Albums you own or used to own from artists that turned out to be awful people.

Not comparing it to Rick James or anything - well, maybe a bit - but Boy George handcuffing someone, keeping them prisoner and beating them with a metal chain doesn't get mentioned too often these days.

seems comparable

does = those

Astonishing the disparity between Rick James's popularity in the US and the Uk. He never had a single Top 40 hit over here, even Superfreak did nothing in the days when funk/soul/(early 80s) Disco was still massive. Years later I remember being blown away by just how much of U Can't Touch This was based on Superfreak.

He regularly filled 12,000-18,000 capacity arenas in the states in the early '80s.

As long as there are wedding DJs, there will be "Superfreak."

So it is written, and so it will be.

Do Quietus readers know that John Doran is a Gary Glitter apologist?

ilx posters who turned out to be 51'd almost immediately

Rick James' albums after 1983 are depressing, as in "I can't believe the drugs were so terrible as to turn his common sense and imagination into hot mush."

(and I find James overall overrated, even Street Songs).

you probably listen to nothing but ariel pink and swans though.

As long as there are wedding DJs, there will be "Superfreak."

So it is written, and so it will be.

― piezoelectric landlord (Ye Mad Puffin)

speaking as someone who has DJ'd weddings, this is otm

The Dream and Chris Brown are recent examples. Hardly even had time to get Chris Brown records, but hated selling back my Dream records at the time.

I should have expanded: as long as there are *weddings*, there will be wedding DJs, and as long as there are wedding DJs, there will be "Superfreak."

Esprit de l'escalier and all that

The Dream?

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d4b8808e57a1de207d62c6fb0b4a9a8e72cd65be/c=0-467-3273-4831&r=537&c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/2017/06/21/Phoenix/Phoenix/636336450933664319-be8c32d1-e1c6-4ec2-9fe0-cfb3aae3296e.jpg

He's bad.

Astonishing the disparity between Rick James's popularity in the US and the Uk. He never had a single Top 40 hit over here.

That said, "You And I" was a massive club tune in 1978. It spent four weeks at #2 in the Record Mirror disco chart (only kept off the top by "Boogie Oogie Oogie"), and had 26 consecutive weeks on the chart in total. And yet, it's never revived.

Do Quietus readers know that John Doran is a Gary Glitter apologist?

If this is a joke, it's not particularly funny.

If you're being serious, let me draw your attention to what I said: "What Gary Glitter did was unforgivable". And just to clarify (what doesn't really need clarifying tbh)I don't think Glitter was 'unlucky' or 'caught a tough break'; rather the opposite, that ideally everyone guilty of these crimes should suffer the same punishment.

don't feed the moron :)

My laptop side bellend census isn't up to date, apologies for the oversight...

Nah, I totally get what Doran was saying. Like this is what has rendered R. Kelly totally unlistenable to me, when he's singing about all that freak sex stuff you now know exactly what sort of person he's doing it to. His music is inseparable from the person. There's a reason why Michael Jackson's "Childhood" creeped people out where his other music didn't. Gary Glitter wrote a sports anthem with no real lyrics and had virtually no hits otherwise. When I hear it I don't really think "Oh no, Gary Glitter..."

Gary Glitter wrote a sports anthem with no real lyrics and had virtually no hits otherwise.

LOL Americans

https://genius.com/Gary-glitter-rock-and-roll-part-2-lyrics

this is killing me

Cageian.

Yeah, what Tom D said - Glitter had several huge hits here, including the one where he repeatedly asked if you (the listener) wanted to be in his "gang" ...

Let's not forget the one where he asked if you wanted touch him. Where? There.

yeesh

You should hear his albums.

I'm gonna pass on that one

i only listen to the version by philadelphia industrial rock legends executive slacks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgTHmlVmP78

as you Tom already said, the Glitter Band was way better

re Gary Glitter - would suggest avoiding "Happy Birthday"

"I wouldn't buy any of Glitter's records new because of the financial implications but I'll still listen to them on YouTube, buy them from a second hand record shop or download them for free."

John Doran, honourary member of Gary Glitter's gang

what the fuck is your problem you shit wannabe wight dorke

don't feed the raccoon.

hahaha that must be the quickest I've ever disregarded my own advice

I actually don't own any Gary Glitter albums but, in theory I wouldn't have a problem in buying them second hand. I listened to Rock And Roll part one a load of times when I was reading Simon Reynolds' glam book and researching an interview with him. It's an astonishing record.

Wasn't the Glitter sound mainly down to Mike Leander anyway?

Yeah, sure absolutely. That's absolutely what my fascination is about.

I think Mike Leander played most of the instruments on those early Gary Glitter records too.

glitter so lazy; probably also had other people molest children for him too

i used to really like rock'n'roll christmas when i was a kid

i like 'doctorin the tardis' more than Rock N Roll

Thought of another one which is not cool:

Wyclef Jean accused of stealing money from Haiti charity fund

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wyclef-jean-faces-criminal-probe-over-haiti-charity-8209814.html?amp

http://www.factmag.com/2016/02/15/wyclef-jean-reddit-ama-haiti-yele/amp/

i owned a gary glitter 10" once but i spilled liquor on it and threw it away

Most spirits have a pH around 7, close to water, and should pose no threat to Gary Glitter records

Those Gary Glitter glam singles sound incredible imo. An amped up metaller version of Lennon's Spector era records.

cardiacs, ugh

lol

The thing about those early Gary Glitter singles is that they were as much of an influence on a certain generation of artists as David Bowie's glam stuff was. I'm thinking acts like the first incarnation of The Human League (who covered one of his songs in the early '80s) and Depeche Mode, amongst other new wave/synthpop/New Romantic acts.

I've seen recent interviews with Heaven 17's Glenn Gregory and Depeche Mode's Martin Gore where, when asked about their early influences, cite that early Gary Glitter stuff, but you can tell they're shocked and very much embarrassed by this - not because of anything to do with the music itself, but the actions of the person who fronted those records.

^^^Spot on. I think prior to H17, Gregory (and Ware) worked with Glitter on a track for B.E.F. They described him to me as "a lunatic"... just generally speaking, no hint of the utter wrongness.

huh I hadn't made the connection to DM, HL and other NewRos, but you sure can hear his stuff in the Chinn/Chapman productions, the Runaways/Joan Jett, tons of poppier punk/metal stuff going into the 80s