The Glitter Band

The Glitter Band took their name from an affiliation with the glam star Gary Glitter and specialized in pounding glam rock numbers built around communal choruses as well as simpler romantic pop material. The musicians assembled in 1972 after Glitter scored his breakthrough with “Rock and Roll.” Facing an imminent headline tour, Glitter and his producer Mike Leander recruited a permanent live ensemble. Although the group never appeared on Glitter’s studio recordings—Leander handled every instrument himself—the band supported him on the road and on television while separately achieving seven chart entries, six of them inside the British Top Ten. By the close of their initial run they had become nearly as prominent as Glitter, having gradually shed his stylistic imprint in favor of a distinctive identity.

Originally billed as the Glitter Men, the unit grew out of an earlier mid-’60s concept devised by Glitter and Leander: an expansive lineup anchored by two drummers and two saxophonists. Leadership fell to baritone saxophonist John Rossall, who had previously worked in Leander’s own orchestra and in Glitter’s Boston International.

The decision to issue records under the Glitter Band’s own name came at the end of 1973. Their first single, “Angel Face,” co-written by Rossall and Gerry Sheppard, echoed the Glitter template with its relentless stomp yet reached number four in Britain during March 1974. Subsequent releases “Just for You” and “Let’s Get Together Again” also entered the Top Ten, while the debut album Hey climbed to number thirteen even though it consisted largely of re-worked hit material.

A decisive shift appeared in early 1975 when the softer ballad “Goodbye My Love” rose to number two. The same year labelmates Hello enjoyed a European success with the Glitter Band composition “Game’s Up,” and they likewise charted with a version of the Exciters’ “Tell Him,” another track from the Hey sessions.

Capitalizing on that ballad breakthrough, the group chose the comparable “The Tears I Cried” as the next single and, across the following twelve months, issued the similarly styled “Love in the Sun” and “People Like You, People Like Me.” The albums Rock ’n’ Roll Dudes and Listen to the Band reflected the same broadened outlook; despite the commercial disappointments of “Alone Again” and “Don’t Make Promises,” the band continued to pursue fresh directions.

When Gary Glitter declared his retirement in 1976, John Rossall departed for a solo career and the remaining members moved to CBS under the shortened name G Band. Their most ambitious project, Paris Match, followed, highlighted by an audacious reading of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.” Audience response failed to match the reinvention, however. A final single, a cover of the Bee Gees’ “Gotta Get a Message to You,” appeared on Epic in late 1977, after which the group essentially dissolved by 1978.

In 1979 Sheppard and drummer Pete Phipps joined forces with former Sparks and Jet keyboardist Peter Oxendale to record Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, released in the United States only under the billing Oxendale & Sheppard.

The Glitter Band resumed activity under its original name in 1980, coinciding with Glitter’s own return to the spotlight. A new single, “Until the Next Time,” surfaced in 1981, followed by additional releases over the next five years. A live album captured at the London Marquee Club appeared in 1985, and various hits anthologies—some containing newly recorded versions—maintained the catalog’s visibility. In 2009 Phipps, who controlled the band name, and original bassist-vocalist John Springate assembled a fresh lineup featuring Dominic Rodgers on guitar and vocals together with Eddie Spence on keyboards and vocals. This configuration issued a 2016 single that paired fresh recordings of “Let’s Get Together Again” and “People Like You and People Like Me.”

Original bandleader John Rossall passed away on October 2, 2021, at the age of seventy-five, one year after the release of his comeback album The Last Glam in Town.