Leslie Richard McKeown (12 November 195520 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 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", which then became a US number 1 hit.
The band released their debut album, Rollin (1974) once McKeown had become their established lead singer, and the album reached number one in the United Kingdom where it finished the year as the 16th best selling album and subsequently was certified Platinum. The band charted with the singles "Shang-a-Lang" and "Summerlove Sensation". Their second album, Once Upon a Star (1975), 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 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 as well as in Canada, and was certified Gold in both countries. The compilation album Bay City Rollers was released in September 1975, and reached number 1 in Canada and number 20 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) charted highly in the UK. McKeown decided to leave the band on "mutual agreement" in 1978, and launched a solo career which drew audiences in Japan initially.
Early life
Leslie Richard McKeown was born in Broomhouse, a suburb close to the south-western city limit of Edinburgh, on 12 November 1955. His father, Francis, worked as a tailor and was deaf; his mother, Florence (née Close), was a seamstress The family communicated with his father via hand signals. attended Broomhouse Primary School, then nearby Forrester High School, and volunteered in the Boys' Brigade. and died on 24 December 2002. Florence's mother died from a miscarriage when Florence was ten years old, something that Les said she still talked about daily until she herself died. He was employed at a paper mill in between the group's gigs, which earned them £20 per show. That said, the locally well-known band, with a recording contract with a minor label, was already established and the newly recruited singer, in his autobiography, maintains that there always was a chasm between him and the rest of the band, despite the fact they were of, more or less, the same age and shared similar backgrounds. The rest of the band members were all from Craigmillar/Liberton, suburbs of similar character to Broomhouse, but near to the southern border of the city, and as the subtitle of his autobiography suggests, McKeown had no pretension to be a rock musician/artist unlike some members of the band.
His arrival also coincided with an overhaul of the group's image introducing half-mast trousers, platform shoes and tartan. They had four songs in the Top 10 in 1974 ("Remember", "Summerlove Sensation", "All of Me Loves All of You", and "Shang-a-Lang" which featured McKeown as the frontman). Manager Tam Paton "begged" Clark to appear with the band on Top of the Pops to perform the song. Whilst Clark agreed to do the performance on Top of the Pops, Paton believed this was a signal that he had changed his mind about leaving the band, and was hopeful this would be the case for an upcoming show scheduled in Perth, Scotland, however, Clark refused to perform at the concert and thereafter officially left the band. was completed, with guitarist John Devine being replaced by Stuart "Woody" Wood. Clark had originally recorded lead vocals on "Saturday Night", however, his vocals were removed and re-recorded by McKeown. The version of "Saturday Night" with Clark on lead vocals struggled to come to any release fruition, however, in contrast, McKeown's version achieved considerable commercial success, reaching number 1 on the US Hot 100. Clark disputed which version of the song had become a hit, claiming that he was "long overdue royalties". and became the 16th best selling album of the year. Additionally, it performed well in international terriorities including Australia where it reached number eight, Finland where it reached number eighteen, and Japan where it reached number thirty-seven. By early 1975, the band were one of the biggest-selling acts in the United Kingdom. Their 1975 UK tour prompted newspaper headlines about the rise of "Rollermania".
With increasing popularity in the United Kingdom and in a number of international markets, a concerted effort was made by Arista Records (the record company that evolved from Bell) to launch the band in North America. The new head of Arista Records, Clive Davis, was instrumental in grooming and overseeing the project. After efforts from both the record label and Davis, the band achieved commercial breakthrough in the United States, as in late 1975 the Bay City Rollers reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with "Saturday Night". In 1975, they released their first album in North America, Bay City Rollers which peaked at number 1 in Canada on 7 February, and number 20 on the US Billboard 200 albums charts.
Departure
McKeown left the group in 1978 as its popularity began to decline. In 1982, McKeown, Alan and Derek Longmuir, Stuart Wood, Ian Mitchell, and Pat McGlynn reunited for a tour of Japan that lasted until the next year.
Solo career
thumb|right|210px|McKeown performing in 2010
In 1979, McKeown launched a solo career with his debut album All Washed Up. Despite a lack of commercial success other than in Japan, the album became memorable for its cover art which showed McKeown "wading out of the sea and in the distance was the wreck of a plane and crash victims holding guitars", something which was believed to be his former Bay City Rollers bandmates. Heart Control (1982), followed by It's a Game (1989), Love Letter
Later works
Throughout the 2000s, McKeown and several other members of the band were in court trying to receive unpaid royalties.
He established the pop band Egotrip and released a solo album in 1979 titled All Washed Up, which was successful in Japan. He went on to release eight more solo albums. He released his final album, The Lost Songs, in 2016.
Artistry and legacy
During his time with the Bay City Rollers and his subsequent solo career, McKeown continued to receive considerable commercial success in Japan, and was described as remaining a "sex symbol" up until the time of his death in the country. He was said to have "embraced the Japanese culture and lifestyle", something attributed to his marriage to a Japanese native, and "how the mutual love affair with Japan lasted four decades".
McKeown accidentally killed an elderly neighbour in 1975 as a result of reckless driving, for which he was banned from driving for one year and fined £100.
McKeown died on 20 April 2021, at the age of 65, after going into cardiac arrest at his home in London.
Discography
Solo
Albums
{| class="wikitable"
!Title
!Year
|-
|All Washed Up
|1979
|-
|The Face of Love
|1989
|-
|Love Letter
|1993
|-
|The Lost Songs
|2016
|}
Singles
{| class="wikitable"
!Title
!Year
|-
|"Shall I Do It" / "Do It All"
|1979
|-
| "Replaced by a Micro Chip" / "Everything with Chips"