Gary Glitter on the radio

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First thing: does Gary Glitter music get played anywhere public? I presume it doesn't anymore, that it's been kind of deleted from history, but I'm thinking in certain narrow contexts (glam rock club nights, or something) the absence of the songs would be felt.

Second thing: So I'm wondering what it would be like if, say, Paul McCartney was caught doing the same kind of stuff. Would his cultural importance over-ride the gravity (in a tabloid sense) of the crime, as it arguably did with Michael Jackson? (Although the lack of a conviction and the fact that the alleged behaviour fitted with his established character helped Jackson too.) Is there an imaginable crime McCartney could commit which would result in Beatles music no longer being played? What effects would this have (this is not the same question as 'What if Beatles never existed, obviously)?

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Saturday, 12 October 2002 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Are you saying Glitter's music is played less than it used to be b/c of his crimes? I hadn't noticed this. Seems like he was pretty much forgotten before anyway, outside of sports stadiums.

― Mark (MarkR), Saturday, 12 October 2002 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not sure he was forgotten. He must have been in lots of these retro programmes. But that's all he was, for sure - a retro artefact. But I think on 'I love the 70s' style shows he will no longer be featured. I'm assuming he's not played in sports stadiums now.

So my question is, really, is it only because Gary Glitter was of no importance that he can be removed from history. Could someone who did matter, like McCartney, be removed? What would happen to 'Yesterday' if he did something terrible (by terrible I mean a lot worse than the Rupert the Bear song)?

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Saturday, 12 October 2002 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

There is at least one retro chart show on UK radio which gets round the problem by simply not selecting charts where Glitter's records were climbing or in the top 3, although they're prepared to mention them if he was going down the chart. They have a similar policy with Jonathan King.

Side thread: if Tim Westwood had been shot dead in July 1999, would radio stations have blacklisted Elvis Costello's "Oliver's Army" for a while? I'm thinking of the "one itchy trigger / one less white nigger" line.

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Saturday, 12 October 2002 18:52 (twenty-two years ago)

mind you, according to an old usenet friend of mine, Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" (the most unfortunately-titled song he did, obv) was still being played on Austrian radio in 2000.

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Saturday, 12 October 2002 18:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Glitter seems to get played as much as ever during North American hockey games. It's nearly always "Rock & Roll Pt 2" though, maybe the fact he's not really singing much in it is a factor.

― Poppy (poppy), Saturday, 12 October 2002 19:24 (twenty-two years ago)

So true. I've heard "Rock & Roll Pt.2 at every hockey game I've ever been to. I actually saw the video not to long ago on VH1 and with the exception of Gary's silver space cadet suit, it's about as boring as the song itself.

― Claire (Claire Miccio), Sunday, 13 October 2002 14:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Every single basketball game too.

― Aaron W., Sunday, 13 October 2002 14:27 (twenty-two years ago)

But how many people know who's singing these songs in North America? Is Gary Glitter a big enough name that most people would be aware at all of what he got up to. Any reports of UK plays for his records?

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Monday, 14 October 2002 20:38 (twenty-two years ago)

There was a karaoke rendition of "My Gang" on "Phoenix Nights" a few weeks ago, which was one of the funniest thing I've seen for ages.

― Andrew Norman, Monday, 14 October 2002 21:11 (twenty-two years ago)

i've always wondered if the KLF feel embarassed about having performed with Glitter for their 1987 hit 'Doctorin The Tardis' - i'm not sure if Glitter was kiddie-fiddling then tho

― blueski, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 10:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Most people in the US have no idea who Gary Glitter is (even though they'd know "Rock & Roll Part 2" if they heard it), so the kiddie-fiddling SHOCKAH wasn't much of an issue over here when it was announced.

― Jody Beth Rosen, Tuesday, 15 October 2002 10:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Does he still get royalties, or has he been embargoed? Is this the reason he doesn't get played? Or is because it might damage sensibilities? There was a rerelease of a Nina Simone album with a Jonathan King song on it recently, and the JK song wasn't removed or anything. Don't know if GG gets covered much, but I suppose there are quite a few samples about.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 11:00 (twenty-two years ago)

nine years pass...

can't be real can it?
https://twitter.com/#!/OfficialGlitter

― piscesx, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:27 (thirteen years ago)

it took me a good 24 hours to get the Peter Serafinowitz joke :(

― I knew a guy in a local metal band called "Bangin' Moon" (DJ Mencap), Friday, 20 January 2012 13:14 (thirteen years ago)

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Saturday, 12 October 2002 19:52 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

o_O

― The Eyeball Of Hull (Colonel Poo), Friday, 20 January 2012 13:21 (thirteen years ago)

Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" (the most unfortunately-titled song he did, obv)

Nope, how about "Hard on me" for a startoff. And check out "Happy Birthday" for 2.

― Mark G, Friday, 20 January 2012 13:32 (thirteen years ago)

three months pass...

... yeah, I've been listening to that album recently, it's much better than his first one. "Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again" is such a fucking weird song, the guitars are obviously detuned - frankly they're out of tune all the way through the track! Sounds like a lot of the strings have been tuned to the same notes, not quite Lou Reed's ostrich guitar but really similar to what Neu! were doing on tracks like "Lila Engel". So once again Neu! resemble Gary Glitter!

― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 15 May 2012 10:23 (thirteen years ago)

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