Schools of rock...

How legends of music learned trade on college circuit and won degree of fame

- KEIR MUDIE

BEFORE stadiums and gold albums, it was a life of broken-down vans, fish and chips, and dodgy sound systems.

Some of the world's biggest bands cut their teeth on the student circuit.

And a new book, Rock Goes to College, by Paul Sexton, reveals what life was really like on the road at university gigs.

Paul said: "Everybody's got a story, everybody's got a memory of bands they saw. And people are continuing to tell those stories 60 years later."

You're picturing bands who went on to be absolute gods of the industry, who were either in the very formative stages or, in many cases, completely unknown, driving up the motorway in a van that might or might not make it.

The sixties saw an explosion of universities and polytechnics being used for gigs, as bands sought new audiences. They quickly became an established part of the touring circuit.

Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler, who wrote the foreword for the book, said: "When it all begins and you're either watching or performing, it's usually in darkened rooms with low ceilings and sticky floors and the smell of music, everywhere, a smell of damp, stale beer and smoke."

In 1963 the UK's student population stood at 118,000. By the 1979-1980 academic year, it had reached nearly 800,000, with more than 30 new polytechnics opened and ten colleges of advanced technology converted to universities in 1966 alone.

Veteran Suzi Quatro once said: "Oh, God, my whole life was in the student union bar. How many times I changed in the toilet!"

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