Bye bye baby: My tragic love affair with the Bay City Rollers - Caroline Sullivan > Reviews > Rollermania recalled

Author's product rating:   

Degree of Information	High
How interesting was the book?	Captivating
How useful was it?	Very useful
Would you read it again?	Yes
Value for money	Good

Advantages:	Funny, serious, ironic  -  knows when to take the subject seriously, and when not to
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The very idea of a columnist with The Guardian owning up to having been a fully paid-up fan of the Bay City Rollers must raise a few eyebrows at least. But yes, almost every teenage girl must dream of meeting her pop idol sooner or later. Caroline's admission to having pursued the Tartan-clads across the United States during their brief heyday and even after their sudden fall from the dizzy heights is moving in an odd sort of way, very funny, and hugely entertaining. She admits that it's not a pretty story, but I enjoyed her account of how she lost one job after another in her desperate chase to meet the lads. Looking back on the whole mad venture twenty years later, she has portrayed the madness of the 70s through the eyes of innocent adolescence very well, and also revealed a few stark truths about the less pleasant aspects of the pop star business. With an awakening of interest in the Rollers, talk of their reforming and recording a new album (and it seems that they are playing the instruments this time - the jury is still out as to whether they did or not first time round), and even news that Courtney Pine plans to film the story, I recommend this as an excellent read.