Gary Glitter ..yay or nay

[Sweet FA]

Did he love you back?

Don't ruin it further you bastard

Seriously, I used to scour the Radio Times for his appearances on telly. I've still got tapes of his somewhere. Probably reason enough for me to be nicked in a paedo-by-association charge. I really did want to be in his gang (prior to the child-shagging unpleasantness obviously).

There must be others - he was huge in his day!

I didn't know I loved you, till I saw you Rock n Roll!

 

[goldenecitrone]

I always preferred Demis Roussos. Parental tastes I guess.

 

[scooter]

I always thought he was a twat even before the paedo stuff

 

[ouchmonkey]

He was a fun party act and not much more.

It's sorta funny how it's still cool to play Jerry Lee Lewis (who not only fucked, but married a 13 year old child) but I'd expect a stoning if I put on GGs "Rock and Roll".

It's not exactly the same thing thought is it?

cultural relativism, judging past through today's standards blah bleh...

michael jackson though - no one gives a toss do they?

 

[audiotech]

 

[madamv]

I adored him, and had seen him loads of times and met him once. I loved the music too, and still feel sad that I cant listen to his stuff without feeling ill.

'Carry your picture' was one of my faves. I have a couple of annuals. I still have the albums, but they are stashed away at the back of the vinyl collection. I threw all the other stuff though. And there was alot of other stuff.

He used to do a programme in the late eighties on 'Night Network' and I won an official Rocky Horror Show book when I entered Richard O Briens competition on there. He interviewed loads of people, and I always thought Roland Rivron was a dick after the way he treated Gary on that programme. Of course now, I realise, he probably knew more about him that the general public and was treating him with the contempt he deserved.

 

[RubyBlue]

yay at the time I loved all the glam rock stuff - glitter band, sweet - all of it

 

[Haller]

Rock n Roll was more The Gliiter Band as it was an instrumental, so the best of Glitter's work doesn't really have him singing.

Much as I love the Glitter Band (particularly the third album), they can't claim credit - it was just Gary and the genius Mike Leander on RnR. The Band was formed after it became a hit.

Gary Glitter made a series of fantastic singles and wrote one of the most interesting autobiographies of any 70s star.

 

[Haller]

It's not exactly the same thing thought is it?

cultural relativism, judging past through today's standards blah bleh...

Not just today's standards - at the time, Jerry Lee Lewis had a British tour cancelled, got kicked out of the country and found that his career was dead in the States when he got home.

 

[Mr Moose]

Seems an odd question. His music was never going to have a place in the canon of great rock or pop.

Asking about it now is a bit like asking what you made of Hitler's art putting aside that business with the industrial scale murder and that tache of his.

 

[scooter]

Which is a perfectly valid question I would say.

Art is art. It was either good or it wasn't. The fact he was also a homicidal maniac has no bearing.

 

[dodgepot]

It's sorta funny how it's still cool to play Jerry Lee Lewis (who not only fucked, but married a 13 year old child)

yeah, but they were cousins - it's not like he groomed her off the 'net or something.

 

[Looby]

yeah, but they were cousins - it's not like he groomed her off the 'net or something.

So it's ok if you keep it in the family?

 

[panpete]

Isnt gary the man who is inside paedo bear?

 

[Mr Moose]

Which is a perfectly valid question I would say.

Art is art. It was either good or it wasn't. The fact he was also a homicidal maniac has no bearing.

People create sackloads of art binned everyday. Saving art for posterity is the positive act.

The world can live without Gary Glitter's 'art'. I expect the same would be true of Hitler's. No one needs ever to reconsider 'Leader of the Gang'.

 

[Rosco]

yeah, but they were cousins - it's not like he groomed her off the 'net or something.

Thats ok then

 

[Strumpet]

Glitter - Yay
Gary - Fuck no

 

[nino_savatte]

"I didn't know I loved you till I saw you rock and roll" was one of the many catchy lines contained in his songs.

I rate "I love you love, you love me too love. I love you love me, ooooooh" as one of the greatest sets of lyrics of all time.

 

[Maggot]

Seems an odd question. His music was never going to have a place in the canon of great rock or pop.

Asking about it now is a bit like asking what you made of Hitler's art putting aside that business with the industrial scale murder and that tache of his.

So you think that having sex with underage girls is comparable to killing millions of Jews and trying to take over the whole of Europe?

It's possible to enjoy someone's music/art whatever without liking the person or what they've done.

James Brown has made some of my favourite tunes ever, but he was a nasty, wife-beating, piece of work.

 

[goldenecitrone]

And Hitler's art isn't all that bad. It's certainly on a par with Prince Charles' work.

 

[nino_savatte]

In the case of Italian Futurist art, I don't think one can separate the ideology from aesthetic either.

 

[Maggot]

In the case of Italian Futurist art, I don't think one can separate the ideology from aesthetic either.

Of course. You're not gonna enjoy the art if it represents something you hate, but Gary Glitter wasn't singing about being a Paedo.

 

[nino_savatte]

Of course. You're not gonna enjoy the art if it represents something you hate, but Gary Glitter wasn't singing about being a Paedo.

That's true and most people will regard his work in retrospect with the benefit of hindsight. Though, I have to say that, even in the 70's, I thought he was a wee bit suspect.

 

[ouchmonkey]

Not just today's standards - at the time, Jerry Lee Lewis had a British tour cancelled, got kicked out of the country and found that his career was dead in the States when he got home.

indeed.
but I suspect Glitter would still have been in trouble with the law if he was not famous - the impact on Jerry Lee was all to do with his career
it'd be different now, but in the south, back then, not so much
I'm not defending it but marrying a girl who's too young at home, where you're from is not the same as running from the law around south east asia and paying off the girl's families is it?
I think glitter is a considerable percentage more reprehensible myself.

 

[Mr Moose]

So you think that having sex with underage girls is comparable to killing millions of Jews and trying to take over the whole of Europe?

Your point is completely stupid. I'm not comparing them evil for evil. That would be pointless

You also seem to dismiss Glitter rather lightly. He didn't stumble one side of the 16 year old line with a girlfriend 'having sex with underage girl's' - its child abuse, rape.

 

[Maggot]

Your point is completely stupid. I'm not comparing them evil for evil. That would be pointless

You also seem to dismiss Glitter rather lightly. He didn't stumble one side of the 16 year old line with a girlfriend 'having sex with underage girl's' - its child abuse, rape.

But you were comparing them.

 

[Mr Moose]

But you were comparing them.

Wasn't. Was comparing the relevance of considering their art. Two evil diff people.

 

[nino_savatte]

They did good 'B' sides.

 

[Haller]

Rock and Roll (both parts 1 and 2)
I Didn't Know I loved You (Till I Saw You Rock n Roll)
Hello Hello I'm Back Again
I Love You Love Me Love
Remember Me This Way
Always Yours
Oh Yes, You're Beautiful
Doing Alright With the Boys

Every one of them a classic single. Never much of a singer, but he was one of the really great live performers, and those records remain tremendous.

 

[Maggot]

Wasn't. Was comparing the relevance of considering their art. Two evil diff people.

I can still enjoy a Glitter tune. He was a pop star before his downfall, whereas Hitler is famous for being an evil dictator, not an artist.