When it first appeared in the early 70s, glam rock stood counterculture and psychedelic rock on their heads. The glam phenomenon featured flamboyant, overtly theatrical, and artificial personae constructed through costume, makeup, and sets and was personified by performers, such as David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Bryan Ferry, and Suzi Quatro. ""Performing Glam Rock"" situates the glam rock phenomenon historically and examines it as a set of performance strategies. Philip Auslander explores the ways in which glam rock, while celebrating the showmanship of 1950s rock and roll, began to undermine rock's adherence to the ideology of authenticity in the late 1960s. The book's chapters take up glam's roots (which Auslander traces back to sources that include Alice Cooper and the 1950s retro group Sha Na Na); the emergence of glam rock's androgynous masculinity; Marc Bolan's transition from psychedelic to glam rock with his band T. Rex; David Bowie's theatrical presence; the genre blending of Bryan Ferry and Roy Wood; and Suzi Quatro's own androgynous performances as the only female glam rocker.
