A few days after his 18th birthday in 1973, Les McKeown became the lead  
singer of a Scottish pop group hailing from Edinburgh, called the Bay City  
Rollers.  His charasmatic presence transformed the Rollers from a one-hit  
wonder band on the verge of giving up into an international super group.  
Dubbed 'Rollermania' by the press, the mass hysteria that followed had not  
been witnessed since the days of the Beatles.  By 1975, Les soon became  
one of the most adored men on the planet, constantly gracing the covers of  
music and teen magazines alike.

With the Bay City Rollers, Les notched up nine UK top ten hits including  
two number ones.  Their first two albums, "Rollin'" and "Once Upon A  
Star", stayed on the album charts for a total of 99 weeks from 1974 -  
1976.  "Bye Bye Baby", the Rollers first number one was the UK's biggest  
selling single of 1975.  Making their American television debut in the  
fall of 1975 on Howard Cosell's "Saturday Night Live", the Rollers found a  
following that would resonate with screams through concert halls around  
the world for the next 3 years.  By 1976 they were consistently hitting  
the US top ten charts with songs such as "Saturday Night", their first US  
number one, "I Only Wanna Be With You" and "Rock and Roll Love Letter" to  
name a few.  Concerts were stopped due to mobbing of the band members  
onstage and their trademark Scottish tartan was everywhere - made popular  
by the clothes they wore.  Mass hysteria followed their every move, while  
the screams of a generation of young girls could be heard across the  
nation and around the world.

Over a period of five years, one of the world's first ever boy bands  
consistently reached number one not only in Britain but all over Europe,  
North America, Japan and Australia.  Current estimated worldwide album  
sales are at 300 hundred million.

After leaving the Bay City Rollers in 1979, Les put together his first  
solo album, "All Washed Up", which carried songwriting production,  
performance and artistic credits.  Les McKeown's Ego Trip went on to  
record five hugely successful studio albums in Japan.  In the late '80's,  
there was more chart success in Germany and another album called 'It's a  
Game", produced in association with highly respected German songwriter  
Dieter Bohlen.  Soon after came The Tartan Army, a theatrical project  
which caught the attention of London club mogul Sean McClusky.

In 1991, Les found himself back on the London stage for the first time in  
over ten years with the Tartan Army.  Encouraged by the welcome reaction  
he received, Les put together a new backing band of talented musicians and  
began reworking the old Roller hits.

Today, Les is recording innovative new material which has been  
specifically written for him by two young, talented London-based writers.

Meanwhile, Les still tours with his band, the Legendary Bay City Rollers.  
Audiences are treated to all the old hits - updated and rearranged for the  
new millennium - yet still retaining the original magic.  The reggae  
version of "Remember", together with a bluesy "Give A Little Love" and a  
non-BCR duet with keyboard player Russell Keefe, "Killing The Blues",  
always attracts the loudest cheers and applause.  Audiences always agree  
that McKeown is the consummate professional - his ability to engage and  
thrill a crowd increases with each performance.

Les has just completed his autobiography which can be ordered now at  
Amazon UK or Amazon.com
          


After joining the Bay City Rollers in November 1973, the band, with Les  
McKeown on lead vocals, shot to superstardom almost over night.

"Remember", the Rollers' first  single with Les' vocals,  shot up the UK  
charts to No. 6 and was quickly followed by "Shang-A-Lang", "Summerlove  
Sensation" and "All Of Me Loves All Of You" all hitting the Top Five.  
"Bye Bye Baby" was their first UK Number One in May 1975 followed by  
"Give A Little Love" in July.  Their first US single, "Saturday Night",  
amazingly went straight to the top of the Billboard charts, and their  
first British album, "Rollin'" was the first debut album to top the  
charts.  The BCR released many more Top 10 songs over the next two years  
including "Money Honey", "I Only Wanna Be With You", and "You Made Me  
Believe In Magic".  Between 1975 - 1978, they toured all over the world  
and played to sold out crowds in the USA, Japan, Great Britain, Europe,  
New Zealand and Australia.

After leaving the Bay City Rollers in 1978, Les McKeown and the band were  
reunited in 1982 for sold out shows at Tokyo's famous Budokan.  The  
reunion was such a huge success that they toured again in 1983, releasing  
a double 'Live in Japan' LP.  This was the first time that the stage  
included not only the Fab 5 line up: Alan Longmuir, Derek Longmuir, Eric  
Faulkner, Woody Wood and Les McKeown, but also Ian Mitchell and Pat  
McGlynn.

Drawing on the overwhelming response of the BCR reunions, the band  
recorded their first studio LP in seven years, 'Breakout'.  The LP was  
released in Japan and Australia with a tour to support the release.

It would be more than 12 years before the band would perform together  
again, taking the stage in their hometown of Edinburgh for the massive  
Millennium concert festival on New Year's Eve in 1999.





  Les' controversial departure from the Bay City Rollers in 1979 led him to  
form the pop sound of Egotrip.  This band was overwhelmingly successful in  
Japan, and Germany selling millions of records.  Les was able to showcase  
his multi talented musicianship and showmanship as well as production  
abilities.

Having replaced the tartan gear with spandex and cat suits, Les launched  
his new career with his first solo LP, 'All Washed Up' in 1979.  He soon  
found himself playing sold out concerts all over Japan, including The  
Budokan in Tokyo. His face also graced the covers of popular music  
magazines, Rock Show and Music Life for four years straight.

Six albums and seven singles were released by Les McKeown and Egotrip.  
"Shall I Do It", "Long Distance Love", "Sayonara" and "Sylvie My Love"  
were just a few of the chart toppers.





Soaring into the music video revolution, Les experienced sweet success in  
Germany with many hits in the late 80's.  Driving dance beats and soothing  
melodies were the ingredients that put Les on the top of the charts with  
his album "It's A Game".  "Love Hurts, Love Heals" and "Nobody Makes Me  
Crazy" were just a few of the many hits with accompanying music videos  
that dominated the German music scene during the late 1980's




The year 1990 saw Les bringing his style and showmanship to the stage with  
the theatre group, The Tartan Army.  The project involved remixing old  
favorite tunes with contemporary themes.  The Tartan Army was totally  
committed to delighting club audiences with a constantly evolving stage  
act.

  Often reviewed in music magazines and newspapers, the band was described  
as "a stage act with a difference" and "putting the show back in  
performance". Club owners were quoted as saying, "definitely the maddest  
act we have ever booked...totally fun and absolutely brilliant"; "masters  
of reanimation"; "the most fun you can have without having sex".

As well as taking their stage show to all four corners of the planet, The  
Tartan Army released several videos, including the critically acclaimed  
"Bring The Love Back", a powerful pop-dance cover mix of Bad Company's  
"Feel Like Making Love" and Blondie's "Heart of Glass".


     
     


After realizing  the demand to hear live Bay City Rollers music was still  
enormous, the band  "Les McKeown's Legendary Bay City Rollers" (previously  
referred to as Les McKeown's 70's Bay City Rollers) was born in the early  
90's.  The Legendary band has toured the UK, Japan, Germany, Canada and  
the USA over the last decade.

Still performing to sold out crowds today, audiences are treated to all  
the old hits - updated and rearranged for the new millennium - yet still  
retaining the original magic.




"In a line-up of synthetic baleful expressions, the more devilishly  
grinning Les McKeown was the one Roller who always came across as his own  
man." - Irvine Welsh, internationally acclaimed author (2003)



"Les was the man. He had girls melting in front of him. I used to get his  
seconds but I wasn't worried because they were all honeys." - Pat McGlynn,  
former Bay City Roller (2003)



"Les was cool. I remember him and me, literally sitting on the dock of the  
bay in Miami, smoking pot and listening to Pink Floyd. It wasn't Danny  
 from 16 Magazine and Leslie of the Bay City Rollers. It was just two guys  
talking about life." - Danny Fields, editor of 16 Magazine and manager of  
The Ramones (2002)



"I'm fed up with having them thrust down my throat in all the papers. I  
think it's a shame. People are treating them a little bit hard. I'm not  
the greatest fan of their music, but I can still say good luck to them." -  
Sir Elton John (mid 70s)



"In some ways the Bay City Rollers make me feel like I'm out of touch, to  
tell you the truth." - George Harrison (mid 70s)



"Whoever is doing their PR has no sense of shame. These guys are going to  
be wrecks when this is all over." - John Peel, UK DJ (mid 70s)



"All in all we sound like the Bay City Rollers being molested by Black  
Flag and Black Sabbath." - Kurt Cobain (early 90s)



"I made more money with the Bay City Rollers than I did with John and Yoko  
... I could go to the magazines and sell them two or three pictures each  
of Kiss, Debbie Harry, the Rolling Stones ... and thirty-seven or  
sixty-four of the Bay City Rollers." - Bob Gruen, photographer (90s)



"I was in the road crew for the Beatles. But I have never seen anything  
like this Rollermania." - Jef Hanlon, promoter (1975)



"Les and the Rollers were there for me when everything else was falling  
apart. Their music still makes me smile and cheers me up today, no matter  
how bad things are." - A fan, 1998







          
--
Sincerely yours, Dmitry Semenido

LG Electronics Russia, Saint-Petersburg
E-mail: semenido@lge.com