Bay City Rollers: The Dark Side of the Tartan

 

Seventies cheese doesn't get any more cheddary than the Bay City Rollers, but they also helped lay the groundwork for the Power Pop movement to come. And for that we must be thankful.

A lot of you are probably too young to remember just how wretched Top 40 radio had gotten by the mid-70s. You had syrupy balladeering cheek-by-jowl with mewlingly-sensitive singer-songwriters and slick, airless Disco. It was a nightmare. So it was cause for celebration anytime you heard anything close to rock and roll on the radio.

Mind you, the Rollers were hardly heavy, but "Rock and Roll Love Letter" has all the elements that Cheap Trick would take to the bank in 1979. 

And "Saturday Night" was a prototype for Oi, whether the skins wanted to admit it or not.

Like all the rest of the "next Beatles" over the years, Rollermania was all over shortly after it began. Even so, I still remember the girls in school wandering the halls wearing their tartan skirts and vests, along with their Dorothy Hamill haircuts and Love's Baby Soft perfume.

I can still taste the Bubble Yum, believe it. 

But given we're talking about the music industry -- and the British music industry in the Seventies -- the story behind the scenes was a lot darker than the Rollers' sunny power pop hits.

• Manager Tam Paton was accused by multiple Rollers of sexual assault and rape. 
• Paton was convicted in 1982 of gross indecency with teenage boys, having created an atmosphere of sexual exploitation and drug use behind the Rollers' wholesome image.
• Paton and associates were accused of stealing millions in royalties from the band, with estimates suggesting the Rollers were swindled out of the equivalent to £5 billion in today's money. 
• Six former Rollers filed a lawsuit against Arista Records in 2007 for breach of contract, alleging they were owed millions in royalties. 
• After dragging on for nearly a decade, the case resulted in an out-of-court settlement in 2016 for a fraction of what was owed.

It all took a toll on the poor Rollers:

• Singer Les McKeown, who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, was involved in a driving accident that killed an elderly neighbor.
• Drummer Derek Longmuir was arrested in 2000 on a chuckee-cheese beef. Longmuir claimed he was framed but still plead guilty, ostensibly to avoid a media circus
• Guitarist Eric Faulkner suffered a severe and scandalous drug overdose during the height of their fame.

Such is the dark side of the Tartan, friends.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 

 XF-ULTRA: The Case Files!

Ony Ten Thirteen. Only $10.13

Just the facts, man! XF-ULTRA: The Case Files is a lean, mean, stripped-down version of the epic X-Files omnibus from the co-author of the official history, The Complete X-Files. 240 pages.

What are you waiting for - get it today!

 

The Secret Sun Institute of
Advanced Synchromysticism 

is waiting for you to take the next step in your
synchro-journey. Come level up.