- The Rock 'n' Roll Years
"The Rock 'n' Roll Years" was a
BBC television programme aired between1985 and1994 . In a half-hour time slot the programme focused on a different year each week, starting with the year1956 and ending with1989 .The format of the programme, which was based on the
BBC Radio 1 series "25 Years of Rock ", was primarily of news clips with narrative subtitles set to music of the time with no presenters or voice-overs. Archive footage of performers, mostly from BBC programmes such as "Top of the Pops ", was also featured.For instance, the programme on 1960 featured the Sharpeville massacre, the Russians shooting down two US spy planes, the advent of stiletto heels and the election of Kennedy to the White House set to music by Adam Faith, Duane Eddy and the Rebels, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, the Everly Brothers and Roy Orbison. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0094ctx BBC - BBC Four Programmes - The Rock 'n' Roll Years, 1960 ] ]
Like "25 Years of Rock" the programme was noted for its occasionally witty juxtaposition of news footage with appropriate songs, as when an excerpt from the wedding of
Prince Charles andPrincess Diana - in an episode made after the couple had split up - was accompanied byLionel Richie andDiana Ross singing "Endless Love".The theme tune to "The Rock 'n' Roll Years" was a medley containing riffs from a number of popular songs, including for example "
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction " byThe Rolling Stones and "Layla " byDerek and the Dominoes .imilar formats
Two programmes with similar formats were:
*"History Rocks " onThe History Channel
*"Pop-up Video " onVH1 External links
*imdb title|id=0136660|title=The Rock 'n' Roll Years
* [http://epguides.com/RocknRollYears/ "The Rock 'n' Roll Years"] at EpGuides.com
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.