AH, THE Bay City Rollers... the very mention of their name transports laydeez of a certain age back to a time of tartan wrist-scarves, stripy socks and trousers wider than the River Clyde. A time when Edinburgh lads Woody, Eric, Alan, Derek and Les were the centre of the universe and everyone in the world knew the words to Shang-A-Lang.

Cue the sound of a needle scratching across a record.

Because the only reason the Bay City Rollers are back is to fight a court case in the US, to try and claim what they believe is their share of an alleged £500,000,000 fortune which they claim, they barely saw a penny of.

The Rollers have filed suit at the District Court in New York against their record label Arista. They claim Arista has failed to account for or pay any royalties to the band for over 25 years, despite the worldwide sale of millions of albums, compact discs, merchandising and multimedia licenses, downloads, ring tones and other recordings.

The suit comes after nearly 30 years of dispute over the band's finances. In 1991, band member Eric Faulkner told the Daily Echo: "We signed a maze of contracts. I was only 17 and Woody was 16. We were young and naive."

What the dry legal language doesn't reveal, of course, is the sheer phenomenon that was the Rollers.

Before Boyzone, before Westlife, before Take That they were the original boy-band and at one point during the early 1970s were the biggest thing in British music since The Beatles. Screaming fans accompanied them everywhere.

It's hard to credit now, especially when you look at the pictures, just what it was like and what anyone saw in them. One person who remembers is Bournemouth mum, Jane Reader.

"I was definitely a fan and I loved them. Woody with the spiky hair was my favourite."

Jane never saw the Rollers live but she did have a white satin Bay City Rollers bomber jacket, a tartan wrist-scarf and a pair of much-coveted Bay City Rollers white nylon socks. "They had pictures of the boys' faces on them going up the sides!"

Daily Echo feature writer Lorraine Gibson remembers going to see the lads at the Apollo in Glasgow in 1970. "My big sister's youth club had organised a coach to see them and by some fluke I was allowed to go to," she says.

"In the foyer hordes of girls had whipped themselves up into a frenzy and I recall being a bit scared by the screaming.

"The next thing I knew I was back on the bus surrounded by concerned-looking youth leaders, I'd fainted and the concert was almost over so they thought it best I stayed on the bus and waited for the others. But I still managed to keep my tartan scarf tied around my wrist."

These tales make a stunning contrast to the reality of life as a Roller. Far from the being the milk-drinking poppets paraded by their manager, Tam Paton, they took drugs, even, according to Les McKeown, smuggling them in the tartan turn-ups of their trousers.

In the years since their split the band has only surfaced in the news because of controversy. Seven years ago, drummer Derek Longmuir was sentenced to 300 hours of community service. He admitted having indecent films, videos and photos of children at his Edinburgh home but later said they'd been left there by a visitor.

In 2003, Rollers' manager Tam Paton faced an allegation of child abuse which was investigated by police involved in the Jonathan King child abuse inquiry. After investigating, police decided not to bring charges.

Paton later admitted supplying cannabis at his Edinburgh home and was ordered to surrender £180,000.

Now their US court case has brought them back into the headlines again and one thing's for sure - the Rollers haven't finished rolling yet.