The Foundations: (Build Me Up) Buttercup

Two words: The. Bop.

Back in my student days - which, right at this moment, seem like the dim and distant past - I obtained a first class honours degree in educational studies with science education and qualified teacher status.

I chose, as my base for four years' concerted study, the University of Exeter. Because I was an education student, this meant studying and living on the smaller St Luke's campus on the Heavitree Road, as opposed to the sprawling expanse of the main campus on the north side of the city.

This made me a fully fledged, thoroughbred Lukie. There existed, at the time, a kind of good-natured social animosity between us Lukies and those students based on the main campus, whom we referred to as Jifs. If I remember correctly, the name 'Jif' is a reference to the main campus' resident night club, the Lemon Grove (or Lemmy, as it was almost universally known. No long-haired heavy metal jokes here, please).

Due to its slightly isolated location, its compact stature, and the slightly irreverent student body, St Luke's developed a social scene of its own. Central to the weekly calendar at St Luke's for many years was The Bop, possibly the most naff club evening ever devised. The music was cheesy, the surroundings cavernous and dull, and the fluorescent lighting had an uncanny tendency to pick out the odd fleck of soap powder on your otherwise impeccably clean shirt.

But we Lukies loved The Bop. It was ours. Who cared if it was several degrees less stylish than Dwayne Dibley? What mattered was that you were there with good company and that you enjoyed yourself.

Sadly, towards the end of my course, attendances at The Bop plummeted. This was not helped by the decision to move the event from its traditional Friday slot to Saturday evenings, thus overlapping with the Lemmy - which was also well frequented by Lukies.

More often than not, Buttercup would be the last song of the evening at The Bop. So, whenever I hear that song, I think back to the hundreds - if not thousands - of Lukies over the years who experienced this unique institution. Here's to you all.

Altogether now: "I would rather be a Lukie than a Jif; I would rather be a Lukie than a Jif..."