New York City pays tribute to Bay City Rollers star Mitchell

New York City pays tribute to Bay City Rollers star Mitchell

18 May 2022

DOWNPATRICK pop star Ian Mitchell, who found fame with the Bay City Rollers, was honoured last month as ‘Rollermania’ took over New York once again.

Devoted fans of the famed Scottish 1970s pop band took part in the 24th annual Tartan  Day Parade in the Big Apple.

Taking pride of the place in their tribute was a huge memorial flag of the Downpatrick man who was just 17 when he joined the band in 1976.

The Rollers were one of the biggest bands in Britain at the time and sold over 150 million records.

Mitchell stayed with the band for less than a year. He later moved to America where he died in 2020 aged 62.

The New York parade was organised by Bay City Roller Fan Events. One of its officers is Susan Rostron, from Philadelphia, who attended first Roller concert in Atlantic City in 1976.

“Bay City Rollers Fan Events are internationally fan-driven, fan-funded and fan-produced events that celebrate the Bay City Rollers and the life long friendships that have resulted and endured for nearly 50 years,” she said.

Susan explained that the parade was originally scheduled for March last year, but had to be postponed owing to the Covid pandemic.

However, the delay did not diminish their enthusiasm when they took to the streets last month.

“We were marching under the Proud Son of Edinburgh tartan, which was created in memory of founding member Alan Longmuir, who sadly passed away in 2018. 

During our two-year planning stage, two other members of the band, Ian Mitchell and Leslie McKeown, passed away, so we thought it appropriate to remember them as well.”

Born in Ardmeen Green in Downpatrick, Mitchell joined the Rollers as a replacement for founder and bass guitarist Longmuir, whose brother Derek was the band’s drummer.

At the time they were at the height of the powers with a string of hits including ‘Bye Bye Baby’, Shang-a-Lang’ and ‘Summerlove Sensation’ and ‘Give a Little Love’.

Mitchell was formerly a member of Downpatrick band Young City Stars along with brothers Damien, Terry and Colin McKee.

Joining the Bay City Rollers catapulted him on to the world stage. The band, with their distinctive tartan trousers, had a team of 17 full-time staff members dealing with their mail alone. They had their own magazine, a fashion range and TV series in Britain and the United States.

But his time with the band was fleeting. Within a year he had left and was soon back in Downpatrick where teamed up with the McKee brothers, who formed a new band, Rosetta Stone. Later he formed his own group, the Ian Mitchell Band.

After leaving the music he became a music industry and became a computer programmer and motivational speaker, living in California with Wendy-Ann, his wife for almost 30 years.

Speaking to the Recorder in 2014, Mitchell said he had “known fame and fortune”, had travelled the world and “made some of the finest friends a man can have”.

It is understood that the memorial flag flown in New York will be sent to his family in Downpatrick.