Bay City Rollers--Saturday Night (1975)

     The Saxons formed in 1966 with bassist Alan Longmuir, his brother Derek who played drums and lead singer Gordon Clark. They didn't fancy the name and chose another by throwing a dart a US map which landed on Bay City, Michigan. They did the pub circuit without much luck on the charts until releasing, "Keep On Dancing" in 1971 which reached #9 on the UK charts. In 73, they recorded their first version of "Saturday Night" which didn't make the charts, and with no more success to speak of, Clark left and was replaced with Les McKeown. That year also saw the addition of Eric Faulkner and Stuart Wood. "Saturday Night" was re recorded with McKeown at the mic in 1974 for the Rollers first album, "Rollin", but was not released as a single.

     However, 74 was the year they broke out in a big way, and in 75 the decision was made to release "Saturday Night" as a single in America. Along with a tidal wave of publicity, it shot up to #1. It was one of three top 10 songs in the US and after about a year of  "Rollermaina" it was about over. There were a couple of hits in early 77, and the US (and British) string was over. They dropped the "Bay City" in 78, but three albums failed to chart and the group, except for an attempt to reform the group in the late 80's called it a day in 1981.

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Paper Lace--The Night Chicago Died (1974)

     Paper Lace began in 1967 in Nottingham, England as the group Music Box, then in 1969 changed it when Phil Wright joined as drummer and lead singer. They spent the next 5 years paying their dues on the pub circuit with the occasional television appearance. In 1974 the group had an chance to be on the show "Opportunity Knocks" and did so well that songwriters Mitch Murry and Peter Callender approached them with the song, "Billy Don't Be A Hero". The song went to number 1 on the British charts in the spring of 1974, but failed here as Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods beat them to the punch and released their version stateside first.. Another Murry/Callender song, "The Night Chicago Died" however, didn't have that issue and reached #1 here with 3 million copies sold.

      As with much of the best of bubblegum pop, it was very well crafted, and an album with "Billy" and "Chicago" proved that the band could extend the sound for a whole album. (It was released as "Paper Lace" in the states, "Paper Lace and Other Bits of Material" in the UK).  If you get a chance to hear it, you might be surprised at the quality of the music. However, the band never had another hit in the US or in Britain and by the end of the decade had gone their separate ways.

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