Glam!

Rampant dandyism, spangly jumpsuits, platform shoes the height of gas pumps . . . there was a time during the early '70s when rock 'n' roll gate-crashed the pantomime circuit and delivered a cross-dressing extravaganza of licks, kicks, and lip gloss. Sweet (a.k.a. the Sweet) leads the glittering carnival with the glam anthem "The Ballroom Blitz." Now run, like Alice Cooper's eyeliner, to Next Steps.

Spearheading the glam-bangers back in the day was T. Rex front man Marc Bolan, who consistently put out great tunes (like "Jeepster") while dolled up in camp finery several moons before the glory days of David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust phase. Bowie was a key figure in the success of Mott the Hoople: he took up songwriting and production duties for the band before they scored with Mott. If you think a rock star is underdressed without a feather boa, go to Deep Cuts.

The seeds of American punk can be found in glam rock, hence our inclusion of Iggy Pop ("Raw Power"); his impact was lasting, unlike that of overlooked glam relics Blackfoot Sue ("Standing in the Road") and Hello ("Tell Him"), who were effectively killed off by punk. Geordie's lead singer, Brian Johnson, would be recruited by AC/DC after recording glam belters like "She's a Lady."

Absurd yet electrifying, the glam movement was a spangled alliance of genius and buffoonery — a supremely entertaining rock variety show that accommodated the drunken-uncle theatrics of Gary Glitter, the crowd-pleasing holiday-camp romper-stomping of Mud ("Tiger Feet"), the Grand Guignol shock-horror showmanship of Alice Cooper, the pop-rockin'-lite of ABBA's Euro-visionary "Waterloo," the proto-punkery of the New York Dolls, and the teenage tomboy hell-raising of Suzi Quatro . . . not to mention the timeless charisma of Bowie, Bolan, and Bryan Ferry. Pass the lip gloss, boys.