"Mirror, mirror framed in gold, in your depths a story hold... of a rock star WHO BECAME A MONSTER!... With an awful name."
— Glitter foreshadowing how the public would eventually come to see him.
Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English Glam Rock musician and convicted sex offender who was successful during The '70s and The '80s.
Due to numerous criminal convictions involving child pornography and sexual abuse of children, it's pretty much impossible for his career to ever continue. In 2023, he was released from prison on license, having served half of his most recent 16-year sentence, but was recalled to prison a month later for breaching his license conditions.
The Execution of Gary Glitter was made as a Mockumentary about him in an Alternate Universe where Great Britain has brought back capital punishment.
Albums released:
- Glitter (1972)
- Touch Me (1973)
- G.G. (1975)
- Silver Star (1977)
- Boys Will Be Boys (1984)
- Leader II (1991)
- On (2001)
Gary Glitter's songs and music videos provide examples of:
- Alliterative Name: Gary Glitter.
- Broken Record: "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" has several repeats of "come on, come on".
- Christmas Songs: "A Rock and Roll Christmas", which combines the holiday with rock and roll, with him being dressed up as Santa.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": He started going by his stage name, even to people who knew him since he was just Paul Gadd.
- "Double, Double" Title: "Shout Shout Shout" from the album Boys Will Be Boys.
- "I Am" Song: "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)", in which Glitter sings about how's the leader of the gang and how it makes him unique.
- The Jailbait Wait: The subject of the song "Happy Birthday", which contains lyrics like "Then I am gonna do, things to you, I've never done before! When you're old enough, HA, I do my stuff, till you beg for more!" Shame Gary never bothered to take his own advice...
- Kavorka Man: Even at his peak, Glitter was never considered especially good-looking but never had an issue attracting the admiration of young girls.
- Rockumentary: Remember Me This Way, filmed at his career peak in 1973 and released in 1974.
- Rule-Abiding Rebel: At his peak, this was a central part of his appeal, being a Glam Rocker that was safe enough to appeal to kids and their parents.
- Self-Titled Album: The first album called Glitter, and the third album called G.G., short for Gary Glitter.
- Unperson: Even though he was an important and significant artiste in the seventies' glam-rock scene, try finding any radio or TV station that will acknowledge this, after his convictions for child sex abuse. Glitter has effectively been airbrushed out of '70s music history, and nearly every playing of his crowd anthem "Rock and Roll Part 2" in a stadium or arena is a cover so that he doesn't get performance royalties from the original song.note
