New Weekly
15 April 1996

Derek Longmuir - Bay City Rollers

Just over 20 yeas ago, they graced the covers of teenage magazines, sporting calf-length tartan trousers, platform boots and cheeky grins. The Bay City Rollers, a group of five fresh-faced Scottish boys, sold more than 70 million records and played to screaming girls all over the world. But, in 1976, after a long tour of America, the Rollers landed back at London's Heathrow Airport to find the crowds had disappeared. Drummer Derek Longmuir is the only Roller who has given up showbiz, working as a nurse in Edinburgh - where occasionally a patient says: "Weren't you once in the Bay City Rollers?" There are now two Rollers spin-off bands. One, which keeps the original name, comprises Eric Faulkner, 40, Stuart "Woody" Wood, 37, and Alan Longmuir, 44, who still tour Europe on the college and festival circuit and still play hits like "Bye Bye Baby" and "Shang-a-lang". Former lead singer Les McKeown, 39, who split from the band in 1978 launched a solo career and now tours with his band Les McKeown's '70s Bay City Rollers.