The demise of the Bay City Rollers came about in late 1978, after differences (or should that be conflicts?) between singer Leslie McKeown and the rest of the band came to a head during the recording of The Bay City Rollers show, a venture which, for many, brought the band's already flagging career to an abrupt end. After McKeown's departure, the remaining Rollers wasted no time in recruiting South African Duncan Faure as a replacement. Not only did this sever ties with McKeown, albeit temporarily, but a situation in Germany also resulted in their infamous manager Tam Paton also disassociating himself from the band. As alarming as these events may have seemed, the Bay City Rollers now had the creative freedom they so wanted and deserved. But was it too late?
Alan, Derek, Woody and Eric in early 1975 with McKeown, far left.
It may be suggested that dropping the 'Bay City' from their moniker may have been a step too far, especially bearing in mind the dramatic shift in direction the music took. However, this was, in many ways, a new band. The music was stronger than before, and although they had lost a great showman in McKeown, Faure brought to the table a formidable and versatile talent, much better suited to the ideas Eric Faulkner had been harbouring, as he had for a long time been the creative nucleus of the Bay City Rollers. As much as they had been abandoned, the new look/new sound Rollers still had much more to give.
For an exclusive Q&A with Duncan, click HERE
With eager beaver Faure on board, the Rollers began their new catalogue with Elevator in 1979. After the failure of the Strangers In The Wind album in 1978, the Rollers found themselves way down the pecking order at Arista. The album, however eclectic, was the most cohesive album the band had ever released in any of their incarnations, and spawned three singles in its title track, Turn On The Radio and Hello And Welcome Home which had, incidentally, been previously recorded by Rabbitt. This meant that it was the natural choice for single release in South Africa, where Duncan had had enormous success with Rabbitt and on his own. Hello And Welcome Home was a respectable hit in Duncan's homeland but due to poor promotion, the other singles failed to perform. Indeed, the LP only got widespread release in Germany and Japan, and therefore failed to chart anywhere else.
The Rollers only had one more chance with Arista, and Voxx did not rise to the occasion. More in keeping with the very first couple of Rollers albums, Voxx was somewhat haphazard, consisting mainly of leftovers from the prolific Elevator sessions. It did however, contain some real gems in The Hero and Soho, but the album and its one single, God Save Rock'n'Roll made no impact on the world at all. Consequentially, the Rollers were dropped by Arista in 1980.
A new record deal with Epic-CBS gave the Rollers second wind, but by now it was too late. As with Elevator, the band had come forward with an outstanding album, containing such cult favourites as Doors Bars Metal (written by Faure while the band were briefly imprisoned in South Africa in 1980) and Life On The Radio. With promotional videos made for these two songs and Ride (all shown below), Epic-CBS were willing to give the Rollers the chance they deserved. The album's initial release was in Canada, where things looked hopeful. The album was released in an anonymous brown bag with a card attached. Everyone who bought the album was to send the card to Epic-CBS, and their names would be included on the inner sleeve once the album was re-released properly. Sales were steady but good due to the mystery surrounding this new album and healthy radio play. However, once it was revealed that this new musical force was in fact the Rollers, disaster struck. Such was the stigma still attached to the band, the record was immediately withdrawn in many stores, radio play ceased completely and the newly launched MTV went back on their promise to play the three promo videos. The Rollers were finished.
The three albums released by the Rollers from 1979 remain a wasted legacy. A band that had once been the darlings of the world were ironically now cast aside at their creative peak. Possibly due to the way the Bay City Rollers had once been marketed, they had been adopted by a naive and fickle audience who, on the most part, were unwilling to let the band grow up and change with them. If it weren't for a quiet and resilient few, the Rollers would have no doubt given up much sooner than they did. Instead, they held on to their hope and the loyalty of the fans they still had and have left behind them three fantastic albums that have been hidden away for too long and without just cause. It is the final chapter of one of the most tragic stories in music history. A band thought of as a mere fad, a group of anonymous boys who couldn't play their own instruments were now proving themselves to be accomplished and highly respectable musicians, artists even. Except by now, nobody was listening. If you like the Bay City Rollers, check out the Rollers, the world-weary moral victors doing what they had wanted all along, and doing it well. I dare you not to like them.
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