Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah!)

Americans know this song from Joan Jett's 1982 cover, which comes off as sensuously assertive. But the song was co-written and recorded in 1973 by Gary Glitter, who decades later was exposed as a craven sexual predator. The song finds Glitter trying every trick to get a girl to give up the goods. When he sings, "Do you wanna touch me there? Yeah!," it's pretty obvious what he's talking about. 1973 was the pinnacle of Glitter's form of glam rock, where any lyrics (his first hit, "Rock And Roll Part 2," is essentially a chant) were overwhelmed by the musical and visual bombast - his outrageous outfits and theatrical stage shows proved an effective distraction. Without these accoutrements, the Glitter version is rather creepy, especially in light of his crimes.

Joan Jett, who spent lots of time in '70s England with her group The Runaways, brought a more refined glam rock sound to America with her cover of this song in 1980 that was included on her first album, which went nowhere. But in 1981, she covered another glam rocker that made her a star: "I Love Rock And Roll," a 1975 song by The Arrows that became one of the biggest hits of the '80s. Her cover of "Crimson And Clover" was released as her next single, followed by "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)," which was extracted for her third, reaching #20 US. Since the original was little-known in America, most listeners thought it was a new song.

Gary Glitter wrote this with his producer, Mike Leander.