Tuesday, July 03, 2018

Alan Longmuir 1948 -- 2018

Say what you will about The Bay City Rollers, but a) they were a genuine band who had paid their dues big time before they became superstars and b) they did an absolutely brilliant, and courageously self-referential, cover of Vanda and Young's classic "Yesterday's Hero."



Plus Nick Lowe wrote a great song about them.

Cooler than that it does not get.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for mentioning Alan & the BCR... I was a huge fan, back in the day (complete with my own pair of hand-altered tartan-trimmed jeans). :) Unfortunately, Alan had left the group before they recorded the "Dedication" album, which included "Yesterday's Hero." Ian Mitchell replaced him on that album, and was subsequently replaced by Pat McGlynn, the terrified looking kid in the stars & stripes shirt in the video clip here. He didn't last very long either.

Alan's spotlight song was "Rock & Roll Honeymoon" & I have been humming it ever since I heard of his passing yesterday. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3eYwFEVA6c

Shriner said...

No collection is complete without "Saturday Night" and "You Made Me Believe In Magic".

That tell-all book about them, though...

That was more uncomfortable than most stories about rock bands, actually. I can't think of a better adjective than "cautionary" when describing that tale.

But, yes, if nothing else "Rollers Show" makes up (almost) for all of it.

Jai Guru Dave said...

Wait! Somebody in the Bay City Rollers was my age?? I thought they were kids when I first became aware of them!