By early 1975, the band was well on the way to achieving global success. 16-year-old Stuart Wood completed the "classic five" line-up in February 1974, a week after the band had debuted the "Remember" single on Top of the Pops. In late 1973, McKeown recorded lead vocals on " Remember (Sha-La-La-La)", and a lead-in to a series of UK chart hits. A couple of months later, in early 1974, what became known as the classic line-up was completed guitarist John Devine was replaced by Stuart "Woody" Wood. He was replaced as lead singer by Les McKeown. By the end of 1973, Clark had become disillusioned with the band's musical direction and decided to leave just when his recording of " Remember (Sha-La-La-La)" climbed the charts to No. In mid-1973, they narrowly missed the UK Singles Chart with their fourth single, " Saturday Night". This period saw the addition of long-term member guitarist Eric Faulkner. Several non-charting singles were released over the following two years. Upon this release's success, they made appearances on BBC One's Top of the Pops. 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.Īfter 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. The band agreed on the name, the Bay City Rollers. This did not meet anyone's approval, so a second dart was thrown. Derek Longmuir threw a dart at a map of the United States, landing first on Arkansas.
Desiring a better name for the band, they settled on "Rollers", but needed a more powerful American-sounding term in front of that. Rider" by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. They played a couple of contemporary Kinks numbers but favoured American songs, including a new one: " C.C. More successful now, the Saxons moved out of the Longmuirs' back room to practise in Hermiston at a church. Paton booked them for a Thursday night at his club, the Palais, then assigned them to open for the Hipple People at Top Storey. The band convinced Tam Paton, a former big band leader and influential local band and club manager, to audition them at the Longmuirs' house.
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. 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. 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. Their repertoire included American R&B/pop songs such as " Please Mr. Pettigrew was more advanced musically than the others, and pushed the band to improve. 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. 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 moved from acoustic to electric guitar, and Alan Longmuir followed suit by changing to electric bass. They changed their name to the Saxons, and Derek invited a friend from school, Gordon "Nobby" Clark, to be the lead singer. The group never performed publicly under this name, just a family wedding where they covered " Wake Up Little Susie". In 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. History Early days and formation: 1964–1973 The Bay City Rollers have sold 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling artists of all time. The current line-up (since 2018) includes original guitarist Stuart "Woody" Wood, singer Ian Thomson, bassist Marcus Cordock, and drummer Jamie McGrory. The group's line up had many changes over the years, but the classic roster during its peak in popularity included guitarists Eric Faulkner and Stuart Wood, singer Les McKeown, bassist Alan Longmuir, and drummer Derek Longmuir. They have been called the " tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" and one of many acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beatles '". The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s.