This was posted on the Your Views board - after some scepticism I've confirmed it is true and not a hoax.

Dear Jonathan,

I’m checking out your site for the first time. I just wanted to inform you that just last night in Los Angeles, a pretty amazing band called The Special Moments performed a very impressive tribute to you. It was at a very hip nightclub called The Hyperion Tavern apparently part of a weekly event called Club Ding-a-Ling. I grabbed their set list…

1. Everyone’s Gone to the Moon
2. Good News Week
3. Gay Girl/Time and Motion
4. Don’t Let Him Touch You
5. Johnny Reggae
6. It Only Takes a Minute
7. This is Reggae
8. Wuthering Heights

They not only performed your songs but also spoke at length about your unjust imprisonment and read several passages from your autobiography (I can’t believe Jagger credited you with inspiring him to record Honky Tonk women b/w You Can’t Always get What You Want---that’s amazing). This group basically seemed to be on a campaign to clear your name and bring awareness to your innocence.

Well, how did it go over? Jonathan, the crowd absolutely loved it!! And this wasn’t your ordinary gaggle of desensitized sheep. In attendance were some of the great minds of today’s music scene in Los Angeles including Don Bolles (of the Germs), Tiffany Anders, Courtney Shanks (from Blood on the Wall), John Scheer (of The Supreme Dicks), Jimi Hey (of all Night Radio and The Beechwood Sparks), Chris Colthart (from Papas Fritas), Nora Keyes (of the Centimeters), The girls from Pearl Harbor, John and Toko from Enon, Members of The Garbaj Keatz, Jessica Espeleta from (Weird War) and Greg Fiering (creator of Migraine Boy).

I wouldn’t be surprised if your website hasn’t had an avalanche of “hits” from curious Los Angelenos who were hipped to your sounds for the first time last night. Anyway, I just wanted to give you a scene report and reason to add another, very deserved feather to your already abundant cap.

Oh, I forgot to mention they also performed a very intense rock opera about a different British tragedy (your imprisonment being the first)…The Falklands Islands War. I think it was called Eric. I found a link to it here….
blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/03/the_great_lost_.html

I have never heard of them before but they were fantastic, and obviously VERY REVERENT supporters of you and your career.

Keep the hits coming,
Mo Masood (Imran’s Dad)

And moving on from the pleasant aspect of support to the philosophy of choosing your musical influences on quality rather than on media images... I think there is huge potential for a Gary Glitter tribute (marvelous songs - mainly, I suspect, thanks to Mike Leander).

And how about a Sex Offenders Band including Who songs, Rolling Stones covers and a load more besides - perhaps concluding with Rosemary's Baby?

I remember when the Gary Glitter scandal was first ballooned by the tabloids and a Gary Glitter tribute artist was attacked. I seem to recall the tabloids loving that story too. Things might now have died down enough to allow someone to do a tribute show, but I suspect there will always be a handful of malicious idiots who'll try and cause trouble.

When you strip it down to basic facts, Gary Glitter's only conviction under UK law was to have possession of some images which the majority of us have never seen. On the back of this a section of the media launched a campaign to hound Glitter around the world, suggesting he was a dangerous child molester, and eventually paying a large amount of money to a couple of people in Vietnam willing to say that Glitter had abused them sexually. The Vietnamese legal system has no presumption of innocence and no actual trial. The defence lawyer is not even allowed to be present at the main hearing which takes place solely to issue sentence. We have no idea how the allegations would stand up to thorough testing in the British courts. I assume the media knew that and had full confidence in the lack of Vietnamese justice.

So, on balance, there is no logical reason why Gary Glitter's music should no longer be performed or broadcast, just as there is no reason why people shouldn't still play JK music.

I think part of the attraction would be the inevitable and predictable tabloid fuss. Or is the current generation of kids spineless too? "Please make me a star but don't let me be noticed"?

Rock and Roll SHOULD be dangerous and should push boundaries.

I think the idea of a TRIBUTE BAND to the "Fallen" celebrities is a great one : it could be called FALLEN.

Glitter - Who - Stones - JK - Bay City Rollers - Mamas and Papas and so on

Great idea.