WHEN I ask Les McKeown the inevitable Bay City Rollers reunion question, he seems pretty sure of himself.

"Rather than a reunion, I'd prefer to add some of the guys to the line-up I have now. I've worked with them longer than I was with the original band!" he says, referring to the four-piece he's fronted for the past two decades, performing Rollers hits on tour.

"Last night I had Alan (Alan Longmuir, original Bay City Rollers bassist) on stage and it was great. If we just hook up now and then it gives us all some freedom. I do solo tours too, and I'm happy with the way things are."

Days after this interview, it was announced that Les, Alan and fellow original Roller Stuart Wood, ('Woody' to fans), were getting back together. Tickets for the first Bay City Rollers reunion concert, in Glasgow this December, sold out in just three minutes.

But it seems Les is true to his word. Prior to the much-hyped reunion, he's touring with the other Bay City Rollers this autumn, rolling into Bradford next week.

By the time he reunites with the other original Rollers this Christmas, he'll have turned 60. But it seems fans remain devoted to the group who exploded onto the pop scene as tartan-clad dreamboats in the early 1970s.

With upbeat pop tunes like Bye Bye Baby, Shang-a-Lang and Summer Love Sensation, the Rollers had a massive teen following both sides of the Atlantic, selling more than 100 million records. They had top 10 hits, sell-out tours and their own TV show before splitting in 1978, with bitter battles over money between band members and managers dragging on for decades. Court cases are still continuing to resolve a dispute over royalties.

Les joined the Rollers in 1973 on lead vocals. Bye Bye Baby was their first UK Number One, followed by Give A Little Love. Their first US single, Saturday Night, went straight to the top of the Billboard charts.

The band toured the world and were massive in America, with devoted fans chasing their tourbus and breaking into their hotel rooms. There's an obvious comparison with One Direction, but it makes Les grimace.

"That's an easy cliche," he says. "The difference is that we played our own instruments, we weren't a boy band.

"It was an adventure back then, these days I try to relax and enjoy myself a bit more. That said, performing these songs comes with a responsibility - I'm on the road a lot and the same girls are coming to see me that came to see us 40 years ago. They grew up to our music, it was a big part of their lives."

When Les left the Bay City Rollers in 1978 the band changed its name to The Rollers and took on a new singer. Les, who had formed pop combo Egotrip, reunited the Bay City Rollers in 1982 for sell-out shows and they reunited again 12 years later for Edinburgh's Millennium festival.

Les has come a long way since he was the baby-faced teenage heart-throb gracing posters in teenage girls' bedrooms. His battles with alcohol and drugs are well documented and he struggled with the deaths of his beloved parents in 2002.

"Kids now want instant fame, but they don't always know what comes with that," he says. "The music industry can be so brutal, you need to be looked after.

"Bands can promote themselves more though now, they have a freedom that we didn't have," he adds. "I manage myself now and promote everything online, it's brilliant. I talk to fans at the same time."

Rollermania is alive and kicking - though maybe not in tartan half-mast pants and platform shoes these days...

* Bay City Rollers starring Les McKeown are at St George's Hall on Saturday, October 24. Call (01274) 432000.