Les McKeown

Philly_Q · April 2021

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-56848233

I know the Bay City Rollers were never cool or acclaimed, but a couple of their hits were pretty catchy. And the guitarists had some cool gear. Sorry to hear Les has gone at 65.

RIP

guitars4you · April 2021

When I was a kid around 14 you could not ignore BCR - I was in to Slade, T-REX and Sweet - But just about every girl I knew back then, sister + her friends, school girls in the class, was into BCR, or David Cassidy, or Osmonds - You could not ignore a sea of tartan - So part of my youth - RIP

Philtre · April 2021

Always watched the Big Jim Sullivan guitar lesson bit on the Rollers' TV show.

stratman3142 · April 2021

Sad news.

I saw them just before they really took off, playing in the Carnatic halls of residence students' bar, during my first year at Liverpool Uni. I recall they were very good live and miles better than The Troggs they were supporting.

scrumhalf · April 2021

Bye bye baby. RIP.

Neill · April 2021

I heard they were surprisingly(?) good live too. I always thought Derek Longmuir was a pretty solid drummer and Les had a really good pop voice.

"Saturday Night" is a great song and it is not an urban myth that it inspired The Ramones to write Blitzkreig Bop.

Dominic · April 2021

Every girl I knew when I was 12 and just getting interested was a BCR fan ......the first girl I took on a date to a Wimpey bar came along in a pair of White high-waister coulottes with the Tartan cumberband and matching Tartan banded trim on the bottom of the legs.

57Deluxe · April 2021

Yes, without The BCR you wouldn't have had The Ramones....

Jaycee · April 2021

guitars4you said:

When I was a kid around 14 you could not ignore BCR - I was in to Slade, T-REX and Sweet - But just about every girl I knew back then, sister + her friends, school girls in the class, was into BCR, or David Cassidy, or Osmonds - You could not ignore a sea of tartan - So part of my youth - RIP

Me too, however I did save up my crisp packets and got Bye Bye Baby on a floppy 7" single

russpm · April 2021

Apparently the Ramones were fans.

pintspiller · April 2021

A cousin of mine cycled five miles to Granny's house for every episode just to watch their TV show in colour

boogieman · April 2021

In the 70s I used to do security at Wembley sometimes. Without doubt the scariest gig I ever covered there was the Rollers. I seriously thought I was going to die at one point when there was a huge crush of girls trying to get to the band and we all got pinned against some metal barriers. I remember I couldn’t hear for days afterwards too, all that screaming!

axisus · April 2021

They were big when I was 12, I remember all the girls at school turning up with tartan stuff on (must have been some kind of wear what you want day?). I really liked the singles back then.

But what a shocking story - totally exploited and manipulated, and they didn't make any money! All the money 'disappeared'.

I saw a good documentary a couple of years ago, it definitely made me feel sorry for them, and especially Les.

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Les McKeown

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