Starting things Part Three - The Bay City Rollers |
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Saturday, 07 February 2015 |
Starting things Part Three - would The Bay City Rollers have happened without me?
This is a trickier question. Yes, I produced (and sang 13 vocals on) their first hit Keep On Dancing. But then, after a couple of flops, I gave up on them. Credit should be due to manager Tam Paton, originally a potato farmer, who had faith, stayed with them and eventually found Bill Martin and Phil Coulter who produced more hits with them, by which time it was the RIGHT time (two years later) and the world was ready for them.
I also helped by persuading Clive Davis in America to work them. "Can they break the USA?", he asked me, over breakfast. "My head says NO but my heart says YES", I replied. "I'll go with your heart", he said, and did.
So - I helped The Bay City Rollers, produced and broke their first hit, contributed to their initial success which, probably, stopped the record label from dropping them, but I'd give all the credit to Tam Paton there.
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