THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

115-Gary Glitter-I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am)

1973-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 2.36. I can imagine that many people are looking at this artists name in shock and horror, and also at it’s inclusion in the best songs list, which of course is totally understandable. Many other artists in this list have also committed atrocious crimes, and Gary Glitter’s atrocities are among the most infamous. For the record I state it is the song and not the singer that is worthy of inclusion.

Gary Glitter was born Paul Francis Gadd on May 8th, 1944, in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. Gadd was first arrested in November 1997 after a technician discovered pornographic images of children on the hard drive of a laptop that he had taken to a computer retailer in Bristol for repairs, this led to his first sentence of four months in prison. The findings on the computer damaged his reputation and legacy with the general public, and brought what remained of his music career to an abrupt end. On February 5th, 2015, Gadd was finally brought to justice in the UK after spending many years abroad, including being incarcerated in Vietnam. On February 27th, 2015, he was convicted of attempted rape, for counts of indecent assault, and one of having sex with a girl under the age of 13. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison, and is currently held in ‘HM Prison The Verne’, in Dorset, England. The discography of Gary Glitter includes seven studio Albums released between 1972-2001, and 42 singles issued between 1972-2005, of which 18 have reached the UK top 40, with three of those making Number 1. While in America only his first two singles have charted, with ‘Rock and Roll Part 2’ reaching Number 7 on Billboard in 1972.

‘I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am’) which spent four weeks at Number 1 in the UK in July 1973 was co-written by Gary Glitter, and Mike Leander, who was also the songs producer. Mike Leander was born Michael George Farr on June 30th, 1941, in Walthamstow, England, he died from cancer in 1996 at the age of 54. Prior to joining forces with Gary Glitter in 1968, Leander had worked as a producer and engineer at ‘Decca’ and ‘Bell’ records. In 1967 at the request of Paul McCartney he helped arrange the Beatles’ ‘She’s Leaving Home’ from the ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ Album, as the Beatles’ staple producer and arranger, George Martin was unavailable at the time. Leander thus became the only orchestral arranger other than Martin to work on the recording of a Beatles basic track.

‘I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am’) should be filed under ‘Glam Rock’ and is one of the defining songs of the genre. Gary Glitter and Mike Leander co-wrote a further 11 top 10 UK hit singles together, including two other UK Number 1’s, ‘I Love You Love Me Love (1973) and ‘Always Yours (1974.) Although Gary Glitter was backed by the ‘Glitter Band’ for television, and live appearances, the majority of the instrumentation on the songs was actually played solely by Leander in the studio, with Glitter providing the vocals.

‘I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am’) only has a few cover versions. In the UK, in 1993 the ‘comedy’ Rock band ‘Green Jelly’ featuring the American wrestler Hulk Hogan reached Number 25, while in America in 1974 ‘Brownsville Station’ reached Number 48 on Billboard with their version. In 1997 the British girl group the ‘Spice Girls’ covered the song for their musical comedy film ‘Spice World’. Glitter originally made a cameo appearance in the film, but his scene was deleted after his child pornography possession arrest.

‘I can take you high as a kite every single night, I can make you jump out of bed, standing on my head, who’d ever believe it, come on come on.’