Bay City Rollers “Once Upon a Star” 1975. Their second album and the first to feature the band members playing their own instruments (their first LP, Rollin’ from 1974 featured studio musicians). This is the first time I’ve ever sat down and consciously listened to Bay City Rollers and I chose this album mainly for their amazing fashion.

I’m not a fan of smooth sugary 70′s pop nor of full-group harmonizing (though I do like me some CSNY) so we’ll see how this first-listen goes. The opening track “Bye Bye Baby” was a #1 hit in the UK. Written by Four Seasons’ Bob Gaudio, the original went to #12 in the US in 1965. That 60′s flavor snakes through much of the rest of the record, including “Angel Baby” (which Allmusic describes as a tribute to the Phil Spector sound), “My Teenage Heart” and their cover of “Keep on Dancing” which was originally performed by the Avantis in ‘63 (the Bay City Rollers’ version first was released as a single in ‘71). They veer from the R&B 60′s pop to a Beatles’ sound on “Once Upon a Star” (and that’s not too bad) and they might be trying the same thing on “Hey! Beautiful Dreamer” but it fails miserably (I really don’t like that song). The track “The Disco Kid” is OK – it’s got a decent amount of funk that scrapes a light layer off the sticky-sweet edge of the album and “Let’s Go” is a bit of a rocker (a couple of power-chords!) but it’s still chock-full of oooo-aaaa harmonies. Verdict: I’m not likely to actively seek out Bay City Rollers again any time soon but in the interest of history it’s certainly fascinating to realize that the Sex Pistols would emerge onto the UK scene just one year after this album’s release with a sound that couldn’t be more diametrically opposed.