Original Bay City Roller at Kirkcaldy's Kings Live Lounge to plan new live show

In 1969 The Who played the Carlton in the Gallatown the week Pinball Wizard was released and near where I lived you could see Midge Ure’s Salvation, Tom Morgan’s Gaels Blue and the original Bay City Rollers all play Templehall Community Centre.

I say original Bay City Rollers because although the group was formed by the Longmuir brothers, Alan and Derek, this was before Ian Mitchell, Eric Faulkner or Les McKeown.

The lead singer in those pioneering days was Nobby Clark and it was his vocals on the early recordings of Keep On Dancing, Manana, Remember and Saturday Night.

He was in town recently looking at the Kings Live Lounge as a venue for his new show combining anecdotes and live music. He had great news for us too with the release of his new single One In A Million.

It is a duet with Jeff Layton who is best known for his role as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables as he played that part more than any other actor winning a Variety Club of Great Britain Award along the way.

They met by chance at a gig where Jeff suggested they perform together. With very similar Edinburgh upbringings Nobby suggested he wrote a song in tribute to their mothers and the seeds for One In A Million was born.

Nobby’s mother Irene was an accounts clerk stirring fond memories while Jeff remembers his mother Teresa with fondness for the advice she gave him. The new release is on all download and streaming outlets as from last week and who knows where this might lead. Nobby has a new solo album called Shoulder The Sky and still guests on shows mainly in the capital while his autobiography The Lost Roller is still available to order.

Earlier this year when Nobby played some sold out shows in Edinburgh it was his first revisit to the Rollers days in 50 years. He was just 24 in 1973 when he left the group for a solo career and the chance to perform his own songs. Even back then they were covering The Four Seasons’ Bye Bye Baby yet it would be some years later before they recorded the song which would then top the charts for six weeks.