Rock on 2

Surely it is more significant when a group is formed at university rather than just noting that a band member was an alumnus. Thus groups such as The Editors (from Staffordshire University) are more notable than Billy Idol dropping out of Sussex University.

The development of new universities in the 1960s was crucial for music because they offered new live venues that encouraged the proliferation of esoteric bands. Bands such as Van der Graaf Generator (Manchester University), might well fit the "Gownie rock" bill (see singer Peter Hamill's song The Comet and the Tail , derived from philosophy lectures, if anything ever was).

K. J. Donnelly
University of Wales, Aberystwyth