Jonathan Gems was born in 1952, in London and went to a variety of schools because when the tension between his parents became too intense, they’d move house. Like most decent children, he despised school, and left at the age of fourteen to found a magazine called Student, to promote a re-think of the education system. This re-think never happened, and schools are now even worse than they were in the 1970’s.

Initially successful, Student magazine folded after nine issues, in part due to Jonathan’s parents realizing he was too young to be out of school and forcing him to go back. Student, which he produced with Richard Branson, was not a complete loss, however, because it was the birthplace of Virgin Records, which began as a mail-order compa