What happened to Matt? Is he playing footie now?

But yes, he did put on a good show, back in the day. Interesting question - when does art transcend reputation? We seem to have forgiven Caravaggio for being a murderer.

This was debated this year when it was Phil Spector in the dock. I think we should always try to divorce someone's criminality from the appreciation of their art. However, when it comes to the crimes that Mr. Gadd was guilty of, I feel that no, there will never be a reappraisal, nor, I would venture, should there be.

GG has committed less Chrymes

I do hope you saw what I did there

June 30th, 1985. I was flying off to California the following day, so as a farewell gift, some friends took me to see Gary Glitter & The Glitter Band play at Cheltenham Racecourse.

It was already starting to get dark, the lights were already glowing, the stage was set and then BAM! The Glitter Band stormed into their first number as the silver curtains flew back to reveal several middle aged men looking faintly ridiculous in their bacofoil suits. After 3 or 4 instrumentals, the band launched into an old Gary Glitter hit that everyone immediately recognized. Then suddenly a spotlight illuminated the top of the huge staircase. The sense of apprehension was palpable. A curtain opened and there he was, replete with stack heel shoes, pompadour wig, suspiciously shaped eyebrows and deluxe bacofoil suit. Gary grinned. The crowd grinned. Gary beamed. The crowd beamed. Gary asked us how we were and as one we responded "awright!!!!"

And then it happened.

Glitter opened his mouth to sing and several hundred people simultaneously clasped their hands to their ears and groaned in mock agony at the awful racket emanating from the PA system. Everyone turned to their neighbour and looked at each other with incredulity as if to say "are you hearing the same crap as I am?" Unfortunately, we were. All 900 of us.

at this strange hour, that just as a reputation and career can be shattered by extra-curricular activity, so can it be enhanced. If we insisted upon divorcing art from life it would lessen our appreciation of huge swathes of music. If a man chooses to crawl in a moral sewer of his own construction, we would probably be wise to turn our backs on him and his works. Just as if a man chooses to fill his head with cocaine and be gay for a bit in Berlin, we should probably pay close attention.

he's a bad, bad man

that Glitter is so (rightly in my view) vilified, yet Bill Wyman, who slept with Mandy Smith when she was what, 13, nary a disapproving glance.

Led Zep's Californian groupies were rather young apparently so what is the cut off age for rock star conquests? It's no doubt much higher now than it was in the seventies.

Don't confuse the art with the artist.

I've no problem with people enjoying Gary Glitter's stomp-a-long glam-pop hits, regardless of Mr Gadd's murky and somewhat appalling personal life.

in their Timelords guise

is like some weird brew of "Spirit in the Sky", The Rah Band, Glitter stomp, Blondie's "Call Me", The Sweet, Thom Yorke-esque vocals and sounds vaguely like The Killers.

Grim

Glitter Stomp! try 'Keys to the City' by Revolting Cocks, I think it's my tune of the (last) year

He must had a few skeletons in his closet !? And to think before he died he was called 'Wacko Jacko' and people wondered how he was ever going to complete that residency at the O2.

Now its as if his dubious past never existed.

A name he used before Gary Glitter - I have a single by that group somewhere.

According to Wikipedia's BBC quote "Raven took the new name Gary Glitter, which he devised by playing alliteratively with letters of the alphabet, working backwards from 'Z'. Other options included Terry Tinsel, Stanley Sparkle and Vicky Vomit". Now the public just regard him as Dick Dastardly.

I think Glitter's oeuvre is top notch and continue to do so. I just freeze him in time and it's all okay.

Same with Jonathan King.