Rock Goes to College

The campus music scene that shaped a generation

By: Paul Sexton, Mark Knopfler - introduction

The hectic, hugely entertaining, and definitive story of the wonderful and entirely amateurish British university gig scene that launched the career of some of the world’s most famous bands

As rock exploded around the world, so young bands would sling their gear into their trusty Ford Transits and bomb up and down the new motorway system to university and polytechnic campuses all over the UK, honing their sound and hoping to get noticed.

A list of acts who put in the hard yards on this circuit reads like a Who’s Who of rock music: Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Who, Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, Queen, the Kinks, Dire Straits, AC / DC, Genesis, Nick Drake, Joan Armatrading and Elton John all paid their dues in sweaty and badly ventilated dressing rooms in places like Leeds University and Regent Street Poly. Even Paul McCartney, after the Beatles fell apart, took his new band Wings out on the circuit to get them road tested.

Now, for the first time, seasoned music journalist Paul Sexton sets out to document this extraordinary moment in British music history. Tapping into his huge network of contacts in the music industry, Rock Goes to College is a fascinating, raucous ride of a book, crammed full of incredible, never-before-heard stories of the beginnings of some of the most famous acts on the planet.

©2026 Paul Sexton