- For the documentary about an actual school of rock music, see Rock School (film). For the Jack Black movie, see
School of Rock
| Rock School |
Gene Simmons with the class of Rock School (Series 2) |
| Format |
Reality, Documentary |
| Created by |
RDF Media |
| Starring |
Gene Simmons |
| Country of origin |
UK |
| No. of episodes |
6 (Series 1)
4 (Series 2) |
| Production |
| Running time |
30 minutes* (Series 1)
1 hour* (Series 2)
*including commercials |
| Broadcast |
| Original channel |
Channel 4 |
| Original run |
August 19 2005 – February
19 2006 |
| External links |
| IMDb profile |
Rock School (also known as Gene Simmons' Rock School) is a British reality TV series starring Gene Simmons (from the band
KISS), in which he has a short time to turn a class of school children into a fully fledged
rock band, at the end of which they must perform in a supporting slot for a leading rock
band.
Rock School is made by British production company RDF Media and has been shown on
Channel 4 in the UK, Channel Ten and Channel V in Australia, TVNZ's TV2 in New Zealand, VH-1
in the United States and Latin America, TV2 Zebra
in Norway, Nelonen in Finland,
TV4 in Sweden, Much Music in Canada, Vitaya in Belgium and ORF1 in
Austria.
A comedy film with a similar theme, starring Jack
Black, called School of Rock, was released in 2003, before the first series began although the creative team and Gene
Simmons insist that it was not because of the success of that film they made it, and say it was in the works since 2002.
[citation needed]
Series one
Gene Simmons in a scene from
Rock School (Series 1)
The first series was broadcast in the autumn of 2005 and took place at Christ's
Hospital school in England. The chosen class of year 9 students were all classically trained and it is insinuated that they had no interest in rock music.
The band consisted of Josh (also known as "The Emperor") as lead singer, Dudley ("Dudders") as drummer, Jesse ("Bagpuss") as
guitarist, Kwamé ("Mr. Cool") on keyboards and bassist Camilla (who refused to have a "rock name"). Stylists were Fiona ("FiFi")
and Frances ("Francis"), while the stage managers were Lucian and Richard ("Mr White"). On 21st October, the manager, Rodney
("Rods"), revealed the band's name to be "The Class". After an initially difficult start the band successfully played to a crowd
of Motörhead fans at the Hammersmith Apollo.
The highlight of the programme was arguably Josh, "The Emperor", so named because of his love of the game Warhammer and more predominantly, Lord Of The Rings. The 13 year old sparked plenty of
controversy among his fellow classmates as his weird antics made him an outsider. A fluent speaker of Elvish and learning Klingon by the end of the series, Josh is
completely tone deaf but was chosen by Simmons for his determination and perseverance. Completely transformed by the experience,
Josh saw himself as a rock god by the end of filming and had even grown his hair in homage to Brian
May which irritated his fellow classmates as they thought his arrogance got the better of him.
Series One Controversies
The first series of Rock School was received with mixed response from students at Christ's Hospital. Many pupils objected to
the manner in which the programme was cast and edited. RDF specifically overlooked pupils who auditioned that were already in
rock bands, in favour of those who fitted better fitted the Stereotype of Boarding school pupils. As a result the programme does
not give an accurate portrayal of pupils at the school. The programme repeatedly claims that pupils at the school have no
interest in Rock music, going as far as suggesting that pupils actively hate it. Many pupils consider this to be a lie given the
annual rock concert and talent shows, as well as weekly discos and the large amounts of pupils in bands of their own, with some
going on to be signed by major labels. Gene Simmons was also poorly received by pupils, at one point throwing money at the face
of another pupil.
Trivia
- Although not mentioned in the programme, Kirkley High School (the location of the second series) was attended by three
members of rock band The Darkness. It has been alleged that the band did not want to be
associated with the programme as they felt it would portray the school negatively and in contrast with the school shown in the
first series.
- There were clashes between the school and the production company (RDF Media) due to filming methods.
- Children at the school were not given the opportunity to prevent their face being shown on television.
External links
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