1956 
Green born on 22nd June at Cardiff Maternity Hospital in South Wales, with the surname Strohmeyer. His first name (never revealed in interviews) is one of the top five boys' first names in the UK at that time (I've been told that it's Michael). 

During Green's pre-teen years, his family will move around South Wales a lot, and his father will become a travelling salesman which means that he will not see a lot of Green. Green's parents will also divorce as a result of his father's unfaithfulness. 


1964 
Green (now 8) gets a copy of the Beatles' album 'Revolver', and starts subscribing to the NME music magazine. 


1968 
Green (12) starts at Caerphilly Boys' Grammar Technical School. He later has to leave the school because he gets bullied so much for having a German surname. Green will also go through a phase of poor performance at school (probably due to being bullied) which his mother will blame on music and start ripping down his posters and destroying his records. 

Green's mother remarries (to a lawyer she works for, who is 20 years older) and Green happily adopts the new non-German family name of Gartside. 


1970 
Green attends his first concert, which is Rod Stewart at the Reading Rock Festival. 


1971 
Green tries to start up a young branch of the Communist Party in South Wales with school friend Nial Jinks (whose father comes from a Communist Party background). They only manage one other member, and Nial gets badly beaten up for his involvement. 


1972 
Middle of the year - Green changes his name (to Green). He is on a train and decides that the first thing that comes into his head will be his name. He looks out of the train window and sees that, because it's the middle of summer, everything is totally green. 


1974 
Green (18) fails his A-Levels, claiming later in interviews that he was hungover for each exam. Despite his results, Leeds Art College offer him a place, where he becomes friends with fellow student Tom Morley (born 23rd July 1954). Nial Jinks starts working in a laundry. 

Green has a few temporary jobs along the way, including working in a garage where he saves up for his first electric guitar, which is stolen straight away. 


1976 
Green plays in a Leeds Art College cover band called The Against. 

1978 - 82