Bay City Rollers
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The Bay City Rollers were a popular Scottish pop band of the 1970s. Their Scottish identity was a major factor in their marketing, and they were one of few groups whose fans had a completely distinctive style of dress, the main elements of which were mid-calf-length tartan trousers and tartan scarves.
The group consisted of five members:
- Eric Faulkner (guitar)
- Alan Longmuir (bass)
- Derek Longmuir (drums)
- Les McKeown (vocals)
- Stuart Wood (guitar)
Most of the band members came from Prestonpans, East Lothian. It was here that they were discovered by potato merchant Tam Paton, who became their manager. In later years, Paton was convicted of paedophile offences.
The Bay City Rollers had several hits that made it to the Top 3 on the British charts, and for a period they had their own television series entitled Shang a Lang (the title of one of their hits). By the spring of 1975, the Rollers were one of the highest selling acts in Britain. Their next single, a cover of the Four Seasons' "Bye Bye Baby", went to number 1 on the music charts in March of 1975, selling a million copies.
They had a dedicated following of teenage girls that was so intense that the media called it "Rollermania". However, they were never popular with music critics nor the male audience, and their popularity quickly waned.
The band members have said they chose their band's name by throwing a dart at a map of the United States. The dart landed on the map near the community of Bay City, Michigan.
A popular playground chant of the time went (to the tune of This Old Man):
- B-A-Y, B-A-Y,
- B-A-Y, C-I-T-Y,
- With an R-O-double-L, E-R-S,
- Bay City Rollers are the best!
Other hits by the band include:
The Missing Millions?
There has been much speculation over years as to what happened to the supposed financial fortune the group generated in their career, with accusations it was defrauded from the group by the record company or management.
However, the accusations often include vastly exagerated claims about the groups earnings. For example, claims that the group sold 300 million records and generated the equivalent of £5 billion in revenue. [1] (http://icteesside.icnetwork.co.uk/0400business/0008bj/comment/tm_objectid=14337477&method=full&siteid=50080&headline=don-t-be-rollered-read-small-print-name_page.html) [2] (http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1063532003) (To put these figures in context, Michael Jackson has only sold a total of 165 million albums in his 26 year solo career and £5 billion is more than twice the 2005 Market Capital value of the EMI Group)ja:ベイ・シティ・ローラーズ sv:Bay City Rollers