Roller meets Paton over lost millions

Published on Wednesday 9 June 2004 15:07

FORMER Bay City Roller Les McKeown confronted his ex-manager about his lost fortune but is still no further forward about the whereabouts of his missing millions.

Mr McKeown met Tam Paton for the first time in 18 years to try to shed light on the millions of pounds in royalties and merchandising revenue that none of the five Rollers have received.

In a Channel 4 programme screened last night, Who Got the Bay City Rollers’ Millions?, Mr McKeown went in search of the money he still believes he is due.

He was shown visiting Companies House, where he apparently found a company, Arm Music and Publishing Overseas Limited, where Mr Paton was a shareholder. Mr McKeown said: "Someone is making money off my back and I’m determined to find out who it is."

But when confronted at his home in Gogarburn, Mr Paton claimed he knew nothing about the whereabouts of the money. He claimed the publishing company was in reality a management company.

"I do not have any doubt that the band was ripped off - I certainly didn’t rip them off," he said. "I had my 15 per cent and that is all."

The Edinburgh-based band had a string of hits in the 1970s and the band’s record sales were worth 300 million in today’s money.

But when the band split up, the Rollers found they were almost penniless.

A complex web of off-shore accounts had been set up by the Rollers’ record company, Arista, making it extremely difficult for the band to trace their fortune, estimated at 15 million each. Arista, now owned by record giant BMG, claims it is holding royalties in a trust for the band until a long-standing dispute between members is resolved.