G.L.A.M. M.E.T.A.L.

Ohhh hair bands. The 80’s gave us so many wonderful things; leggings, MTV(when it was about music and good), slap bracelets- to name a few. Yet the best thing to come out of the 80’s was the hair bands or glam metal. Glam metal is a derivation of the 1970’s UK Glam Rock which featured large hair, crazy clothes + accessories, and makeup. In the 80’s a glam metal band mixed rock, with pop friendly sounds, and a touch of heavy metal. Whenever I hear one of the classic hair bands songs on the radio I automatically turn the volume way up and rock out. These songs are so good it’s ridiculous; almost as ridiculous as the band member's hair styles. Here are my top 10 hair bands and the songs that I love most from them.

1)   Aerosmith-  For me, Steven Tyler is phenomenal. I love his crazy antics on stage. The fact that his chest ALWAYS needs to be exposed, and his ridiculous crazy eyes and style choices. Aerosmith had become popular already before the 80’s with hits like Dream On, Sweet Emotion, and Walk This Way. Yet two classic songs from the hair band era are still my favorites. The first Dude Looks Like a Lady. I’m sure for many of you this song reminds you of Mrs. Doubtfire. It definitely reminds me of that movie. But this song is amazing on its own. It is so silly and fun and the music is so great, how can you not love it? The second song is probably my favorite Aerosmith song ever, and also my favorite music video because of its ridiculousness- Love In An Elevator (Going Down). This song is LOADED with sexual innuendo, and is blatantly obvious in the music video, which is so great. I love it when Stephen says dowwwnn and modulates his voice, and the sheer ridiculous concept of how getting it on in an elevator would actually make an awesome song.

2)   Poison- Yes, this was when Brett Michael was cool and not because of Rock of Love.  It happens to be that I love Poison songs and tend to turn Poison on whenever I need a pick-me-up.  My two favorites are the clichéd classic Nothin But a Good Time and the earlier hit Talk Dirty To Me.  In both of these songs Poison rocks out like it’s the best time of their lives, their hair shaking back and forth to the tunes (the only plus of huge hair) and like the song implies, their music is nothing but a good time.

3)   Whitesnake- Thanks to big hair and Tawny Kitane these videos heated up MTV. The most classic and best song that Whitesnake produced was definitely Here I Go Again. Yes, its clichéd, but it can’t be beat.  The video is hot, and the song which starts off slow picks up at the chorus so one can rock out to it.

4)   Bon Jovi- How I love thee.. let me count the ways. Jon Bon Jovi is one of my favorite things to come out of NJ (until he recently sold out and started doing crappy country music). Bon Jovi’s early rock tunes are a force to be reckoned with. Their first single Runaway is beyond fabulous and is recognizable by the opening bars of the song (like most bon jovi songs). Hits off of their album “Slippery When Wet” are some of the best songs that came out of the hair band era. Classics from that album are  Wanted Dead or Alive, You Give Love a Bad Name, and Living on a Prayer. But anyone who knows me knows that my favorite Bon Jovi song of all time is Bad Medicine.  I know this may be a controversial choice because it isn’t as classic as the other hits. But what can I say? I dare to be different.

5)   Van Halen- Van Halen was at its best when David Lee Roth was still a part of it. As you all know from my previous post, I do love the song Hot For Teacher.  But, for the purposes of this blog my favorite Van Halen song is Panama. I don’t know if it makes me want to jump or get on a plane to Panama but I can’t get enough of it.

6)   Motley Crue- Oh those crazy, alcoholic, sex driven rockers, famous for producing “ear splitting” music. Yes, this band is definitely responsible for the way Tommy Lee is today. But, they are also responsible for hits like my favorite Girls Girls Girls. I know the video is both dirty and offensive, but it’s still a great song, and I have to appreciate it as such.

7)   Def Leppard- Ok, is it just me or does anyone understand the lyrics to these songs? I can never understand a word they are singing. I think that is why majority of people in American misunderstood the lyrics to their awesome hit Pour Some Sugar On Me and continue to butcher the words while karaoke-ing. My fav Def Leppard song though, is Photograph. I still can’t really understand a word they are saying, but the video is cool and I know the song has the word photograph in it at least once.

8)    Guns N Roses- Axel + Slash = a rock combo designed by the Gods. For me anything off of their album “Appetite For Destruction” is rock gold. My favorites are: Sweet Child O Mine for its sheer beauty, and awesome guitar solo.  Welcome to the Jungle for the craziness of the song and the awesome way Axel says “na na na na na na na knees,”and Paradise City for the mere fact that this song doesn’t need a lot of substance to make it so awesome and such a song to rock out to.

9)   Twisted Sister-  With their crazy makeup and ridiculously permed hair I had to include them on this list. My favorite song is their 80’s rock anthem We’re Not Gonna Take It. If you watch the video, it is completely unbelievable and bizarre but you can’t take away from a song so great.

10)  KISS- I know technically that KISS isn’t a typical glam metal/ hair band, but they have majority of the same hair band qualities: aka big hair, lots of chicks and rock fans, weird bizarre makeup, and GREAT rock songs. My favorite of their hits are Detroit Rock City, which is instantly recognizable and one of their biggest crowd pleasers. Rock N Roll All Night another clichéd classic, but a classic nonetheless that makes me want to jump up and down, and Shout It Out Loud another song that is loud, proud and not afraid to be crazy.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention other great hair band tunes 1) The 80’s rock anthem Rock You Like A Hurricane by the German band The Scorpions and 2) Shake Me by the utterly ridiculously named band Cinderella. What are your favorite glam metal songs?