Rock & Roll History

[vardathemessage]

script:
‘Do You Want To Touch Me (Oh Yeah)’/Gary Glitter begins.
 

Gary Glitter was a British rock and roll performer who topped the British charts several times in the 70s. His Rock 'n' Roll (Part 2) went to #2 in the U.K and charted in the States but has recently had much more success as a stadium anthem. Most male fans now grunting along to that tune during half time have no idea it's written by a man who now looks like this.

In the Art Imitates Life Dept. Gary Glitter (real name Paul Francis Gadd) was arrested in 1997 after over 4,000 images of child pornography were found on a computer he took in to be repaired. He was convicted on 54 counts and served two months in prison.

Comments

[splix.livejournal.com]

a man who now looks like this.

Heavens. How the mighty have fallen.

[q-spade.livejournal.com]

An interesting – if disturbing – sidenote is that back in the 70's & 80's it was considered quite acceptable for rock stars to screw around with 13-14 year old kids...as long as they were girls. Lori Lightning (http://www.stryder.de/rest/Groupie_Central_Lori_%20Maddox.html) and Sable Starr (http://www.geocities.com/sablethestarr/quotes.html) are two of the most well-known examples. While there was definitely a male groupie involved in Rodney Bingenheimer's (http://www.coreylevitan.com/features/bingenheimer.html) English Disco scene (whose name escapes me, and it's not coming up in online searches), most of the underage action at Rodney's was het, which may explain why folks like Jimmy Page or Bill Wyman don't get the Gary Glitter (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2635489.stm)* treatment. (A wee article (http://www.cafe80s.freeserve.co.uk/artists/mand01.htm) on Bill's now ex-wife Mandy, who he started dating when she was 13.)

Back in the UK, Johnathan King (http://www.nypress.com/15/30/news&columns/culture.cfm) often gets mentioned alongside Glitter, although King (http://www.angryharry.com/reKingandI.htm) was more of an all-round industry man than a musician per se. Again the double standard – King got in trouble because he was caught screwing boys, not girls.

*It should be noted that Glitter's UK pedophilia case dealt with kids younger than 13, both male and female. The Cambodia article linked above specifes boys, however.

[queerxcore.livejournal.com]

This is a great place!!

[freakycheri.livejournal.com]

I used to think that Geoff from Byker Grove in the days of PJ & Duncan actually was Garry Glitter. I think he dressed up as him once for a fancy dress party... not a good role model for the kids down at the Grove...