Leslie Richard McKeown (12 November 1955 – 20 April 2021) was a Scottish singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the pop rock band Bay City Rollers during their most successful period in the 1970s. The band's original lead singer, Gordon "Nobby" Clark, decided to leave the band in 1972 just as the band achieved considerable commercial success with their latest single release "Remember (Sha-La-La-La)", something which their manager, Tam Paton, would change Clark's mind. However, Clark decided to leave the band after fulfilling his touring obligations and McKeown joined the band as their lead vocalist by 1973 and began to re-record his vocals on tracks including "Remember (Sha-La-La-La)" and "Saturday Night".
The band released their debut album, Rollin (1974) once McKeown had become their established lead singer, and the album was released to international commercial success, reaching number one in the United Kingdom where it finished the year as the 16th best selling album and subsequently was certified Platinum. The band continued to experience commercial success in international markets with the singles "Shang-a-Lang" and "Summerlove Sensation". Their second album, Once Upon a Star (1975) continued their commercial success, and was supported by the release of the single "Bye, Bye, Baby" in February 1975. The single became the best-selling single of the year in the United Kingdom.
In 1975, the band secured their North American breakthrough with the release of "Saturday Night" after receiving backing from music executive Clive Davis. The release reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 as well as in Canada, and was certified Gold in both countries. Following their recent success in the North American market, a compilation album was released exclusively in the territory. Bay City Rollers was released in September 1975, and reached number one in Canada and number twenty on the Billboard 200 albums charts in the United States. Subsequent albums, Wouldn't You Like It? (1975), Rock n' Roll Love Letter (1976), Dedication (1976) and It's a Game (1977) continued the bands successes. He decided to leave the band on "mutual agreement" in 1978, and launched a solo career which gained some commercial success in Japan initially.
He re-joined the band for a reunion performance in Japan in 1996, and became embroiled in legal disputes with their former record labels, Bell Records and Arista over claims of unpaid royalties. Further reunions, including McKeown on lead vocals, occurred in 2015 through to 2018. One of the most commercially successful acts of the 1970s, they were called the "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and sold between an estimated 120–300 million records worldwide, making them one of the best selling musical acts of all time globally.
Read more...The November 12, 1955 was a Saturday under the star sign of ♏. It was the 315 day of the year. President of the United States was Dwight D. Eisenhower.
If you were born on this day, you are 69 years old. Your last birthday was on the Tuesday, November 12, 2024, 335 days ago. Your next birthday is on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, in 29 days. You have lived for 25,538 days, or about 612,930 hours, or about 36,775,837 minutes, or about 2,206,550,220 seconds.
Date: 12 November 1955
By SAM POPE BREWERSpecial to The New York Times
Sam BREWERSpecial
Ousted by Army coup
Date: 12 November 1955
Special to The New York Times
career; por
Date: 12 November 1955
scholarship fund at Columbia Journalism School estab by Class of '52
Date: 13 November 1955
tours Cong; gets cool reception; lectured on press freedom by Sen O'Mahoney
Date: 13 November 1955
5,000 petition Lonardi to 'liberate' Prensa
Date: 13 November 1955
By M. A. LACOSTE
M C Lacoste articles on problems of present-day French artists
Date: 13 November 1955
By EDWARD A. MORROW
Edward MORROW
comment; Bengoa issue revd; 'soft' appearance of Lonardi regime explained; pressure of labor and Prensa issues noted; cartoon
Date: 12 November 1955
Special to The New York Times
Picture Press publisher Tirone sues rival Journal publisher J Y Dater, 2 aides and postmaster Russo; charges attempt to supress his wkly paper because he backed inds in recent election against Repub orgn candidates