Remember Me This Way

by Dave Thompson In November 1973, Gary Glitter played his biggest shows yet, a pair of gigs at the London Rainbow. Filmed for a planned documentary on the Glitter phenomenon, the shows eventually became the dynamic backdrop and sweat-soaked climax of Remember Me This Way, a full-blown feature film in which a deliciously ludicrous plot allowed its hero to indulge in his wildest rock star fantasies. The kung-fu sequence alone is worth the price of admission. Of course the movie spun off a soundtrack album, which in turn would become Glitter's finest record yet, an all but nonstop live recording from those same Rainbow shows. The hit studio version of the movingly melancholic title track notwithstanding, Remember Me This Way was loaded down with hits -- seven of the album's ten tracks were Top Five smashes; the remainders were crowd-pleasing album tracks which might as well have been hits. The music is only part of the experience, however. Glitter seemingly lived for the live performance, involving the audience in every gesture, every nuance, every bellowed "hey." The sense of excitement that builds around the opening "Leader of the Gang," before Glitter himself takes the stage, is still palpable, while the massed singalongs which erupt every time he opens his mouth testify to the sheer majesty of the event. Only the absence from the shelves of the accompanying live footage mars the moment -- watching Glitter emote his way through "I Love You Love Me Love," for one, was akin to seeing Judy Garland sing "Over the Rainbow." You knew she'd done it a million times, but the tears still looked real. Finer live Glitter recordings than this do exist -- his farewell concert from 1976, televised but never commercially released, is probably the best, if only for the incredible version of "You Belong to Me." But still, Remember Me This Way remains the perfect document of Gary Glitter's peak period, vividly capturing the extravaganza in all its glittering excitement, and preserving the frenzy of both his live show and his audience. Remember him this way.