Radio Waves: Paul Donovan: The ban plays on

Times Online, UK: 5 March 2006
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2101-2064714,00.html

Gary Glitter will probably have been tried, convicted and sentenced
for abusing two girls in Vietnam by the time these words appear. He
has already been in jail here for possessing child pornography. Once
the sequined godfather of glam rock, he is the very definition of a
fallen star. But anyone who wants to hear any of the No 1 hits that
made him a household name will be disappointed.

British radio bans his records, both officially and unofficially.

The same applies to Jonathan King, another singer from the 1970s, who
is now on parole after being jailed for offences involving teenage
boys. His records, too, have been airbrushed from the airwaves. This
is not a topic the industry likes to talk about, and PPL (the body
that collects royalties for performers) refuses to discuss it.

Many will have no problem with this. One's natural wish is that those
who commit repugnant acts do not profit thereafter. Commercial
stations, in particular, have to avoid offending their audiences -
lest they drift elsewhere, followed by the advertisers. But where do
you draw the line? Lord Archer is a convicted perjurer, but nobody
suggests that shops stop selling his books. James Brown has a record
(robbery, drugs, assault) stretching back 50 years, yet he is now
being fêted with a four-part cele- bration on Radio 2. Johnnie Walker
has a cocaine conviction, yet has just collected his MBE (and, though
sadly leaving his Drivetime show at the end of this month, will
continue to enjoy a high profile on Britain's most listened-to
station). Pete Doherty and George Michael both have criminal records,
but their songs are not banned. At the very least, there is the
principle of consistency.

I had no idea how comprehensive the boycott was until I made
inquiries. As far as Radio 1, Radio 2, GCap, Chrysalis, Emap and GMG
are concerned - together, they encompass more than 200 stations - not
one of them has played a Gary Glitter record since his conviction in
1999, apart from some bits of Rock & Roll Pt 1 included in a Franz
Ferdinand mix on Lamacq Live on April 12, 2004. They have also played
no King songs since his conviction, and here the evidence is
especially stark as to how quickly he was dropped. Both Radios 1 and 2
played his songs until the autumn of 2001, in Radio 2's case until
November 11. Eleven days later, King's conviction was announced, and
since then he has vanished without trace. I apologise, incidentally,
to any small station I have left out that bucks the trend by playing
either artist, but these big groups do embrace the bulk of the pop and
rock radio audience.

Different groups also have different moral attitudes. GMG, which owns
the Real Radio stations and Smooth FM, says that Everyone's Gone to
the Moon "was re-moved from our playlists once King was found guilty,
and has not been reintroduced". For Capital Gold, however, guilt
starts at an earlier point. "We have a policy in place that means we
haven't played either artist since they were first charged," they
state.

You do not have to feel sympathy for either man to feel there is
something not quite right here. Should artists be expunged because of
offences that have nothing to do with their music, and should there
not be, at the very least, open discussion about it?