Still Rollin’
Gill Sherry
Imagine going for a swim and being caught up in a whirlpool. That’s how Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood remembers feeling when the Bay City Rollers first hit the big time in 1974.
“It was crazy,” he recalls. “It was a bit of a whirlpool for about five or six years. But we just took things in our stride.”
The tartan teen sensations, as they soon become known, had been formed in Edinburgh and were widely considered as the biggest group since The Beatles. That must have put a lot of pressure on Stuart and his bandmates?
“The first time you see your name in the paper, it’s so exciting. My mum kept everything… any article that was anywhere, it was kept in a big scrap book. But eventually I stopped reading stuff because you’d read it and think, that’s not true. And the first time you see yourself on the tele, you’re like, ‘Wow, there’s me on the tele!’ but the novelty wears off eventually.”
I ask him about the band’s rivalry with The Osmonds, another huge band which hit the big time in the early 1970s.
“Again, that’s the media for you,” he says. “We met The Osmonds plenty of times. They were a great family, a really nice bunch of people. It was like with The Beatles, the only reason they compared us was because of the so called ‘fandom’. They had the screaming audience, and then we came along and had the screaming audience. Musically, I think The Beatles are just a wee bit better.” He smiles before adding, “Massively better. They’re still one of my favourite bands.”
Despite the huge success achieved in those early years – the band’s first two albums went straight to the top of the charts – the guys remained grounded, making the most of the opportunities they were presented with.
“I loved the whole thing about being in a band. For me, it was always that constant of playing music, being with your pals, getting out there and travelling to new places all the time. It was a bit crazy, but I was grateful.”
From Stuart’s point of view, that’s how success is measured. Not necessarily by money or fame, but by doing what you enjoy and sharing that enjoyment with likeminded people. Which leads me to ask about the line-up changes within the band.
“The band never split up as such,” he confirms, “we just kind of stopped gigging back in 1981. There were a couple of reunions in the 80s. We went to Japan and Australia and did a few things in the UK, just sporadic things, but we never reformed. Then in 2015, we got back together for a reunion. John McLaughlin, he’s in the band now, but he was the manager then, he wanted to try putting the whole thing back together again. So we did eight shows at Christmas in 2015, and did the same again in 2016, but it wasn’t ever going to work. We tried… and it was a shame because we had such great fun doing that tour.”
Stuart, though, felt it seemed right to keep the band going. As a result, over 30 members have been involved since it started. That said, two of the current members, Ian Thomson (vocals) and Jamie McGrory (drums) have been with the Bay City Rollers for eight years. Mikey Smith has been playing bass for five years, and John McLaughlin, referred to by Stuart as “a great songwriter” joined in 2015.
The best thing is, they all still wear tartan! As do their fans.
“Our fans were the original Tartan Army,” he points out, “but the football lot stole it! They’re still great. They just switch off and get into it. The beauty of it is, they came along with their daughters, sons, nieces, grandkids… and they’re all in their tartan. It’s great!”
And now’s your chance to do the same, because the Bay City Rollers are performing at Troon Concert Hall as part of the Winter Storm Festival on Wednesday 25th November.
“We’ll play all the stuff they want to hear,” Stuart confirms. “‘Shang A Lang’, ‘Bye Bye Baby’, ‘Saturday Night’, ‘Summerlove Sensation’… all the hits and less, as we used to joke! There’s a couple of covers in there, but obscure ones, and we do a medley of three songs from our album, Keep on Rollin’ which was out last year.”
Whilst he appreciates that fans want to hear the old hits rather than new music, it’s important to let them know that the band still has new songs being written and released.
“The new stuff isn’t drastically different from the originals, so it all works and is fitting right in.”
Does he a favourite hit from the early days?
“I preferred the band musically from ’78 onwards,” he admits. “The music was a bit more sophisticated, a bit rockier, more edgy… back to what the band was like when it first started. I don’t have a favourite as such. They’re all good!”
I can’t argue with that. And let’s not forget, the Bay City Rollers have sold over 300 million records worldwide! It’s such a bonkers figure, I have to ask if it’s true.
“I’ve heard that as well,” he laughs. “It was on a BBC documentary, so the information’s definitely out there.”
Bearing in mind how hugely successful they were, and that they’re still performing and making new music, there’s no reason to disbelieve it. And there’s still time for the band to sell more records.
“You don’t retire from this business,” says Stuart. “You either die or you stop doing it. The day I don’t get a thrill from being on stage, then I’ll definitely stop doing it. It’s still great fun. When that first chord gets struck… I still have the same passion playing ‘Shang A Lang’ and getting right into it.
“We spend a lot of time and money getting the sound and the balance just right. We’re not just going through the motions. It’s fun on the road, and you definitely get excited going on stage. That’s why we do it.”
They were certainly excited to play at the Bukokan Stadium in Tokoya back in the day.
“We played that three times and every time it was just amazing. There were no mobile phones in those days so when we played a ballad the whole place just lit up with lighters. It was an amazing sight to see. And they were really into wearing tartan, so it was literally a sea of tartan.”
He also recalls one incident when the band’s driver inadvertently drove them to the wrong entrance of their hotel – the one mobbed with fans.
“Windscreen wipers were coming off, the car ceiling was caving in, fans were squashed up against the window and lipstick and mascara was smudged over the glass. We were just having a laugh, it was hilarious! Eventually, we managed to wind down a window and we got taken out of the car one at a time and chucked into the hotel lobby!”
I’m not sure they can expect the same welcome in Troon in November. Although, you never know!
For tickets to see the Bay City Rollers at Troon Concert Hall on 25th November, visit www.skiddle.com/whats-on.
And for new music, keep an eye open for the band’s brand-new album, due to be released soon.
