Gary Glitter expelled from GCSE paper Convicted paedophile Gary Glitter has been excised from a GCSE music coursework paper which listed his glamtastic 1970 hit I’m The Leader Of The Gang as “related listening” to be enjoyed by wide-eyed teens. The outrage was spotted by an anonymous deputy headteacher and father of two from Windsor on the Assessment and …
"Boys and girls of 15 or 16 who select this song will go straight to the internet to find Glitter’s music. I dread to think what they may find searching online for him.”
While I agree it would be pretty horrific if they accidentally found some of his music, it seems far more likely that they'll just find news about him being a pedophile.
Seriously though, as a wise man (OK, boy) once said - what's the big fucking deal, bitch? It's not like these are nursery children, GCSE students are plenty old enough to know about things like this. Hell, given that it's a mix of 15 and 16 year olds, half of them are probably technically pedophiles themselves. What exactly is supposed to be achieved by pretending Gary Glitter doesn't exist?
Paris, because they all know about her already.
What he did was wrong but that shouldn't be a reason to supress his music. Furthermore, other reports say some teachers worry about the subject of paedophilia being brought up in the classroom, in which case if they don't know how to handle the situation or discuss it then they shouldn't be teachers.
Any idea who is considered so squeaky clean as to be on the list? I'd bet a decent sum that most if not all have had some sort of drug or alcohol related problem or other moral transgression. In which case it's effectively saying we've banned this person for one thing but these others have done something else which we fully condone.
Is this the same bunch of people who complained about a certain Mr. Brand, 2 weeks after the original broadcast? Not that I advocate any of the actions a Mr. G. Glitter performed, but to "suddenly" realise he's a kiddie fiddler seems to be a bit of a poor show on the examining bodies part. What's next removing Mein Kampf from the English Lit course because they've suddenly realised a Mr A Hitler might not have been a nice chap after all?
I sighed when I read the quote from the deputy head:
"I dread to think what they may find searching online for him.”
Probably an awful lot of news stories about his arrest, reports about his manipulation of young girls and advice on how to avoid similar folk, thereby informing and helping to educate children of the evils of such people. A case of the web being a good thing then, as I would hope this ignorant fool will soon realise.
It's a pity this person wasn't named. I wouldn't want any child of mine going to a school administered by such a cretinous fool.
Better ban Michael Jackson (Or was he never actually found guilty?) too.
What about violence? Better ban all that nasty rap and metal. For Daily Mail readers: many people still think it's worse to kill a child than rape one, sorry.
Oh noes! What about all that "druggie music"? Better ban the Beatles, Doors, Led Zep, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, etc, etc.
Was this the exam for rewriting history GCSE? You can't pretend that one of the most popular british entertainers didn't exist because of his malodourous penchant for meddling with minors.
Pssh. Imagine when they finally get their GCSE music they will be unemployable in the light entertainment trade, probably joining all the modern media students under a local underpass busking.
Science Guy, Because he is feeling blue like me after reading this.
"Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it."
George Santayana and my GCSE History teacher.
Stop all this negativity! Spread the love, for is it not written:
I love you love
You love me too love
I love you love me love?
Note how the master songwriter anticipates the current green crisis by recycling three of the five words in this chorus?
I mean, it's not like he did something unspeakably vile like boffing kids, is it?
> Conservative Shadow Minister for Children Tim Loughton chipped in: “I can’t believe AQA could not find a song from an alternative musician.”
Like Michael Jackson perhaps?
If nu labour come back, those Sharons and Traceys will surely have that £200,000 a year off Glitter, before you can say "Balls". Best not though, they'll have those too.
Protect children from the sometimes horrid realities of life by shielding them completely from exposure to such horrors. That's right, keep them safe and incorruptible by depriving them of the very information they need to defend themselves from the slings and arrows that may well be launched at them during their developing years. After all if they don't know about it, it doesn't exist right? Ignorance is truly bliss, until that is, one is expected to make an informed decision.
No wonder children in mid teens feel alienated from society when they are patronised in such a way and treated not as young adults but little kids. Children are maturing at a younger age and taking on responsibility for their actions sooner than previous generations did. The education system may now be teaching children to pass exams instead of teaching the subject resulting in some very ill-educated school leavers, but these kids are more worldly wise than previous generations ever were and much more than they are given credit for.
Criminal behaviour should not be a prohibition on study. We might as well get rid of Hitler, Stalin (mass murder), Guy Fawkes, George Washington (treason), Hanson, Steps (crimes against music), Sylvia Plath, Alan Turing (suicide).
Particularly ironic from a paper who whinges on about political correctness gone mad...
Maybe it's my age; I was a mere boy when Mr Glitter was at the height of his fame, and my Mum has entertaining memories of me stomping around in shorts and wellies shouting "Come on, come on!" at the top of my little voice. What I'm trying to say is that I have something of a soft spot for old Gary. Think he's a dreadful shit, obviously, both for what he's been found guilty of doing to little girls, and for his apparently unrepentant attitude to his crimes, but on the other hand he did make me very happy as a little five-year-old, and I can't help thinking that he's never, ever going to be given a chance to repent for what he's done. Even if he does feel remorse, will we ever hear of it?
Is it just me? Was I right to post that all anonymous-like?
... and how many of them painted nudes (it's ok, it's art) or pictures of children - or both together?
This knee jerk, with the emphasis on the "jerk", reaction is a sad, if accurate, commentary of our time. I can't help thinking this is what all the superstitious stuff, baying crowds, ignorance and fear about witches and magic must've been like in the middle-ages. I wonder when we, as a culture, will grow out of it?
Ignoring the paedophile aspect, what is there about Gary Glitter's music that makes it recommended listening to GCSE students? A few disposable glam rock hits and nothing more. There must be plenty of more worthy artists that could fill his slot (fnarr).
Paris had a similarly brief and awful music career, but she kept her porn escapades legal.
So is pedophile glitter something they use in arts and crafts?
As for "I dread to think what they may find searching online for him" What a tosser, obviously the guy has never used a search engine before, and is one of these muppets that thinks the kind of material Mr Glitter had on his pc is easy to come by. World is being over taken by the worst type of people that i'm sure if you delve deep enough into their psych you will find that they get turned on by this stuff.
Goodbye Alice in Wonderland/Through the looking Glass from the school libraries. (Alice Liddel's parents stopped Lewis Carrol from seeing her because of his unnatural interest) His photographs of her would be seized by the plod nowadays.
Does this mean we can't use the rhyming slang either? As in "He checked into casualty with a moby up his Gary"
Your daughters are probably doing it already. They probably think that you are a bit of an old fashioned pratt who doesn't understand how life is today. And they enjoy getting a bit sweaty with their SO of the day / hour.
If they are 15 / 16 then they are probably too old for Mr Gadd anyway. And they wouldn't voluntarily listen to his music as it isn't <insert current yoof culture slang for modern / good>.
The olny shocking think about this whole article is how on earth does Paul Gadd earn £200,000 per year from the crap^M music that he performed in the 70's. Now THAT is shocking.
Shouldn't they have gotten rid of this yonks ago given its incestuous plotline?
Anyway, where's the point in removing one of Glitter's songs from the curriculum, your already guaranteed the student know who and what he is, and have almost certainly listened to at least one of his songs.
And what's the danger in letting them look him up? All they'll find is BBC and Daily Fail reports of his kiddy fiddling, i can't imagine they would actually come across one of his songs. It's not like they've published his naughty pics is it?
Mines the one with the target on it for Fail readers....
There's an unnervingly shrill and slightly slavering note to some of those quotes, and a stench of the 'legalise vigilantes' about one or two of the comments here. Whats next? Witch burning cos you don't like the cut of the woman next doors jib? Trial by ordeal perhaps - cheaper than the courts and a real crowd pleaser?
The only people who can compete with paedophiles for the low life of the year award are those with no sense of proportion.
To quote one of my favourite tunesmiths:
"Cover the baby without thinking
As if to shield him with the wardenship of a jar
His mum will hide him away from all danger
But not very far, not very far" - Fast Robert, Tim Smith
Don't know why, but it's what I tought of when I read the article.
Clam
"what is there about Gary Glitter's music that makes it recommended listening to GCSE students?"
A good example of what *not* to do when it comes to songwriting?
I mean, really, from a musical standpoint the bulk of the 70s should be shovelled into a deep, dark hole and left to die - the decade that taste forgot, indeed.
``What's next removing Mein Kampf from the English Lit course because they've suddenly realised a Mr A Hitler might not have been a nice chap after all?''
In order to be removed, it'll need to be on a course to start with: could someone tell us where that's happening? I'd be surprised to find that any GCSE, GCE, CSE, CEE, School Certificate, Pre-U or other qualification in English Literature has studied Mein Kampf.
The great thing about ad-hominem attacks - they make you look like a bit of an ass.
Most of the music I've encountered that was released between 1969 and 1976 (approx.) is complete and utter shit (the output of Mr.Gadd included) , with the only real high-points being the first couple of Black Sabbath albums, Klaus Schulze-era Tangerine Dream (and his first solo albums too), Lemmy-era Hawkwind (and Motorhead, natch) and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"[*].
After '76, things admittedly do start to get more interesting with the advent of punk, although I have a certain fondness for the likes of KISS, Ted Nugent's first couple of albums (the man himself is an arse, but by Christ he can play guitar) and most of Frank Zappa's mid-70s output.
Deep Purple I'll grant you - 'Machine Head' is an excellent album, and without their influence we wouldn't have had the NWOBHM explosion in the late 70s/early 80s (can't beat a bit of good, old early-80s cock-rock whilst you're bombing down the M1)
Opinions are like arseholes - everyone has one but you're not allowed to like the one belonging to the other guy. Now if you'll excuse me, there's some Berlin School electronica vying for my attention, and as a (former) semi-pro musician I take most things on their own merits. The majority of 70s stuff I don't like. Deal with it.
[*] - "Dark Side of the Moon" blows. So sue me.
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