Tam Paton, the former manager of the Bay City Rollers, joins a list of infamous individuals, including Jimmy Savile, Gary Glitter, Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall, and Dave Lee Travis, known for their dark actions and abuses.
Among the roster of individuals associated with infamy, one can now add the despicable Tam Paton, whose name may carry little significance to those not familiar with the 1970s.
Paton, a robust former soldier and potato deliveryman who morphed into a promoter and later a criminal involved in gang activities, managed the Bay City Rollers. This tartan-clad boyband from Edinburgh consisted of Stuart “Woody” Wood, Les McKeown, Eric Faulkner, and Derek and Alan Longmuir, working-class young men who first formed the band in the 1960s with a different lineup.
However, even those who lived through the era and remember the Bay City Rollers, a band that captivated teenage girls and incited the kind of hysteria unseen since The Beatles, will be shocked by the revelations in the documentary series, Secrets of the Bay City Rollers (UTV/ITV, Thursday) hosted by the renowned presenter Nicky Campbell from Long Lost Family.
Secrets of the Bay City Rollers delves into the peak period of the band’s popularity, from 1974 to 1976, when they achieved tremendous success in the music industry. They produced hit albums and singles in the UK, Ireland, and across Europe.
The Bay City Rollers even conquered the American market, reaching the top spot on the Billboard charts. Their concerts were sold out, and they had their own show, Shang-a-Lang, on ITV, hastily put together by Paton to capitalize on the band’s popularity, recorded without rehearsal and on a tight budget.
“That man never missed an opportunity,” remarked Stuart Wood, the sole surviving member of the “classic” lineup, appearing in the documentary. Behind the facade of a clean-living and joyful group, Paton groomed, abused, and victimized many of the band members.
Underneath the poppy and cheerful marketing, lay a nightmarish web of exploitation and horrifying sexual abuse that is as disturbing and repugnant as any encounter you could imagine.
While acknowledging Paton’s domineering nature, Wood, who continues to perform using the Bay City Rollers name, chooses to compartmentalize the darker aspects and focus on the happier moments, stating, “What’s the point of dwelling on something you don’t like?”
In contrast, former lead singer Nobby Clark (1965-74) is less reserved in expressing his thoughts. He recounts how Paton introduced the band to BBC Radio DJ Chris Denning, a powerful figure who was later imprisoned multiple times for sexually abusing boys.
“Paton said if one or more of them had sex with DJ
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