Cover-Up!
And
here we'll have a little look at those artists whose
songs the Rollers (and Rosetta Stone, Pat McGlynn, Ian
Mitchell Band, and all the others) have covered thru the
years. And those rare instances when someone's taken a
stab at a Rollers original will be, uh, covered as well.
From Tommy Roe to Chewy Marble - most of 'em are here. So
fans of all sorts of otherwise utterly useless - albeit
endlessly fascinating - music trivia will certainly get
their fill around here. That's the idea, anyways.
(And if you're really curious, you can click on
some of the names - underlined and in white - or
the occasional pic, to find even further info on some of
the people in question)
Revised,
updated &
severly edited
in March, September and December 2001.
"Keep On Dancing",
the Bay City Rollers' debut single in 1971, was generally
thought to have been a cover of the Gentrys'
1965 (a Top Ten U.S. hit) version, but according to Lisa
Sutton's excellent sleevenotes for the "Definitive
Collection" CD (2000), the Gentrys version itself
was in fact a cover of an original done by the Avantis
in 1963.
"We Can Make Music",
the Rollers' second single (1972) was a cover of the Tommy Roe 1970
original. Rosetta Stone also recorded another, be it much
better-known, Roe original "Sheila",
a 1962 U.S. number one for Roe, in 1978.
"Give It To Me Now",
which the Rollers recorded for their debut album "Rollin'"
in 1974, was originally a number 38 U.K. hit a year
earlier for another protegee of writers/producers Bill
Martin & Phil Coulter, an Irish singer by the name of
Kenny; not to be confused with the
group Kenny -
coincidentally also a Martin/Coulter act - who had a Top
5 U.K. hit with "The Bump"
mere months after the Rollers recorded it as the B-Side
for "All Of Me Loves All Of You", their last M/C
collaborative hit.
"Saturday Night", first
recorded by the Rollers in '73 with Nobby Clark on lead
vocals, was around the same time also recorded by Bilbo
Baggins, another Scottish Tam Paton-managed
Bell Records act which featured, among others, Alan
Wright, former member of Threshold, Les McKeown's first
band -- although it isn't entirely clear exactly which
version - the Rollers' or Bilbo Baggins' - was the first
one recorded. Needless to add though, both flopped
miserably.
The Rollers recorded two versions of
the classic "Be My Baby"
in 1974; one appeared on the band's European debut album
"Rollin'" in 1974, while the other surfaced a
year later on their first U.S. LP release, "Bay City
Rollers". Originally, of course, the song had been
recorded by the fabulous Ronettes back in
1963, under the genius-guidance of none other than Phil
Spector, one the song's writers. An innumerable amount of
artists have had a crack at the song thru the years.
"Please Stay",
another number from "Rollin'" (1974), was an
early Burt Bacharach composition which was a hit for the Drifters back in
1961. However, the Rollers version owes a lot more to the
Cryin' Shames' - a British Mersey
Beat combo riding on the coat tails of the Beatles, Gerry
And The Pacemakers, et al - 1966 U.K. Top 30 hit version
of it.
 It is purely speculative on my
part of course, but it isn't entirely impossible that
"Please Stay" had been a part of the Rollers'
repertoire since the very early days - a la "The Jig".
Just take a look at what Brian Hogg wrote about it in his
book "History of Scottish Rock and Pop...all that
ever mattered" (Guiness Publishing, London, 1993):
"By 1966 almost every band in Scotland played
'Please Stay' and its undying popularity with audiences
and group(s) alike ensured it remained an integral part
of the musical framework."
"Jenny Gotta Dance",
recorded by the Rollers in 1974, was at least the second
Martin & Coulter song the band weren't the first
artists to record (see also "Give It To Me Now").
Kincade, of "Dreams
Are Ten A Penny" (limited) fame, initially recorded
it at least a year earlier.
Furthermore, It is also interesting to wonder if the
Rollers ever recorded a M/C song called "Rollin'",
which was the B-side of Kenny's aforementioned original
"Give It To Me Now" single.
"Shout"(1974/5)
- Although the Rollers' version of this well-known
standard (virtually everyone from Lulu to Joan Jett via
The Beatles have had a stab at it) has never been
released, it is very widely bootlegged from old T.V.
shows and on the "Are You Cuckoo" bootleg (See
'Collectibles' section) The Isley
Brothers wrote it, though, and recorded the
very first version of it in 1959.
"Bye Bye Baby"
(1975/redone in '91 etc.) Originally recorded by Frankie
Valli & The Four Seasons in late
1964 or early '65. The Rollers, though, probably listened
to The Symbols' - a late '60s
British vocal group - 1967 version of it, which was a
number 44 U.K. hit. Shortly thereafter, it apparently
became a stalwarth in the then-recently re-named Bay City
Rollers' stage act.
"Rock & Roll
Honeymoon"(1975) Originally done by
writers' John Goodison and Phil Wainman's own 'pet
project' group, Big John's Rock'n'Roll Circus, in either
1974 or '75. According to Wainman, the Rollers heard it,
liked it and wanted to do it for the "Once Upon A
Star" album - which, of course, they did.
"Rock 'N' Roll Love
Letter" (1975) Written by a certain Tim Moore, on whose
1975 solo album "Behind The Eyes" it first
appeared. Arista boss Clive Davis is namechecked on that
album's sleeve, so it was probably him who brought it to
the Rollers' attention. He can't be all
bad, kids...
But Dirty Angles, a now long-forgotten New York Glam Rock
band, apparently recorded a version as early as 1975 (before
the Rollers)
Power Pop (then known as 'New Wave') group The Records
later also sent out their very own "Rock 'N' Roll
Love Letter" in 1979.
"I Only Want To Be
With You"(1976) Originally the first solo
hit for the late, very great Dusty
Springfield back in 1964. The Tourists,
featuring future Eurhythmics' Annie Lennox and David A.
Stewart, and Samantha Fox - to name
but a couple - have had separate hits with it since the
Rollers did.
"Let's Pretend"(1976)
Originally a criminally overlooked minor U.S. hit for The
Raspberries in 1972 - incidentally also
produced by Jimmy Ienner who produced the Rollers'
version as well.
"Yesterday's Hero"(1976)
An original Australian hit for Aussie John Paul
Young earlier in '76. Young later had a
huge international disco hit with "Love Is In The
Air"(1978) before promptly becoming himself a - yep,
you guessed it! - yesterday's hero.
"My Lisa"(1976)
Co-written by '70s American Soft Rock singer Tony Sciuto (later of
the Little River Band), who, himself, didn't record it
until circa 1980, although that version of it didn't
surface until included in his 1999 Japan-only "Be My
Radio" rarities CD. So one then has to assume that
the Rollers recorded the original version of "My
Lisa" - or "M' Lisa" as Sciuto calls it.
"Don't Worry Baby"(1976)
A 1964 original by the almost always brilliant Beach Boys.
"Are You Cuckoo?"(1976)
Written by ex-Argent singer Russ Ballard, who
recorded it first in 1975 for his album "Winning"
(releasead in '76). Muff (brother of Steve) Winwood had
produced Ballard's version of it, so it was probably he
who brought it to the Rollers' attention while working
with them on the "Love Me Like I Love You"/"Mama
Li" single.
Later on, Ballard wrote songs recorded by both Alan
Longmuir ("I'm Confessing", 1977) and Les
McKeown ("Can't We Talk It Over", 1982), and he
enjoyed an enormous success as a songwriter during the
late '70s/early '80s, penning massive hits for everyone
from Rainbow to Hot Chocolate, via ABBA's Agnetha
Faltskog and Santana!
"Dedication"(1976)
Written by the songwriting duo of Guy Fletcher and Doug
Flett, whose songs were also recorded by at least both
Frankie Valli and Elvis Presley. Now, Fletcher himself
did record some solo albums, so "Dedication"
could very well have originated from one of those.
"Let's Have A Party"(1976/1983)
A 'showcase' - of sorts - for new Roller Pat McGlynn in '76-'77,
the band probably never recorded it properly in the
studio though. However, it was eventually issued; first
as a part of a "Rock & Roll Medley" on
Pat's 1979 solo "Live In Japan" album, and then
on BCR's very own 1983 album of the same sort. Elvis
Presley recorded "Party" first way
back in 1957 for his "Loving You" movie. A few
years later it also became a hit for his friend, Wanda
Jackson.
"It's A Game"(1977)
Originally done that same year by fellow Scots The String
Driven Thing (NOT the Incredible String Band, as
some sources say), a band which featured its writer, one
Chris Adams.
"You Made Me Believe
In Magic"(1977) Written by Len Boone, who
is still a working writer and performer. Apart from that
and Les declaring 'This is a song which was sent to us
when we first came to Japan'(12/'76) on the "Live In
Japan"('83) album, I have no idea of its exact
origins in recorded/released form.
"Love Power"(1977)
Ditto here, although I faintly recall having heard a
Soulful black mid '60s female vocal group ('Girl Group')
version of it. Also, Dusty Springfield recorded a late '60s
version and Luther Vandross had a hit with it during the
late '80s. Somewhere in between, I think, Dionne Warwick
also had a go at it.
"The Way I Feel
Tonight"(1977) Written by Harvey
Shield, who e-mailed me in early March 2001
with the following info: "I wrote 'The Way I Feel
Tonight' in 1975, the year I moved from Wembley, England
to Los Angeles. Early in 1977 my own version came out as
a single on ATCO 7071, but quickly disappeared". So,
although some issues of the "It's A Game" album
credit "The Way I Feel Tonight" to the
songwriting duo of Waddington and Bickerton, who found
brief mid-'70s fame for penning such hits as "Sugar
Baby Love" for The Rubettes, we now know for sure
that it was, indeed, Harvey Shield
(currently - along with Jon Rubin of The Rubinoos and
others - a member of the Doo-Wop group The Mighty Echoes, who
themselves have also cut a new and interestingly
different version of the song) who penned it and
performed it first. His aforementioned original version
was issued under the name Shields (see above) and sounds
lovely - a bit like pre-disco Bee Gees circa 1970.
"Rebel Rebel"(1977/1980)
An ill-advised (in my
opinon - you have every right to feel different) cover of
David Bowie's 1974
original. Producer Harry
Maslin had worked with Bowie as well as the
BCR's.
"The Pie (When
I Say I Love You)"(1977/8) Originally
recorded by Scottish-born the Sutherland
Brothers, whose Iain also wrote it (as well
as Rod Stewart's "Sailing"), in the very early
'70s sometime, although a perfectly respectable re-recording
of it appears on the brothers' 1977 "Down To Earth"
album. Apparently, the lyrics deal with older man's
pursuit and conquest ("When the pie is open"
Yikes!) of a virgin...
"Where Will I Be Now"(1978)
Written by a Chris East - don't know anything else about
it.
"Love Brought Me Such
A Magical Thing"(1978) Ditto. A Kirsch/Spencer
composition.
"Every Tear I Cry"(1978)
Another one of the Sutherland Brothers' Iain songs
which can also be found on their 1977 "Down To Earth"
LP.
"Playing In A Rock
& Roll Band"(1979) A Faure/T.Seufurt
composition, this one could have been written exclusively
for The Rollers by Duncan and a pal, but it's probably
something from his pre-Rollers daze, though..
"Hello & Welcome
Home"(1979) Originally, drastically
different, this appeared on Duncan's last album with Rabbitt, "Rock
Rabbitt", in 1977. With the vastly different Rollers
version, Eric receives a co-writer's credit. Originally,
it wasn't such a ballad.
"I Was Eleven"(1979)
Another 1977 Rabbitt original,
released in '78, just after their break-up on the
posthumous "Rabbitt 1972 - 1978" EP. The
Rollers' cover is virtually identical.
"Working For The
People"(1977) Same goes for this one.
Originally from Rabbitt's finest
hour (or roughly 37 minutes), 1977's "A Croak &
A Grunt In The Night" LP; again the Rollers version
is very similar.
"The Jig"(1980/Live
'83 & '91) Originally, I presume, some sacred old
Scottish, umm, 'Jig', it was a #7 pop hit in Britain for East Of Eden - as "Jig
A Jig" - in 1971. Then, as I understand it, a
certain Top 40 covers band by the name of the Bay City
Rollers started to include it, on occasion, in their
stage act. The Rollers' 1980 version of it, though, is
shorter, more electrified and to the point than East Of
Eden's folky semi-original.
"Piece Of The Action"(1983)
A number 12 1981 U.K. hit for one-time Eurovision winners
and ABBA wannabe's, (Yikes!) Bucks
Fizz.
"Flower Of Scotland"(1991)
Written by a 'Williamson', this is practically the
Scottish anthem to many Scots. Many have recorded it
before and since the Rollers did it - muzakally, both
Phil Coulter, and Stuart Wood as Celtic Spirit, to name
but two. Haven't got a clue who was first though.
And that concludes the covers Rollers
recorded, so it's now down to the solo & side
projects:
"I'm Confessing"/Alan
Longmuir(1977) As touched upon before, this is a Russ Ballard composition.
Don't know though if he wrote it specifically for Alan or
if it appeared someplace prior to that.
In '77, Alan also demoed the Flowerpot
Men's original 1969 minor bubblegum
classic "In A Moment Of Madness", but it
remains unissued to this day.
"Locomotive Breath"/Rabbitt(1972
& '75) Originally done by Jethro Tull in 1971 for
their, frankly, ludicrous prog-rock record, "Aqualung".
Enter at your own risk.
"Come And Get It"/Duncan
Faure(1993) Paul
McCartney wrote this song especially
for overrated power pop 'legends' Badfinger, who had a
big hit with it in early 1970, but Macca's '69 demo of it
(rather recently, first made officially available on The
Beatles' "Anthology 3") actually pre-dates
Badfinger's version by a few months and, in my opinion,
is the definitive version of this gem. Probably the very
first Macca composition to be credited solely to him, but
not to Lennon/McCartney.
"Tennessee"/Duncan
Faure(1999 - Unissued) An original John Lennon composition
which the Saint himself also never commercially issued (Duncan
probably heard it from bootlegs(?)) and 'only' Lennon's
widow Yoko Oh-no reportedly stood in the way of Duncan's
version getting a release. This is the same woman who
allows Lennon's image to be used to sell Japanese can
coffee, condoms and ties - to name but a few bare
necessities.
"Wouldn't It Be Good"/Duncan
Faure(1999) Originally, the first of a handful of mid-'80s
hits for singer/songwriter Nik Kershaw..."Rock
& Roll Love Letter" author Tim Moore briefly
played Kershaw's band.
"Sylvie My Love"/"You're
The Woman For Me"/Leslie McKeown(1980)
Both are English adaptions (lyrics by McKeown/Ryder) of
songs originally done by Japanese '60s group The Tigers. In
Japanese, "Sylvie" used to be known as "Ginga
No Romance", while "Woman" was "Nana
No Kubuki Kazari".
"Tender Love"/Leslie
McKeown(1981) Another English adaption of an old Japanese
pop song, although I'm not quite sure if this - "Tenderly"
is the Japanese title - was ever a Tigers song.
"(Love Is Like A) Heatwave"/Leslie
McKeown(1982) A Martha Reeves & The Vandellas ("Dancing
In The Street") 1963 original.
"Heartache Tonight"/Leslie
McKeown(1982) A worldwide hit for The Eagles in 1979.
"Just When I Needed
You Most"/Leslie McKeown(1982) Another
one from '79; Randy Vanwarmer's only solo
hit, as a matter of fact.
"Can't We Talk It Over"/Leslie
McKeown(1982) Yet another Russ Ballard song. Do
not know who, if anyone, recorded it before Les did,
though.
"Gonna Make You An
Offer (You Can't Refuse)"/Leslie McKeown(1982)
Jimmy Helms had a Top
10 U.K. hit with this one in 1973.
"Got To Believe In
Something"/Leslie McKeown(1982) Written
by a 'Turano'. Know nothing else about it.
"The Wanderer"/Leslie
McKeown(1982) Recorded by many before and since Les did
it, this classic was first a solo hit for the mighty (Belmonts-less)
Dion back in 1962.
"Jesamine"
- yet another song originally recorded for Les' 1982 (mostly)
covers LP "Heart Control", although it did
remain unissued until it appeared as a bonus track on the
FC-only CD of the same name in 1998 - was first a #2 U.K.
hit for one (or two) hit wonders The Casuals in 1968.
"She's A Lady"
& "Nobody Makes Me Crazy"/Les
McKeown(1988 & '89) Written by producer Dieter
Bohlen, of Modern Talking, whose side project group Blue System recorded
them both (in 1987 & '89, respectively) prior to Les'
interpetations being laid down - although the
instrumental backing tracks were merely recycled, since
they reportedly sound very much the same. "She's A
Lady" is originally from the Blue System album
"Walking On A Rainbow"('87), while "Nobody
Makes Me Crazy" can be found on B.S.'s '89 LP,
"Twilight".
"(If Paradise Is) Half
As Nice"/Rosetta Stone(1977) An original
1969 number one U.K. hit for Amen Corner.
"At The Disco"/Rosetta
Stone(1977) Co-written by singer David "Jeans On"
Dundas, who might've done it first himself.
"Sunshine Of Your Love"/Rosetta
Stone(1977) Truly, one of the oddest
Rollers-related covers ever! Originally recorded by Blues/Rock
band Cream (feat.Eric Clapton) in 1968,
but there also exists a a live version of it by Jimi
Hendrix.
"Rock And Roll (I'm
Comin' Home)"/Rosetta Stone(1977) Written
by a Paul Ives, so you tell me!
"Judy, Judy, Judy"/Rosetta
Stone(1977) Ditto. An Ian Sane composition.
"Free As A Bird"/Rosetta
Stone (1977) Thanks to Dirk Grossiels, who wrote us in
Oct.'01 and said: "The song 'Free As A Bird',
written by a Mike Smith and Mike D'Abo, was originally
released in 1976 on an LP called 'Smith & D'Abo' (CBS
Records 81583)".
"You Really Got Me"/Rosetta
Stone(1977) Ah, this one needs no introduction: The Kinks' debut hit,
a 1964 U.K. number one.
"Sheila"/Rosetta
Stone(1978) As said before, a Tommy Roe 1962
original.
"There Ain't Nothing
But A House Party"/Rosetta Stone(1978)
This one, I hear, was originally a 1968 soul hit for The
Showstoppers.
"Try It On"/Rosetta
Stone(1978) First, Exile ("Kiss
You All Over") had a minor hit with it in 1976.
"If You Could See Me
Now (Loving Arms)"/Post-Ian-period-Rosetta
Stone(1980) Elvis Presley recorded this one sometime
during the very early '70s, but maybe that wasn't the
original.
"Hiding From Love"/Rosetta
Stone(1981) It originally appeared on Bryan Adams' first
album the previous year. First of several Adams covers
& originals Rosetta Stone recorded in the early '80s.
"Remember"/Rosetta
Stone(1981) Another Bryan Adams 1980
original.
"London Girls"/Rosetta
Stone(1981) ...And another, although Adams
himself never released his version of it - if there ever
was one, which leads one to believe he wrote it
specifically for Rosetta Stone.
"Goodbye Guitar Man"/Rosetta
Stone(1981) Although the lyrics sound as if they were
written about a certain Mr.Mitchell, this one was, in
fact, written by a Jacques Zwart someone, so, once more,
your guess is as good as mine.
"Straight From The
Heart"/Rosetta Stone(1982) Yet another Bryan Adams song; in
fact it became his own break-through hit the very next
year, but Rosetta Stone at the very least had their
version released a year before it
became the first of many U.S. Top 10 hits for Adams
himself.
"Something's Gotten
Hold Of My Heart"/Nobby Clark ('80s or '90s)
Originally a 1967 hit for crooner Gene Pitney, who had a
hit with it again, accompanied by Marc Almond, in 1989.
"Leave My Heart Alone"/Nobby
Clark('80s or '90s) From the first Rubinoos album in
1977.
"Gimme Little Sign"/Nobby
Clark('80s or '90s) The Rollers used to do this one in
their stage act around 1970, but first it was a Soul hit
for Brenton Wood in 1967.
"Boulevard L.A."
& "Lyin' To Me"/Bachelor
Of Hearts(1983) Both were written by a Bill Padley,
probably for B.O.H., but one can never be too certain.
"(Love Is A) State Of
Mind"/Bachelor Of Hearts(1983)
Originally, from that ever popular, oft-aforementioned
first Bryan Adams solo album
in 1980.
"Lady (Put The Light
On"/Bachelor Of Hearts(1983) Written by
former Rollers producer Phil Wainman, this one was
originally a 1976 single B-side for the Dead End
Kids, another Edinburgh band, but
could've just as easily ended up being recorded by the
Rollers, Hello, or someone's of that sort around and
about in the mid-'70s.
"Eloise"/Bachelor
Of Hearts(1983) Originally a big hit for its author Barry Ryan, in 1968.
The Damned also hit big with it in 1986.
"Changes"/Bachelor
Of Hearts(1983) Written by former I.M.B./La Rox member Lea Hart, who
probably wrote it specifically for either one of these
bands or B.O.H.
"Danger In Paradise"/Bachelor
Of Hearts(1983) Written by John "St.Elmo's Fire"
Parr (with whom B.O.H. had played briefly as a backing
band) but for the Tygers Of Pan Tang's "The
Cage" album from the year before.
"Without You"/Bachelor
Of Hearts(Live '83) (Harry) Nilsson
had a huge worldwide hit with it in 1972, but Badfinger wrote it
and recorded it first a couple of years before Nilsson
ever got near it.
"The Golden Age Of
Rock 'N' Roll"/Bachelor Of Hearts(Live '83)
A 1974 hit for Mott The Hoople.
"She'd Rather Be With
Me"/Pat McGlynn's Scotties(1977) First, a
1967 hit for The Turtles.
"Baby I'm Yours"/Pat
McGlynn's Scotties(1977) A 1965 Van McCoy ("The
Hustle") written hit for Barbara
Lewis.
"When You Walk In The
Room"/Pat McGlynn's Scotties(1977) A 1963
Jackie De Shannon original.
"Daydream Believer"/Pat
McGlynn's Scotties(1978) The Monkees, of course,
did it first a full ten years before.
"The Letter"/Pat
McGlynn's Scotties(1978) A 1967 hit for The Box Tops, and Alex (Big
Star) Chilton's first brush with fame.
"My Little Girl Is
Fine"/Pat McGlynn's Scotties(1978) The Crickets, best known
for being Buddy Holly's backing band, had a hit with this
one in 1963, some four years after Holly himself had died.
"Don't Send Me Away
Again"/Pat McGlynn(1978) And another Crickets original.
Pat McGlynn's 1979 Live "Rock
'N' Roll Medley": "Let's
Have A Party"(Elvis
Presley); "Sweet Little
Sixteen"(Chuck Berry); "Good
Golly Miss Molly"(Little
Richard); "She'd Rather Be
With Me"(The Turtles)
"Love Grows (Where My
Rosemary Goes)"/Patrick James McGlynn
& 'Yours'(1982) Originally a big hit for Edison
Lighthouse in 1970.
"I Wanna Be Your
Boyfriend"/Patrick James McGlynn &
'Yours'(1982) A 1978 Rubinoos original.
The Rubinoos connection got even stronger quite recently,
when two of them - Tommy Dunbar and Jon Rubin - worked on
the 2nd edition of Duncan Faure's "Pronounced 'Four-Uh'"
album.
"No Matter What"/Patrick
James McGlynn & 'Yours'(1982) Another Badfinger (1971)
original.
"Suddenly You Love Me"/Ian
Mitchell Band(1979) Originally an Italian hit, the first
English version of it, however, was done by The
Tremeloes, I.M.B.'s (And Rosetta Stone's. And
Bachelor Of Hearts') producer's Alan Blakley old band, in
1968.
"Going Back"/Ian
Mitchell Band(1979) Both Dusty Springfield and The Byrds recorded
this Gerry Goffin/Carole King gem in 1966; which one of
them was first, though, I can not be quite sure of.
"I Go To Pieces"/Ian
Mitchell Band(1979) Written by Jackie De
Shannon ("When You Walk in the Room"),
who probably did it first herself, but Peter And Gordon
did a truly excellent hit version of it in the mid-'60s.
This was supposed to be Rosetta Stone's first single in '77,
but they never released it and maybe never even recorded
it.
"Lonely Nites"/Ian
Mitchell Band(1979) Written by I.M.B.'s (and The
Rubettes') aforementioned now late producer Alan Blakley
along with Phil Carmen (who in all likelyhood isn't
related to Eric Carmen, the writer of "Let's Pretend"
and formerly of The Raspberries, at all), but they
probably did so for I.M.B. especially.
"Peekaboo Love"/Ian
Mitchell Band(1980) A Pete Bite (?!?) composition.
That is about it, then, folks. I may
have overlooked some of these, though, and would
appreciate being shown the error of my ways; be it as far
as being told of certain songs I missed or of the exact
origins of some other songs ("Magical Thing",
"Where Will I Be Now", etc & so on) I can
not seem to be able to place or trace accurately.
That said, it is interesting how so many of these covers
are of seemingly similar origins. Time and time again the
same names pop up; Badfinger, Jackie De Shannon, The
Rubinoos, Bryan Adams, Dusty Springfield, The Crickets,
Russ Ballard, Tommy Roe, the Sutherland Brothers, and
others.
But now there seems little left but to give a nod to
those who have covered the Rollers. I know there must be
more of those, but first and foremost we have:
Ned's Atomic Dustbin, who did a
fun version of "Saturday Night"
for the post-"Wayne's World"/pre-"Austin
Powers" Mike Myers movie "So I
Married An Axemurderer" in 1993.
Obscure L.A. metal outfit LONDON, I have
just learned, included a cover of "Money
Honey" on their 1990 album, "Playa
Del Rock."
And then there was Nick Lowe, who under
the pseudonym Tartan Horde tried - and succeeded - to get
out of his contract with United Artists Records by
recording the Rollers tributes (apparently, the very
worst thing he could think of!), "Bay City Rollers
We Love You" and "Allorolla Part 1"; the
latter also known as "Rollers Theme (Instrumental)".
When issued together as a single in Japan, a baffled and
bemused Lowe had a hit on his hands!
.
A little later on Lowe also recorded
"Rollershow" ("The least worst one"
of the three, according to the author) for his excellent
and aptly entitled "Pure Pop For Now People"
album back in 1978. For the last decade at least, Lowe's
Rollers trilogy has been available on the 18 track
rarities CD, "The Wilderness Years". But here's
an interesting twist to the story: back in '83, the
Rollers were rumoured to be pondering to ask Lowe,
himself an established producer of acts as diverse as
Elvis Costello and The Damned, to produce their then next
LP. Never heard how they fared, though...
The Rollettes came out
with one of the earliest and best known Roller tribs,
"We Love You Rollers", as early as 1975, backed
by something called "We Do".
.
In 1977, an Emily brought us
the not-that-much-different "We Love You B.C.R.",
with a "Good-Night, Good-Bye" on the flip side.
Later that same year, and without
being asked to, faceless Japanese tribute band Bay City
Fellows decided to welcome the Rollers to
Japan with, uh, "Welcome Rollers", which was
supported B-side wise with the grammar nonesense of
"You Are The One I'm In Love". I'll guarantee either
one of these will bring a tear or two to your eye,
albeit, most definitely, for reasons other than their
makers had hopes for.
Another Japanese tribute was
unleashed upon an unsuspecting and (probably, for the
most part) unaware world in 1976, by Johnny's
Junior Special, who graced us with an Japanese
language cover of Nick Lowe's aforementioned "Bay
City Rollers We Love You".
Incredibly enough, even Grieg's "Pomp
& Circumstance March No.1" got a Rollers-related
single release in some places, as it just happened to be
the piece the Rollers opened their 1976 concert shows
with.
"Sing Songs Of Bay
City Rollers" - Japanese Karaoke LP,
circa 1976.
"The Music Of the Bay
City Rollers Played by the British Rock Orchestra"
- L.P., Cat Records, U.K., 1977.
"Dedication To Gals"
by the Baby Sitter Rollers, Japanese
tribute L.P., 1977.
Japanese boyband Tokio took a stab
at "Saturday Night" in the summer of 2001.
Well, sort of. Their single "Kanpai!!" (means
"Cheers!" in Japanese and, aptly enough, was
featured in a Kirin beer commercial in Japan - although,
most bizarrely, the boys in Tokio also turned their
version into a rally-cry against under-age drinking!)
"Contains elements from 'Saturday Night' written by
Martin/Coulter."
Remember the Stars On 45? Yes, that
early '80s Beatles medley with a limp disco beat. Well,
producer Phil (of Martin/Coulter) Coulter's botched-up
attempt at cashing in on the SO45 'craze' came with this
raid thru M/C's own back catalogue: Rollback/"Remember"(Medley:
1.Remember What We Danced To Yesterday. 2.Remember. 3.Forever
And Ever. 4.Summerlove Sensation. 5.Julie Anne. 6.Remember
What We Danced To Yesterday. 7.Shang-A-Lang. 8.The Bump.
9.All Of Me Loves All Of You. 10.Remember What We Danced
To Yesterday. 11. Remember. The 12" single was
issued on Kaleidascope Records Ltd.(KRL #KRLA 13 1652) in
the U.K. in 1981, while the 7" was #KRLA 1552. Both
came with an Instrumental version on the flip side.
But a much more interesting tribute
to the Rollers was paid rather recently with a fully-fledged
tribute CD, "Men In Plaid",
issued on Canada's Bullseye Records in late 1999/early
2000. I, myself, have even aquired a taste for Fudge...
Tracklisting:
- Wouldn't
You Like It/
The Flashcubes
- I
Only Wanna Dance With You/
The Masticators
- Rock
And Roll Love Letter/
Gary & The Gripweeds
- You
Made Me Believe In Magic/
Ed James
- Hello
And Welcome Home/
Chewy Marble
- Saturday
Night/
Anton Barbeau
- Yesterday's
Hero/
Words
- Love
Brought Me Such A Magical Thing/
Tom Davis
- Too
Young To Rock And Roll/
Squires Of The Subterrain
- Let's
Go (A Huggin' And A Kissin')/
Kennie Cruz of the Bobbies
- Here
Comes That Feeling Again/
Jeremy
- When
Will You Be Mine/
Tom Davis
- Rock'N
Roller/
Nixon's Head
- Money
Honey/
Reptopia
- Love
Power/
Fudge
- Marlina/
Boxed Cricket
- Saturday
Night/
Dipsomaniacs
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