In the 1970s Gary Glitter

It is hard now to see the good in Gary Glitter. But this guy despite his sexual urges which we never knew about in the 1970s was a force of nature with his rock and glam mix of pop music. Gary was born Paul Francis Gadd in 1944, and in the 1960s worked with none other than George Martin and had a limited success in the singles, very limited.

Gary, who was known as Paul Raven for most of the 1960s was a warm up act for Ready Steady Go. It was 1971 when Paul changed his name to Gary Glitter, and his very first hit was the classic Rock N Roll part one and two. Part one being the A side and part two being the flip side.

Rock N Roll came from the album Glitter, and was an instant success and had The Wander on the album, which would become a much later hit for Gary. Gary was a major hit on Top Of The Pops, as his really glam fashion sense with amazing sparkling flared costumes made him really stand out. His music was good, and his looks and fashion sense made him really stand out to the youth of the time.

Gary surrounded himself by a backing band called the Glitter Band. Later the Glitter Band would have independent hits from Gary, but for the first few years the two were really one of the same. At the time of Rock N Roll Parts 1 and 2 Gary was signed to Bell Records. The song got to No. 2 in the UK and is still being played in time outs across America in major sports events.

The next hit in 1972 was I Didn't Know I Loved You (Til I Saw You Rock N Roll) reaching No. 4 in the BBC charts.

  

It was 1973 when Gary went mega. He stormed the British and European charts and was on nearly every popular TV show across the UK. He was a mega star now.

His first single hit in 1973 was Do You Wanna Touch Me, again a No. 2 hit.

In fact Gary had two number ones in 1973 and also two number twos. A generation was now putting on Gary Glitter shoes and dancing at the disco venues across the UK. His next hit was Hello, Hello I'm Back Again. He certainly was with another pop classic.

Gary had his huge and most remembered hit next with I'm The Leader Of The Gang (I Am). The Glitterband performed the backing on TV but in the recording studio they were never there and most of the music tracks was put down by Gary himself.

More. huge hits followed  in the 1970s including I Love You Love, You Love Me Love which became the biggest selling single of 1973. This of course was yet another No. 1 for Gary who had a  huge female following, this being despite he was a little more mature than some of the other heartthrobs of the time. Gary really played up on his sex appeal, and would encourage the fans to scream and shout. Gary was the ultimate show man.

Gary was going to be a big star in 1974 with three more glam classics  like Remember Me This Way a much slower style single for Gary. But the next single was an upbeat Gary style song called Always Yours that went back to No. 1.

This would be Gary's last UK number one in the 1970s. He would have a No.2 hit with Oh Yes You Are Beautiful. Other top ten hits included Love Like You And Me and Doing All Right With The Boys. He had many smaller hits but the magic had now gone.

Soon it will be gone for good in later life as now Gary hides in the UK following convictions for paedophilia.



Documentary about GARY GLITTER