A furore has blown up over the decision by Glee’s producers to include a Gary Glitter song performed by Gwyneth Paltrow, in the TV programme. In a forthcoming episode of Glee, Gwyneth Paltrow performs Gary Glitter’s 1973 hit “Do you Wanna Touch Me” in her role as teacher Holly Holliday during a scene in a sex education class. This is wrong on so many levels!!

Firstly it’s a song that is clearly associated and synonymous with the convicted paedophile, Gary Glitter. Secondly in the context of his heinous crimes, of all his songs it is the most inappropriate and provocative in terms of it’s lyrics. Thirdly it’s performed in a sex education class for children setting, in a TV programme with a mass children’s audience. Fourthly Gary Glitter will directly benefit from it, with a substantial royalties cheque from sales of the track. There is clear evidence that songs featured in the high school musical, which airs in the UK on Channel 4’s digital E4, have then gone on to have success in the charts. This is endorsed by the fact that this particular episode was broadcast in the USA this week and Gwyneth Paltrow’s song has already made it into the American iTunes top 30.

There has been a blanket ban on the playing of Gary Glitter records on radio stations in the UK since 1999 when Glitter was imprisoned for possessing pornographic images of children on his computer. In the week of his initial arrest I was working as a presenter on a radio station in Loughborough ( Oak FM ), and I recall I was scheduled to play the aforementioned “Do you Wanna Touch Me?” as the opening song on my weekly Sunday show. The programme controller and myself had no hesitation in dropping the record from the playlist – instinctively we knew that this was the correct decision, until such time as his guilt or innocence was proven. In the event he was convicted and imprisoned before being subsequently imprisoned in Vietnam for sexually assaulting two girls aged 10 and 11.

Gary Glitter / Paul Gadd the man has been rightly villified for his appalling crimes against children, and as a result quite rightly we are no longer able to hear Gary Glitter the performer’s anthemic pop tunes on radio. And make no mistake, they were very catchy, but however good this artist’s recordings are, they have to be sacrificed for the greater good, because the bottom line is that the man is a convicted paedophile and has forfeited the right to be heard on our radio stations. Even if there was a demand for his songs to be played, which there clearly isn’t, it would be completely unacceptable for a felon to benefit from the subsequent and resulting royalty payments, that he would then be “entitled” to!!

However spare a thought for one “group” of  innocent bystanders in the fall out from Gary Glitter’s horrendous crimes. I’m talking about his one time backing band, who went on to have separate success as the Glitter Band in the mid 1970s. I’m sure for a number of years their association with their former boss, was detrimental and damaging to their careers. However I’m pleased to report that they are still touring to great acclaim, belting out their classic songs like “Angel Face”, “Just for You”, “Let’s Get Together Again” and “Goodbye My Love”. The sins and punishment of the “father” should not be visited upon his “sons”!!

So whilst MyFirstRecord.co.uk would categorically NEVER sell Gary Glitter merchandise and memorabilia, we are happy to offer you your favourite Glitter Band vinyl records or compact discs ( singles or albums ), framed and mounted. ORDER NOW by clicking on….. http://www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/

For news on the Glitter Band, visit their website……www.theglitterband.co.uk

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