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Shang-a-lang: Life as an International Pop Idol
The roller-coaster rise to stardom of Les McKeown, who transformed the Bay City Rollers from a one-hit-wonder boy-band into a super-group, and his subsequent descent into near destitution after quitting the band. It is a remarkable story of extremes, and a no-holds barred account of Rollermania.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2003
14 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
About the author
Les McKeown
1 book2 followersLes McKeown was lead singer of The Bay City Rollers from 1973 to 1978, at which time he went on to pursue a solo career.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 2, 2021
Being an obsessive Les fan, of the Bay City Rollers, back in the day, I basically flew through this book! There were scenarios that I already knew about and Les opened up my eyes to some new stuff as well. Any Rollers fan will want to indulge in this if they want to go "behind the scenes" on what it was like to be a Roller! He speaks of his high and low periods of being in this "bubble" and how he started into the next phase of his career after he left the Rollers. He talks about forming a new band and he is still touring as "Les McKeown's legendary Bay City Rollers". Sadly this has all come to an end as he passed away in April 2021 at the age of 65. His Legendary band is now doing tribute gigs.
January 31, 2012
Not ready to write a review on this just yet....BUT the Las McKeown that wrote this book is not the same Les McKeown that is a goodreads author...just saying!
April 25, 2023
Two or more sides to every story
The Bay City Rollers were huge in the 70's when I was a teenager. I was initially drawn to them because they were from Scotland where my grandmother was from. This is the story of the lead singers experience with the band. It's told in his words and I love that he uses the Scottish brogue as it brings back fond memories of my grandmother. Les had alot of anger issues and was definitely arrogant but you can feel his honesty through his words. He does leave some key moments in his life out that are well known now. RIP Les!
The Bay City Rollers were huge in the 70's when I was a teenager. I was initially drawn to them because they were from Scotland where my grandmother was from. This is the story of the lead singers experience with the band. It's told in his words and I love that he uses the Scottish brogue as it brings back fond memories of my grandmother. Les had alot of anger issues and was definitely arrogant but you can feel his honesty through his words. He does leave some key moments in his life out that are well known now. RIP Les!
April 24, 2021
I knew Les McKeown of the Bay City Rollers -- the boy band that consumed a couple of years of my teenaged life back in the mid/late 1970s -- had written a memoir (originally published in 2003) -- but when I'd checked it out a few years ago on Amazon, it was out of print and used copies were priced higher than I was willing to pay.
Earlier this week, I heard of his death at the age of 65. :( In scanning the news, I stumbled on a link to the book again, and discovered that a Kindle version was available. I happily downloaded it to the Kindle app on my cellphone and started reading. That was Thursday, and I finished the book this (Saturday) morning.
"Shang-a-lang: My Life With the Bay City Rollers" (titled "Shang-a-lang: My Life as an International Pop Star" in some editions) was written by Les along with Lynne Clarke and Irvine Welsh, who wrote the foreword. There's a section at the end with fan comments about the impact Les and the Rollers have had on their lives, as well as photos.
Les grew up in a tough neighbourhood of Edinburgh, with a chip set firmly on his shoulder -- the youngest of four brothers from a poor Irish immigrant family As a teenager, he started singing with a local band called Threshold, which put him on the radar of Rollers manager Tam Paton. When the Rollers' lead singer, Nobby Clark, abruptly departed the band, Les was called in to replace him. He bought his mother an electric dryer with his first big Rollers paycheque.
Les's voice comes through clearly here -- including the use of Scottish dialect ("couldnae," "didnae," "wouldnae," etc.). Some of the terms I was familiar with from my teenaged Rollermaniac days (e.g., "trews,"chip butties"), while other references (Mary Whitehouse? Will and Gareth??) went right over my non-British/Scottish head. These could have been clarified/explained for a non-UK audience. There are also some typos/continuity errors, particularly near the end, that should have been caught by an editor. (As a former editor/proofreader, this kind of stuff matters to me!)
Typos and head-scratchers aside, the book is also somewhat marred by Les's snarky comments about the other band members -- Eric Faulkner in particular. He also doesn't have much nice to say about the band's ultra-controlling manager, Tam Paton (although he is far from alone in that respect!). (After Paton's death in 2009, Les claimed the manager raped him.) Personality clashes are one thing, and some of Les's criticisms about how the band was run are valid -- but I also think some of his personal insinuations were uncalled for and could have easily been left out.
Those reservations aside, I mostly enjoyed this trip down memory lane. It's ultimately not a very happy story, but Les tells it with wit and humour. This comment, for example, about the advent of punk rock, cracked me up:
I'm obviously pretty familiar with the Rollers' story by now, but I was glad to have the opportunity to read Les's side of things, and to learn more about his life over the past 40 years. The book ends in 2003, with Les promising to start work on a sequel. I am beyond sad that we'll never see a full reunion of the classic lineup (or that promised sequel), but thankful for the memories, and for this book that brought them flooding back again.
3.5 stars on Goodreads, rounded up to 4, because I'm feeling generous and nostalgic. :)
Earlier this week, I heard of his death at the age of 65. :( In scanning the news, I stumbled on a link to the book again, and discovered that a Kindle version was available. I happily downloaded it to the Kindle app on my cellphone and started reading. That was Thursday, and I finished the book this (Saturday) morning.
"Shang-a-lang: My Life With the Bay City Rollers" (titled "Shang-a-lang: My Life as an International Pop Star" in some editions) was written by Les along with Lynne Clarke and Irvine Welsh, who wrote the foreword. There's a section at the end with fan comments about the impact Les and the Rollers have had on their lives, as well as photos.
Les grew up in a tough neighbourhood of Edinburgh, with a chip set firmly on his shoulder -- the youngest of four brothers from a poor Irish immigrant family As a teenager, he started singing with a local band called Threshold, which put him on the radar of Rollers manager Tam Paton. When the Rollers' lead singer, Nobby Clark, abruptly departed the band, Les was called in to replace him. He bought his mother an electric dryer with his first big Rollers paycheque.
Les's voice comes through clearly here -- including the use of Scottish dialect ("couldnae," "didnae," "wouldnae," etc.). Some of the terms I was familiar with from my teenaged Rollermaniac days (e.g., "trews,"chip butties"), while other references (Mary Whitehouse? Will and Gareth??) went right over my non-British/Scottish head. These could have been clarified/explained for a non-UK audience. There are also some typos/continuity errors, particularly near the end, that should have been caught by an editor. (As a former editor/proofreader, this kind of stuff matters to me!)
Typos and head-scratchers aside, the book is also somewhat marred by Les's snarky comments about the other band members -- Eric Faulkner in particular. He also doesn't have much nice to say about the band's ultra-controlling manager, Tam Paton (although he is far from alone in that respect!). (After Paton's death in 2009, Les claimed the manager raped him.) Personality clashes are one thing, and some of Les's criticisms about how the band was run are valid -- but I also think some of his personal insinuations were uncalled for and could have easily been left out.
Those reservations aside, I mostly enjoyed this trip down memory lane. It's ultimately not a very happy story, but Les tells it with wit and humour. This comment, for example, about the advent of punk rock, cracked me up:
The birth of punk rock did nothing to make me feel more secure in my job. I daydreamed about what it would be like to spit and puke along with the best of them, but I quickly realised the idea was just a hopeless dream and downed the rest of my glass of milk.
I'm obviously pretty familiar with the Rollers' story by now, but I was glad to have the opportunity to read Les's side of things, and to learn more about his life over the past 40 years. The book ends in 2003, with Les promising to start work on a sequel. I am beyond sad that we'll never see a full reunion of the classic lineup (or that promised sequel), but thankful for the memories, and for this book that brought them flooding back again.
3.5 stars on Goodreads, rounded up to 4, because I'm feeling generous and nostalgic. :)
January 16, 2024
I remember at Primary School being cornered in the junior cloakroom with my friend Pam, by a group of older girls. They showed us a picture of the Bay City Rollers ( probably the centrefold of Pink or Jackie) and demanded to know which one we liked.
I chose Woody, he had the friendliest face, but Pam’s choice met with snorts of derision and disbelief amongst the gang.
‘ ALAN! No one fancies Alan’ they cried.
We learned that day, that the only really acceptable BCR to fancy was Les, all the popular girls chose him. If you were a bit dreamy and romantic you were allowed Eric, those deep blue eyes with the luscious lashes or, at a push, Derek or Woody but, absolutely, definitely not Alan. I don’t know why, after reading Bye Bye Baby by Caroline Sullivan, he seems like the nicest, trying to strike up a conversation with fans around a swimming pool instead of telling them to “Fuck off” like Les did.
There are some great passages in this where Les’s voice comes across very clearly.
He talks about “the unavoidable turning point that all celebrities dread, the point when the papers, who are so kind and encouraging to start with because you increase their sales, suddenly decide you’re now worthless to them and show themselves to be the back stabbing, lie spewing bastards that they truly are”
Or his take on the official Bay City Rollers magazine
“Launched in 1975 in glorious full colour and crammed full of bullshit..it was the sheer quantity of the bullshit that made the magazine so bad”
I just wish I’d got to see Les McKeowns 1970s Bay City Rollers when they were around.
I chose Woody, he had the friendliest face, but Pam’s choice met with snorts of derision and disbelief amongst the gang.
‘ ALAN! No one fancies Alan’ they cried.
We learned that day, that the only really acceptable BCR to fancy was Les, all the popular girls chose him. If you were a bit dreamy and romantic you were allowed Eric, those deep blue eyes with the luscious lashes or, at a push, Derek or Woody but, absolutely, definitely not Alan. I don’t know why, after reading Bye Bye Baby by Caroline Sullivan, he seems like the nicest, trying to strike up a conversation with fans around a swimming pool instead of telling them to “Fuck off” like Les did.
There are some great passages in this where Les’s voice comes across very clearly.
He talks about “the unavoidable turning point that all celebrities dread, the point when the papers, who are so kind and encouraging to start with because you increase their sales, suddenly decide you’re now worthless to them and show themselves to be the back stabbing, lie spewing bastards that they truly are”
Or his take on the official Bay City Rollers magazine
“Launched in 1975 in glorious full colour and crammed full of bullshit..it was the sheer quantity of the bullshit that made the magazine so bad”
I just wish I’d got to see Les McKeowns 1970s Bay City Rollers when they were around.
September 7, 2025
Having read Alan's book first, the kind gentle version of the Bay City Rollers that only hinted at the turmoil and never singled anyone out, Les's version gave more insight and was more salacious but focused so much on slagging Eric (deservedly or not) that it felt unbalanced, petty and mean at times.
It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that their superstardom was as short lived as it was given how much of my youth is intertwined with my love of the band. It's less hard to envision a group of young men surrounded by drugs and alcohol and girls taking advantage of it despite the milk drinking virgins that were sold to the fans back in the day.
I've met Alan, Les and Woody in my adult years and all have been kind and generous with their time, meeting fans and autographing memorabilia. It saddens me to think that they were all miserable throughout their success and profited very little from it, even more so now that Alan, Les and Ian are now gone.
It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that their superstardom was as short lived as it was given how much of my youth is intertwined with my love of the band. It's less hard to envision a group of young men surrounded by drugs and alcohol and girls taking advantage of it despite the milk drinking virgins that were sold to the fans back in the day.
I've met Alan, Les and Woody in my adult years and all have been kind and generous with their time, meeting fans and autographing memorabilia. It saddens me to think that they were all miserable throughout their success and profited very little from it, even more so now that Alan, Les and Ian are now gone.
October 22, 2021
Since I didn’t pay much attention to Les when I was a child, other than enjoying his wonderful singing voice, I was looking forward to this read and getting to know him better. First, I enjoyed his narrative voice. He’s chatty. And he even uses his Scottish brogue throughout the book which I found very fitting. The accent doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of reading but enhances it. Well done.
Now, if you’ve read any other BCR books, you will find this book is a rehashing of everything you’ve read about earlier. The only difference is, Les gives you his POV on the events, scandals, losses, and successes. I also enjoyed reading about Les’ early years as a child growing up in Edinburgh, and the details about his family and family life. This is the keeper of the book.
Read more here: https://wp.me/p12iNR-6BC
Now, if you’ve read any other BCR books, you will find this book is a rehashing of everything you’ve read about earlier. The only difference is, Les gives you his POV on the events, scandals, losses, and successes. I also enjoyed reading about Les’ early years as a child growing up in Edinburgh, and the details about his family and family life. This is the keeper of the book.
Read more here: https://wp.me/p12iNR-6BC
August 14, 2021
Autobiography of the Rollers lead singer.
Self-aware and sarcastic, Les sets the stage with his impoverished upbringing before focusing most of the book on his heady years with the Bay City Rollers and closing with a quick summary of life after mega-stardom. His style makes for a fun read. In the end, though, he does hedge his bets on some of the more salacious details – aside from a small section about Pat McGlynn, all of Tam Paton's abuse is only hinted at and Leslie's own alleged rape by Paton isn't mentioned at all. Nevertheless, I snickered aloud at some of the wording as Les related his memories, most specifically at how he regularly took the piss out of Eric Faulkner. Definitely no love lost there! An interesting and lively read.
Self-aware and sarcastic, Les sets the stage with his impoverished upbringing before focusing most of the book on his heady years with the Bay City Rollers and closing with a quick summary of life after mega-stardom. His style makes for a fun read. In the end, though, he does hedge his bets on some of the more salacious details – aside from a small section about Pat McGlynn, all of Tam Paton's abuse is only hinted at and Leslie's own alleged rape by Paton isn't mentioned at all. Nevertheless, I snickered aloud at some of the wording as Les related his memories, most specifically at how he regularly took the piss out of Eric Faulkner. Definitely no love lost there! An interesting and lively read.
May 22, 2020
Good read
As a fan, with Les being my favourite, I wanted to read this. A lot of what he writes I knew, though obviously not at the time, but I hadn't realised how 'separate' he felt from the band all the way through.
He has been brutally honest in this book, it wasn't all sweetness and light and clean living, and a really interesting read. A few typos, but not too many...
As a fan, with Les being my favourite, I wanted to read this. A lot of what he writes I knew, though obviously not at the time, but I hadn't realised how 'separate' he felt from the band all the way through.
He has been brutally honest in this book, it wasn't all sweetness and light and clean living, and a really interesting read. A few typos, but not too many...
October 25, 2020
This was a surprisingly candid viewpoint of life as part of The Bay City Rollers. Anyone who was a fan has to read it! Just bear in mind it is the viewpoint of one member - Les McKeown. But the insight into the problems between members of the group alone is worth the read.
January 31, 2020
Pass
I have always LOVED the Bay City Rollers and have every album, CD and several books including Alan Longmuir's book. Les should have taken a page out of Alan's book and learned something. He trashed Eric several times in this book and could have taken the high road over issues but instead chooses to be bitter and condescending. I totally get the fact that the Rollers got screwed out of all their money, that would make me mad also but work together instead of blaming each other. During his time with the Rollers he always seemed to me more cocky and he seemed to think he.was the best and the reason they succeeded. It took the entire band, not just one person.
Sadly Les grew up within a rough time, not having the best childhood and adolescence but instead of learning and growing from his experience he seems to wallow in it. His view of life being a Roller is jaded and shallow. I bought this to get his perspective, I am very disappointed. He is still cocky and needs to come down off his high horse.
If you want a true book about the Rollers, please read Alan Longmuir's book "I Ran with the Gang, My Life in & Out of the Bay City Rollers". Alan NEVER trashed anybody and he could have. Alan took the morality and high road and rose above the baloney and is a true gentleman. Lea should learn from him. Alan was a kind man who never blamed anyone else.
Sadly since the passing of Alan the chances of a true reunion of the Rollers is probably never to happen but Led should apologize to Eric and make peace with Eric and Woody.
Skip this unless you want to read a book about a bitter ex pop singer who didn't have his life go the way he wanted. Change your life while you can Les. Be a man and grow up! And just for the record I did like Les while he was in the Rollers so this isn't personable attack.
I have always LOVED the Bay City Rollers and have every album, CD and several books including Alan Longmuir's book. Les should have taken a page out of Alan's book and learned something. He trashed Eric several times in this book and could have taken the high road over issues but instead chooses to be bitter and condescending. I totally get the fact that the Rollers got screwed out of all their money, that would make me mad also but work together instead of blaming each other. During his time with the Rollers he always seemed to me more cocky and he seemed to think he.was the best and the reason they succeeded. It took the entire band, not just one person.
Sadly Les grew up within a rough time, not having the best childhood and adolescence but instead of learning and growing from his experience he seems to wallow in it. His view of life being a Roller is jaded and shallow. I bought this to get his perspective, I am very disappointed. He is still cocky and needs to come down off his high horse.
If you want a true book about the Rollers, please read Alan Longmuir's book "I Ran with the Gang, My Life in & Out of the Bay City Rollers". Alan NEVER trashed anybody and he could have. Alan took the morality and high road and rose above the baloney and is a true gentleman. Lea should learn from him. Alan was a kind man who never blamed anyone else.
Sadly since the passing of Alan the chances of a true reunion of the Rollers is probably never to happen but Led should apologize to Eric and make peace with Eric and Woody.
Skip this unless you want to read a book about a bitter ex pop singer who didn't have his life go the way he wanted. Change your life while you can Les. Be a man and grow up! And just for the record I did like Les while he was in the Rollers so this isn't personable attack.
July 2, 2013
This is fantastic. Les's voice really comes through in the writing and if you're a BCR fan you know that Les's voice is magic. Well, it's magic on paper too. Yeah, I know, this sounds like the gushing of an adoring teenage fan--because it is. But I actually did enjoy this book from a more literate, less fan-girly perspective too. The very real, occasionally abrasive vernacular used in this book made it seem like a conversation. Of course, plenty of people can write like they talk, in fact most do, but fewer can tell an interesting and compelling story using their casual speech, and fewer still can do so with any hint of structure or forethought. For a pop star to just up and write a book of this quality, even with some assistance, seems rather amazing to me. But then, our man Les simply is amazing, isn't he?
Alright, I'm going to force myself to stop now...
Alright, I'm going to force myself to stop now...
December 23, 2019
I am young again...
I know BCR hated the Saturday morning show they did in America, but that's how I first saw them and became a fan. Les' book is lively, funny, packed with details and very interesting. I couldn't put it down. I'm glad he's still touring and making music!
I know BCR hated the Saturday morning show they did in America, but that's how I first saw them and became a fan. Les' book is lively, funny, packed with details and very interesting. I couldn't put it down. I'm glad he's still touring and making music!
August 17, 2012
Brings back so many happy memories. Still love their songs to this day. So sad that there was a fall out between the boys as they could have been still going today.m
September 23, 2012
Obviously a must read for Bay City Roller Fans : )
March 9, 2013
LOVED THIS! It had me laughing so many times! The Rollers bring back only happy memories for me! :0)
July 27, 2014
An autobiography describing what it was like to be at the centre of Rollermania and all the arguments after. Liked it.
August 25, 2024
Great read
Forgot how much I loved the Rollers in the 70’s. You never forget your first love. Insight to their life at the time.
Forgot how much I loved the Rollers in the 70’s. You never forget your first love. Insight to their life at the time.
February 16, 2020
Wow. What a interesting read
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews