Gary Holton was one of those figures in the folklore of British cultural history whose legend lives on and beyond his moderate success. He was, for those of us in the UK and of a certain age best known for his role in the iconic television series Auf Wiedersehen Pet, a series first aired in 1983 about a group of British builders working in Germany. Holton played an image of himself; punk-rock hair style and leather jacket, drinker and London geezer alongside Geordies, a Bristolian and a Scouser. The combination was engaging, funny and often poignant.
Holton joined the cast being best known for his involvement as lead singer in the British rock band The Heavy Metal Kids. More glam than hard rock, they formed in 1972 with Holton fronting the band until he was sacked three years later for the bad publicity around his drug and alcohol habit. In 1977 he rejoined to perform a series of live shows before leaving again the following year and sealing the band’s demise. In 1979 he appeared in Quadrophenia as an ‘aggressive rocker’ followed by appearances in The Gentle Touch, Minder and Bulman.
Holton lived and died like many of us believe a rockstar should. Except true star status evaded him and he died depressed and broke. In debt to the taxman, family and fellow artists, Lemmy from Motörhead would recall “the bastard owed me a fiver when he died”
His relationships came and went, in the end he died in bed next to his fiancée, Jahnet McIllwain his blood full of alcohol, morphine, cannabis and diazepam. He had battled heroin addiction and wanted to help others similarly affected but it proved too much. The British tabloids rarely cut him a break, revelling in his struggles, on the set of Auf Wiedersehen Pet that addiction became so problematic he was described as ‘out of control’ Tabloid hacks were relentless in their pursuit of him and they eventually broke him.
After he died the producers of the series decided to keep his character alive using look-alikes, voice dubs and long range camera shots. His death shocked fans unaware of the issues in his personal life, to them he was a star, to others a footnote to a wider story. His life was manic, his legend formed in bars, break-ups and bad gigs, the real-life Artful Dodger. They don’t make them like him anymore.
Gary Holton 1952-1985
Categories: The Music Lounge
retroculturati 
Saw the HMK in 1974 at The George Hotel, Burslem, Staffordshire (Lemmy’s home town as it happens…). He was a more than decent frontman, though the band’s songs were at best derivative. If he’d been three or four years younger he’d undoubtedly have fronted a punk band and probably been a massive star in the style of Billy Idol for example.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s really interesting and I always hope to hear anecdotes like this so thank you! Timing is everything in that world so he may well have done more, as you say. A great shame.
LikeLike