1970s boy band from Edinburgh, Scotland.
n 1964, a trio called the Ambassadors was formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, by 16-year-old Alan Longmuir on acoustic guitar, his younger brother Derek Longmuir on drums, and their older cousin Neil Porteous on acoustic guitar. The group never performed publicly under this name, just a family wedding where they covered "Wake Up Little Susie". They changed their name to the Saxons, and Derek invited a friend from school, Gordon "Nobby" Clark, to be the lead singer. Porteous moved from acoustic to electric guitar, and Alan Longmuir followed suit by changing to electric bass.The Saxons played occasional dance hall concerts while the band members completed their schooling or worked during the day (Alan apprenticed as a plumber). Porteous left the band in July 1965, with new guitarist Dave Pettigrew filling the spot after answering an advertisement placed by the band in an Edinburgh newspaper. Pettigrew was more advanced musically than the others, and pushed the band to improve. Their repertoire included American R&B/pop songs such as "Please Mr. Postman" and "Heat Wave". They played at least one gig at the Gonk Club as the Deadbeats, but they discovered a conflict: Another band was playing locally as Rock Bottom and the Deadbeats.
While taking a technical class at Napier College, Alan met fellow plumbing student Gregory Ellison, who joined the Saxons on electric guitar, with Pettigrew shifting to keyboards. Gregory's older brother Mike joined as a second lead singer, allowing more complex harmonies, especially useful for the Motown songs they liked to perform. The band convinced Tam Paton, a former big band leader and influential local band and club manager, to audition them at the Longmuirs' house. Paton booked them for a Thursday night at his club, the Palais, then assigned them to open for the Hipple People at Top Storey. More gigs followed.
More successful now, the Saxons moved out of the Longmuirs' back room to practice in Hermiston at a church. They played a couple of contemporary Kinks numbers but favored American songs, including a new one: "C.C. Rider" by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. Desiring a better name for the band, they settled on "Rollers", but needed a more powerful American-sounding term in front of that. Derek Longmuir threw a dart at a map of the United States, landing first on Arkansas. This did not meet anyone's approval, so a second dart was thrown. It landed near Bay City, Michigan. The band agreed on the name, the Bay City Rollers. 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 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.Upon this release's success, they made appearances on BBC One's Top of the Pops.
Bay City Rollers - Strangers In The Wind (1978) @ 320
01. Bay City Rollers - Another Rainy Day In New York City
02. Bay City Rollers - All Of The World Is Falling In Love
03. Bay City Rollers - Where Will I Be Now
04. Bay City Rollers - Back On The Street
05. Bay City Rollers - Strangers In The Wind
06. Bay City Rollers - Love Brought Me Such A Magical Thing
07. Bay City Rollers - If You Were My Woman
08. Bay City Rollers - Every Tear I Cry
09. Bay City Rollers - Shoorah Shoorah For Hollywood
10. Bay City Rollers - When I Say I Love You (The Pie)
11. Bay City Rollers - All Of The World Is Falling In Love (Single Version)
Thanks a lot
ReplyDelete