Leslie Mckeown Of Bay City Rollers

Court Still Making Mind Up On Bucks Fizz Spat

The final decision in the long running dispute will be given in five to six weeks.

Members of the Eurovision winning group, Cheryl Baker , Mike Nolan and Jay Aston believe they should have the right to call themselves the original band name.

They are currently touring as The Original Bucks Fizz after the fourth bandmate, Bobby G, used the name to set up another group with three new members.

One of them is his wife, Heidi Manton, who owns the copyright of the name Bucks Fizz .

Evidence from both sides was heard during the hearing at The Intellectual Property Office in London.

It was told how fans had been left "disappointed" after discovering they had booked tickets for a band featuring only one member of the original band.

Meanwhile Bobby G, real name Robert Gubby said he felt entitled to claim his band was the "original" act because it had a "direct connection" right back to when it was first founded.

Comparing the situation with acts like The Drifters and The Supremes, he said bands often had line-up changes throughout the years and this did not mean the public was being deceived.

As Baker went into court, she said: "We hope the right result comes out, for the public, to stop the confusion, and if that result is that we win, then that is how it should be."

Aston said it was a "terrible shame" they found themselves in this position, adding "we shouldn't be here".

Their lawyer, Dean Dunham, was hopeful they would be successful.

He said: "What Bobby G does is nothing like what Bucks fizz was...you can't mislead the great British public, if you do, it is wrong."

While the agent for The Original Bucks Fizz, David Hahn, remarked to Sky News Online: "It is unfair that Bobby G should be operating with three unknowns. It is not fair on the Bucks Fizz fans."

A notice on the website for Bobby G's group says: "Bucks Fizz(R) are solely owned and managed by Heidi Manton.

"The current members of the group, as featured on this site, are the only group authorised to perform under the Registered Trade Mark of Bucks Fizz(R).

"Any other group(s) performing under the name Bucks Fizz are in infringement of the Registered Trade Mark and are not representing Bucks Fizz(R)."

Bucks Fizz formed in 1981 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest which they won with the song Making Your Mind Up.

Their performance famously included a dance routine where the girls' skirts were ripped off halfway through.

The Gibson Interview: Les McKeown of Bay City Rollers

Back in the  mid 1970s, The Bay City Rollers were almost big as The Beatles. The tartan wearing Scottish pop group stormed the British charts and then took on the world armed with pure pop songs like “Shang-A-Lang,” “Give a Little Love” and “Bye Bye Baby.” Les McKeown lived the pop star life, saw the band disintegrate and dealt with personal demons before bouncing back with a tour and an upcoming album. Les kindly stopped by the Gibson London showroom to talk about his high, lows and how got  back on track. People might not know that in the early ‘70s, there was no bigger band than the Bay City Rollers. It was a Beatles size phenomenon. Were you aware of how big you were at the time?

The Beatles were and continue to be inspiring to just about any performer/musician/songwriter.  At the time mid 1970’s we were going through our Rollermania phase, on a breathtaking intensity we were as celebrated as the Beatles, we were conscious of that.

What was it like to see armies of fans in tartan in countries like America and Japan?

To see hoards of convivial girls fully clad in your bands likeness screaming for a small piece of you was just awe-inspiring and breathtaking.

What do you remember most of that first American visit?

The first USA visit was magnificent, to be one of the U.K. export victorious story’s after so many U.K. bands had failed was just intensely uplifting, I can remember most of the days and months spent there.

You must have been the most famous Scots in the world, in 1974!!!

I think that would be 1975/76 on a global stage, 1974 we were still on the rise.

When the big money came in, what was your first ‘rock star’ purchase

There was never any “big “ money, my first car was a Ford Mustang 351 special.

How did you come to join the band?

I had been invited to leave school when I was 15, the first thing I wanted to do was sing in a band and be the front man, I joined up with a few slightly older guys in Edinburgh and formed the band Threshold

What music were you into before you joined the band?

I was into all Motown music, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Family, The Beatles, Thin Lizzy, David Bowie, T-Rex and Roxy Music.

Of those early hits which remain your favorite?