cfb, Paulwp - Don't want to pull thread off-topic, so real quicklike: Whazzamatta, cfb, that wasn't enuff for ya? E-mail me direct if you want to chat about any particular styles you're interested in. Paul, ska was an early-to-mid 60's Jamaican percursor to reggae, epitomized by the band The Skatellites, still active (though key original members have died). Mostly unknown in America at the time, some ska-influenced hits did infiltrate the top 40 - Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop", Lee Dorsey's "Working In A Coalmine", Desmond Dekker's "The Israelites". Ska's signature rhythm sounds sort of like a double-time reggae with horns, more of a dance music. It experienced a British revival as the post-punk "Two-Tone" movement around 1980, producing bands like The Specials and The English Beat (spawning in turn a less-significant American revival in mid-90's). Lots of the biggest name reggae artists and producers of the 70's, including Bob Marley and The Wailers, got their starts in ska.
"Glam" = glam-rock, as in "glamour". Early 70's movement hugely popular in England, not so much in the 'States, at least while still at its short-lived peak. Prime practitioners included David Bowie (who moved on, as he always does), Marc Bolan/T. Rex, Slade, Gary Glitter, and many other less durable acts. It was also an influence on acts like Queen, The Sweet, The New York Dolls, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Kiss, and lots more. Generally speaking, glam incorporated melodic hard rock and bubblegum influences into a catchy, singles-oriented form that featured lots of repetitive riffs, chant-like rhythms, vocal harmonies and deliberately odd or goofy lyrics with gimmicky production. It was a very visually-focused genre, extremely androgynous with flashy makeup, platform boots, outrageously tight, shiny and sparkly costumes, colored or strangely-cut hairdo's, oversized collars, buttons and buckles, and often with sci-fi or mystical imagery. Not as earthy as the psychedelic hippie look before it; not as dark as the heavy metal, as slick as the disco, or as cold as the new wave looks that came after. Bands from Parliament to Sonic Youth to pre-grunge hair-metal acts all owe something to the spacy-comic look. Perhaps the best-known musical remnant of the style today is Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2" (you know, the one with the lyrics that consist of nothing but the chanted word "hey"), blared through P.A.'s at team sports events everywhere. (Apologies to David99!)
"Glam" = glam-rock, as in "glamour". Early 70's movement hugely popular in England, not so much in the 'States, at least while still at its short-lived peak. Prime practitioners included David Bowie (who moved on, as he always does), Marc Bolan/T. Rex, Slade, Gary Glitter, and many other less durable acts. It was also an influence on acts like Queen, The Sweet, The New York Dolls, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Kiss, and lots more. Generally speaking, glam incorporated melodic hard rock and bubblegum influences into a catchy, singles-oriented form that featured lots of repetitive riffs, chant-like rhythms, vocal harmonies and deliberately odd or goofy lyrics with gimmicky production. It was a very visually-focused genre, extremely androgynous with flashy makeup, platform boots, outrageously tight, shiny and sparkly costumes, colored or strangely-cut hairdo's, oversized collars, buttons and buckles, and often with sci-fi or mystical imagery. Not as earthy as the psychedelic hippie look before it; not as dark as the heavy metal, as slick as the disco, or as cold as the new wave looks that came after. Bands from Parliament to Sonic Youth to pre-grunge hair-metal acts all owe something to the spacy-comic look. Perhaps the best-known musical remnant of the style today is Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2" (you know, the one with the lyrics that consist of nothing but the chanted word "hey"), blared through P.A.'s at team sports events everywhere. (Apologies to David99!)