Gary Glitter

Gary Glitter

Paul Francis Gadd aka Gary Glitter (born May 8, 1944) is a disgraced English rock and pop singer and songwriter and a convicted paedophile currently serving a prison sentence in Thailand. He came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s. Between 1972 and 1995 Glitter charted no fewer than 25 hit singles which spent a grand total of 176 weeks in the UK Top 100. [1]

He had one of the longest chart runs of any solo singer during the 1970s. His success as a live performer lasted well beyond the decade, and the chant from the second part of his hit "Rock and Roll" is a perennially popular stadium anthem at sports events, particularly in the United States. Glitter's 1973 number one "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" also remains one of the better-known songs of its era. He continued to record in the 1980s and 1990s, with his 1984 song "Another Rock N' Roll Christmas" being one of the Top 30 Christmas hits of all time. He released seven studio albums, and at least 16 greatest hits collections or live albums. In 1998, his recording of "Rock and Roll" was voted as one of the Top 1001 songs in music history. [2] Also, in 2004, a Channel 4 poll of the 50 Greatest Pop Stars of all time placed Glitter at #22. [3]. In the September 2006 edition of Q Magazine, "Rock and Roll" was named 5th in a chart of "Guilty Pleasures: Records It's OK To Love".

In 1999, Gadd was convicted of child pornography charges in the UK, and was afterwards listed as a sex offender. His reputation was greatly tarnished, and though he continued releasing new music, Gadd's popularity declined sharply. He was permanently evicted from Cambodia in 2002 for suspected child sexual offenses. He afterwards relocated to Vũng Tàu in Vietnam, and in March 2005 applied for permanent resident status. Later that year, he was arrested by Vietnamese authorities, and was convicted of child sexual abuse charges in 2005-06. As of 2006, he is in prison in Vietnam.

Even today, whilst many of the UK tabloids write about his personal life in a negative light, Gadd still garners some positive critical attention for his music: according to Dave Thompson of All Music Guide "Musically, visually, and emotionally, he transcended so many barriers that even categorizing him as a rock & roller seems somehow stingy. He was so much more than that." [4]

Biography

Early work

Paul Francis Gadd was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Gary Glitter as a name may have been brand new when it hit the British charts during the glam rock explosion in 1972, but the man behind the stage name and act was no overnight sensation. Paul Francis Gadd had been performing the British club circuit since his mid-teens in the late 1950s, appearing in such legendary British clubs as the Two I's in Soho and the Laconda and Safari Clubs. At the time, his repertoire consisted of early rock standards and gentle ballads, and he got his first break when a film producer looking to hit the music industry, Robert Hartford Davis, discovered him and financed a recording session for the British Decca label. Under the stage name Paul Raven, he released his first single, "Alone in the Night" in January 1960.

A year later, he had a new manager (Vic Billings), a new recording deal (with Parlophone), and a new producer – George Martin, who would begin making his name for keeps a year later when he signed and began producing The Beatles. The Martin sessions produced two singles, "Walk on By" and "Tower of Strength," but neither sold very well and Raven's recording career hit an impasse. By 1964, while Martin's work with The Beatles was upending the world, Raven was down to playing the warm-up for the British television program Ready Steady Go!. He did numerous TV commercials and film auditions, but somewhere in the middle of that activity he met arranger-producer Mike Leander who, in due course, helped turn his music career around.

Gary Glitter

First, Raven joined the Mike Leander Show Band in early 1965. Then he was deputised to produce a few recording sessions by such artists as Thane Russell and a Scottish beat group, the Poets. Finally, after Leander's band fell apart, Raven formed Boston International with saxophonist John Rossall, and this group spent the following five years touring between the UK and Germany and recording occasionally. By 1970, several singles including "Musical Man", "Goodbye Seattle" and a version of George Harrison's Beatles song, "Here Comes The Sun," put Raven back into record stores, and the style that would come to mark Gary Glitter—he took the name in 1971 as the glam movement hit full swing, by playing alliteratively with letters of the alphabet, working backward from Z—had taken its basic shape.

The song that at last made Gary Glitter's name and career began as a fifteen-minute jam, whittled down to a pair of three-minute extracts, which Glitter and Leander called "Rock and Roll, Parts One and Two". Like Stevie Wonder's debut hit, "Fingertips Pt. 2", "Rock and Roll (Part Two)" would prove to be the more popular side in many countries, although it took about six months before it made its full impact, going to number two on the British pop charts and hitting the Top Ten in the United States, one of the few British glam rock records that did (T. Rex's "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" was another). "Rock and Roll (Part One)", however, was also a hit; in France it made number one (in the UK both sides were listed together on the charts).

File:Garyglittertopofthepops.jpg

Glitter performing on Top of the Pops in the 1970s

Mainstream success

"Rock and Roll" proved not to be a fluke. For the next three years, Glitter challenged Sweet, Slade and T. Rex as glam's chart dominators. He took his image seriously enough to own a reported (and extremely expensive) thirty glitter suits and fifty pairs of his trademark silver platform boots. He also released several British Top Ten hits with "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" as his first to hit number one in the summer of 1973 and "I Love You Love Me Love", its follow-up, as his second. Even an atypical ballad, "Remember Me This Way", went to number three. He had twelve consecutive Top Ten singles, from 1972's "Rock and Roll (Parts One and Two)" to "Doing Alright With the Boys" in the summer of 1975.

"Rock and Roll (Part Two)" caught on as a popular sports anthem in North America. Often used as a goal song or celebration song, fans chant out "Hey!" along with the chorus. In light of Glitter's court convictions (see below), some teams have stopped using the song; though it remains heavily played.

Despite his success in Britain, Glitter never made the same impact in the U.S., where at best, glam rock was seen as a curiosity. Glitter had one more entry on the U.S charts with "I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock 'n Roll)"; however, the closest Glitter came to another U.S. hit was a cover recording of "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" by the punk/blues group Brownsville Station.

After "Doing Alright With the Boys" Glitter, released a cover of the Rivingtons' rhythm and blues legend, "Papa Oom Mow Mow", but it got no higher than number 38 on the British charts. After his next releases stalled likewise, Gary Glitter announced his retirement from music in early 1976. That same year, his first true hits package, simply titled Greatest Hits, was released. It entered the U.K. Top 40 best-sellers charts, although its sales may have been hurt due to a similar budget album, entitled I Love You Love Me Love, issued by Hallmark Entertainment the following year.

Return to fame

Glitter's career took a downturn towards the end of the 1970s. He was said to have begun drinking heavily, even admitting later that he pondered suicide. Under financial pressure, not even a pair of Top 40 hit singles ("It Takes All Night" and "A Little Boogie Woogie in the Back of My Mind") could lift him all the way back. It took the post-punk audience, and some of its artists who still respected Glitter's work, to do that (He was a major influence on post-punk as well as early punk rock itself). This helped open a path for Glitter to cut a dance medley of his greatest hits, All That Glitters, which charted in 1981; within three years, he was playing eighty shows a year at colleges and clubs, and had chart hits "Dance Me Up" and "Another Rock N' Roll Christmas".

Glitter's comeback was boosted in the 1980s by various guest spots and collaborations. In 1982 he appeared on the British Electric Foundation album Music of Quality and Distinction Volume One, along with fellow pop/rock luminaries Sandie Shaw and Tina Turner. The following year Doctor and the Medics invited Glitter to join them on their television performances, to co-perform their version of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky", redone in something resembling Glitter's signature rave-and-riff style. By 1988, The Timelords' "Doctoring the Tardis," a Doctor Who tribute that sampled "Rock and Roll (Part Two)", took the top spot. In due course, Glitter re-cut "Rock and Roll" with producer Trevor Horn and also "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" with female punk/metal outfit Girlschool. In the late 1980s his hit singles were used to compile the Telstar-released C'mon, C'mon ... It's the Gary Glitter Party Album. In 1989, Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers put a large sample of "Another Rock and Roll Christmas" on their Number 1 UK hit "Let's Party".

Glitter spent the next decade mostly as an in-demand live performer, and his back catalog of recordings proved durable enough that several compilations sold well. Glitter appeared in several humorous billboard and poster advertisements for British Rail, in one of which he attempts to look younger (and quite clearly fails) in order to obtain a Young Persons Rail Card. He also issued a new studio album Leader 2 in 1991 which sold reasonably well.

He was a surprise hit at the 1994 World Cup concert in Chicago which was telecast live to forty-six countries. He played the Godfather in a 1996 revival of The Who's Quadrophenia. He also cut a single, a new version of "The House of the Rising Sun". British rock group Oasis used a sample from Glitter's 1973 chart hit, "Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again" on their 1995 multi-million selling album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, one of a number of acts that borrowed from his song book.

"Rock and Roll (Part Two)" by this time was being used heavily as a crowd-rouser at numerous American (and other) sporting events, and it was featured in the film hit, The Full Monty.

Business Interests

Glitter's Snack Bar was a restaurant founded by Glitter in 1991. It was in the west end of London and advertised with the slogan "Leader of the Snack". It was successful at first, but business eventually slowed and the restaurant closed in the late 1990s.

Glitter also launched his own record label in the early 1990s, Attitude Records, after he lost his deal with Virgin Records. Glitter signed to Virgin after leaving Arista Records in 1984 after 12 years with the label. Attitude records was merged into Machmain LTD later in the 1990s, a music company owned by Glitter.

1997-99: child pornography arrest and conviction

In November 1997 Glitter was arrested after child pornography images were discovered on the hard drive of a personal computer he had taken to a Bristol branch of PC World for repair. This triggered a debate over how the images were discovered, as it is unclear whether the repair Glitter's machine required would have necessitated access to the hard drive with images being discovered by accident during this, or whether PC World staff accessed the contents of the hard drive when they had no legitimate reason to do so, either as a routine activity performed on all customers' machines, or performed on Glitter's due to his celebrity status.

As a result, he was lampooned in both US and UK media over the allegations. Additionally, his segment in the Spice Girls' film, Spiceworld The Movie, was cut. (Nevertheless, a cover version of "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" was still included in the movie).

The following years held further trouble for the singer. Glitter was convicted of possession of child pornography in 1999 and classified formally as a British sex offender, serving two months of a four-month sentence. He was also charged with having sex with an underage girl, Alison Brown, when she was 14 years old. Glitter was acquitted of this charge after it emerged that Brown had sold her story to News of the World and stood to earn more money from the newspaper on Glitter's conviction. [5]

Career moves after 2000 jail release

After British press revealed his whereabouts in Spain, Glitter reportedly attempted to move to Cuba in 2000 but was thwarted after the Cuban Consulate in London was tipped off and his picture and real name sent to all Cuban ports. He then went to Cambodia where there was an uproar over his presence which led Cambodian authorities to expel him in 2002, determining that he was 'a threat to the security of a country and to the national image of Cambodia'. He had been jailed for three nights in that country on suspicion of sex offences, but was not convicted of any crime. In the same year, Snapper records repromoted The Ultimate Gary Glitter, a 2 CD anthology of Glitter's music first issued in 1997 (days after his arrest), which covers his commercial breakthrough in 1972 through that point; again it was moderately successful.

In September 2001 he had released a new album, On, that included material written before his 1999 British conviction. That material was to have been part of a project called Lost on Life Street until that album's release was cancelled following his arrest.

By December 2004, after releasing a new single, "Control", Glitter appeared in the news again about his behaviour, where NGO's had been petitioning the government with their own evidence to arrest Glitter. Glitter escaped to Vietnam.

In 2005 Remember Me This Way, the documentary filmed at Glitter's career peak in 1973 (and originally released in 1974), was issued for the first time on DVD. Glitter's music itself still had an audience, further demonstrated by three new album releases, although all of them contained past recordings from the vaults, rather than new product. The first two new albums were issued at the same time, The Remixes and Live in Concert (the latter of which was a 1981 recording). These were only for sale on the Internet. A new collection of Glitter's chart hit singles followed, The Best of Gary Glitter. [6]. In 2006 his back catalog was made available electronically on the Internet from sites such as iTunes and eMusic.

In late 2006, Glitter's lawyer announced that the singer was preparing to return to the UK and host an all-new series of Top of the Pops. [7] [8]

2005-06 Vietnam underage-sex arrest and conviction

In late 2005, Gary Glitter was arrested and charged with rape of under-aged girls. Early in 2006, he was convicted of committing obscene acts with minors and sentenced to imprisonment; he filed an appeal, but this was dismissed on 15 June 2006.

Arrest and trial

On November 12, 2005, Gary Glitter fled his home, despite having applied for permanent residence in Vietnam. Three days later, he was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City while trying to board a flight to Thailand. Six girls and women in Vietnam, aged 11 to 23, admitted to having sex with Glitter; the age of consent in that country is eighteen.[9]

After his arrest, Glitter was turned over to provincial police from Ba Ria-Vung Tau and returned to Vung Tau and held on suspicion of having sex with two underage girls.

Glitter was jailed throughout the criminal probe, which was completed on December 26 2005. The charge of rape was dropped for, according to Glitter's lawyer, "lack of evidence", although the singer admitted that an eleven-year-old girl had slept in his bed. Glitter could have faced the death penalty by firing squad if convicted of child rape. After having received compensatory payments from Glitter, the families of the girls appealed to the courts for clemency for him.[10] [11][12].

Glitter was tried on charges of committing obscene acts with two girls, aged 10 and 11, and could have faced up to fourteen years in prison if convicted. The trial opened on March 2, 2006 and ended the next day, upon which Glitter was found guilty as charged and sentenced to three years' imprisonment. [13][14][15] [16][17]

He could be eligible for parole after serving one-third of his prison term, or one year, with credit for the four months he spent in jail from November 2005 to March 2006. Glitter's sentence includes mandatory deportation after serving his sentence and payment of 5M Vietnamese dong (US$315) to his victims' families.[18]. Glitter continued to deny any wrongdoing, saying he believes he was framed by British tabloid newspapers. [19] He announced he planned to spend part of his sentence writing an autobiography, which he began during his pre-trial detention.

Glitter denies wrongdoing

In May 2006, Gary Glitter gave his first interview in over 8 years to BBC News. He denied doing anything wrong saying "to my knowledge I have not had sex with anyone under 18". He also said "I know the line to cross". When asked what he thought of adults having sex with children he said "It certainly is a crime ... I don't have the words, I would be very angry about that." He said he did not think too much about the future for now, other than winning his appeal. Glitter was criticized about his comments, Christine Beddoe, director of End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking, said that Glitter was trying to "minimise what he has done" and added "We must allow children to tell their story and not just have the words of Gadd."

In his interview Glitter said he was "not a pedophile" and as far as his music was concerned said "I felt after I left prison in England that maybe there was a slim chance I could put my life back on track and have a career, but after some time, the people that surrounded me, lawyers etc and managers, said: 'We don't think so, as the media have already made such a big deal about this'." He continued to blame the press for his downfall and called them "The worst enemy in the world", Glitter did not comment about his previous conviction for possession of child pornography several years earlier [20].

In the week following the broadcast of the interview, the BBC received hundreds of complaints from viewers, but the network pointed out they had made it quite clear during the broadcast that Glitter had been convicted of the crimes and that "He was strongly challenged on his protestations of innocence". [21]

Appeal

On 15 June 2006, the People's Supreme Court of Appeals heard Glitter's appeal for a reduced sentence in a closed hearing. The ruling by the three-judge panel was announced at around 10 am that day, with the appeal being rejected. [22][23] Glitter's appeal had been scheduled to begin 19 May 2006, but was postponed for unspecified reasons. [24][25] Although he remained calm throughout the 40 minute reading of the verdict, upon leaving the courthouse, he shouted angrily to reporters that there was "no justice here in Vietnam. They did not listen to the defence at all." [26]

Glitter's song "Rock and Roll (Part 2)" has previously been a staple at National Football League games, but following the loss of his appeal the NFL has asked teams to stop airing the song during games. [27]

Trivia

• Glitter's only Christmas song, "Another Rock 'N Roll Christmas", was once included on nearly all seasonal compilation CDs in the United Kingdom. However, since his conviction in 1999, new albums don't include it and it has even been removed from reprints of older CDs. Although the song is still avalible to buy online from various sellers as an MP3.
• In Cockney rhyming slang, Gary Glitter is associated with the anus, by way of 'shitter'. [28]
• Glitter was the first act to place his initial 11 hit singles into the UK Top 10, although this record was later matched (and broken) by others, he remains the only male solo artist to have achieved this.
• In 1997, the year of his last tour to date, it was reported 1 in every 60 people in the UK had been to a Gary Glitter concert .
• His single, I Love You Love Me Love sold over 1 million copies during its run at Number 1 in the UK. Its peak sales were at the very end of 1973, into the start of 1974 and it ranks as one of the top 40 best selling records in both years, as of 2006 it remains one of the top 60 selling singles of all-time [29][30].
• Rock and Roll (part 1 and 2)'s easy adaptability to schools and nicknames, has made it a staple song in high school and college marching bands. It is reffered to as the "Hey Song" since "hey" is usually the only lyric that remains consistent throughout the adaptations. Notable examples include the Alabama Crimson Tide's Rammer Jammer cheer.
• Before his Christmas tours in 1995 and 1996, Glitter hosted episodes of the BBC 2 music show TOTP2. He had also guest hosted some episodes of Top of the Pops on BBC 1, one of which, in 1995, was "The Gary Glitter Special", featuring him singing his hits "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" at the opening and (after the weekly run down of the weeks pop charts) closing with "Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again".
• Glitter has been given various nicknames by his fans and the media over the years, these include "The Leader" (which he was dubbed after his hit single "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)"); this has been spun off into many associated names, i.e. "The Leader of Glam Rock", "The Leader of Music", etc. Other nicknames include "The James Brown of Pop", "The High Priest of Glam Rock" and "The Godfather of Punk".
• In 1970, while he was still recording as Paul Raven, Glitter had a role as a priest on the multi-million selling concept album Jesus Christ Superstar, composed by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
• In the song "My British Tour Diary" by Of Montreal, the guys rode on a van which they dubbed the Gary Glitter.
• The song "Clash City Rockers" by The Clash includes the line, "When I am fitter say the bells of Gary Glitter".
• Gary is also an ardent follower of Birmingham City FC

Selected discography

Singles

1970s

• 1972 "Rock and Roll (Parts 1 and 2)" #2 UK; #7 U.S.; #1 France
• 1972 "I Didn't Know I Loved You (Til I Saw You Rock 'n' Roll)" #4 UK; #35 U.S.
• 1973 "Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah)" #2 UK Spent three months in the UK Top 20
• 1973 "Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again" #2 UK Spent two months in the Top 10
• 1973 "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" #1 UK Four weeks at #1, Spent two months in the Top 10
• 1973 "I Love You Love Me Love" #1 UK Spent three months in the Top 10
• 1974 "Remember Me This Way" #3 UK Spent six weeks in the Top 20
• 1974 "Always Yours" #1 UK Spent two months in the Top 20
• 1974 "Oh Yes! You're Beautiful" #2 UK Spent two months in the Top 20
• 1975 "Love Like You and Me" #10 UK
• 1975 "Doing Alright with the Boys" #6 UK
• 1975 "Papa Oom Mow Mow" #38 UK
• 1976 "You Belong To Me" #40 UK
• 1977 "It Takes All Night Long" #25 UK
• 1977 "A Little Boogie Woogie in the Back of Mind" #31 UK
• 1978 "365 Days"
• 1979 "Superhero"

1980s

• 1980 "Gary Glitter EP" #57 UK
• 1980 "When I'm On, I'm On"
• 1980 "What Your Mama Don't See"
• 1981 "All That Glitters" #48 UK
• 1981 "And Then She Kissed Me" #39 UK
• 1982 "Dedicated Man"
• 1984 "Dance Me Up" #25 UK
• 1984 "Another Rock N' Roll Christmas" #7 UK
• 1985 "Love Comes" #91 UK (Charted for 3 weeks)
• 1987 "Rock & Roll Part 3"
• 1988 "Frontiers of Style"

1990s

• 1990 "Red Hot (Reputation) UK #87 (Charted for 1 month)
• 1991 "Ready to Rock"
• 1992 "Rock On" #58 UK
• 1992 "Through The Years" #49 UK
• 1995 "House of the Rising Sun" #15 NZ
• 1995 "Hello, Hello I'm Back Again (Again!) #50 UK

2000s

• 2001 "You" Fan Club Single - Mail Order Only
• 2004 "Control" Fan Club Single - Mail Order Only
• 2005 "Field of Dreams"

Misc

• 1988 "KLF - Doctorin' the Tardis" The Timelords Featuring Gary Glitter #1 UK (Features samples of Rock And Roll (Parts 1 and 2))
• 1989 "Let's Party" Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers #1 UK (features a heavy sample of Glitter's "Another Rock 'N Roll Christmas")

Studio albums

• (1972) Glitter
• (1973) Touch Me
• (1975) G.G
• (1977) Silver Star
• (1984) Boys Will Be Boys
• (1991) Leader 2
• (2001) ON

Live albums

• (1974) Remember Me This Way (live/soundtrack)
• (1988) The Gang, the Band, the Leader
• (1990) Live and Alive
• (2005) Live in Concert

Compilations

• (1976) Greatest Hits
• (1977) I Love You Love Me Love
• (1979) Always Yours
• (1980) Leader
• (1981) Golden Greats
• (1987) C'mon, C'mon ... It's the Gary Glitter Party Album
• (1992) Many Happy Returns
• (1995) 20 Greatest Hits
• (1997) The Ultimate Gary Glitter (AKA 25 Years of Hits)
• (1998) Rock and Roll - Gary Glitters Greatest Hits
• (2003) The Early Years
• (2005) The Remixes
• (2006) The Best of Gary Glitter

Notes

"Leader" was the title of a complation album, "Leader 2", was a studio album named after this and Glitter's autobiography (also called "Leader").

Partial filmography

• (1974) Remember Me This Way

A cinema released movie, documenting Glitters 1973 Christmas tour, issued on DVD in 2005.

• (1980) Live At The Rainbow

VHS release of Glitter performing his greatest hits and new songs in concert, issued on DVD in 2006.

• (1983) Heinz Soup Commercial

Glitter in a humorous commercial for Heinz lentil soup. Features a voice-over by Alan Freeman.

• (1987) Alas Smith & Jones

Comedy sketch show featuring Glitter as a special star guest.

• (1992) This Is Your Life

Glitter is presented the big red book by Michael Aspel in this show which honors him after 30 years in showbusiness.

• (1990s) The Leader Talks

Glitter hosts his own chat show.

• (1996) Clive Anderson All Talk

Chatshow, with Glitter as a special star guest.

• (1996) MasterCard Masters of Music Concert for the Prince's Trust (live performance)

Glitter also made regular appearances on many other TV shows, including, but not restricted to, Top Of The Pops (1970s - 1990s), Supersonic (1970s), TVAM (1980s) and GMTV (1990s). His music has also been used in countless commercials, TV shows and movies. A very incomplete list of this can be found at www.imdb.com. [31]

See also

• Rock and Roll
• Glam Rock
• List of Number 1 singles from the 1970s (UK)
• Bell Records
• Proto-punk

External links

• Gary Glitter at IMDb
• Glitter Jailed Over Child Porn - BBC News, 12 November 1999
• Gary Glitter Facing Child-Sex Rap — E! Online, 21 November 1999
• Police Search for Gary Glitter in Viet Nam — AP News 17 November 2005
• loses appeal against conviction
• I am the Leader of the Gary Glitter Gang, actually … by John Battles

Further reading

• Glitter, Gary Leader: The Autobiography of Gary Glitter (Ebury Press, 1991). ISBN 0-85223-977-7.
• What I Did in Cuba (Lulu Press 2006) Predominantly features time with Gary Glitter and Betty Boo in 1995 in Cuba.