Comeback that wasn’t
WHEN the Bay Rollers reformed in 2015, they were paraded through the streets of Glasgow in a white Rolls Royce.
But “that faux reunion”, as it was dubbed by Les McKeown, was not to last.
Within months, amicable relations between the group had disintegrated.
Donald MacLeod, my fellow Herald columnist, helped organise the Rollers’ comeback. A UK tour, which included four Barrowland gigs, sold out in minutes. The following year, the group appeared at T In The Park and the Hydro.
“We announced the reunion at a press conference in the Central Hotel. Things snowballed, it went bananas,” recalled MacLeod. “We could have booked a week at Barrowland. We set up a photograph outside the venue and punters from The Hoops Bar in Gallowgate were singing Shang-A-Lang. It was crazy.”
But old wounds had not healed.
In 1978, Wood booted McKeown off the stage during a gig in Japan. It’s possible he felt like doing it again when the latter insisted on promoting his own band.
The group fell out at T In The Park, and later Wood refused to take part in a TV interview when McKeown plugged his own album, Lost Songs.
Despite the problems there was still a lot of goodwill for the Rollers. “At one point I tentatively had £1 million worth of shows lined up from promoters in America and Japan,” revealed MacLeod. “But I think the band’s insecurities were never going to go away.
“I tried to salvage things. As a promoter, you’ll do anything – try every trick in the book – to keep the show on the road.
“You’d walk into a meeting growling at each other. At the end of it you’re all pals, thinking you’d agreed to something. Then 48 hours later it had all blown up again.”
“It was a really exhausting process.” Sadly, Alan Longmuir has also passed away. He died in 2018, aged 70.
MacLeod said: “Whether the Rollers ever played again, I’d just like to have seen Les and Stuart make up.
“Sadly, that will now never happen. Les’ legacy with the band is second to none.
“They were our greatest-ever pop act, selling 120 million records – no Scottish band will ever do that again.
“I’m very proud to have ran with their gang in the short time I worked with the Rollers.”
Wood said: “I was upset and shocked to hear this very sad news. It’s a sad day in Bay City Roller history.”