Few know about Stockport Grammar School’s connection to the world-renowned Revolution Studios, who had acts such as The Buzzcocks, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, The Who, Eric Clapton and Teenage Fanclub pass through its doors. That connection is Andy Macpherson (OS 1969), who built the Studios from a small flat in Davenport to later become a part of music history. Andy and his long-time school friend, Rod Shreeve (OS 1969) reflect on their music memories, going their own way, and that time they became The Who’s roadies for a night…

No less than 56 years on from leaving SGS, Andy and Rod reunited at school to share with us some of the untold stories from music history.

“I recall very little about music lessons with Doug Steele but we must have done something, because I think I saw my school reports and I think he put something like ‘shows promise’.” Rod remembered.

Andy – a talented football player during his teens and winner of the IIIB Prize in 1965 – noted that Doug didn’t have much faith in his formal musical education and allowed him to read the Music Master’s fantastic collection of Marvel comics instead.

That wasn’t to say that Doug didn’t recognise Andy’s enthusiasm for music. Macpherson remembers taking the latest Beatles releases to the music room for Doug to listen to on his record player, and then to play on his own piano, showing young Andy how the composition was put together.

Andy and Rod also shared the part that Harry Robinson had played in their musical education: "He had this record shop, and without knowing he owned it, I went up there one time. He’d always get us the latest releases.”

This proved to be significant for Andy, as by the age of 15, he had already learnt the basics of guitar from classmate, Ray Land, and began to explore the pop and rock music of the time.

An act from the pop and rock genre to pique the interest of Rod and Andy during their school days was The Who. The pair “spent Saturday nights hiding in the toilets” of the Student’s Union in Manchester, hoping to see Roger Daltrey et al.

“They’d come and play universities once in a blue moon, but of course, the university had union cards, which you needed to get into any gigs. Well, we didn’t have a union card, and besides that, we were both still little grammar schoolboys. So, we’d go and hide inside the union toilets for hours until the partition in the union bar came down. One time, we got found out and kicked out only to find a van pulled up in front of us, and it was The Who. So we both carried some kit for them and got back in.”

Andy was also involved in his own bands during the 1960s and 1970s, most notably Romany Rye, who played gigs all around London and the rest of the UK – including Liverpool’s famous Cavern Club. This was all whilst Andy began a career in Accountancy by day. After a brush with the music industry – attracting the interest of John Peel, who recorded the band at Stockport’s Strawberry Studios – Andy decided to leave his seven-year career in Accountancy at Shell Oil behind. This was so that he could embark on a career on the other side of the glass, utilising his recording equipment and his savings.

And so Revolution Studios was born. Since 1975, the list of household names that the Studios has hosted spans decades - including more recent acts such as Take That, Doves and Teenage Fanclub. As well as successful acts passing through the doors, Revolution Studios has also set local musicians up in ensembles that have toured the world.

As the reputation of Revolution Studios grew, bands such as the Eurhythmics booked in for studio time. “Annie Lennox was brilliant – she would sit and knit, drink copious cups of tea, and wait for her time in the vocal booth. When that time came, her first take was perfect, she just returned to her knitting and requested “another cup of tea dearie.”

But the tale of Andy’s career really comes full circle with his work with The Who, as he has mixed their legendary 'Live at Leeds' album. Often cited as the greatest rock recording of all time and receiving worldwide acclaim, Andy was responsible along with John Astley for remixing and re-mastering all of The Who’s work to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary.

And what became of those two grammar schoolboys?

“We lost touch for about 30 years” Rod explained, who went on to have a career in Computing, “but then met up again about three years ago at the School’s Remembrance Day Service and Lunch… there was no conscious thing about losing touch, but I made some firm friendships at school that still exist to this day.”

To quote the title of Rod’s favourite song by The Who, it turns out after a lifetime of music and friendship, 'The Kids Are Alright'.

This article is taken from the 2025 edition of Old Stops' Review