Bye Bye Baby: My Tragic Love Affair with the Bay City Rollers

I enjoyed this book. It is a must read for anyone who idolized the BCR. It's fun and it tells a story that many young girls would have loved" to experience. If given the chance then I would have tired to pursue them as Caroline did. However, the BCR were highly unpopular in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I never saw them in concert. They couldn't partially fill an auditorium in Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I was a BCR when I 13 and 14 years old. By the time I was 15 I was embarrassed to admit it. Eventhough I had fun reading this book, I still can't be public about my secret.

I read this book hoping to gain some insight into why I too was obsessed with this group. It was a great trip back to our teenage years before we got our drivers licenses and REAL boyfriends took over, right down to the "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific" shampoo that we all used! It brought back so many memories for me, a fan whose actions went no further than to buy all of their albums and to attend their only concert in my state (both shows) in Milwaukee. Yes, I confess, I did wear tartan trimmed jeans to the show! The concert is notably etched in my mind today only because of the shock of the death of Elvis the next day. It was truly fascinating to learn how the concert tour worked and how one could travel with the band if one so desired. Enjoyed every word!!!

I'm much chagrined to admit that before an accidental viewing of one of VH1s seemingly never-ending repeats of a teen idol retrospective, I had never heard of the Bay City Rollers. Born in 1976, my own musical awakening didn't come until the era of Van Halen and Micheal Jackson.Having got this out in the open at the beginning, I feel completely comfortable recommending this book without reservation. Sure it's about a band, but way more importantly, it's about a fan. Having lived through a tragic "love affair" of my own, Sullivan's words ring incredibly true. She says the things that I haven't sufficiently grown up to phrase, but she said them exactly as I feel them.Bye Bye Baby should be required reading for passionate fans of any persuasion (be it for Nsync or, for God's sake, the cast of Rent or the Chicago Bulls). The sentiments and the sharing, the friendships these people formed and the goofy things they lived through, and occasionally lived for, make the book worth the read.And if you're not down with that, it's a fascinating sociological recounting of American pop culture in the 70s, spattered with Tab and Sid and Nancy and Elvis and Lennon.

I knew I HAD to get this book as soon as I found out what the subject matter was. The Bay City Rollers were my first favorite group, and I will always have a soft spot in my heart (some would say my head!) for them.If only I had been old enough to travel around the country after them (I was 11 years old when I became a fan). Ms. Sullivan takes you into the world of single-minded obsession that flares at its brightest during the teen years. I know how it is to want something (and someone!) so badly, even though you ask yourself WHY you felt this way years later...But I must say (for those who don't know the Rollers)...the BCR's music is not QUITE as bad as Ms. Sullivan describes it. I recently bought "The Definitive Collection" ... and it's tons ahead of the slop that passes for pop on today's radio...

Thank you Caroline Sullivan for sharing your Bay City Rollers experience! It was quite exciting to read of her escapades with her partners in crime, the Tartan Tarts. Although I am a few years younger than Ms. Sullivan, I could completely relate to her experience with the Rollers, and I picked up a few tricks too! ;) Who knew it could be so easy to find out where the Rollers were staying?! Anyone who has loved a band and has gone to the ends of the earth (or at least Detroit) to see them needs to read this book. This is the ultimate "fan" book. You don't have to be a fan of the Bay City Rollers to enjoy this book. Very well done!