Reg Calvert and his boarding school of rock

In the Sixties there was more than one way of getting it together in the country. You could, like Traffic, have your own cottage out in the wilds, or you could get a place at Reg Calvert's boarding school of rock.

Pete Clemons explains:

Reg Calvert started to promote rock n roll shows, but then he quickly hit on a difficulty. The best acts were not to be found in and around Southampton. And it was at this point he decided he needed to up sticks again and find somewhere in the Midlands.

He found Clifton Hall near Rugby and it was just right for what he wanted. It was big enough to house three top groups. The were Danny Storm and the Strollers, Buddy Britten and the Regents and Robbie Hood and his Merry Men. Additionally Clifton Hall was central enough for him to promote his shows. And from that base he was able to promote shows at places like Andover, Banbury, Cheltenham, Worcester, Evesham, Kidderminster, Burton, Atherstone and Nuneaton.

Clifton Hall gained the nickname 'The School of Rock' as it conjured up images of young pop singers practising all day for the shows to come. And that was exactly what it became. The hall had spacious gardens, recording rooms, a billiard room, a football pitch and a large and luxurious lounge that Reg would get his singers to work to make the shows he put on as perfect as possible. Songs had to be sung over again in order to get the vocal and any backing correct.

And Reg was a strict disciplinarian, his rules included no alcohol and no girls to be brought to Clifton Hall. But they also had plenty of freedom. There was no set time for bed for example. And if someone wanted to play drums in the middle of the night then there was no irate neighbours to come knocking on the door complaining. They were a world unto themselves.

'Clifton Hall', as far as I can tell, was New Hall at Clifton upon Dunsmore, near Rugby, which no longer stands.

You probably haven't heard of any of the acts mentioned above, but some of Reg Calvert's students did go on to greater things.

Danny Storm was a Leicester lad, and at various times his backing band The Strollers, who later became The X-Citers, contained two future members of Family: Roger Chapman and Ric Grech. I can't spot them in the video above though.

Robbie Hood's backing band The Merry Men later changed their name to The Fortunes. They had two top-5 hits in 1965 and two top-10 hits in 1971.

There's lots more about Reg Calvert on the Reg Calvert - Plays site, and you can also buy three books about him.

And if you're wondering what became of Reg Calvert, as longstanding readers may recall, he was shot dead by a former vice-president of the Liberal Party.