After replacing Liz Truss as Prime Minister earlier this week, No 10 Downing Street have release a 90 minute video of Rishi Sunak in his first day on the job. The footage included a hug with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and a phone call with US President Joe Biden, who correctly pronounced his name after originally referring to the new British leader as “Rashid Sanook”. Despite the slickness of the video, viewers have noticed how a familiar drumbeat sounds very much like a song by convicted child sex offender Gary Glitter.
One viewer tweeted: “Not sure I’d have gone with Gary Glitter’s Rock and Roll Part 2 as the soundtrack, but you do you, Rishi.”
Another wrote: “I don’t want to tell 10 Downing Street media how to do their job, but that appears to be a sampled drum loop from a Gary Glitter record?”
And one added: “Sunak’s latest propaganda video has a soundtrack by Gary Glitter, I kid you not. To sum up what they have done to the country? Wanna be in my gang, my gang? No thanks. Rather have a #GeneralElectionN0W.”
However, Rishi Sunak’s spokeswoman has denied the claims and said the soundtrack is “certainly not by Gary Glitter”.
Rock and Roll was Glitter’s debut single 50 years ago as part of his first album Glitter.
The 1972 album comes in two parts, with Part 1 being a vocal track on the history of the rock genre and Part 2 – the one allegedly in the new Sunak video – being mostly an instrumental piece.
Both parts of his Rock and Roll song peaked at No 2 in the UK.
In North America, the track has been regularly used by a number of different sports teams to excite audiences over the years, but the continued use has proven controversial following Glitter’s child sex offense convictions.
Most recently the song was used in 2019 for Todd Phillips’ Oscar-winning movie Joker, when Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck danced down the stairs.
The inclusion of Rock and Rock Part 2 in Joker sparked controversy, with some sources claiming Glitter would receive a lump sum and royalties as co-writer of the song.
However, the LA Times reported that Glitter won’t receive payment as he sold the rights, which are now owned by Universal Music Publishing Group in the US.
The disgraced former pop singer, real name Paul Gadd, sold over 20 million records during his music career.
The 78-year-old has been in and out of prison following his child sex offense convictions and is currently serving a 16 year sentence. He is eligible for release as early as next year.
