Pedophile pop star Gary Glitter to be freed from prison after serving half his sentence

NY Post ^ | Dec 16 | By Patrick Reilly

[RandFan]

Disgraced English pop star and convicted pedophile Gary Glitter is set to be released from prison in the coming weeks after serving just half of his 16 year sentence for sexually abusing three young girls, according to a report.

Glitter, born Paul Francis Gadd, could be freed as early as February for his model behavior, a Ministry of Justice source told The Sun.

The depraved 78-year-old rose to prominence as a glam-rock star in the 1970s and 80s known for his wild live performances, but fell from grace after he was convicted of downloading child pornography in 1999.

According to The Sun, the “Do You Wanna Touch Me” singer still has millions of dollars left in his bank accounts and owns an apartment in London where he could live after his release.

[dangus]

I believe Pete Townsend. You don’t go tell the cops you’re downloading kiddie porn before you do it if you’re being sneaky. The guy had previously written songs about the sexual abuse of children.

“Townshend accepted a caution from the Metropolitan Police (the Met) as part of Operation Ore, a major investigation on child pornography conducted in 2002–2003. The Met stated that “it was established that Mr Townshend was not in possession of any downloaded child abuse images”. Townshend was on a sex offenders register for five years, beginning in 2003, after admitting he had used his credit card to access a child pornography website.[144][145] Townshend claimed he accessed the images as research in a campaign against child sexual abuse[146] – specifically, to prove that British banks were complicit in channelling the profits from paedophile rings.[147] Authorities could not prove that the website accessed by Townshend involved children, and no incriminating evidence was found on his personal computer.[148]”

So why would the police have to admit he told them he was going to go there, and the arrest him when he did? Oh yeah — he was going to embarrass politicians and banks.

I bet Uncle Earnie was someone Pete knew.

[A strike]

Chrystal Blue Persuasion
To me, absolutely awesome beautiful in ‘60s SoCal (of course there were so many)

still think so

[lee martell]

Abosolutely. I never got caught up in whether or not it was inspired by drug use. All I know is it was artful and varied.
I could even imagine a light jazz version of it done by someone like Chick Corera, heavy on the Samba (percussion) side.

[ThanhPhero]

No. Not Người kinh. Just an old vet who went back 20 years ago to see how the country had fared and was enamored of the people and the country and have spent a lot of time there since.

[Robert DeLong]

You don’t go tell the cops you’re downloading kiddie porn before you do it if you’re being sneaky. The guy had previously written songs about the sexual abuse of children.

I'm not quite sure that is how it went down. If that were the case then I doubt he would have been registered as a sex offender for 5 years. Regardless it was an extremely stupid move. I don't know of any songs by him that speak of sex abuse of children either, but I'll assume what you are saying is the truth. I am not really interested in finding what the truth is. Not because it isn't important, but because he will face judgement sooner than later.

[dangus]

>> I don’t know of any songs by him that speak of sex abuse of children either, but I’ll assume what you are saying is the truth. <<

The original rock opera, Tommy. It’s kinda what made the Who famous. Kid witnesses his father being killed by his mother and her lover. Lover tells him, “You didn’t see nothing, you didn’t hear nothing, and you ain’t gonna say nothing.” So the kid winds up “blind, deaf, and dumb” but not really: without all the sensory distractions, he becomes a “pinball wizard.” But in the meanwhile, he is exposed to persistent, shocking abuse.

“Fiddle About” isn’t the most popular song on the album; it’d be a great to send your party guests rushing to vomit and call the police on you. But if you’re listening to the album, instead of hearing about the Who strictly from radio play, it’s a song you’ll never forget.

I’m your wicked Uncle Ernie;
I’m glad you won’t see or hear me,
As I fiddle about, fiddle about, fiddle about.
Your mother left me here to mind you,
And I’m doing exactly what I bleedin’ well want to,
Fiddling about, fiddling about, fiddle about.
Down with your bedclothes,
Up with your nightshirt.
Fiddle about, fiddle about, fiddle about.
You won’t “shite”
As I fiddle “abite.”
Fiddle about, fiddle about, fiddle about.

Somewhat more famous is the Acid Queen:

If your child ain’t all he should be now
This girl will put him right
I’ll show him what he could be now
Just give me one night
I’m the gypsy, the acid queen
Pay me before I start
I’m the gypsy and I’m guaranteed
To mend his aching heart
Give us a room, close the door
Leave us for a while
You won’t be a boy no more
Young, but not a child
I’m the gypsy, the acid queen
Pay me before I start
I’m the gypsy, I’m guaranteed
To tear your soul apart
Gather your wits and hold them fast
Your mind must learn to roam
Just as the gypsy queen must do
You’re gonna hit the road
My work’s been done, now look at him
He’s never been more alive
His head it shakes, his fingers clutch
Watch his body writhe

Then there’s Eyesight to the Blind, which apparently Eric Clapton didn’t realize (I’ll hope) was about hiring a prostitute to have sex with a child, in the hopes that the sensual stimulation will yank him out of a cataonic state:

You talk about your woman
I wish you could see mine
You talk about your woman
I wish you could see mine
Every time she starts to lovin’
She brings eyesight to the blind
You know her daddy gave her magic
I can tell by the way she walks
Her daddy gave her magic,
I can tell by the way she walks
Every time she start to shakin’
The dumb begin to talk
She’s got the power to heal you, never fear!
She’s got the power to heal you, never fear!
Just a word from her lips
And the deaf begin to hear

And then there’s Kevin Cousin, whose abuse isn’t explicitly sexual, but does have everything to do with abusive power relationships with children that are akin to sexual abuse:

We’re on our own, cousin
All alone, cousin
Let’s think of a game to play
Now the grown-ups have all gone away
You won’t be much fun
Being blind, deaf and dumb
But I’ve no-one to play with today
Do you know how to play hide-and-seek?
To find me it would take you a week
But tied to that chair
You won’t go anywhere
There’s a lot I can do with a freak

And this is all from just one album!

[dangus]

I should almost make clear that as originally presented by the Who, all of these people are pure evil, and the music that accompanies them is deliberately, psychotically unhinged. I’m afraid this isn’t so clear in remakes. Also I’m realizing that the prostitute in “Eyesight to the Blind” was also explicitly sexually abused.

[caww]

[dangus]

Also, to clear Eric Clapton’s name: His version of “Eyesight to the Blind” WAS for the movie version of Tommy. Because he called it that, and not “Hawker,” which was the Who’s name, I thought he did it in reference to an earlier Blues version. Looking back, he was probably legally required to use that title to give proper credit. The Larks’ version (which it turns out was written by Sonny Williamson) was substantially different and had no reference to sexual abuse nor prostitution. (She wasn’t being “hawked,” but rather bragged about.)

[Robert DeLong]

I honestly see nothing in the lyrics that explicitly points to sexual abuse, but I guess some can make that leap:

Eyesight to the Blind
The Who
The Hawker:

You talk about your woman,
I wish you could see mine.
You talk about your woman,
I wish you could see mine.
Every time she starts to lovin'
She brings eyesight to the blind.

You know her daddy gave her magic,
I can tell by the way she walks.
Her daddy gave her magic,
I can tell by the way she walks.
Everytime she start to shakin'
The dumb begin to talk.

She's got the power to heal you, never fear!
She's got the power to heal you, never fear!
Just a word from her lips
And the deaf begin to hear.

Also, are you aware that the song:

"Eyesight to the Blind" is a 12-bar blues song that was written and recorded in 1951 by Sonny Boy Williamson II?

Sonny Boy Williamson - Eyesight To The Blind

The lyrics differ from the Who's version:

You've talking about your woman, I wish to God, man, that you could see mine
You're talking about your woman, I wish to God that you could see mine
Every time the little girl start to loving, she bring eyesight to the blind

Lord, her daddy must been a millionaire, 'cause I can tell by the way she walk
Her daddy must been a millionaire, because I can tell by the way she walk
Every time she start to loving, the deaf and dumb begin to talk

I remember one Friday morning, we was lying down across the bed
Man in the next room a-dying, stopped dying and lift up his head, and said,

"Lord, ain't she pretty, and the whole state know she fine!"
Every time she start to loving, she bring eyesight to the blind

Some version have the following as well:

(Spoken): All right and all right, now. Lay it on me, lay it on me, lay it on me
Oh lordy, what a woman, what a woman!
Yes, I declare she's pretty and the whole state knows she's fine
Man, I declare she's pretty, God knows I declare she's fine
Every time she starts to loving, whoo, she brings eyesight to the blind
(I've got to get out of here, now, let's go, let's go, let's go now)

[Robert DeLong]

Upon further searching, I found the following at Wikileaks under name issues:

His legacy has been somewhat overshadowed in the postwar blues era by the popularity of the musician who appropriated his name, Rice Miller. The recordings made by Williamson between 1937 and his death in 1948 and those made later by Rice Miller were all originally issued under the name Sonny Boy Williamson. It is believed that Miller adopted the name to deceive audiences (and his first record label) into thinking that he was the "original" Sonny Boy. In order to differentiate between the two musicians, many later scholars and biographers have referred to John Lee Williamson (1914–1948) as Sonny Boy Williamson I and Miller (c. 1912–1965) as Sonny Boy Williamson II.

[dangus]

What exactly do you think that “Fiddle About” could possibly otherwise mean? It’s from Uncle Ernie’s point of view, so he’s not going to use the term, but FFS, he’s talking about pulling up a kid’s nightclothes and fiddling about!!!

Again, Acid Queen: This is a kid who cannot give any form of consent. And she’s promising to not just have some sexual experience, but “guarantee[ing] to rip his soul apart.” WTF do you think an adult criminal woman is going to do to “turn a boy into a man”? (The movie shows an iron maiden filled with drugs”)

Out of context, Eyesight to the Blind isn’t about sexual abuse. Sonny Williamson’s version is NOT. In context, it’s a man taking his underage child to a prostitute. (In fairness to Sonny Williamson, I think the Who recognized that the similarities were abundant enough that they would have committed plagiarism if they hadn’t credited him, but despite obvious similarities, they are two different songs.)

[dangus]

>> And dancing in the streets was by Van Halen <<

And Come Together was by Aerosmith? :^) How About Tiffany’s I Saw Him Standing There? (I’m purely teasing now, since obviously you’d’ve been much older by then.) Or Cyndi Lauper’s What’s Going On? Or if we’re getting really silly about ‘60s music made in the 1980s, how about the Beach Boys’ “Kokomo”? Oh, wait...

[Robert DeLong]

First off, there is absolutely no reason to get excited about this subject. 🙂

Also understand that I never watched the movie Tommy, nor did I pay much attention to Tommy the album. There were songs I liked on the radio from the album, but I never owned the album to give it a thorough listen. Thus my contemplation of its meaning, never existed. 🙂

I was responding to the only song you mentioned, in your first response. So I listened to the song. It was the first time I think I had ever heard that song at all. Again, if the song didn't play on the radio, and I never owned the album, odds would be that I probably hadn't heard it before, which was indeed the case, to my recollection.

But I liked the song. So my comment was limited to that song, and that I saw no overt evidence that it was about child sexual exploitation looking at the lyrics.

Since I had not seen the movie either I looked for sources that explained the plot, be it the album, the movie, or plays. This was one of the sources I found, and it says:

The desperate Captain Walker is approached by The Hawker and Harmonica Player ("Eyesight to the Blind") who promises a miraculous cure for Tommy. They take young Tommy to the Isle of Dogs to find a prostitute called The Gypsy, who tries to convince Captain Walker to let her spend time alone with Tommy, introducing him to drugs ("The Acid Queen"). Horrified by her methods, Captain Walker snatches Tommy away.

So even they admit that song is not about sexual exploitation, but rather introduction to drugs, as far as The Who's usage of the song is concerned.

However, Uncle Ernie & cousin Kevin did indeed sexually exploit Tommy, as it says:

The Walkers leave Tommy with a slew of vicious babysitters, including alcoholic and sexually abusive Uncle Ernie ("Do You Think It's Alright?" and "Fiddle About"), as well as his cousin Kevin, a sadistic bully ("Cousin Kevin"). But Kevin, along with his friends, is also the one that takes Tommy to the Youth Club where, to everyone's astonishment, Tommy plays pinball brilliantly ("Sensation").

But what I get from this synopsis is that Tommy is not really not about sexual exploitation of children. It's about telling the life of one male child who was abused, both physically & sexually, but the mental trauma he had sustained blocked his awareness of the physical & sexual exploitation he had experienced. He finally managed to return to a cognitive state by his mother's last attempt to "cure" him, which she accidentally accomplishes by breaking his mirror, out of frustration, because she sees her final effort not producing any results.

Plot Synopsis of Tommy

Disclaimer: Since I know nothing about this source, though it was mostly consistent with what I read in Wikipedia, both could be wrong. But it has the ring of truth, but I can't be 100% sure it is. 🙂

I'm not holding it up as being the gospel, in other words.

I was hoping to find what I was looking for, straight from the horse's mouth what the plot was, for it would have been a definite source, but I was unable to locate that source. 🙂

Presented totally for the sake of discussion, because I'm no expert on the subject. 🙂

Perhaps you can offer up evidence I didn't run across. 🙂

[dangus]

You’re right in that Tommy is about someone who was blind, deaf and dumb regaining his senses. That he was abused so much I think is chiefly to establish the character of his parents, and his own. That Kevin coincidentally helps him find an outlet is no virtue of Kevin; it’s part of a theme of continual exploitation and his own persistence naivete. (They even mention that when he is proclaimed a religious savior, Uncle Ernie is there to look after little Suzie Simpson.)

I’m glad you liked the song; I wasn’t meaning to damn the Who for Tommy, but praise them and defend Pete Townshend. As for the synopsis, The Who were talking about things you didn’t talk about in the 60s. But the Hawker is unmistakably hawking a woman, and the fact that the Acid Queen is ALSO loading Tommy with drugs is what gets the father angry; he was up for prostitution, but not drugs.

I’d also note that having Daltrey (30) play a schoolchild (13?) helped obscure some of what was going on; a prostitute for a 30-year-old who cannot give meaningful consent is morally reprehensible and legally rape, even if he might enjoy it. But casting a 13-year-old would’ve driven home that this wasn’t a misguided “treat,” but abusive by nature.

[Robert DeLong]

Okay, I will defer to you, because my knowledge is limited to the point of non-existence. If you heard what you know directly from The Who then that is what I will accept. 🙂