Ex-Rollers manager Paton dead at 71

EDINBURGH, Scotland, April 12 (UPI) -- Thomas "Tam" Paton, former manager of the pop group Bay City Rollers reportedly has died in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the age of 71.

The Independent reported Saturday Paton, who helped the "Saturday Night" band move from obscurity to the world stage, died Wednesday of unspecified causes.

While Paton helped the Rollers reach international fame during the 1970s, he became the focus of controversy when he pleaded guilty committing indecent acts with underage males. The disgraced music manager ultimately served one year of an ensuing three-year prison sentence in 1982.

In 2003, Rollers bassist Pat McGlynn accused Paton of forcing himself upon him while the band was still together in 1977. Paton was later cleared of that allegation.

Paton once said being fired by the Rollers in 1978, along with singer Les McKeown, came at a time when the band's members were likening themselves to the Beatles.

"They were actually believing their own publicity, the publicity I put out -- the biggest thing since the Beatles," said Paton, who leaves no reported survivors.