02 December 2008
Newsdesk
ONLINE retail giant Amazon has been slammed by a children's charity for calling pop paedophile Gary Glitter "second only to Freddie Mercury".
On the site's blurb for "The Ultimate Gary Glitter: 25 Years of Hits', it states: "Perhaps second to only Freddie Mercury, Gary Glitter was the most flamboyant figure of the early '70s UK glam rock movement" before praising his back catalogue of songs including "Do You Wanna Touch Me".
But charity Kidscape - which was formed in 1985 to combat child abuse - blasted Amazon for its glowing account of the disgraced former pop star.
Director Claude Knights said the site should delete all praise in Glitter's favour and remove references to the song 'Do You Wanna Touch Me'.
She said: ""The song 'Do You Wanna Touch Me' is far too raw and close to the subject. It's a very unfortunate title and in light of what has happened it is not in good taste.
"This song in particular should not be flagged up or given any undue attention by Amazon. It's totally inappropriate.
"The blurb on Amazon makes Glitter sound like a semi-icon. That ignores public opinion and by putting this on its website it is ignoring people's sensibilities."
A spokesman for Amazon said it would look into the matter.
Glitter, 64, real name Paul Gadd, returned to the UK earlier this year and was placed on the Sex Offenders Register after serving three years in jail in Vietnam for sex crimes against two young girls.
An TV advert for computer giant Hewlett Packard featuring the song 'Do You Wanna Touch Me' - which would have earned Glitter around £100,000 - was pulled in October after bosses agreed it was 'insensitive'.
