We track down the ‘forgotten’ Bay City Rollers members from over the years.. can you remember them?
There have been more than 20 Rollers who have come and gone — meaning four entirely different line-ups could be staged
THE most famous Bay City Rollers line-up could be reunited for the first time in decades in the New Year.
Frontman Les McKeown and guitarists Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood and Alan Longmuir, below, are about to hit the road for a UK tour, including The SSE Hydro in Glasgow on December 11.
Now it’s rumoured that missing members Eric Faulkner and Derek Longmuir could make a surprise return to the band in 2017.
But there have been more than 20 Rollers who have come and gone over the years — meaning four entirely different line-ups could be staged.
Chief Features Writer MATT BENDORIS tracks down some of the other members who waved Bye Bye Baby to the group.
Alan Dunn
ALAN thought a bizarre initiation into The Bay City Rollers was a load of hot air — until he had to light one of his own FARTS to earn a place in the band.
The bassist was just a 15-year-old wannabe from Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, when he was asked to join the pre-hits 1969 line-up. But first he had to prove he was ready to kick up a stink in the pop charts.
He says: “The first thing I had to do wasn’t play an instrument or anything like that, it was to prove I could light my own farts. I had never tried before, why would I? But after I did that successfully I was in. That was part of the initiation ceremony to get into The Rollers.”
However, his gas was soon put at a peep by Rollers manager Tam Paton, who told Alan he would be stepping into the shoes of keyboard player Keith Norman.
He recalls: “I said to Tam, ‘I can’t play the keyboards’, and he replied, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll teach you’. And he did.”
Sadly Alan, who lives in Fife with wife Shiona, never lasted long enough to live through the group’s glory years after he was beaten up by two thugs and left with career-threatening injuries.
He says: “These two guys were jealous because I was in the band and they pushed me through a window, cutting all the tendons in my arm. That was it, I was out of The Rollers because I couldn’t play the keyboards.”
Ironically Alan later joined a group called Keyhole with Eric Faulkner — who was then recruited to join The Rollers.
The 62-year-old, who formed rock band Highlander before becoming a full-time carpet fitter, says: “I told Eric, ‘If you want to be a Roller, you’ll have to learn to light your own farts’.
“The silly bugger dropped his pants there and then and tried to light a fart, but set fire to his bum hair instead. It created some stink. I can only presume he perfected his technique to earn his place in the band.”
Alan was so desperate to escape from The Rollers’ shadow, he quit Scotland for France and even changed his surname to Macleod.
He says: “I had to leave as every time I turned on the radio The Rollers were always on. It was doing my head in because I knew it should have been me.
“I ended up playing with a French rock band for five years. But really, you can’t escape The Rollers.
“Even now when I am fitting people’s carpets I will still get an old fan who will recognise me. I’ve signed autographs while I’m working.
“Now I am proud of my small part in their history — although it was the most bizarre initiation ceremony ever.”
Duncan Faure
BRAVE Duncan knew it was a tall order replacing Scots fave Les McKeown in the tartan rockers — as the new singer was from South Africa.
Already a star with 70s band Rabbit in his homeland, Duncan took over from pin-up Les after the frontman famously quit when Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood booted him off the stage in Tokyo.
He recalls: “Obviously I am not Scottish, I am South African and sound South African, but I was still welcomed by the fans. The first gig I did was in front of 20,000 people. I was thrown in the deep end, but after that I never looked back.”
Duncan left US music mogul Freddy DeMann — the manager who steered the careers of Michael Jackson and Shakira — to sign for dodgy Rollers boss Tam Paton.
But he still insists his time in the group, from 1978 to when they disbanded in 1982, were “the best of my life”.
The 59-year-old, who lives in Las Vegas with wife Laurie and their two teenage kids, says: “I loved it. Derek and Alan Longmuir, along with Eric Faulkner and Woody, were my best friends.”
Ian Mitchell
IAN spent just eight months in the feuding Rollers — but his short stint still earned him a namecheck on Friends. The heart-throb was a 17-year-old pretty boy from Northern Ireland when he replaced founder Alan Longmuir in the Scots supergroup in 1976 shortly after their first American No1 Saturday Night.
Amazingly, Ian later popped up in a 2001 episode of Friends when Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) get engaged.
In it, Monica says: “I want a string quartet for the processional, a jazz trio for cocktails and The Bay City Rollers for dancing.”
But Chandler warns: “You couldn’t get The Rollers anyway as Ian doesn’t play any more.”
The 57-year-old, who has been married to Wendy-Ann Antanaitis for 24 years, laughs: “I fell off my chair when I saw that. Then I thought, ‘Well at least everyone knows I’m not dead’.”
Us citizen Ian carved out a new life for himself in California as a computer programmer and motivational speaker — and also enjoys hunting with an M16 rifle.
Nobby Clark
THE ROLLERS’ first frontman Gordon ‘Nobby’ Clark is not surprised that the band went on to have 20 members – blaming the group’s strict celibacy rules.
Manager Tam Paton famously banned booze and groupies, making sure the boys only drank pints of milk instead.
And Nobby, 63, who founded The Rollers in 1965 with brothers Derek and Alan Longmuir at Tynecastle Secondary in Edinburgh, insists: “That wasn’t record company PR spin. There really was a strict no-sex rule and Tam was totally and utterly against alcohol too.
“I remember sitting in Tam’s car outside some of the guys’ houses late at night as he suspected they were seeing a girl. He would catch them and they’d be out the band. But most of the guys who were caught seeing girls walked away before they were fired. They just couldn’t handle his rules.
“He was a control freak and obviously had feelings towards some members of the band, so there was a bit of jealously there.”
Paton was jailed in 1982 for gross indecency with two teenage boys and in 2004 was fined £200,000 for supplying cannabis.
He died in 2009, aged 70.
Pat McGlynn
PAT reckons the only good thing to come out of being in The Bay City Rollers was meeting his wife.
The 58-year-old from Edinburgh started dating former Page 3 girl Janine Andrews during his three months in the group after replacing Ian Mitchell at the end of 1976.
Pat has gone on to be one of the most outspoken critics of the group – in particular late boss Tam Paton.
However, McGlynn, who is now a successful property developer in the Scottish capital, says: “I met Janine after a Rollers gig and we’ve virtually been together ever since.”
Janine, 55, has spent the last couple of years battling breast and ovarian cancer.
Pat adds: “We’re just hoping she finally gets the all-clear.”
