Bay City Rollers in Plymouth

The Bay City Rollers are the biggest boy band in the UK in 1975 and are taking their tartan charm on tour around the country. Alan and Derek Longmuir, Eric Faulkner, Les Mackeown, Stuart Wood are known as the tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh. By throwing a dart on a map after wishing to add to the Rollers they came up with their name. (The dart hit Bay City Michigan). Their first single release for Bell Records was Keep on Dancing (1971) and they appeared on Top of the Pops.

The Rollers’ breakthrough single was Remember in 1974 and Shang-a-Lang, Summerlove Sensation and All of Me Loves All of You followed. A Four Seasons’ cover Bye, Bye, Baby hit number one in March followed by Give a Little Love in July 1975. Fans queue to get tickets wearing cropped tartan trousers and tartan scarves, stripy socks and platforms. Television programme Shang-a-Lang followed the group over a twenty-week period. In 2011, they filed a lawsuit in the US against Arista Records for unpaid royalties but settled out-of-court. The Bay City Rollers have enjoyed comeback tours but lost founder member Alan Longmuir in 2018. Liam Rudden’s musical I Ran with the Gang is based on the days of Rollermania.