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Night Moves

Slowly, Mom and Pop posters gave way to tanned, TV-tutored and/or tall, tartan trimmed hunks. No question it was five blokes from Edinburgh, Scotland who defined late-seventies bubblegum. But it was neither the Bay City Rollers' Florence Henderson haircuts nor their Britlite music that made thier biggest impact; it was thier tartan togs, a shout-it-from-the-heathered-hilltops fashion statement meant to identify the group as proudly Scottish. (Screaming roller fans were seen sporting tartan scarves, socks, knickers, kilts, tams and face paint.) Christened in 1970 when thier manager stuck a pin at random into a spinning globe and landed on Bay City, Michigan (whose unsuspecting residents inherited a crippling burden of guilt) the Rollers were already stars in the UK by mid-decade. But only in the UK. Then broadcaster Howard Cosell "pulled a Sullivan", inviting the so-called Fab Five onto his ABC variety show "Saturday Night" in September 1975, and Stateside Rollermania got underway. The Bay City Rollers sang "Saturday Night" on Saturday Night that Saturday Night, and although it was more of a pep rally chant than a song, it eventually went to number one in the US, sparking a two-year chart run for the plaid-clad lads.