I T MADE the city Scotland's rock capital but now, 20 years after it closed, the story of the Glasgow Apollo is to be turned into a musical.

A cast of 45 musicians, including a 20-piece rock orchestra, 20 actors and 80 dancers from Right2Dance, an award-winning dance group from Paisley, will re-create the story of the legendary venue.

Between 1973 and 1985 its perilously high stage was graced by everyone from the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Status Quo, Neil Young, the Eagles, Alice Cooper, Paul McCartney and Wings, Abba and Rod Stewart.

Sting, lead singer with the Police, hailed it as the best gig in Britain'.

When The Who trashed their dressing-room, it was said the venue's management overcharged them so that the entire backstage area could be refurbished.

TIMESFILE: THE Glasgow Apollo opened in September 1973 in the old Green's Playhouse, a 4000-seat cinema that had been among Europe's largest. Films continued to be shown in the Apollo, but music was by far the bigger part of its appeal. Johnny Cash was the first artist to play the venue, quickly followed by the Rolling Stones. Over the next 12 years, most of the world's biggest acts played in Renfield Street. However, the old place was looking its age in the mid-1980s and other, newer venues were stealing its crown. Paul Weller's Style Council played the final show, in 1985. The Apollo was later demolished and, after a gap of many years, the site was occupied by the Walkabout pub. A hugely popular website, www.glasgowapollo.com, has brought the Apollo back to life, with contributions from fans and musicians. The venue has also inspired two books, as well as a DVD.

One heavy-metal singer was reputed to have thrown an axe across the stage, severing power cables.

And at least two other stars accidentally took a wrong turning from the stage, ending up in the lane outside. The bouncers, refusing to believe they were musicians, refused to let them back in.

The Apollo was also the place where thousands of young concert-goers got their first taste of live music.

The rock musical, called I Was There, will be staged at the Armadillo over three nights in February.

The set-list already includes songs played on the Apollo stage, by artists such as David Bowie and Frank Zappa to Blondie, Average White Band, King Crimson and a number of punk bands.

But Apollo fans are also being invited to add to the set-list by nominating the top band to ever play the Renfield Street venue.

Songs by the winning band will be added to the musical - and the band will also be invited to the Armadillo to be presented with a special award.

"The musical will be a lot different from something like Grease or High School Musical," said producer Tommy McGrory, 53, an Apollo veteran who runs the Loud'n'Proud rock school in Paisley.

"It's not about a band, but about a rock venue. It's a first.

"The Apollo was a genuine one-off and it's amazing the depth of affection people feel for it, even in 2008, when the place has been gone for 20 years or so.

"I remember a while back going to see a Status Quo tribute band. One of them, a young guy, asked if anyone in the crowd had gone to the Apollo.

"Of course, half the place shouted that they had. He said he'd had the privilege of going there twice at the age of seven with his mum and dad, and that it was a fantastic place.

"There's a huge number of people who fondly remember the Apollo, and they're the people we're aiming the show at."

The show's actors include former Wildcat stars Dave Anderson, who plays an old Apollo fan, and Lesley Robertson, who plays the manager of a cinema complex which, together with the Walkabout pub and Jongleurs comedy club, occupies the Apollo site in real life.

The basis of the show is that, unknown to anyone, the old Apollo stage remains intact beneath the modern-day buildings.

"One day, Dave takes a bunch of work-experience schoolkids to clean away the rubbish in the cinema's basement.

"They're moaning about the job, but then they stumble upon the Apollo stage - and the story of the venue gradually emerges.

"The young kids insist they can play rock and roll, and they have the idea of putting a show."

Among the characters are the Apollo's bouncers and Jet Mayfair, who was linked with the Apollo and was, in 2006, hailed by nightclub bosses as Glasgow's Greatest Ever Nightclubber.

Tommy added: "A lot of hard work lies ahead of us but we want to put on the best possible show to honour the world's best rock venue."