The Bay City Rollers

Love them or loathe them, The Bay City Rollers were the teenage phenomenon of the 1970s. To all those of you who wanted to marry a Roller, screamed at a baseball boot that once belonged to Woody or cherished a piece of Les' old fag packet, this one's for you . . .

Five young lads from Edinburgh; Alan Longmuir, Eric Faulkner, Stuart "Woody" Wood, Derek Longmuir and Leslie McKeown, took their name by sticking a pin into "Bay City" on a map (the group had previously been known as The Saxons - Saxonmania just doesn't have the same ring, does it?).

Signing to Bell Records in 1971, their chart debut was a remake of The Gentry's 1965 hit Keep On Dancing produced by Jonathan King. The record hit Number 9 in the UK charts, but their subsequent releases (We Can Make Music and Manana) were not successful.

In 1974, after a struggling seven year career with only one Top Ten hit (Keep On Dancing), their manager Tam Paton enlisted songwriters Phil Coulter and Bill Martin and dressed the band in tartan. Remember (Sha La La) was a Top 10 smash.

The Bay City Rollers were born and, for some of us, life would never be the same. By the time the band toured in October 1974 they had scored two more Top Ten hits (Shang-A-Lang and Summerlove Sensation) and 'Rollermania' had the UK in its grip.

Their debut LP, Rollin', topped the UK chart and by this stage, fans would do anything just to catch a glimpse of their idols - stand out in all weathers, waiting outside theatres, TV and recording studios.

No-one could miss the fans in their bum-freezer jackets, tartan-edged ankle-freezers (trousers at half-mast), striped socks, baseball boots and tartan scarves tied around their wrists (with the name of their favourite Roller lovingly emblazoned on the back of their jackets). They would scream, cry and sing at the top of their voices the Rollers anthem ; B-A-Y, B-A-Y, B-A-Y C-I-T-Y etc etc.

Over the next three years, The Bay City Rollers would have 10 Top Ten hits (including three Number One's), five best-selling albums, and a clutch of US hits, including one Number 1.

In 1975, the Shang-A-Lang TV series premiered on Britain's ITV (running until August 17, 1977). In the same year during a BBC1 'fun day' at Mallory Park near Leicester, England, 40 female fans tried to swim across a lake to get to the band and had to be rescued (four of them were hospitalised). The Rollers were evacuated from the site via helicopter without performing.

In September of that year the band made their US TV debut, via satellite, on Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell, and on January 3, 1976 - 13 weeks after being released in America - their single Saturday Night hit the top of Billboard's Hot 100. The Rollers were billed as the new Beatles and America was turning tartan.

In 1976, guitarist Eric Faulkner almost died after a drug overdose of seconal and valium at manager Tam Paton's house. In other incidents that year, Les McKeown was charged with reckless driving after allegedly hitting and killing a 75-year-old woman, and later found not guilty of firing an air rifle at a female fan. So much for being strictly non-smoking milk-drinking cherubs!

By the time the Rollers played a show in Shizuoka in Japan in 1978 things were falling apart within the band. Accordingly, when Les McKeown took to jumping around in a deranged fashion to attract attention, and invading other member's spotlights, Woody laid into him with punches and kicks. The Rollers' manic Japanese fans were horrified and the band split immediately.

These days the group are best remembered for their anthemic single Shang-A-Lang, press speculation as to whether the band actually played their own instruments in the studio (or on stage), and scandals involving their manager Tam Paton who was convicted on charges of drug dealing, dogged by allegations of sexual abuse and jailed for three years on a charge of gross indecency

More recently, drummer Derek Longmuir also found himself on the wrong end of the long arm of the law for alleged possession of child pornography.

Tam Paton died at his home in Edinburgh in April 2009, aged 70, after reportedly suffering a heart attack.

The pop music stars who rocked the fashion world with their popular looks

The Bay City Rollers’ flares and tartan scarves were listed among the most iconic looks in music history yesterday.

The style – adopted by thousands of fans of the Scots group at the height of Rollermania in the 1970s – was voted eighth in the list of iconic looks from the music industry.

Top was the Punk style pioneered by the Sex Pistols, followed by Michael Jackson’s single glove and Madonna’s cone bra – her Jean Paul Gaultier-designed Blonde Ambition look from 1990.

Others included ABBA’s all-white outfits; Kylie Minogue’s hot pants; Frank Sinatra and his tailored suits; and Spice Girl Geri Halliwell with her Union Flag dress.

Edinburgh group The Bay City Rollers – whose hits included Shang-a-Lang, Summerlove Sensation and Bye Bye Baby – were ahead of the famous black-and-white look of KISS and the Parka jackets worn by Oasis.

More than 2000 people across the UK were surveyed for the research, which was carried out by PRS for Music.

The research revealed that 41% of men and 39% of women let their music tastes influence their choice of clothing.

Ellis Rich, chairman of PRS, said: “Since the rise of pop music, it has become more common for the public’s dress sense to meet their music tastes. While bands like ABBA got the ball rolling back in the 1970s, there has been an incredible emergence of new trends blossoming out of the music industry.

“From the New Romantics’ make-up to the alternative Indie lovers, we’ve seen it all.”



Dressed to thrill


The top ten iconic looks are:



1. Sex Pistols - Punk

2. Michael Jackson - Solo glove

3. Madonna - Cone bra

4. ABBA - All white outfits

5.Kylie Minogue - Hot pants

6. Frank Sinatra - Smart suit

7. Geri Halliwel - Union Flag dress

8. Bay City Roller - Tartan

9. KISS - Black and white

10. Oasis - Parka jackets


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8th? Should've been 1st! But then again I am biased.

BCR Book Review

Saw this review by an American journalist for a Bay City Roller book recently:-

"Tam Paton's sensational inside story of Britains No. 1 pop group. The most popular singing band to come from England since the Beatles!"

Seems our precious cousin from across the pond hasn't cottoned on to the fact that the BCR came from Scotland. Or maybe he was just being mischievous! And in case anyone's wondering, no, Scotland is NOT in England!!! And at the moment it's also still in the UK - just about!

Once In a Lifetime Tour 2010 Gets Underway

Well it's that time again! Yes, time for the 'Once In A Lifetime' tour - that fabulous tour that celebrates the best of the 'boy bands' or 'boy singers' of the 70's! You know the ones, the ones that caused mayhem up and down the land and caused teenage (and pre-teens) to swoon at the very sight of them! The ones that caused young girls to collect their posters and put them up on their walls and run away from home to try to catch a glimpse of them! (ahh, young love eh) Well I went to a 'Once in a lifetime' concert again this year. Missed the tour last time so was determined to get there this time! And I believe sadly, it'll probably be my last time. Personally I believe the first 'OIAL' tour was far better than this year. It had all the excitment of everyone who grew up in the 70's being able to once again see some of the 70's groups and singers they'd loved (or even loathed) from that groovy and great era. The line-up back then was David Cassidy, David Essex, The Osmonds and The Bay City Rollers! Erm... actually, not the real BCR from the 70's, it was the lead singer and some other guys who probably weren't even born when the original Rollers were at the height of their fame so it's a little bit naughty to call them the Bay City Rollers. Even calling them the 'LM legendary BCR' doesn't sound right to me. Anyway, at that first tour there were loads of David Cassidy fans, many had on David Cassidy scarves, some had on DC badges. Then there were the Osmond fans with their Osmond scarves (their seemed to be far more Osmond merchandise than anyone elses!) many had Osmond T.shirts on, some had Osmond badges on, some Osmond necklaces on. Many brought the programme which sold for around £10. (ouch!) Actually, I can't really remember seeing that many Osmond badges, saw some rosettes but I think it was mainly Osmond scarves. And they wore them around their necks with pride. There was a pair of Osmond fans who were outside before the concert started. They looked absolutely great in their Osmond gear. I can't remember what they wore but it was bright coloured and they had hats on (kinda like cowboy hats, not the purple 'Donny' hat) along with Osmond badges and rossettes. I just wish I'd had the guts to ask if I could take a picture of them! Sights like those of loyal fans of pop groups or singers of the 60's or 70's are priceless, because they capture a time when society was much more innocent. In those days, every girl had her favourite BOY pop singer who she was in love with or BOY pop group who she was in love with and no girl was interested in girl groups and no one was obsessed with sexual perversion! It was called the 70's, when people were a little bit more normal! There were also plenty of David Essex fans milling around but the ones that stood out the most were the Bay City Roller fans, as usual! Many had on their Roller gear (or some of it) There were Roller fans with tartan scarves round their necks or round their wrists, Roller fans with Roller badges on or with tartan trimmed trousers, (some shortened others not) tartan trimmed shirts and stripey socks on and plenty of Bay City Roller badges. Oh, and 2 Roller fans came in matching outfits, both had on denim jackets with a Bay City Roller T. shirt on underneath (the original 70's one which many fans had in the 70's including me) BCR necklaces and home-made BCR badges on their jackets. Oh, and of course tartan scarves! Boy, the memories came flooding back I can tell you. So much tartan everywhere. It felt like we were back in the 70's. It was so great seeing so many loyal Roller fans who'd come to see the Rollers. (or Les' Mckeown's version of them anyway) and the other 70's groups/singers. It was good to see the loyal fans of all of the groups/singers actually, really good. The most unusual sight was a woman dressed in half Osmond gear and half Roller gear. Or was it half Os half DC? No, it was half Osmond gear and half BCR gear And though she looked good as all the fans who made an effort to dress up as fans did , she also looked very strange! It looked so weird. In the 70's, girls liked either or, not both! There may have been the odd exceptions of course, but it was unusual for any fan to like both the Osmonds AND The Bay City Rollers in the UK. So seeing that was kind of weird. Anyway, saw this post of 'The Liverpool Echo' giving the low-down on the Once In A Lifetime (Remember The 70's) concert in Liverpool. There was a line up change this year, Leo Sayer replacing David Cassidy. I would have loved David Cassidy to have been there again but Leo Sayer was very good so it was ok. It would have been great to have had all 5 of them actually. That would have been ideal. But like I said, Leo Sayer was surprisingly good - I really loved hearing 'moonlighting' again. What a great tune. It bought back tons of memories. And all good. Anyway, a great time was had by all. Who was the most popular on the night? Hard to tell, but the fans sportingly seemed to support all the artists, regardless of who their favourites in the 70's were. In the 70's their was bitter rivalry amongst fans, especially amongst the David Cassidy and Osmond fans. Actually I seem to remember Osmond fans hating Roller fans, and visa versa. (I think the former was probably due to jealousy!) But on the whole, on that night, old rivalries were forgotten and everyone had a great time. The atmosphere was electric - so exciting, so happy, full of laughter and joy. And we all soaked up that wonderful, happy atmosphere. It was an absolutely FABtastic night - pure 70's nostalgia!

Jacke Magazine On TV

Recently a documentary came on the TV about the 70's mag 'Jackie'. It was called "Jackie - A Girl's Best Friend' which was very interesting. Learned stuff I never knew or hadn't remembered (like the Cathy and Clair page). Also that the mag was produced in Scotland! Had absolutely no idea, thought it was London. That was a bit of surprise. The programme was great, so nostalgic. It bought back great memories. But just one gripe. I felt they dwelt on David Cassidy way too much. It was ridiculous. Towards the end I felt they went on about the Osmonds and David Cassidy far too much, well especially DC. It became like a DC love-fest. Especially when that Nina whats-her-name started drooling all over him. Omg, that Nina whatever-her-name-is just about made my stomach turn! Anyway, as far as I'm concerned there was way too much time spent on talking about DC. But even if they did choose to talk about him (I didn't mind them talking about him I was glad they did) they should have at least made the show a little more balanced and talked about other pop singers or pop groups that were popular in the 70's and given them the same amount of time. Anyone would have thought DC had been the only one to appear in Jackie mag! What about the BCR? Where were they? They didn't feature the BCR at all which I thought was a bit of a cheek! (but they didn't mind featuring BCR fans and pretending that they had been DC fans which I thought was a real cheek! It really was. That was just wrong) When I bought Jackie way back then, the Rollers were in it a lot, but the documentary makers chose to ignore this fact and fawn all over DC (who is bigheaded enough as it is in my honest opinion) Now don't get me wrong, got absolutely nothing against DC, in fact he seems a really nice and charming chap - but I do think the fame may have gone to his head a little at some point. I was actually a David Cassidy fan in the 70's, but it was because I sensed some big-headedness that I went off him. There were all sorts of pop singers and groups in Jackie mag from David Essex to Hello, Slik, David Soul, The Rubettes, Sweet, Gary Glitter...... Erm.... ok, forget GG. Yes, if only we could.

A 70's Roller Fan Blogger! transfer

Hey, found a person who was a Bay City Roller fan in the 70's in Bloggerland! Yes, there are loads of us! I'm very impressed that the said Roller fan had the guts to put a picture of herself in full Roller gear on the net. Don't think many Roller fans or former Roller fans would be so brave! Former Roller Fan Blogger