School Of Rock

In today’s Guardian, you’ll find my mammoth feature on music teachers whose bedraggled old pupils have somehow become pop stars. Here it is: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/apr/25/inspirational-music-teachers

I found and phoned Diana Stork in the middle of a harp lesson; I tracked down Nicola Pocock through approximately thirteen school receptionists who didn’t know where she had moved on to; Janet Edwards’ PA insisted I called her in a taxi to Heathrow Airport; Jill Bird was the kind of music teacher I would like to be; and finding Alex Turner’s teacher, Steve Baker, involved the scouring of old school messageboards, Sheffield County Council websites, and a lot of hair-tearing on my part. Eventually he called me on my mobile out of the blue one afternoon, was brilliant, and made me laugh like a drain for about half an hour. Oh to see that video of Alex Turner playing a murdered school teacher…