ROCK FAMILY TREES
A series that takes a fresh look at the last 30 years of pop history, using family trees compiled by music journalist Pete Frame to explore the dramas that lie behind some of the best-known bands.
1. The Fleetwood Mac Story
Fleetwood Mac, formed in 1967, have survived many different line-ups, but band members have paid a high price for their success. Key figures including Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Stevie Nicks tell the band's story. (00:50:04)
2. Deep Purple People
In the early seventies, Deep Purple could claim to be the biggest band in the world in terms of record sales and the size of their live audiences. Yet tensions between the five members were never far from the surface and the history of the band is littered with splits. One of the many stories tells of the events which led to the singer Ian Gillan leaving Deep Purple in 1973, an event which keyboard player Jon Lord describes as 'the biggest shame in rock 'n' roll'. Members of Deep Purple and offshoots such as Rainbow, Whitesnake and Gillan describe with remarkable frankness the highs and lows of three decades of life in the music business. (00:50:00)
3. California Dreamin'
This program looks at the stories of the Mamas and the Papas and the Lovin' Spoonful, the classic 60s bands responsible for California Dreamin', Monday, Monday, Summer in the City and Daydream. (00:48:34)
4. The Birmingham Beat
Birmingham has produced some of the most successful British pop groups of the last three decades, including the Move, ELO and Wizzard. This program follows the careers of musicians such as Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Denny Laine and Bev Bevan through their various bands and successes. (00:47:07)
5. New York Punk
Tracing the roots of the New York music scene of the mid-seventies that produced bands such as Blondie, the Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith and the New York Dolls. (00:50:12)
6. The British R&B Boom
In this edition, John Peel narrates the story of the British R&B boom, which included two of the biggest bands of the late 60s and early 70s, Cream and Led Zeppelin. This program charts the careers of groups as diverse as the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Manfred Mann and Cream as they turned the blues into rock. (00:47:50)
7. The New Merseybeat
Fifteen years after the original Mersey beat sound, Liverpool again became the breeding ground for many top bands, and they all started out in a damp basement club called Eric's. The bands include Echo and the Bunnymen, the Teardrop Explodes, OMD, the Lightning Seeds and the KLF. (00:44:10)
8. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Formed in the late 60s, Black Sabbath's lyrics, looks and lifestyle got them into trouble with moral guardians on both sides of the Atlantic. This program charts the band's career, showing how friendships forged between the four original members 40 years ago have survived to the present. (00:47:23)
9. The Mersey Sound
This program traces the rapid rise and fall of the Mersey Beat scene in the early and mid-1960s, an era synonymous with the growth of the Beatles and the popularity of groups such as the Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer, the Swinging Blue Jeans and the Merseybeats. (00:48:17)
10. The Prog Rock Years
The stories behind the biggest bands in the progressive rock movement of the early seventies, such as Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. (00:49:32)
11. Banshees and Other Creatures
The story of Siouxsie and the Banshees and other successful bands to emerge from the punk explosion of the seventies, including Public Image Ltd, Adam and the Ants and the Slits. (00:49:28)
12. The Birth of Cool Britannia
The iconic music documentary series returns to examine the real story behind the birth of Britpop and how a handful of like-minded musicians, struggling to find an authentic voice, would pave the way for a revolution in British music. It is an intricately connected story of three of the biggest bands of the 1990s – Suede, Elastica and Blur – and how, for a brief moment in the middle of that decade, they changed British music forever, kickstarting a movement that still reverberates to this day. (00:59:26)
With intimate interviews with Brett Anderson, Justine Frischmann, Mat Osman, Justin Welch and numerous other key players, this is the inside story of the friendships, the fall-outs and the changing line-ups that fueled a new movement in British music. It’s a family tree that extends from the Smiths to M.I.A., but at its heart is Suede: the band who – for better or worse – started it all.
This is not the familiar story of 'Cool Britannia', of Blur v Oasis, Champagne Supernovas and Knebworth; it is the untold story of how we got there, all the way from a suburban house in Haywards Heath.
1. The Fleetwood Mac Story
Fleetwood Mac, formed in 1967, have survived many different line-ups, but band members have paid a high price for their success. Key figures including Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Stevie Nicks tell the band's story. (00:50:04)
2. Deep Purple People
In the early seventies, Deep Purple could claim to be the biggest band in the world in terms of record sales and the size of their live audiences. Yet tensions between the five members were never far from the surface and the history of the band is littered with splits. One of the many stories tells of the events which led to the singer Ian Gillan leaving Deep Purple in 1973, an event which keyboard player Jon Lord describes as 'the biggest shame in rock 'n' roll'. Members of Deep Purple and offshoots such as Rainbow, Whitesnake and Gillan describe with remarkable frankness the highs and lows of three decades of life in the music business. (00:50:00)
3. California Dreamin'
This program looks at the stories of the Mamas and the Papas and the Lovin' Spoonful, the classic 60s bands responsible for California Dreamin', Monday, Monday, Summer in the City and Daydream. (00:48:34)
4. The Birmingham Beat
Birmingham has produced some of the most successful British pop groups of the last three decades, including the Move, ELO and Wizzard. This program follows the careers of musicians such as Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Denny Laine and Bev Bevan through their various bands and successes. (00:47:07)
5. New York Punk
Tracing the roots of the New York music scene of the mid-seventies that produced bands such as Blondie, the Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith and the New York Dolls. (00:50:12)
6. The British R&B Boom
In this edition, John Peel narrates the story of the British R&B boom, which included two of the biggest bands of the late 60s and early 70s, Cream and Led Zeppelin. This program charts the careers of groups as diverse as the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Manfred Mann and Cream as they turned the blues into rock. (00:47:50)
7. The New Merseybeat
Fifteen years after the original Mersey beat sound, Liverpool again became the breeding ground for many top bands, and they all started out in a damp basement club called Eric's. The bands include Echo and the Bunnymen, the Teardrop Explodes, OMD, the Lightning Seeds and the KLF. (00:44:10)
8. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Formed in the late 60s, Black Sabbath's lyrics, looks and lifestyle got them into trouble with moral guardians on both sides of the Atlantic. This program charts the band's career, showing how friendships forged between the four original members 40 years ago have survived to the present. (00:47:23)
9. The Mersey Sound
This program traces the rapid rise and fall of the Mersey Beat scene in the early and mid-1960s, an era synonymous with the growth of the Beatles and the popularity of groups such as the Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer, the Swinging Blue Jeans and the Merseybeats. (00:48:17)
10. The Prog Rock Years
The stories behind the biggest bands in the progressive rock movement of the early seventies, such as Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. (00:49:32)
11. Banshees and Other Creatures
The story of Siouxsie and the Banshees and other successful bands to emerge from the punk explosion of the seventies, including Public Image Ltd, Adam and the Ants and the Slits. (00:49:28)
12. The Birth of Cool Britannia
The iconic music documentary series returns to examine the real story behind the birth of Britpop and how a handful of like-minded musicians, struggling to find an authentic voice, would pave the way for a revolution in British music. It is an intricately connected story of three of the biggest bands of the 1990s – Suede, Elastica and Blur – and how, for a brief moment in the middle of that decade, they changed British music forever, kickstarting a movement that still reverberates to this day. (00:59:26)
With intimate interviews with Brett Anderson, Justine Frischmann, Mat Osman, Justin Welch and numerous other key players, this is the inside story of the friendships, the fall-outs and the changing line-ups that fueled a new movement in British music. It’s a family tree that extends from the Smiths to M.I.A., but at its heart is Suede: the band who – for better or worse – started it all.
This is not the familiar story of 'Cool Britannia', of Blur v Oasis, Champagne Supernovas and Knebworth; it is the untold story of how we got there, all the way from a suburban house in Haywards Heath.