AMG EXPERT REVIEW: It took them four years to make it (in every sense
of the phrase), but the Bay City Rollers' debut album could not have
kicked off more explosively, with the mind-mangling chant of "Shang-a-
Lang," their third hit single but the first to truly state the band's
business in mile-high neon-lit tartan letters. And the fact that two
more major smashes still lurked onboard only amplifies the album's
achievement -- at last, a teenybop idol that wasn't afraid to spread
its wings and fly. Rollin' is a dynamic collection, even once you're
past the singles: "Summerlove Sensation," with its fairground
friendliness and human Wurlitzer compulsion, and the ultimate chant of
"Saturday Night." Indeed, almost every track on the album could have
been a single -- and several more of them were. "Jenny Gotta Dance"
had been released by John Kincaid just a few months earlier, while
"Give It to Me Now" was originally recorded by "Heart of Stone"
hitmaker Kenny during 1973. But still the album sparkles, from the fan
base-baiting version of the old Phil Spector chestnut "Be My Baby,"
through to the handful of band originals that proved the Rollers would
probably have made it regardless of who pulled the songwriting strings.
In the event, it is impossible to overstate the contributions of Bill
Martin and Phil Coulter, a pair who thought nothing of rhyming "things
we used to say" with "shoo-be-doo-ay," and who have a wall of golden
discs to prove it. See, the kids don't need literature and they don't
need art; they need something they can sing along to, and Rollin'
delivers from beginning to end. -- Dave Thompson


Half.com Album Notes
The 1974 classic from Scotland's Bay City Rollers includes "Saturday
Night," their big bubble gum hit of the decade.

The British reissue adds four bonus tracks, the B-sides of the singles
off the album.


AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW
The first... but not the best., September 7, 2004
By Brewzerr "Brewzerr" (On the fault line, CA)

Before the first wave of English Punk hit in '76, there weren't too
many alternatives to the ailing state of popular Rock in mid-70's
Britain. The exciting but doomed-by-excess Glam phenomenon of the
earlier part of the decade was in it's death throes, and the radio was
becoming increasingly more dominated by much more "serious" music like
Yes and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer... ie. the dreaded "dinosaur" rock
perpetuated by "supergroups". A huge void was created, and it was this
void that became the unlikely launching pad for the Rollers' rise to
fame and success. After slogging through the early 70's with only one
Top 40 single, which came and went in '71, and numerous lineup changes
and failed follow-up singles, they finally gelled their lineup in late
'73 with the replacement of original vocalist Nobby Clarke by the more
rogueish and extroverted Leslie McKeown. A drastic new look with
bizarre Tartan highwater flares and cropped-shag haircuts, plus the
backing of songwriting team Martin/Coulter, and a new hit single in
the form of "Remember", propelled the Rollers to new heights and the
heyday of their career.

"Rollin'" is the result of all this activity. The first BCR album came
nearly 5 years into their career, and kicked off the glory days of
"Rollermania". Released in the summer of '74, this platter offers
mainly Martin/Coulter compositions, with only 4 band-penned songs.
There was also talk of session musicians being used on some of the
recordings. Nevertheless... "Rollin'" and the new re-vamped Rollers
offered a fresh, youthful, and well-timed relief to all the
pretentious pomp-rock that was dominating the charts in 1974. Not
exactly the adrenalin-charged explosion that would occur a couple of
years later with bands like the Sex Pistols et al... but a nice
appetizer if you will. A few classics arose from this album, in the
form of "Shang-A-Lang", "Summerlove Sensation", "Saturday Night", and
a remixed version of "Remember", with a Les McKeown vocal overdub.

The bonus tracks here are all b-sides of previous singles, and don't
offer much in the way of uniqueness, but the last track ("Hey CB" - b-
side to "Saturday Night") is an interesting departure... a fuzz-laden
stomper about a cycle rally that sounds nothing like the rest of the
material here. Strangely catchy. I only wish that Bell would have
included the elusive and unreleased "Na Na Na" in place of the highly
disposable "Bye Bye Barbara". This album is worth buying if only for
it's unique historical significance.


AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW
Infectious Pop-Rock from Scotland!, December 2, 2004
By Henry R. Kujawa ("The Forbidden Zone" (Camden, NJ))

I never bought the hype that The Rollers were "the new Beatles" when
they debuted on Howard Cosell's variety show. I grew up listening to
made-for-TV music like The Monkees, The Archies, The Banana Splits,
and even Lancelot Link-- loving ALL of it! So I jokingly nicknamed
them "the new Archies"-- but to me, that wasn't a bad thing! While
their look & promotion was record-company-influenced (to say the
least), at least these guys from Scotland started out as a REAL band--
the kind that wrote & played their own songs, and performed in bars!

There was a big "50's rock & roll" revival in the early 70's-- but it
took me a while to figure out The Rollers' sound mostly came from the
early 60's-- that most "squeaky-clean" period of "rock & roll", when
record labels "manufactured" their own pop idols. This is obvious when
you check out their covers: "Be My Baby" (The Ronnettes), "Bye Bye
Baby" (The 4 Seasons), "Don't Worry Baby" (The Beach Boys) and so on.
But they were also capable of creating their own classics, either with
Bill Martin & Phil Coulter ("Saturday Night", "Summerlove Sensation")
or on their own (mostly later on).

I've had a copy of ROLLIN', their debut LP, for a long time, and it's
slowly grown on me over the years. Compared to their US debut, it's
kind of low-key, but then that was designed to be a "greatest hits"
album without actually saying so. Among the highlights here are "Shang
A Lang" (didn't I mention The Archies?), "Give It To Me Now" (a bit
raunchier than the rest), "Remember (Sha La La La La)", "Saturday
Night" (pretty much their anthem song), "Jenny Gotta Dance" (a bit
more power than the rest here), "There Goes My Baby" (a Faulkner/Wood
tune that really brings to mind the style of Neil Sedaka) and
"Summerlove Sensation" (one of my favorite "feel-good" romantic songs).


This BMG UK & Ireland CD has it over the previous Japanese version, as
it has 4 "B" sides as bonus tracks, of which "Are You Ready For That
Rock And Roll" and "Bye Bye Barbara" would have really improved the
original album. ("Bringing Back The Good Times" is a little too sappy
for me, while "Hey C.B." just isn't sticking in my head.) It's also
cheaper (especially if you get it from one of the "Marketplace" stores
like I did).

I don't think they went quite far enough, though. The sound on all 4
CDs in this series has a bit too much bass. Not every 45 side was
included (no "Manana" or "Because I Love You", issued in Germany).
WORST, however, is the fact that the US lp BAY CITY ROLLERS had at
least 4 remixes, ALL of which were superior to the UK tracks: "Give A
Little Love", "Be My Baby", "Summerlove Sensation" and "Remember (Sha
La La La)". Were these "single" remixes, or just done for the US
market? Either way, they definitely should have been included on the
new CDs as bonus tracks. (Thank God I still have my old LPs!)