By Philip Denvir
IT'S more a case of Bare Bare Baby than Bye Bye Baby... A Bay City Rollers tribute band are drumming up a following by stripping down to tartan boxer shorts. The original platform-heeled popstars may have preferred to Keep on Dancing, but their modern-day counterparts, the Bare City Rollers, don't want to keep anything on at all.
When the Bathgate-based five-piece band made their hometown debut last month they sported nothing but tartan shorts and masks of their heroes. Singer Matt Boyle, of Kirk Street, Bathgate, said it started off as a joke, but the band was now attracting huge audiences. And he added they were saving money on costumes by just wearing their underwear. "I suggested covering the Bay City Rollers, and we decided the Bare City Rollers was a superb idea and it cut out expense on costumes," he said. Friends Bruce Rattray, Karl Tavares, Paul Sutherland and brothers Matt and Simon Boyle joined together thanks to a shared passion for the Seventies.
Miming to such classics as Bye Bye Baby and Shang-a-Lang, while strumming their blow-up guitars, they are already proving a big hit. We do other stuff as well - like Starsky and Hutch, Tele Savalas and John Travolta," said Matt. Their show at the Regal Theatre in Bathgate raised more than GBP 500 for local charities. Their next gig is at Grangemouth Town Hall on May 9.
The Rollers' ex-manager, Tam Paton, said the real band would get a kick out of the tribute band and would definitely see the funny side.