Gary Glitter expelled from GCSE paper
Inappropriate 'related listening'
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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 Qualification Alliance (AQA) exam board's 1 November document circulated to thousands of teens "including his own daughter", the Sun explains.
He thundered: “He’s a convicted paedophile jailed for sexually abusing kids. It’s completely inappropriate to recommend him as listening material. 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.”
The AQA told the enraged dad that it was too late to reissue a Glitterless paper, but quickly found itself at the receiving end of a righteous shoeing by a queue of critics. Dr Michele Elliot, director of children’s charity Kidscape, said: “AQA need to get Glitter off there. It sends totally the wrong message to paedophiles’ victims. Thousands of children take this exam. If they buy his song it could be a nice earner for him. One way to show we dislike his abuse of children is to cut off the money he lives on. It’s in the hands of AQA to do that.”
Anti-child abuse campaigners Shy Keenan and Sara Payne weighed in with: “This stonking great child molester should crawl back under the rock he came from, not be celebrated for his music. We’ll campaign to have any reference to him taken out.”
Conservative Shadow Minister for Children Tim Loughton chipped in: “I can’t believe AQA could not find a song from an alternative musician.”
AQA spokesman Simon Buck responded: “We have only just become aware that there are complaints and as a result are reviewing whether it is appropriate to have Gary Glitter in the coursework. Until the situation is reviewed we are unable to say what decision will be made.”
Well, having reviewed the situation AQA has, the Guardian says, purged 69-year-old Glitter from the related listening list. Glitter - real name Paul Gadd - copped a four-month sentence in the UK in 1999 for downloading child porn images and also did almost three years in a Vietnamese prison for molesting two young girls. He's currently "in hiding" in Britain while subsisting on royalties of around £200,000 a year from his 1970s back catalogue. ®
COMMENTS
Think of the Children
ban all music by the beatles 'cause they were on DRUGS!
ban all books because paper is a limited resourse
ban school because teachers are subversive
VOTE LABOUR - 'cause you're too fucking stupid to see any alternative.
@Simon Ward
Seem to have touched a nerve, just guessing but were you a semi-pro bass player?
I obviously misinterpreted your original comment, didn't realise you were being serious and fully accept your reasoned arguments.
Chris W
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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