Gary Glitter can't catch a break

[wrec]

I was genuinely upset about Rolf Harris. Two Little Boys was a much-loved childhood memory. I always felt guilty for thinking that Savile was a vile weirdo but obviously that's not a problem now.

Same with Rolf, and even later he was this cringe but warmly avuncular guy on Kate Bush albums who liked animals, so thinking of him being a predator beneath that is particularly upsetting. Glitter just seemed an ancient and achronistic mad lad in the 80s. I liked some of the tunes but not someone you'd think about deeply at that point.

Saville had the awesome power of making dreams reality and extracting various items from his cool chair, but that was the sum of his appeal, and distracted from him seeming like a weird old man. In Ireland we had the delightfully anarchic Pat Ingoldsby who had a real empathy with kids, and soon left TV because he hated the business. I remember everyone loving him but I don't think Savile was even available in that way - he was like a strange elderly uncle rather than your pal.

[Ignatius_S]

Remember early on in his trial for the PC World laptop thing and he was turning up to the court in full wig, jumping out of the car and posing? You're on trial for being a paedo, mate, not about to wow the matinee crowd at Butlins.

I think you're misremembering that with a previous court case - however, that child pornography one began immediately after, so not surprising to make the mistake. Glitter plead guilty to all the offences in the second trial and was sentenced on the same day.

The previous case involved sexual offences against a child - some details can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/516917.stm. During the trial it was established that Max Clifford, who represented the alleger, had struck a deal for them to sell their story to a paper for £10,000 and, if Glitter was found guilty, another £25,000. There was a lot of publicity about this at the time (in addition to this, there are been concerns about press payments in other cases) and Private Eye ran some good stuff.

Although it doesn't necessarily follow that he would have been found guilty if there hadn't been a deal, that there was one of this nature, really helped the defence case. From what I remember, it really killed the prosecution.

There's often the claim that people make up such claims for money (Stuart Hall cast his accusers in that light) and personally, I felt that this incidence helped that perception. I remember Clifford being interviewed years later when Glitter was found guilty of other sexual offences - I think it might have been Richard and Judy's C4 show - and said this vindicated his client and her claims. The brass neck was incredible and was incensed by that and the fact that his deal affected those allegations, but usually PR rubbish from Clifford how he was a moral person etc. etc.

Incidentally, from what I recall, the published story was very much on the salacious side of reporting - what are the odds of that?

[Ignatius_S]

Not that I'm in any hurry to listen to Glitter's records, but this is true, he was just a talentless berk who fronted some decent records written and produced by Mike Leander. Gadd may have contributed some lyrics, but the best thing about those songs are Leander's production and the music of The Glitter Band.

A few years before John Rossall released, the crackerjack, The Last Glam in Town, he featured heavily in a very good Quietus article about The Glitter Band.

I have a feeling it was written by John Robb, who was a participant on Rossall's rather good, The Last Glam in Town.

[Ignatius_S]

Leander did the string arrangement for She's Leaving Home, didn't he? Might be a version of that with Glitter shouting Hey! after each line.

The amount of acts that Leander that arranged and/or produced is just incredible. In Thoughts of You is probably my favourite Billy Fury and largely because of what he brought to the table. Same year as She's Leaving Home, he produced/arranged David McWilliams' Days of Pearly Spencer and again, what he brought to it is just brilliant.

[Ignatius_S]

Gadd wrote the lyrics. Leander wrote the music.

Various bits and pieces I've read and heard suggest some inconsistency about the extent of Gadd's input for the lyrics on different songs. Memories might be faulty and I suspect grinding axes are at play, but given how uncommonly generous Leander was to Gadd and how credit doesn't always go where credit is due, that's not a huge stretch of the imagination for me.

Rossall then left in 1975 launch a (unsuccessful) solo career.

He did record the very good, The Last Glam in Town, though.

[George White]

"I only want to nonce you Ro-land"

Even though Erkan Mustafa seems styled to look like Blue Tulip Rose Read.