Long after the Brits' glit rock invasion set sail across the ocean blue, pop rockers of the '80s delivered plenty of gender-bending flamboyant flare. It wasn't until the '90s that the get-ups became more predictable, more practical, more streamlined and more porn-standard sexy. And the shoulder pads shrunk. (You'll have to see Michael Jackson's "This Is It" if you've been missing your fill of styrofoam.)

As for all the glitter, make-up and hair, today's pop stars have opted for soft and sultry with the exception of Lady Gaga and her bubblewrap. While her predecessors Cher, Prince and George Clinton knew how to give us two decades worth of Halloween 24/7, it appears she's been striving alone. But if Adam Lambert's new CD cover is any indication, it's safe to assume he's picked up the torch. For that we owe him a load of glammy gratitude and a bucket full of candy.

The Hall of Cheeky Glammy

Fantastic Record Covers

1. 1971 David Bowie

Hunky Dory;

his fourth album and

first release from RCA;

Time Magazine's

pick as one of the

Best 100

Albums of All Time

2. 1974 Elton John

Caribou was his 8th

studio album;

named after the studio,

Caribou Ranch in Colorado,

where the album

was recorded; John's 4th

smash hit album

in the U.S. and his third

chart topper in the U.K.

3. 1975 Elton John

Captain Fantastic

was his 9th studio album;

released as a concept album,

it debuted at #1 in the U.S.;

remastered and reissued

in 1995 with bonus tracks;

reissued in 2005 with

bonus tracks and John's live

performance of the complete album

4. 1976 Parliament

Tear the Roof off the Sucker;

second single released from

the album Mothership Connection;

Parliament's first platinum single

5. 1979 Cher

Take Me Home single;

Charted on Billboard's Hot 100,

Hot Dance Club Play and Hot

Soul Singles; at that time

her first #1 in five

years; her last #1 for the

next eight years; sold over

1,000,000

6. 1979 Prince's self-titled

release; his second album;

produced hit song

"I Wanna Be Your Lover",

an R&B #1

7. 1981 Grace Jones

Nightclubbing; her fifth studio

album; features "Demolition

Man" written by Sting and her

best known hit, "Pull Up to

the Bumper"

8. 1982 Bootsy Collins

The One Giveth, the Count

Taketh Away; features

performers from P-Funk

and Bootsy's Rubber Band;

his last album for Warner Bros.

9. 2008 Lady Gaga

Debut album, The Fame;

chart topper with

4 million in sales and

several hit singles;

re-release, The Fame

Monster, in November

2008 with eight new

tracks

10. 2009 Adam Lambert

Debut album For Your

Entertainment; release

in November; collaborated

with Lady Gaga

NewsSip

Cover Art: These images are of covers of audio recordings, and the copyright for them is most likely owned by either the publisher of the work or the artists who produced the recordings or cover artworks in question. It is believed that the use of low-resolution images of such covers solely to illustrate the audio recordings in question on newssip.com qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law.

More Soda