The People's History of Pop - Season 1

Season 1

Episodes

1955-1965: The Birth of the Fan
Twiggy celebrates the 60s, meeting skiffle musicians, fans of the Shadows, Liverpudlians who frequented the Cavern Club at the height of Merseybeat, Beatles devotees, Ready Steady Go! dancers, mods, lovers of ska, bluebeat and Millie Small, and fans of the Rolling Stones. Unearthed pop treasures include a recording of John Lennon's first ever recorded performance with his band the Quarrymen.

1966-1976: The Love Affair
Series telling the story of pop music through fans' memories and memorabilia. Writer, journalist and broadcaster Danny Baker looks at the years of his youth - 1966 to 1976 - a time when music fans really let rip. From the psychedelia of the Beatles' Sgt Pepper to the birth of the large-scale music festival, this is when hair, sounds and ideas got wilder and looser as a whole new generation of fans got really serious about British pop music and the world around them. There is testimony from hippies who found love and happiness at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival, from a teenager growing up in Birmingham who discovered a new sound called 'heavy metal', and from fans sent wild with excitement after David Bowie and Marc Bolan were beamed down and glam rock was born. A shy young man tells how he found expression through progressive rock, a fan relives her weekend escapes to Wigan Casino and a new scene called northern soul, and a young man discovers a new hero as reggae becomes mainstream.

1976-1985: Tribal Gatherings
Lead singer of ska group The Selecter Pauline Black will present the third episode of BBC Four's People's History Of Pop, looking at the years 1976-1985, when punk hit Britain and a staggering array of rival tribes exploded onto the high street.
This is the era when people's lives were changed by the Sex Pistols, when pop kids went wild for Duran Duran and we all came together for Live Aid to help the Ethiopian famine.
The programme uncovers rare treasures: a gig promotor who has saved the mint-condition posters from the Sex Pistols' Anarchy In The UK tour in 1976 after the date was cancelled by the venue; a man who auditioned to sing on the Sex Pistols The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle and has some mementoes from the day including a tambourine which Sid Vicious punched his fist through while they were performing; and the son of artist Ray Lowry shares his father's beautiful sketchbooks from The Clash's tour of America in the summer of 1979, when Ray was asked to go on tour with the band as their 'war artist'.
And curator Gordon McHarg shares an extraordinary discovery from Joe Strummer's personal archive, his handwritten notebook for the making of Combat Rock, packed full of his thoughts, alternative lyrics and songs that didn't end up getting on the final album.
Contributors include a Durannie who shares her love of the Rio album to the horror of her fiancé, a die-hard punk; a Smiths fan who still has the original set list from the band's 1983 Dingwalls gig in Camden; a former punk who's saved all his Rock Against Racism posters; a man who recorded his Records For The Day every day in an amazing picture diary; and a woman shares the story of a magical night out with Steve Strange and the Blitz Kids.

1986-1996: All Together Now
Series telling the story of pop music through fans' memories and memorabilia. Lauren Laverne celebrates the decade 1986-1996 when music had the power to unite fans - even sworn rivals - like never before. It's a decade that starts with a turn to the alternative, even among the fans of mega pop bands. We hear from Depeche Mode fans who were invigorated by the band's darker sounds in Black Celebration, and a man who discovered a burgeoning UK hip hop scene when he moved to London and shares footage of his friends MCing and DJing at home. In 1988, the acid house wave hit and the show meets those who lived through it and loved it. Out of the clubs came mega pop bands. The programme meets an avid Take That fan who bought every type of merchandise she could as a teenager. Another fan takes viewers back to the site of her first ever Blur gig in 1994 and the show finishes by talking to fans of the most successful girl group of all time - The Spice Girls.

1997-2010: Closer Than Close
Sara Cox looks at the time when the internet opened up new worlds for music fans and brought them closer to their musical heroes than ever before. It starts in the years leading up to the year 2000 - a time when information overload and uncertainty about new technologies was creating an anxiety about the future.
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