Pros: Various power pop artists performing Bay City Rollers hits including "Saturday Night" and "Money Honey."
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: Good opportunity to experience Bay City Rollers hits performed by a number of up-and-coming acts, including Chewy Marble, The Flashcubes, Gary And The Gripweeds, The Masticators and Ed James.
Don_Krider's Full Review: Men in Plaid: A Tribute to the Bay City Rollers
Wipe that silly smirk off your face --- The Bay City Rollers were better than most critics admitted at the time and their music stands up well more than two decades after their star faded from the Top 10 charts.
"Rollermania" was the term the press coined (ala "Beatlemania") for the Scottish fivesome that peaked in England in the early '70s, then conquered Europe and Japan, and who finally crossed the Atlantic Ocean to slaughter the U. S. pop charts in 1975.
The five, mostly barely out-of-their teens musicians, already had a string of hit singles (including ten British Top 10 hits) and albums in the United Kingdom, made their U. S. television debut in October, 1975, on Howard Cosell's "Saturday Night Live" prime-time variety series (not to be confused with NBC's late night "Saturday Night," which didn't add "Live" to its title until Cosell's show was cancelled the following year).
To thunderous screams from an audience of teenage girls, The Bay City Rollers took the stage and by month's end their single, "Saturday Night," had U. S. audiences singing "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y" over-and-over again as they sang along to the song's chorus. Their fans also bought more than a million copies of the single, earning the band a Gold Record Award.
The tune rose to # 1 in the U. S. by year-end. In early 1976, the men who dressed in plaid outfits had their fans dressing just like them and they scored their second Top 10 hit with "Money Honey" rising to # 9 on the charts.
By 1978, the band had achieved a total of eight U. S. Hot 100 singles (including six that went Top 40), including "Rock And Roll Love Letter" (# 28 in 1976), "I Only Want To Be With You" (# 12, 1976), "Yesterday's Hero" (# 54, 1976-77), "Dedication" (# 60, 1977), "You Made Me Believe In Magic" (# 10, 1977, their third and final Top 10 hit) and "The Way I Feel Tonight" (# 24, 1977-78).
During the same period in the U. S., the act proved it could sell albums, too. They scored six Top 200 Billboard Album Chart hits by 1978, with five of those long-players earning Gold Record Awards: "Bay City Rollers" (# 20, 1975, spent 35 weeks on the charts), "Rock N' Roll Love Letter" (# 31, 1976), "Dedication" (produced by Raspberries' producer Jimmy Ienner; # 26, 1976), "It's A Game" (# 23, 1977) and "Greatest Hits" (# 77, 1977).
Although the band had undergone numerous changes in personnel over the years (first forming as The Saxons in 1967), the departure of lead singer Les McKeown for a solo career spelled the end in 1978. The group continued on as "The Rollers" but never regained its chart footing again.
Meanwhile, the fans continued to love the music, and so, apparently, did a lot of power pop musicians.
Evidence of that fanship for the "Tartan Sound" is on the CD "Men In Plaid: A Tribute To The Bay City Rollers," released in 1999 on Bullseye Records Of Canada. I don't normally have kind things to say about tribute albums, but the performances here often are equal to or better than The Bay City Rollers original versions of the tunes.
Among the power pop acts involved: The Flashcubes (the pride of Syracuse, N. Y., featuring Tommy Allen and Gary Frenay), Chewy Marble, The Masticators (featuring Robbie Rist, who once played the cousin for six weeks on "The Brady Bunch"), Ed James, Anton Barbeau, Jeremy Morris, Gary Gold & The Gripweeds and Kennie Cruz of The Bobbies.
The CD:
17 tracks (and a hidden 18th track) on a single CD, produced by Jamie Vernon, Mark Hershberger and Sharon Vernon.
The four-page CD booklet features cartoon images of The Bay City Rollers ("BCR" to their die-hard fan base) on its cover by Wayno, reminding everyone that for a time BCR had their own Saturday morning, live action/music series on U. S. television. The booklet includes track listings with songwriter information and personnel on each track (with email, snail mail and/or website info for most of the acts involved).
The tracks:
"Wouldn't You Like It" by The Flashcubes, "I Only Want To Dance With You" by The Masticators, "Rock And Roll Love Letter" By Gary & The Gripweeds, "You Made Me Believe In Magic" by Ed James, "Hello And Welcome Home" by Chewy Marble, "Saturday Night" by Anton Barbeau and "Yesterday's Hero" by Words.
Also, "Love Brought Me Such A Magical Thing" by Tom Davis, "Too Young To Rock And Roll" by Squires Of The Subterrain, "Let's Go (A Huggin' And A Kissin')" by Kennie Cruz of The Bobbies, "Here Comes That Feeling Again" by Jeremy Morris, "When Will You Be Mine" by Tom Davis, "Rock 'N Roller" by Nixon's Head, "Money Honey" by Reptopia, "Love Power" by Fudge, "Martina" by Boxed Cricket and "Saturday Night" by Dipsomaniacs.
The hidden 18th track is a humorous, short demo of "Wouldn't You Like It" by the otherwise wonderful Flashcubes (who can be heard admitting, "This mix sucks!").
Recommendation:
The album has some great performances (the best are cited below) and some that aren't so great, but overall this is a fine album --- a nice way to hear a number of power pop acts performing songs you may have heard before and a way of meeting some "new" bands.
Fans of '70s power pop and bubblegum music should enjoy this release.
Interestingly, all the performances "are approved and condoned by the original band members," according to the record label.
The best tracks:
"Rock And Roll Love Letter":
I'm a fan of singer-musician-rock critic Gary "Pig" Gold who's a talented, sweet voiced lead singer with Gary And The Gripweeds. I loved The Rollers original version of Timothy Moore's "Rock And Roll Love Letter," but Gary And The Gripweeds do a better-than-original cover of the tune here.
Their version is full of delicious power-chorded, jangly guitars, with throbbing bass and to-die-for drum kit bashing, all layered beneath some gloriously unplifting harmonies and Gary's stirring lead vocal:
"Hey sister poet, dear brother poet, too / these tears that words are make me wanna be with you / but I need to spend my body, I'm a music makin' man / and no page can release it like this amplifier can / this is my rock and roll love letter to you / ... / I'm gonna sign it, gonna seal it, gonna mail it away / I'm gonna mail it today..."
It also includes the double-meaning lyrics of "'cause I see an ancient rhythm in a man's genetic code / gotta keep on rock 'n' rolling till my genes explode." Pretty cool and darn near perfect as a rock recording.
"Wouldn't You Like It":
They came from Syracuse, New York, and The Flashcubes are one of the lost treasures of the late '70s power pop movement (huge fans of The Raspberries and Big Star with equal reverance for The Hollies, The Kinks, The Who and The Beatles).
The recently-reunited Flashcubes feature drummer Tommy Allen (producer of The Sighs, among others), guitarist Arty Lenin (he appeared on Paul Collins' "From Town To Town" CD), guitarist Paul Armstrong (who also recorded with The Richards) and bassist Gary Frenay (with solo albums and two Syracuse Area Music SAMMY Awards to his credit). Worth seeking out is their CD, "Bright Lights," for pure pop enjoyment.
On "Wouldn't You Like It," The Flashcubes launch an agressive guitar attack on the intro and melody (even sneaking in the main guitar riff from The Knack's "My Sharona" in the song's fade-out), with a rock-steady backbeat from Tommy Allen propelling the tune. Their version equals the original in my book and proves that Rollers Eric Faulkner and Stuart Wood could write some great rock tunes:
"...wouldn't you like it (like it?) / wouldn't you like it, maybe we could be lovers..."
"You Made Me Believe In Magic":
Retaining the ballad, disco-tinged charm of the original, Ed James' cover of the Leonard Boone-written "You Made Me Believe In Magic" features James' sweet, yearning lead vocal.
James also plays all the instruments on the track, even providing his own backup vocals and a sizzling guitar solo --- to call the performance "stunning" doesn't do this version justice, but Ed James' cover does do justice to BCR's classic original Top 10 version:
"...you made me believe in magic / you know that I can be true to your love / you made me believe in magic / your love put magic into my life..."
"Hello And Welcome Home":
Chewy Marble, critics' darlings for some years now, are positively Beatles '67-sounding on their version of "Hello And Welcome Home" (written by Rollers' Eric Faulkner and Duncan Faure) with a lush mix of strings, horns, guitars and mellotron from Brian Kassan underscoring a sweet, Lennon-ish lead vocal by Stu Forman on this gentle, sentimental ballad:
"Hello, hello my love / that was a time to remember / when loving was free / and all I could see was the love in your eyes / no sign of goodbyes / what could I do --- do you / do you believe in love as the only media..."
"Saturday Night":
Anton Barbeau's Scottish accent on his cover of BCR's only U. S. # 1, "Saturday Night" (written by Phil Coulter and William Martin), is a wonderfully fond recreation of the original hit --- I challenge you not to join in on the chorus:
"...gonna rock it up, roll it up / do it all, have a ball / Saturday night, Saturday night / S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night, S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night, S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night, S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night..."
The Bay City Rollers taught a generation to spell one day of the week and will always be remembered for it. Probably one of the catchiest choruses since Herman's Hermits' "Henry The VIII."
"Yesterday's Hero":
Originally recorded by John Paul Young (who hit # 42 in the U. S. with the tune in 1975-76), "Yesterday's Hero" (written by Johannes Vandenberg and George Young) as performed by BCR in 1976 was a a glorious rock number.
This cover by Words is equally stirring, with lyrics that probably sum up the feelings of every worried rock star:
"...we don't wanna be a yesterday's hero / and yesterday's hero is all that we're gonna be / if we don't get together, make a new plan and be constantly better..."
BCR today:
There have been brief reunions over the years, but none has lasted. Still, BCR conventions and solo work by band members keeps The Bay City Rollers' legend alive.
Reportedly 100,000 people turned out to see a reunion performance on New Year's Eve at the end of 1999 in Edinburgh. In the U. S., a Rollers' "Behind The Music" documentary helped fire up new interest in the band, but an announced reunion to record and tour failed to happen.
Legal problems have plagued some band members (links to sites including that information appear below, if you wish to find it).
Original bassist Alan Longmuir, born in June of 1949 and oldest of the band members, is recovering from a 1995 heart attack and a 1997 stroke.
Courtney Love, actress and rock star, has optioned a book related to The Bay City Rollers experiences of one fan, author Caroline Sullivan's book, "Bye Bye Baby: My Tragic Love Affair With the Bay City Rollers" --- complete details are at http://film.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4605722-110760,00.html in an article from England's The Guardian newspaper.
Trivia note: David Paton and Billy Lyall were in The Bay City Rollers in 1969-70, pre-superstardom. Paton and Lyall went on to great success as members of the rock group Pilot with the U. S. million-seller "Magic," a # 5 U. S. hit single in 1975. Another Pilot single, "January," a minor U. S. hit, went to # 1 in England that same year.
Paton later recorded with The Alan Parsons Project, Elton John, Rick Wakeman and Jimmy Page, among others. Lyall died of "an AIDS-related illness" in 1989.
The official Les McKeown (BCR's lead singer) site: http://www.lesmckeown.com
The official Eric Faulkner (BCR guitarist) site: http://www.ericfaulkner.com
The official Alan Longmuir site: http://www.inescreations.com/alan.htm
Alan Longmuir's official message board: http://www.voy.com/45380/
The official Stuart Wood (BCD guitarist) site: http://www.stuartwoodywood.co.uk/
Derek Longmuir's (Alan's brother and the band's drummer) official message board: http://www.voy.com/22114/
The official Ian Mitchell site (latter-day Roller, he was also in the band Rosetta Stone): http://www.ianmitchell.com
The official Duncan Faure site (latter-day Roller who performed his solo song "24 Hours" in the Madonna film "Who's That Girl"): http://www.duncanfauremusic.com/
Capitol/EMI's 20-track 24-bit digitally remastered CD "Greatest" by Raspberries (the original lineup --- Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti --- who sang the million-seller "Go All The Way" reunited in 2004-2005) was released in May of 2005 in the U. S. and Europe. It features all 7 of Raspberries Hot 100 singles, has 20 tracks and runs 78:53 minutes: http://www.epinions.com/content_186044681860
Special thanks:
To Epinions.Com Music Category Lead Shelly, aka Lambchops (http://www.epinions.com/user-lambchops), for adding "Men In Plaid: A Tribute To The Bay City Rollers" to the Epinions' musical database.
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