chart) "Rock & Roll," of course, became one of the biggest hits of 1972 and one of the most unique. And this time, it stuck.ĭespite a slow start (it took six months to break into the U.K. "Rock and Roll" first took shape as a 15-minute jam session before Leander edited it down into two three-minute gems, sensibly subtitled "Part One" and "Part Two." Next came the matter of a new name for the performer - according to legend, Raven's first instinct was Vicki Vomit, followed by Terry Tinsel, Stanley Sparkle, or Horace Hydrogen, working backwards through the alphabet, Gary Glitter was simply the next alliteration he thought of. By late 1971, with the glam rock movement now exploding across the U.K., Leander and Raven were convinced they had finally found the elusive formula they had been searching for. "Soul Thing" and Sly Stone's "Stand" returned Paul Raven to the racks and "We're All Living in One Place" debuted Rubber Bucket and, though the records themselves flopped, the sound was slowly crystallizing. Between 1968-1970, "Musical Man" and a cover of George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun" were issued under the name Paul Monday. They spent much of the next five years touring Germany, the schedule interrupted by occasional recording dates back in England with Leander. The Mike Leander Show Band collapsed in late 1965 and Raven formed a new group, Boston International (later truncated to the Bostons), with saxophonist John Rossall. The singer joined Leander's eponymous Show Band in April, 1965 Leander also arranged for his young protégé to oversee a handful of recording sessions, producing singles by Thane Russell and Scottish beat band the Poets. It was a meeting with producer/arranger Mike Leander which marked the turning point in Raven's fortunes. He also appeared in a handful of television commercials and auditioned unsuccessfully for the lead role in the movie Privilege (Paul Jones ultimately took the part). Two singles, "Walk on Boy" and "Tower of Strength," followed, but neither sold well and by 1964, Raven was working as a studio warm-up man for the cult television show Ready Steady Go. In 1961, new manager Vic Billings landed Raven a deal with Parlophone and producer George Martin. He financed the teenager's first recording session and landed him a deal with Decca, who released "Alone in the Night" in January, 1960, under the first of the multitude of pseudonyms which the singer would utilize through the remainder of the decade, Paul Raven. Still in his mid-teens, the young Paul Gadd performed at the legendary 2 I's Coffee Bar in London's Soho district, moving onto the Laconda and the Safari clubs before his repertoire of rock & roll classics and sweetly executed ballads brought him to the attention of Robert Hartford Davis, a small-time movie producer looking to break into the music industry. scene in 1972, although he had been touring and recording for over a decade beforehand. Musically, visually, and emotionally, he transcended so many barriers that even categorizing him as a rock & roller seems somehow stingy. And, if it is at all oxymoronic that the King of British Glam should be responsible for one of the national anthems of American Football, then that is simply further testament of what made Gary glitter so brightly. The hits which catapulted him to fame in the early '70s, the anthemic "Rock and Roll" of course, but also the likes of "I'm the Leader of the Gang," "Do You Wanna Touch Me," and "I Love You Love Me Love," still have the capacity to stir an audience - as "Rock and Roll" itself proves, every time it airs at a major sporting event in the U.S. Although the late '90s apparently saw the end of Gary Glitter's career, following his conviction for sexual offenses, there is no doubting that for a full 25 years before that tragic denouement, Glitter ranked amongĪlthough the late '90s apparently saw the end of Gary Glitter's career, following his conviction for sexual offenses, there is no doubting that for a full 25 years before that tragic denouement, Glitter ranked among Britain's best-loved performers of all time.
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