How the Bay City Rollers invented punk

[G-Man]

I was delighted to learn today that the Ramones deliberately copied the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night" in doing "Blitzkrieg Bop", especially the opening chant. And not only that: the idea to wear a uniform (in the Ramones' case, jeans and black leather jackets) was directly inspired by the Bay City Rollers' tartan outfits.

That will make old punks weep: the godfathers of punk were inspired by the Bay City Rollers. Just think: "Hey ho, let's go" is an homage to Stuart Woody Wood.

And before the pedants correct me: yes, I know the Ramones didn't "invent" punk. Still, the idea that they copied the Bay City Rollers is quite delightful.

[MsD]

It's a very nice fact, but not gonna make this old punk weep any.

One of the first songs I heard the Pistols cover was Stepping Stone by the Monkees, and the Ramones referenced the Shangri-las, long before most blokes of my generation retrospectively decided that girl-group pop was really cool. So I've always seen the link between pop or glam-pop and punk. The Seeds, Standells and all that "obscure" psychedelic stuff that Serious Music Blokes like to nod along to isn't far away, either.

I liked the BCR songs when they came on the radio, they're tuneful summery pop, something I've always loved. I thought the short trouser look was daft and their fans were undignified, and I was a sophisticated Bowie fan at 13, so really not going to get into all shit, however, nothing against them.

Was slightly mortified when I took my young niece and two nephews out for the day (I must have been 16 or so, they 4-6 years old) and they insisted on singing BCR songs loudly on the bus all the home. I should remind them of that sometime.

But yeh, shangalang sheena.

[G-Man]

I was actually thinking when I wrote the post that you might speak well of BCR. "shangalang sheena" would be a great mash-up.

[WOM]

I think I had pretty much every BCR album, up to Strangers In The Wind (which I recall being pretty dull). Yesterday's Hero still sounds good today.

[Satchmo Distel]

Saturday Night has the same beefed up drums as the classic run of Sweet singles so you can see how it would influence not just The Ramones but also something like New Rose by The Damned, just sped up.

You could also trace both BCR and The Ramones back to Phil Spector, one way or another (a cycle completed by Spector producing the latter).

Much more spooky is that the BCR songwriters had earlier written Puppet On A String and Back Home. How the fuck did they end up writing boy band glam?

[Benjm]

I think I had pretty much every BCR album, up to Strangers In The Wind (which I recall being pretty dull).

Very concerned now about the possibility of an Isadora Duncan style tragedy involving a Torontonian adman who couldn't choose between his twin passions for motorcycling and wearing a tartan scarf tied around his wrist.

[adams house cat]

Great point G-Man. Was never a big fan myself but I can see/hear the connection. BCR were fun while they lasted and came across as nice blokes (Tam Paton, however, was a bastard and a pedophile). They didn't make much money from their success. I think there are various line ups of BCR still out on the road.

[treibeis]

My sister was a big Bay City Rollers fan. When she was about ten, I caught her kissing the photo of Alan on the gatefold version of Rollin". I threatened to tell everybody, she kicked the shit out of me, but it was still one of the best moments of my life.

[G-Man]

Much more spooky is that the BCR songwriters had earlier written Puppet On A String and Back Home. How the fuck did they end up writing boy band glam?

Well, they Coulter & Martin were writers of pop hits. No experimentation, just stuff they hoped would be catchy enough to become hits, like a two-man Brill Building. But I think they started writing for BCR when they still had ideas of being a serious pop-rock band, before Les, Eric and "Woody" were roped in.

[Jah Womble]

Despite the occasional doubled-up drumming, I'd debate that the BCRs had all that much to do with glam - their sound seemed to borrow more heavily from late fifties US teen pop (all those 'shoobeedoowahs', etc) and the Beach Boys.

In terms of the 'uniform', well, quite a few pop bands were still doing that in the mid-seventies: Rubettes, Sailor, etc. But there was a distinct lack of Boots No 7 by then.

[G-Man]

Well, nobody connected with the Ramones ever claimed to have take inspiration from Sailor or Rubettes, in part because no girls ever screamed at Georg Kajanus or Tony Thorpe.

[Satchmo Distel]

A throwback to male pop stars being physically beautiful, without the need of make-up, alongside the two Davids, Cassidy and Essex. The opposite of builders in make-up like The Sweet and younger than the creepy 30+ Glitter and Stardust.

Having them as a group meant that each girl could pick her own favourite, like with The Monkees (The Beatles too, obviously, but they were moulded from a quartet that was already there and which actually fired its prettiest member).

[Jah Womble]

Well, nobody connected with the Ramones ever claimed to have take inspiration from Sailor or Rubettes, in part because no girls ever screamed at Georg Kajanus or Tony Thorpe.

Yes, that wasn't quite my point - obviously neither of those bands impacted in the US in any way that would've caught Joey's eye. It was more the 'BCR = glam' angle with which I was taking issue.

It'd have been Alan Williams or Paul Da Vinci fronting The Rubettes then, anyway.

[Duncan Gardner]

Bill Martin claimed that 'Shang a Lang' was a tribute to the Glesga gangs of his youth (see also Playground bang-around by Pricey/ Nishy and co)

[Bored Of Education]

Sounds more like "(Do you remember) Rock and Roll Radio" to me.

[G-Man]

Yes, that wasn't quite my point - obviously neither of those bands impacted in the US in any way that would've caught Joey's eye. It was more the 'BCR = glam' angle with which I was taking issue.

It'd have been Alan Williams or Paul Da Vinci fronting The Rubettes then, anyway.

I can see some girls going slightly wild at Williams. Tony Thorpe not so much:

[Satchmo Distel]

Bill Martin claimed that 'Shang a Lang' was a tribute to the Glesga gangs of his youth (see also Playground bang-around by Pricey/ Nishy and co)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHxGyJp0_5I

[Jah Womble]

I can see some girls going slightly wild at Williams. Tony Thorpe not so much:

Indeed.

Add the Glitter Band and Showaddywaddy to that fairly nebulous list of 'costumed' bands from the seventies. (Not too much in the way of pin-up material there, either, it must be said...)

[Duncan Gardner]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHxGyJp0_5I

Apologies to Brass Eye

[MsD]

I saw Sailor supporting Steve Harley in the mid-70s, and Glass of Champagne appears on the Biba compilation "Champagne and Novocaine" (put out by Marco Pirroni and a mate, curated by a Biba buyer) alongside the NYD, Roxy Music, Cockney Rebel and David Bowie. And, er, Tiny Tim. No Rubettes, though.

Georg, the Sailor singer, was quite good-looking if you like that sort of thing.