I tried posting this already but must have failed the capture check. Anyway, what do others think? Personally I think radio should play Gary Glitters golden oldies. I remember hearing them on the radio all the time back in the 1980s and 90s when I was growing up. I still think they are great songs.

A recent news report said that Glam Rock was "dead" by the end of the 1970s and even though this is true they implied that Glitters career never recovered.

No mention of his 20 comebacks, or the fact that his biggest ever tour was staged in 1997!

Glitter may no longer be cranking out top 10 hits, but there was a time when he was one of the biggest names in music. Some feel history can be rewritten, but I do not.

To reply to JK and The King's posts, I don't know if he is innocent or guilty of these crimes, yet he created a big impact on Music. Don't the Glitter Band still play regularly?

I wouldn't have a problem if they played his records, after all Woolworths etc and various pubs stick on the Xmas CD's and invaribly his Xmas song gets played. However, they won't, so therefore he may go on to You Tube etc to find other methods.

It's become a media circus, and that is probably why Glitter doesn't want to come back to the UK, however, with all the publicity it is inevitable he will.

A great article from that lady in The Times (Carol Sadler?) regarding it.

I was thinking of starting such a thread - it is a subject that needs addressing.

After JK's case and now the harassment of Gary Glitter, I feel that I can no longer trust the media on ANY subject. GG's treatment has been downright unfair. Not to say I condone anything that he MAY have done - but I just know that all is not as it seems. Seeing that footage of him being interviewed in prison showed someone bewildered and unable to take on the accusations leveled at him.

So, I will no be swayed at all by media hype and spin, and will continue to enjoy the GG classics (and hopefully new material). He has a rare talent - and he should exploit it to the full and get back to where he belongs - as the 'leader of the gang'.

As a side note, I ordered JK's excellent 'Box Of Hits' at the very time of his incarceration, putting aside all thoughts of his private life (no business of mine) and knowing that in time the truth would come out.

RT

witches before you know it...
I don't have a problem with his music - though I'd dispute his relevance post-75, he wasn't the influence on later artists the records & their arrangements were and that was the brainchild of Mike Leander and later of course The Glitter Band. I don't see why anyone would have a problem with those first 10 hits (up to & including Doing Alright With The Boys) but he was a one-trick pony (and it wasn't even really his trick). His umpteen comebacks were simply pantomime & cabaret but we mustn't lose sight of the fact the media helped his resurgance so the media felt betrayed when it became apparant he had pervy paedo tendencies (though I would stop short of labelling a paedophile) and thus they are determined to make him pay. I believe his conviction in Vietnam was 'bought' by the media in order to make it so the Chris Langham/Pete Townshend test of reasonableness could ever be applied (hey he didn't just at pictures and we proved it, so there)
I believe he'll be dead soon anyway, there's only so much an old man can take and he'll be literally hounded once he's back in the UK. Of course he doesn't want to come back to the place he was hounded out of and he's instantly recognizable everywhere so there's very little he can do it would seem to find sanctuary. He was obviously badly advised when he came out of chokey in 2000 but there's not many capable of doing a 'JK' and tackling the media head on (not that JK was found guilty of anything to do with child abuse photo's) he was literally 'on the run' from the word go - and what does a dog do when he's someone run? Chases them until they are caught!

There'll be no comeback & no airplay, the idiot public have been conditioned to believe he on a par with Ian Huntley or Roy Whiting. Unless he takes some serious coaching from someone like JK there's no chance of any professional recovery of any kind, there are morons out there lining up to stone him to death that have no idea why they want to.
As far as I'm concerned the global media circus surrounding Paul Gadd (another issue, he's not called Gary Glitter really! You might as well call him Krusty the Clown) shows the world has gone completely and utterly mad. When you have a Home Secretary resorting to making 'official' statements about legislating especially to stop a washed-up hammy old rock star that turned out to be a bit of a perv seeking solace somewhere then you know we're in trouble. The scenes of the media hounding him on a plane were absolutely abhorrent and proof of how low they will go.
Some idiot spokeman from a child abuse-type agency was quoted earlier about how he should be sent to his own island - well, I'm sure he wouldn't mind that but the media still wouldn't leave him alone!
We'll be back to burning

Thank you all for your responses, It's great to hear others views, even if they do not agree with mine.

I'm not sure I would agree that Glitter had no input into his music. Mike Leander was no doubt a major player, writing the songs with Gary. Both Gary and Mike noted their respect for each other, most notably with Mike saying the he chose to make record with him after seeing him duing his days as the warm-up act for Ready, Steady Go, thinking he was better than all of the acts on the show.

The Glitter Band, however, played a very small part, they didn't even play on most of the records, let alone contribute anything to the creation of the work. They were generally a live backing band for Glitter. Even though they went on to score several hits of their own, their star never shone as brightly as his. I went to see then in concert a few years ago, and no doubt it was songs like "leader of the gang" and "do you wanna touch" that the crowd were really there to hear! I know I was.

I also believe his relavance in music went beyond 1975. Sure there was a retro aspect to all his comebacks; but it wasn't all "lets go and see this guy we once liked in 1975", by 1997 half his audience was not born then, or was too young to remember those days. A long list of cover versions and samples of his work (which is still being added too now) shows that he was a lot more influential than people are lead to believe. Sure, he was not Elvis Presley, but he was a great showman, he wasn't dubbed "the comeback king" for nothing. To go from a has-been in 1975 to selling out wembly in 1995 takes hard work.

Gary Glitter's music was a major part of my teenage years. I also like some of his later music, in particular the tracks 'Am I losing you?' and 'Through the years'.

News reports say that Gary Glitter will be forced to sign the sex offenders register. Can someone actually be forced to sign this? Especially considering that they were not convicted in a British Court? I think his registration period for the downloading offence has expired. I wonder what happens if he does not sign?

What we are now seeing is GLITTER ABUSE.

The TV on the plane of the PAPS surrounding him and sticking cameras in his face was shocking and just as bad as anything that happened to DIANA.

Our "Gutter" press have created a "Gutter" generation of kids who stab each other instead of discussing their disagreements - of extreme positions on everything - so that though some may laugh at the idea of burning witches - we are getting close to seeing Sex Offenders and Terrorists stoned in the streets by mobs of criminals who will use it as an excuse to "party".

I feel terribly sad that one of my childhood heroes has ended up like this. He needs help not hatred. He needs some love not judgement. He has served his time and now should be protected against this by our Home Secretary. Surely her job is to PROTECT every UK citizen - and not single ones out to harass and basically lie about.

I wonder how many of these people on here would still support him and see through the media circus?

this isn't about Gray Glitter-it's about the saddest thing that has happened to (once)Great Britain and even more distressing-done by Nu Labour-the party my grandafther and father worked so hard for.

The decimation of the fairness and the perversion of Law & Order in it's truest meaning.

It's been the most odious campaign of villification aimed at one person.

The Yorkshire Ripper or Harold Shipman didn't receive this treatment.

the media's salivating over GG-from the BBC downwards-they all speak alike these days-is a tragedy.

As for GG-he only needs to bide his time. The clamour will die down, apart from the lowest gutter rags rising up to howl should he receive his entitled health treatment and such.

As for his music-people really don't give too hoots about this stuff despite what we are told.

If Jack the Ripper had been able to record melodies and write songs we would still hear them today (if they were good enough).
Never overestimate the capacity of the general public to retain information.

Good points. The media are determined to turn him into an archetypal paedo hate figure (doesn't help himself with that awful long goatee and the glasses). Even 'quality' newspapers such as the Times and Telegraph have headlines such as 'Glitter to take advantage of NHS', and half the readers posting comments are calling for all the paedos to be killed, nobody seems to mind whether we do or don't have a rational discussion first of what exactly constitutes paedophillia or child sexual abuse.

The only thing we know for sure about Glitter (we can discount the dodgy 3rd world conviction, where there was clear financial incentives), is that he was guilty of downloading child porn. Now he was looking at some nasty stuff, not 17 year olds in thongs, but unfortunately, it seems a lot of Brits share his hobby. I remember reading that BT stated it was blocking half a million visits to CP sites a day or something incredible like that. Probably some of them then make the 'kill all the paedos' comments after they've masturbated to something sick.

The UK really depresses me now. We're so going backwards and who knows where it will lead? This hysteria is all a mask for the fact that we live in a moral vacuum and that most people, even parents, don't give a shit about children anymore. We've raised our children to be wild-like animals who stab each other for looking at each other the wrong way, something that even papers like the Mail were admitting the other week had something to do with the climate of fear that the paedo hysterias generate. The politicians, media and femi-nazis responsible for our society today are as much child abusers as Gary Glitter, whatever he's been accused and 'convicted' of.

Blackit wrote:
Good points. The media are determined to turn him into an archetypal paedo hate figure (doesn't help himself with that awful long goatee and the glasses). Even 'quality' newspapers such as the Times and Telegraph have headlines such as 'Glitter to take advantage of NHS', and half the readers posting comments are calling for all the paedos to be killed, nobody seems to mind whether we do or don't have a rational discussion first of what exactly constitutes paedophillia or child sexual abuse.

The only thing we know for sure about Glitter (we can discount the dodgy 3rd world conviction, where there was clear financial incentives), is that he was guilty of downloading child porn. Now he was looking at some nasty stuff, not 17 year olds in thongs, but unfortunately, it seems a lot of Brits share his hobby. I remember reading that BT stated it was blocking half a million visits to CP sites a day or something incredible like that. Probably some of them then make the 'kill all the paedos' comments after they've masturbated to something sick.

The UK really depresses me now. We're so going backwards and who knows where it will lead? This hysteria is all a mask for the fact that we live in a moral vacuum and that most people, even parents, don't give a shit about children anymore. We've raised our children to be wild-like animals who stab each other for looking at each other the wrong way, something that even papers like the Mail were admitting the other week had something to do with the climate of fear that the paedo hysterias generate. The politicians, media and femi-nazis responsible for our society today are as much child abusers as Gary Glitter, whatever he's been accused and 'convicted' of.

I wish such comments as this were more common in the newspapers and on TV. I used to check the BBC news website first thing in the morning, but now I come straight to JK's website.

RT

A land where looking at pictures - however distasteful/odious - is a capital crime on a par with rape and murder is a land that has completely lost touch with what realy matters. The fact is the downloading of that stuff is the 'ultimate crime' in that it can be fabricated easily and has been become completely unacceptable within society, therefore anyone of us - guilty or not - could be made to be criminals quite easily.
Glitter's worst mistake - and one too late to rectify now - was not to explain himself when he was released, by saying sorry and leaving it at that he just made himself look like he was sorry only for getting caught. Now that had more to do with his own personal vanity and insecurity perhaps, but Gadd - like many of the pseudo-paedo's we hear about - had a traumatic childhood in and out of care and as in many other cases this is probably where that seed was sown. But, of course, unless he says so now we will never know and he will remain the ultimate media demon - whilst real life murderers like Gerry Adams (Bush & Bliar are two obvious examples) are allowed to bend the rules and are perfectly acceptable

I'm a big fan of his music, but he is a very distasteful person whose sexual tastes are dubious to say the least.