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Glamour Boy Lyrics
Glamour boy
Get your costume on, you got ‘em lined up waitin’ for you
Glamour boy
You got ‘em standing’ in the aisles, don’t hang ‘em up
For $25,000 you can look like a woman tonight
For $25,000 I think it’ll work out right
I think it’ll work out
You never know how you’ll ride it
Think it’ll work out
Glamour boy
You’ve been tops for awhile with a million dollar smile
Glamour boy
You got rave reviews and you’re front page news
For $37,000 you can look like your sister tonight
For $37,000 I think it’ll work out right
I think it’ll work out
You never know how you’ll ride it
Think it’ll work out
So spin with the archer and laugh in his face as he cocks his bow
Steal from his mistress as she’s makin’ love to your family and be aware that there’s not many there
Who want to take time to sing and play an honest song for the people no more
"Ladies and Gentlemen, a warm space age welcome if you will
for the most phenomenal group of the century, RICKY AND THE BALLOONS"
Glamour boy
You’ve really had your fill and it’s all downhill
Glamour boy
You’ve got tales to tell when you see your old friends
For $49,000 you can look like a woman tonight
For $49,000 I think it’ll work out right
I think it’ll work out
You never know how you’ll ride it
Think it’ll work out
Get your costume on, you got ‘em lined up waitin’ for you
Glamour boy
You got ‘em standing’ in the aisles, don’t hang ‘em up
For $25,000 you can look like a woman tonight
For $25,000 I think it’ll work out right
I think it’ll work out
You never know how you’ll ride it
Think it’ll work out
You’ve been tops for awhile with a million dollar smile
Glamour boy
You got rave reviews and you’re front page news
For $37,000 you can look like your sister tonight
For $37,000 I think it’ll work out right
I think it’ll work out
You never know how you’ll ride it
Think it’ll work out
Steal from his mistress as she’s makin’ love to your family and be aware that there’s not many there
Who want to take time to sing and play an honest song for the people no more
for the most phenomenal group of the century, RICKY AND THE BALLOONS"
You’ve really had your fill and it’s all downhill
Glamour boy
You’ve got tales to tell when you see your old friends
For $49,000 you can look like a woman tonight
For $49,000 I think it’ll work out right
I think it’ll work out
You never know how you’ll ride it
Think it’ll work out
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Aimed probably at Elton John and Gary Glitter. That whole glam scene.
@donutbandit Burton Cummings on "Glamour Boy" in 2016.[3]
@donutbandit Burton Cummings on "Glamour Boy" in 2016.[3]
One of my all time favourites. It was originally inspired by David Bowie, and now that he's gone I can kinda do it as a tribute to his amazing career. I was very threatened ... I felt very threatened when David Bowie came along, because it all changed. Music took second or third place to the appearance, and then theatrics came into Rock n Roll...
One of my all time favourites. It was originally inspired by David Bowie, and now that he's gone I can kinda do it as a tribute to his amazing career. I was very threatened ... I felt very threatened when David Bowie came along, because it all changed. Music took second or third place to the appearance, and then theatrics came into Rock n Roll...
The Guess Who tried to use the cover picture on David Bowie's 1973 album "Aladdin Sane" with a circle around it saying "Not Just Another Pretty Body" in an ad campaign they were launching for this single. Needless to say, they didn't get away with it. In this case, I can't agree with the target choice. Bowie was not just a pretty body - he was a vaudevillian, a social commentator, a superb lyricist, a storyteller and a musical revolutionary wrapped into one. Still, I'm also a big fan of Richard Hell & The Voidoids, The Clash and many other seminal punk bands. Bowie aside, glam was becoming somewhat oppressive in its entirety, and songs like this had to be written in order to pull rock 'n' roll back down to where it came from. Spectacle is great for a while. Then it becomes detached and disassociated, and leads to depression.
P.S. Another fact in Bowie's defence was that, regardless of whether or not you dig his work, he always did whatever he was doing to perfection. It wasn't just throwing on some makeup and a dress. His performances were a work of art, akin to Cirque Du Soleil and its magnificent shows. Perhaps that's what this song is harping at - the costumes and sets that ate away so much of the artist/band's finances that they ended up living in cheap motels while they paid of their debts. In retrospect, it's all rather amusing.
@NellieWhiskey Burton Cummings on "Glamour Boy" in 2016.[3]
@NellieWhiskey Burton Cummings on "Glamour Boy" in 2016.[3]
One of my all time favourites. It was originally inspired by David Bowie, and now that he's gone I can kinda do it as a tribute to his amazing career. I was very threatened ... I felt very threatened when David Bowie came along, because it all changed. Music took second or third place to the appearance, and then theatrics came into Rock n Roll...
One of my all time favourites. It was originally inspired by David Bowie, and now that he's gone I can kinda do it as a tribute to his amazing career. I was very threatened ... I felt very threatened when David Bowie came along, because it all changed. Music took second or third place to the appearance, and then theatrics came into Rock n Roll...
I'm old enough to remember when this song was a hit around the summer of '73 and I can distinctly remember the DJ saying that the song's lyrics refered to the Alice Cooper tour, maybe from the year before, around the time the song was written. Alice Cooper was the principal American entry into the Glitter-Glam movement and of course he wore his hair long, as most did at that time, and he sported some quite noticeable makeup as well. I can't say for sure that the DJ's info was correct; maybe it was, maybe it wasn't But that's what I remember hearing.
@Mako5 Burton Cummings on "Glamour Boy" in 2016.[3]
@Mako5 Burton Cummings on "Glamour Boy" in 2016.[3]
One of my all time favourites. It was originally inspired by David Bowie, and now that he's gone I can kinda do it as a tribute to his amazing career. I was very threatened ... I felt very threatened when David Bowie came along, because it all changed. Music took second or third place to the appearance, and then theatrics came into Rock n Roll...
One of my all time favourites. It was originally inspired by David Bowie, and now that he's gone I can kinda do it as a tribute to his amazing career. I was very threatened ... I felt very threatened when David Bowie came along, because it all changed. Music took second or third place to the appearance, and then theatrics came into Rock n Roll...
Rick Wakeman -keyboardist extraordaire- commented upon working with Bowie that he was the most musically-talented individual he had worked with.
Perfectly matched with the comments, I just heard this song on the radio (WFMU: DJ Glen Jones). Right after, he played Bowie's "Velvet Goldmine". I am sure that was an intentional connection. I had no idea they were connected until looking up the song meaning. That's why I keep coming back to this site, for oldies and not just new songs. :-)