Bay City Rollers Les McKeown Comes to Croydon
The lead singer of legendary Scottish pop group the Bay City Rollers is rolling back the years on his solo tour.
Les McKeown became the frontman of the group just a few days after his 18th birthday and now at the age of 62 he is continuing to wow audiences across the country. The Bay City Rollers notched up nine UK top ten hits including two number ones during their time.
McKeown says they have been compared in their success to current hit boyband One Direction.
Their first two albums, Rollin and Once Upon a Star stayed in the album charts for a total of 99 weeks from 1974 to 1976, while their first number one single Bye Bye Baby was the UK’s biggest selling single of 1975.
The Rollers travelled across the pond to America in the latter part of 1975 and were just as big a hit.
This year McKeown is back on the road and singing a host of Rollers’ classics which he hopes will get the audience singing along.
He says: “We have played a few gigs so far and it has been great so far.
“It is quite a lot of shows for an old man like me but when I get the buzz and the adrenaline from performing it makes it all worth it. You just get caught up in it.
“I try and get everyone up dancing and clapping and singing along which is part of my showmanship.
“We go back to those great times in the 70s where we had some fantastic hits and it is great to play those again on stage.”
He adds: “It is an upbeat show, I love to have a laugh on stage and have a chat with the audience. The audience know the story so it is good to be a bit different and tell some jokes. Perhaps I should be a comedian as well.
“It is quite a phenomenon really what we did. It is very rare that you can have a profession like I have got.
“Everyone compares us to One Direction as they have achieved the same worldwide phenomenon we did. We are of course better though. They can dance better than us I suppose.
“We have got some great gigs lined up all over the world including Scotland which I can’t wait to do. But I love the theatres and I love the atmosphere you get in them.”
The lead singer also said he was especially looking forward to playing at Fairfield Halls.
He says: “We have definitely been in Croydon a couple of times. We love playing that gig it is fantastic.
“Our last song is Shang-a-lang and then we do an encore of Bye Bye Baby which just knocks the audience out. I love it.”
Rollmania – The Bay City Rollers Story, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, November 11, 7.45pm, £17.50 to £19.50, Fairfield.co.uk or call 020 8688 9291.