Bay City Rollers

[Ron Phillipchuk]

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The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop band whose popularity was highest in the mid 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'biggest group since the Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at teeny-bopper acts of the 1970s".  For a relatively brief, but fervent period (nicknamed "Rollermania"), they were worldwide teen idols. The group's line-up had numerous changes over the years, but the classic line-up during its heyday included; guitarists Eric Faulkner and Stuart John Wood, singer Les McKeown, bassist Alan Longmuir, and drummer Derek Longmuir.

Early days and formation: 1966–73
In 1966 bassist Alan Longmuir, his younger brother, drummer Derek Longmuir and their schoolfriend, lead singer Gordon "Nobby" Clark, founded The Saxons in Edinburgh, Scotland. Soon after, they changed to The Bay City Rollers by throwing a dart at a map of the United States, which landed "near" Bay City, Michigan.  The Bay City Rollers' first manager was Tam Paton, himself a former big band leader.Short-term members from this period included bassist David Paton (from 1969 to 1970) and keyboardist Billy Lyall (1969–71), who went on to be founding members of another successful Edinburgh band, Pilot.

After signing with Bell Records, the band's first hit was "Keep On Dancing" (UK No. 9, 1971), a cover of a 1965 hit by The Gentrys, recorded with record producer Jonathan King. Clark was backed on vocals on "Keep On Dancing" by King, multi-tracked. Upon this release's success, they made appearances on BBC One's Top of the Pops.[citation needed] The group then won a Radio Luxembourg-sponsored song contest with the tune "Mañana", which was later popular in parts of Europe and in Israel.[citation needed]

Several non-charting singles were released over the following two years. This period saw the addition of long term member guitarist Eric Faulkner. In mid-1973 they narrowly missed the UK Singles Chart with the fourth single, "Saturday Night", one of many songs written and produced for the band by the songwriting duo of Scotsman Bill Martin and Irishman Phil Coulter.[citation needed] By the end of 1973, Clark had become disillusioned with the band's musical direction and decided to leave just when his recording of "Remember (Sha La La La)" zoomed up the charts to No.6. He was replaced as lead singer by Les McKeown. A couple of months later, in early 1974, what became known as the classic line-up  was completed when guitarist John Devine was replaced by Stuart "Woody" Wood.

[Ron Phillipchuk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGD27WgtKhI


I Only Want to Be with You" is a rock and roll song written by Mike Hawker[1] and Ivor Raymonde. The debut solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield under her long-time producer Johnny Franz, "I Only Want to Be with You" peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles chart in January 1964. Three remakes of the song have been UK chart hits, the first two by the Bay City Rollers (1976) and the Tourists (1979) matching the number 4 peak of the Dusty Springfield original, while the 1989 remake by Samantha Fox peaked at number 16. In the US on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "I Only Want to Be with You" has been a Top 40 hit three times, with both the Dusty Springfield original and the Bay City Rollers' remake peaking at number 12 while the Samantha Fox remake peaked at number 31. "I Only Want to Be with You" has also been recorded by a wide range of artists, several of whom sing the song with lyrics translated from the original English.

[ludo willems]

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