I think the song is more associated in the US with Joan Jett so it's unlikely that GG was even thought of by any Glee people.

The situation in the US is a bit different from here, as people don't know who Glitter is (he was never a star there), but they know his music because his songs get played endlessly at American sporting events. For the public they're not Gary Glitter songs, they're American football/baseball/basketball songs, and they've never been away.

Paul Gadd is an appalling human being.
Gary Glitter on the other hand was my first pop hero.

Maybe the Glitter Band should re-form with a new singer, and make a few quid that way. I hear George Michael is looking for gainful employment.

(Please note that I consider George to be a lovely human being, who has simply made a bit of an arse of himself lately - and paid his debt.)

is it possible to separate the music from the man who made it? I've often thought it's a shame his music is no longer played or revered because he's a convicted paedophile. I'm just not sure it's possible/right to ignore that, especially given the lyrical content (do you wanna touch/do you wanna be in my gang etc)

Oh my...

perhaps the Americans are playing Mr Glitter's songs ironically? Oh, sorry, I forgot, they don't do irony, do they?

As adman intimates above, the person might be a loathsome piece of work, but the music is pretty good. I disagree, however, with the notion that there is any difficulty with this. If the music is good, it should still be getting played on the radio. I'd imagine that there are plenty of pop /rock icons who were (or are) contemptible human beings.

There is something rather sinister about the way that Glitter's work has been airbrushed from history. If it can be done to him, it can be done to others.

by playing GG's music you generate income for him which he seems to spend in furtherance of his abusive behaviour (ie his trial in the far east after already being convicted in UK).

I think there are two main aspects of the Glitter oeuvre that create a challenge to listening to his music in light of his crimes.

The first is the fact that his fan base was, largely made up of young pop fans in the kind of age bracket that resonates too much with his crimes. The second is the lyrics which in their simple structure and clumsy sexuality of the words make it difficult to disconnect from what I know about him now.

I don't think he's been airbrushed from history but the later chapters do make many people uncomfortable listening to his work.

...to post THIS?

Surely it was written by Glitter/Leander?
Whilst I appreciate what GG did was reprehensible and has put me off playing his stuff some bands are happy to cover Charles Manson songs. And -slightly differently - no-one seems to have a problem with Jerry Lee Lewis or Chuck Berry anymore.

No offence to those who were sub-teens in 1972, but I remember watching TOTP aghast when GG first appeared. He cut a sad and ludicrous figure from the word go, looking for all the world like an oversized, flabby turkey bursting out of his BacoFoil suit.

The music was painfully simplistic and trite, reducing the overworked glam format down to its absolute lowest common denominator.

The Americans are more than welcome to it.

...according to this from Digital Spy this morning:

"Members of the X Factor production team have reportedly investigated claims that Gary Glitter was spotted at auditions in London.

The Sun reports that members of the public believed that they had seen the convicted paedophile queuing to perform at the O2 arena.

"We recognised who it was immediately, despite his hat and glasses," Jay Brown told the paper. "I Googled pictures of him on my Blackberry phone - and saw a couple of moles on his cheekbone, and a line of scarring on the right side of his face.

"When I tried to take his picture he kept turning away. I also recognised the gravelly voice."

He claimed that the man believed to be Glitter swore about waiting in the cold and sang, "Why are we effing waiting?"

A show source said: "Production staff were being questioned and tapes looked at."

However, an X Factor spokesperson added that they did not believe it was Glitter after investigating."

It's all you can do. I love his music.

...for certain offences, so there is no way back for Gary Glitter. I must admit I do find that his exclusion in every Glam Rock TV programme is conspicuous as for my memories of that style and period in music, he was a key player.

Saturday Night, Boom Shang a Lang, Bye Bye Baby - all wheeled out pretty regularly.

Was on GOLD over the weekend.

what sticks in the craw most is the thought that playing or buying his records generates income for him. What would be great is if there was some kind of Attachment of Earnings order that could be wacked on his royalties and divert them straight to the NSPCC and some charities in the countries where he committed his crimes. Then we could enjoy the music for what it is and know that the earnings it generates are doing some good in the world.

I conclude that: Gwinnie P. You would. A lot.

Was there anything else?

Once you associate the artists morality or personal actions with the art where do you stop? Ban Eric Clapton cause he night be a racist? George Michael cause he's gay? Lemmy cause he smokes tab? Whatever side of the political spectrum you are, it's a form of totalitarianism to do this. I've seen it seriously suggested that old movies featuring people smoking should be banned from beng screened, that lobby obviously having been successful in ensuring even contemporary flms that are about terminal heroin addicts don't show them ruining their bodies with cigarettes.

and you have to accept that morality's relative. Wagner was anti-semitic in a time when anti-semitism was a commonality, not an aberrant point of view. This isn't a defence of Glitter, but a comment about how linking the artist with the art, or trying to impose current morality on art, is a dangerous road to start going down. 'Playing 'I'm The Leader' doesn't promote paedophilia. And if you start talking about sequestering his royalties, again, where do you stop? Should all Phil Spectors wealth be given to a murder victims charity? Should Gene Simmons be forced to hand over his wealth to the state cause he's Jewish? He would have been in Germany in 1938.

Okay, it's this:

I doubt if there's a week goes by when I don't play a piece of music made by a certifiable fruitcake who's been banged up for murder.
But his records don't really have any relevance to his crime. GG's sort of do.

Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Todd Rundgren, Elvis, .. Are you boycotting listening to them as well?

Well, almost. I wasn't the only one to think the track used in this recent advert for Pampers owed more than a little to Rock 'N' Roll Part 2

Doctoring The Tardis?

It is a tad unfair that Glitter's stuff has been snipped from history when other dubious artists are 'forgiven' (or y'know, still played/viewed/read etc) but isn't that because his records weren't taken particularly seriously anyway? So you might stick one on at a wedding disco but (by-and-large-with-some-exceptions-I'm-sure-so-please-don't-berate-me-Glitter-fans) no one thought of them as any more than a 'Lark'.

When the first thing that comes to mind on hearing said record is 'CONVICTED PAEDOPHILE' it surely seems less of a 'Lark' and spoils the fun somewhat.

Polanski/Pound even Spector produced work that works beyond 'fun' (well Pound's a poet so there's not even trace elements of 'fun' going on there)

Hence the Americans don't have qualms about it 'cos they don't really know the 'story'* so they just hear the song.

*and indeed - that bears my point out, if they actually liked or cared about the song enough they'd probably know who/what he was.

Imagine the inheritance they have been denied by Glitter's actions?

of this timeless line from Vic & Bob's Shooting Stars:

Vic: Whose catchphrase was "you dirty old man"?

Guest: er, Harold Steptoe?

Vic: No, Gary Glitter's parole officer!