Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood, guitarist for the Bay City Rollers, has revealed he suffered ‘horrific’ abuse at the hands of ‘true monster’ manager Tam Paton.
The Bay City Rollers formed in the late 60s and went on to have huge hits across the 70s with Bye Bye Baby and Give A Little Love.
They were branded as the boys next door, with a clean-cut image that vastly contrasted the behind-the-scenes truth of the abuse they suffered at the hands of Paton.
Wood, 68, has shared his experiences for the first time in an autobiography, Mania, having kept his pain a secret for five decades.
‘I met Tam when I was 16 years old,’ the guitarist wrote. ‘He was intimidating and a bully, and all the disgusting things said about him are accurate.
‘He was a predator. He abused me as he did others.’
Paton was jailed in 1982 for three years after pleading guilty to the sexual abuse of 10 teenage boys.
He was arrested in 2003 on child sexual abuse charges as well as being accused of trying to rape former Rollers guitarist Pat McGlynn but the police released him on insufficient evidence.
Les McKeown, the late singer for the band, also claimed that Paton had raped him and had given him drugs to cope with touring and pressures.
In an excerpt from his book, Wood continued: ‘It was a horrific and harrowing time. The drugs he plied us with were part of that control.’
The only original member, who appears on all Bay City Rollers albums, said he tried to ‘let some things go’ for his own peace.
He wrote: ‘My take is that to have a healthy mind, you have to let some things go, as much as it might pain you to do so.
‘So, when Tam’s squalid little life came to an end in 2009, I stopped thinking about him.’
Paton died at his home in Edinburgh on April 8, 2009, at age 70 from a suspected heart attack, weighing over 25 stone (160 kg) at the time.
‘He was a terrible human being, but the way I see it, he doesn’t get to define me,’ added Wood, defiantly. ‘Tam f******g Paton doesn’t get to win.’
Speaking to The Sun, Wood shared: ‘We never discussed it – any of us – it just happened. We were all survivors, but with Les it felt like it hit him harder.’
McKeown died age 65 on April 20, 2021, from cardiac arrest, which doctors said had been caused in part by his alcohol and drug abuse over the years.
In the 2023 documentary Secrets Of The Bay City Rollers, his wife Peko revealed that he used to scream in his sleep, while his son Jubei said his dad ‘never found peace’.
Wood acknowledged that his feelings were complex towards Paton, having invited the former manager to his 1997 wedding and calling him a ‘lovable rogue’ on occasion.
He explained: ‘It’s not like I locked all those experiences away, stuffed down the bad memories, pretending they didn’t happen.
‘I just choose to not let them shape my life.’
The allegations extended beyond the Rollers, with Paton accused of abusing boys in children’s homes, which the documentary addressed.
An anonymous victim said he was 13 when he was plied with drink and drugs at a star-studded party at Paton’s house.
He said he was raped by three men, including the manager, then blackmailed with photographs of the abuse into bringing in more victims.
The man admitted it was the ‘guiltiest’ he’s ever felt, having taken 20 boys to Paton’s house but never reporting it to the police because they would ‘never listen’.
Others have come forward over the years, claiming abuse, including singer Nobby Clarke who said Paton told him to sleep with Radio 1 DJ Chris Denning for better promotion.
Denning was later arrested over various sexual abuse crimes, including of children, and died in jail while serving two 13-year sentences.
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