Joan Jett explains why she will never drop Gary Glitter song from her shows
Rock veteran Joan Jett has explained why she has no plans to drop Gary Glitter song Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) from her shows.
Joan Jett has no plans to drop a song written by convicted paedophile Gary Glitter from her shows.
The I Love Rock 'n' Roll star recorded her own version of Glitter's 1973 song Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) for her debut solo studio album Bad Reputation in 1981 and she still plays the track onstage even though shamed singer Glitter - real name Paul Gadd - was convicted of a series of child sex offences over the years.
Joan told The Telegraph newspaper: "Of course it bothers me. But that’s not the context in which I’m singing it, number one. Number two, if we want to start investigating everybody ... One of my favourite bands is the Rolling Stones. Go listen to [their 1973 song] Starf***** [which was renamed Star Star], about a 15 year old. I’m not condoning it at all".
Joan added of her take on the Glitter track: "If you listen to the words I sing, I’m singing different words from what he’s saying. I try to make it my own. But am I going to drop it after the fact, after I’ve had my own career with the song? No. And if people want to come at me for that, do it. I’ve been come at for [more]."
Joan has previous opened up about how her band The Runaways felt it was important to “give a voice” to unrepresented young women and she became frustrated by the double standards that she faced.
She told MOJO magazine: "Teenage girls think about sex, teenage girls talk about sex and just because it makes society uncomfortable doesn’t mean they’re going to stop.
"So you need to give voice to that because boys have a voice, being able to sing about their puberty, growing up, all that stuff.
"Mick Jagger can ride out on an inflatable penis … Not that I need to come out on an inflatable vagina – but I’m just saying I should be able to do it.
"As a kid, that’s what bugged me the most – the unfairness of it. It’s the principle. It’s the f****** principle."
And the Cherry Bomb hitmaker knew she and her bandmates had the musical talent to compete with other top bands.
She said: "I’d put our musicianship up against anybody's. Sandy’s drumming up against any drummer. Lita’s guitar playing up against any lead guitar player."
