The Plumbing Planet

A band named Sue

Wednesday, March 21 2007

by our Entertainment correspondent Crystal B Day

Hit 1970s pop band The Bay City Rollers are suing their record company, claiming they are owed millions of dollars in unpaid royalties. The Scottish group says Arista Records has withheld payments from album sales, merchandise, commercials, film rights and ringtones during the last 25 years.
The five original Rollers - Les McKeown, Eric Faulkner, Ian Rankin, Alan Longmuir and Derek Longmuir - have struggled since their heyday with only bestselling author Rankin going on to a further media career. McKeown and Faulkner still tour small venues, Alan Longmuir is a plumber while his brother Derek is a nurse and former paedophile.
The Rollers also lost millions after being advised to invest in a trampoline-making firm by former manager Tam Paton. He assured them that trampolines were going to be the biggest thing since the hoola hoop and the band members bought into 16 production factories, one outside Edinburgh and the remaining 15 in Elgin. All the factories had to close when it was discovered that the child workers flown in from the Philippines to build the trampolines weren't heavy enough to carry out vital bounce tests.
Further attempts at investment failed when Paton convinced the Rollers to put their money into plastic rain macs and Wellington boots for reindeer, a scheme he insisted would be the biggest thing since trampolines. Sadly the seasonal nature of reindeer work meant the plan was doomed to failure and not even a last-ditch attempt to use the macs and boots for school children could save the company.
The Rollers have said that if they can recover the estimated $22 million from Arista they intend to invest it in a company which produces tartan paint for the American market. Les McKeown says he has been told that it is set to be the biggest thing since reindeer macs.