses who for Scottish standards happened to have decent teeth.


Very well phrased...

- just stopped by to disable "forward PM by email" setting and close down the account.

Happy trails...


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

No you wont fool the Children of the revolution!





Note Backing vocals were provided by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman (Flo & Eddie).


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> No you wont fool the Children of the revolution!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Funnily enough i was listening to this one today in the car 



> Hard rock Bay City Rollers, I think cosmic had too many cowboys


I think you may be right. Seems, however, he's run away....*shrug*...


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## Cosmic Cowboy (May 31, 2018)

techniquest said:


> I think you may be right. Seems, however, he's run away....*shrug*...


Two reasons why I "ran away" -

1.) Posting here whilst great fun was interfering with the book that I'm writing entitled "Cosmic American Rock - An Illustrated History of Country and Folk Rock". I'm in America now doing interviews with artists from this genre. The book will be a track by track and album by album analysis of the music created by the hybrid of country music with rock, folk, and blues. "Cosmic American Rock" was a phrase coined by the legendary Gram Parsons.

2.) I was filled with despair and disbelief at the apparent inability of some of the readers here who couldn't grasp the use of incongruity as a method and mechanism used to express the satirical use of humour. Anyone who actually believed that I was using the Bay City Rollers as the exemplars of "hard rock" and the reigning rulers of that realm is quite frankly a fool and the apparently inescapable presence of such fools is the reason why I felt compelled to end almost every post I wrote within this forum with the word "prats".

I made the claim that it was only the "bloody awful trousers" that the Bay City Rollers wore that allowed AC/DC to usurp their rightful hard rock throne and some of the readers here actually took me to task for making that statement. Didn't it ever occur to those of you who called me out on this comment that the comparison was so completely incongruous that it defied belief? Accepting this statement as the expression of a serious rather than facetious opinion says that whilst you may have a sense of humour it is being substantially offset by your essentially being humourless.

And so while you may "shrug" at my absence let me assure you with heartfelt sincerity that it is a sentiment that is held and returned by me to you... prats...

* shrugs and walks away shaking his head in disbelief...


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)




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## Cosmic Cowboy (May 31, 2018)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


>


You're a right clever lad when it comes to being the new and improved video version of Renee Fleming and her apparently endless series of posted LP covers but let's see you do something really difficult like write a post with more than one sentence in it.

What's next? Posting "Welcome new member" posts? … prat...


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

I'm a Minimalist, so multiple sentences are out of play for me.

Is Renee a relative of Alexander I wonder and if so can she cure the common cold...............


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## Cosmic Cowboy (May 31, 2018)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


>


Why not? There are worse things to be than a cowboy... especially one who's cosmic - and a supernatural country rockin' galoot to boot!






"Merry-go-rounds and burial grounds
Are all the same to me.
Horses on post and kids and ghosts
Are spirits that we ought to set free.
Then city slicker pickers got a lot of
Slicker licks than me.
But ridin' the range and acting strange
Is where I want to be.
And I just wanna be a cosmic cowboy
I just wanna ride and rope and hoot (hoot!)
Well I just wanna be a cosmic cowboy
Talkin' 'bout a supernatural country rockin' galoot

Well skinny dippin' and lone star sippin' and steel guitar
And are just as good as hollywood and some boogie-woogie bars.
I'm gonna buy me a vest and a head out west
My little woman and myself.
And when we come to town the people gather around
And marvel at the little baby's health.

And I just wanna be a cosmic cowboy
I just wanna ride and rope and hoot (hoot!)
Well I just wanna be a cosmic cowboy
Talkin' 'bout a supernatural country rockin' galoot

Then a big raccoon and a harvest moon
Keep rolling through my mind.
And a home on the range where the antelope play
Is sometimes hard to find.
So don't bury me on the lone prairie.
I'd rather play there alive.
Well, I'm doing my best I keep my farm in the west
My little bronco in over-drive.

And I just wanna be a cosmic cowboy
I just wanna ride and rope and hoot (hoot!)
Well I just wanna be a cosmic cowboy
Talkin' 'bout a supernatural country rockin' galoot."

And with that allow me to wish you all "Happy Trails" and a less than fond farewell... prats...


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