There's been some BCR book activity in recent years, so for those of you who would dare read about a "boy band" that could actually play their own instruments and write their own songs (some of the best ones were written by Eric Faulkner and Stuart "Woody" Wood), here's...

(ta-da!!)

...The Bay City Rollers Reading Thread!!



http://www.amazon.com/dp/1582340552/?tag=imwan-20

Bye Bye Baby: My Tragic Love Affair with The Bay City Rollers
By Caroline Sullivan

As a longtime BCR fan, I got excited when I heard about this fan memoir. However, my hopes were somewhat diminished after reading it. Sullivan feels she has to put the band down in spots to make herself look cool and justify her teenage infatuation with the Rollers. Some interesting anecdotes about her real-life encounters with some of the band members, but methinks Ms. Sullivan is a little too cool for her own good.




http://www.amazon.com/dp/1840189274/?tag=imwan-20

Shang-a-Lang: Life As an International Pop Idol
by Les McKeown and Lynne Elliott

Les McKeown's autobiography is a great, fun read. You get the BCR experience from his ego and his perspective. What's funny is that the prose is written in a Scottish dialect, giving it a unique flavor. Les doesn't hold back on his thoughts about manager Tam Paton and he sheds some light on the failed Roller reunion in the late '90s.

It's possible that the Scottish dialect might have been edited for the US paperback release. I'm basing my review on the UK hardcover, which came out a couple of years earlier.


And finally...



http://www.amazon.com/dp/1587364638/?tag=imwan-20

Bay City Babylon: The Unbelievable but True Story of the Bay City Rollers
by Wayne Coy

The first more-or-less comprehensive Rollers bio. Coy isn't the greatest writer, but the book does cover the seventies period in good detail. The Duncan Faure years even get coverage in this tome. Of course, the eighties and the nineties, with the various Roller reunions and faux-Roller offshoot bands gets glossed over in one chapter - I would think the lawsuits over the name would warrant a chapter or two of their own - but if you want to read about the BCR, this isn't a bad book to get.

If you buy one of these books through the AmazWAN link, Linda will call you personally and sing "Saturday Night" to you.

I'm probably double secret banned for this one!!

sigh.

Don't hassle me with your sighs, Linda.

Bonus points if anyone can tell me where that line is from!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0030182115/?tag=imwan-20

I should have known Miss Linda would know a Peanuts reference when she heard one.

Les is also working on a second autobiography from what I've read. Of course, I'll get it and post the details here when it's announced.

Will the new autobiography have a chapter about the old autobiography?

Will the Bay City Rollers box set come out Tuesday?

Will Jimbo buy it?

I know only the answers to some questions, Herr Jimbo. Wait and we will see if Les's new autobio recycles from the old autobio.

If you were to recommend me 1 BCR book, which would it be?

Les' book Bye Bye Baby -- the story from Les's point of view. Good read.