I have the same dilemma time and again. Should you listen to and enjoy songs by convicted paedophiles? Example: I Didn't Know I Loved You Till I Saw You Rock and Roll by Gary Glitter, and Johnny Reggae by The Piglets.
These are by singers who have committed the most hideous of crimes, they and their back catalogue should be banished from the pop firmament for good and their like never heard again on any medium. That's fair enough. It's unlikely you will ever hear any records by Gary Glitter or Jonathan King on the radio unless they're part of a documentary.
But I like these songs. I also like quite a lot of Glitter's back catalogue (Rock and Roll Part II, Another Rock n Roll Christmas, I Love You Love Me Love, etc), and some of King's projects: Loop Di Love by Shag, It Only Takes A Minute by 100 Ton and a Feather, not to mention The Sun Has Got His Hat On and Everyone's Gone To The Moon by the man himself. Jonathan King has always been a hateful bore, and now he's a nasty old paedophile too, but he's made some quite catchy pop.
So how do you square it when you listen to the music of these people? What would the world be like if Michael Jackson had been convicted, because for sure, no amount of accusations has wiped his oeuvre off the radio, and he's name-checked by X Factor wannabes all the time. Personally, I'm not a fan.
So what I'm asking is, should I just never admit to listening to these records? Perhaps I should cut them out of my life completely? Or do I carry on doing what I do now and separate the artist as was at the time of making these records from the monsters they are now and shut up about it?
