{"id":19168,"date":"2024-11-27T10:25:32","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T10:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=19168"},"modified":"2024-11-27T10:25:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T10:25:32","slug":"tartan-and-hysteria-musical-tells-story-of-scotlands-biggest-boyband","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=19168","title":{"rendered":"Tartan and hysteria: Musical tells story of Scotland's biggest boyband"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Bay City Rollers in 1974 – Left to right: Alan Longmuir, Derek Longmuir, Les Mckeown, Stuart “Woody” Wood, Eric Faulkner<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The hits of Scotland’s biggest boyband are to be turned into a new musical to mark the 50th anniversary of their first number one hit next year.<\/p>\n

The Bay City Rollers took the world by storm in the mid-70s, trimmed in tartan and causing scenes of hysteria wherever they went.<\/p>\n

Now, the fans who followed them obsessively and screamed their loyalty to the cheeky Scots, are to appear centre-stage in Rollers Forever.<\/p>\n

The new show will feature the band’s biggest hits, including Bye Bye Baby, Keep On Dancing, Shang-a-Lang and Summer Love Sensation.<\/p>\n

The show will follow the story of two Bay City Rollers superfans, who meet up for a Saturday night and relive their teenage years following their idols.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The faces say it all – the crowd of Roller fans scream in delight as their idols perform on stage<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Sprinkling some tartan stardust on the project is original Roller Stuart \u201cWoody\u201d Wood, who is serving as artistic consultant.<\/p>\n

Woody joined the band at the age of 17 in 1974, just before their success exploded with the hit Shang-a-lang.<\/p>\n

He said the great thing about the musical was that it was about the fans, who – like the band – have been around for 50 years.<\/p>\n

“Thank god for the fans. They’ve kept it alive all these years,” he said. <\/p>\n

“I cant wait to be in the audience and watch them react to it. I think they\u2019ll have their tartan out \u2013 their scarves and probably dress up for the occasion.”<\/p>\n

Remembering their thousands of fans screaming and trying to tear the band members to bits, Woody said it all descended into a “mass of crazy”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Although they had great fun at the time, Woody said being a teenage sensation was not for the faint hearted.<\/p>\n

He said he would not be able to handle it all now and, at the age of 67, would rather stay at home. <\/p>\n

The play is written by award-winning playwright Danny McCahon and directed by acclaimed theatre director Liz Carruthers. <\/p>\n

Also involved is current “Roller” John McLaughlin.<\/p>\n

John – a successful songwriter, producer and performer – was responsible for organising the band’s most recent reunion. <\/p>\n

Now he gets to roll alongside his childhood heroes after Woody asked him to join the band. <\/p>\n

John says producing the musical and playing in a band that had him in “total awe” as a child was a full circle experience. <\/p>\n

“It’s like getting to play for your favourite football team,” he said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Stuart<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Stuart “Woody” Wood will be artistic consultant for the musical <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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John said the Rollers fans were unique and became so identifiable because of their tartan-clad outfits.<\/p>\n

“It’s like an army”, he says.<\/p>\n

“Even today, they turn up to gigs with tartan scarves, all happy, all joyous.”<\/p>\n

He says fans will be able to have a great night out at the show by celebrating the band and their songs. <\/p>\n

The show follows Susan and Jenny who reminisce over clothes, boys and music – in a time where the height of technology and fashion were phone boxes, mail order catalogues and crispy pancakes. <\/p>\n

Every moment is accompanied by a hit from the Bay City Rollers.<\/p>\n

From the first time they see the band on TV to a rousing dance in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, the lives, loves and emotions of the women are governed by the Rollers. <\/p>\n

And meeting their idols becomes the most important thing in their lives. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The tartan-clad band were loved by thousands <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The musical sets out to be a celebration of the music and legacy of the “tartan teens” who wore the look once described as “young love personified”. <\/p>\n

One of those real-life tartan teenagers was Gail Shackley from Manchester.<\/p>\n

Gail said she had been a “die-hard fan” since Bye Bye Baby was number one in March 1975.<\/p>\n

Being from Manchester, she said the Edinburgh band were like \u201cthe boys next door\u201d.<\/p>\n

So, loving the band became easy because they were easily accessible to UK fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were ours, you latch onto your own,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She fell away from the band when they became a global success and toured the UK less but years later she was able to roll back to them after attending a gig in 1994.<\/p>\n

She said she was shocked to have remembered every word to every song. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like riding a bike, you never forget,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Three ecstatic fans are brought to their knees with excitement at a Bay City Rollers concert<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Gail met Les McKeown, the original frontman of the band, at an intimate gig of his band Egotrip in 1997.<\/p>\n

She fondly remembers how her \u201cteenage heartthrob\u201d had brought out food and drinks to the 20 or so fans at the gig.<\/p>\n

“After that, I was back on the scene like I’d never been off it,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

She remained a close follower of McKeown, who died in 2021<\/a>, and is now working with his wife and son to raise funds to be able to get a dedicated bench for the late singer in Edinburgh\u2019s Princes Street Gardens.<\/p>\n

The superfan says that now is a good time for a play like this since it has become “cooler” to like the band. <\/p>\n

She says she is interested to see how it will pan out and hopes it will be relatable to fans like her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho doesn\u2019t like a trip down memory lane?\u201d, she says. <\/p>\n

Rollers Forever will open at the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, in August 2025.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getty Images The Bay City Rollers in 1974 – Left to right: Alan Longmuir, Derek Longmuir, Les Mckeown, Stuart “Woody” Wood, Eric Faulkner The hits of Scotland’s biggest boyband are to be turned into a new musical to mark the 50th anniversary of their first number one hit next year. The Bay City Rollers took […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}