History of Rock and Roll

Seven Ages of Rock Part 1 of 7 - Birth of Rock 

Watch how Jimi Hendrix started the rock revolution during the 60's by changing the way blues music is played. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, The Rolling Stones, Jagger, The Who and all the 60's great are here in this epic Seven Ages of Rock Video

Seven Ages of Rock Part 2 of 7 - British Rock
The story of how artistic and conceptual expression permeated rock. From the pop-art multi-media experiments of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground to the sinister gentility of Peter Gabriel's Genesis, White Light, White Heat traces how rock became a vehicle for artistic ideas and theatrical performance. We follow Pink Floyd from their beginnings with the fated art school genius of Syd Barrett through to the global success of 'Dark Side of the Moon' to the ultimate rock theatre show, 'The Wall'. Along the way, the film explores the retro-futurism of Roxy Music and the protean world of David Bowie.

Seven Ages of Rock Part 3 of 7 - Blank Generation


Seven Ages of Rock Part 4 of 7 - Never Say Die

Performing bands: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, and Metallica.

Seven Ages of Rock Part 5 of 7 - Never Say Die

Performing bands: Led Zeppelin, Queen, Kiss, Bruce Springsteen, The Police, Dire Straits, and U2

Seven Ages of Rock - Part  6 of 7 - Left of the Dial 

Performing bands: Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Black Flag, Van Halen, REM, and Michael Stipes

Seven Ages of Rock - Part  7 (Final Episode)

Performing bands: The Smiths, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral, Carpets, Blur, Oasis, Suede, Coldplay, Stereophonics, Travis, The Verve, The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, and Kaiser Chiefs.

The British Indie scene flourished in Manchester in the early 1980s. Manchester was transformed by The Smiths, through Morrissey's lyrics into a place of epic romance as part of a critique of the hard northern working class life under Thatcher. The Indie scene was diverse and contained bands such as The Cocteau Twins, The Fall and The Jesus and Mary Chain. By 1986, The Smiths had become one of Britain's most established band's, a record deal with label EMI had been agreed and they began to play larger and larger venues in the U.S. However, this brought its own pressures and eventually this contributed to The Smiths splitting in the summer of 1987.

This split coincided with the rise of house music and the development of a new wave of indie bands giving the music "a psychedelic twist". The Stone Roses, combined indie, house and a "west-coast" psychedelic feel, with rhythms at the forefront of the music and instrumentals crossing into the world of dance. In 1989, they played The Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, popularising the new scene and led to the media spotlight falling on "Madchester", containing groups such as Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets. Blur were made to put out a record based around the Madchester sound; this was not the band's own sound, however, but their record company's wishes.


Oasis performing in 2005In the summer of 1993 Oasis signed to Creation Records and began gigging up and down the country, then moving to London once they had an established fan base. This was perfectly timed as the centre of Indie music had moved from Manchester to London due mainly to the influence of Suede. Suede had an image around dark glamour and sexual ambiguity, being declared the leaders of Britpop. This section is where reductive shades into absurd. Blur's second and third albums truly launched Britpop, going to the top of the album charts crossing them to mainstream, this was soon followed by Oasis' debut, creating a scene encompassing groups from Pulp to Elastica. In August 1994, Blur and Oasis had a sales battle for the number one spot with Blur getting to number one just. However, Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? became one of the biggest selling albums of all time, with them being called the "Voice of a generation". They sold out football stadiums and indoor arenas making it hard for them to find venues. In early 1996, they organised a festival at Knebworth for 250,000 people to which one in 20 people in the UK applied for tickets. However, this was as big as Indie music was going to get, as many felt they could no longer be truly called Indie.

The Libertines attempted to bring Indie music back down to earth. Like The Smiths before them, their concerts focused around direct interaction between band and audience. They also held spontaneous guerrilla gigs at fans homes and pioneered the use of the internet for bands. However, when Doherty's drug habit spun out of control, creating tension in the band, it eventually lead to their split in 2005. Many new guitar bands have risen to prominence in recent years, such as Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs, with some, such as Arctic Monkeys, displaying their influence from the Libertines.

The broadcast of the VH1 episode is different from the original broadcast. The discussion of the Smiths is very reduced only mentioning their Top of the Pops performance, the closeness to the Audience and their breakup and not featuring 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'. There is also no mention of Indie bands from the 1980s other than the Smiths and the Stone Roses. There is no discussion or featuring of Live Forever. The section on Blur is very reduced, only featuring For Tomorrow and Girls and Boys, with almost all the discussion on the latter. Therefore, Blur Vs Oasis is not discussed and "Roll with It" is not featured. Coldplay are the only one of the 'market chasing' bands to feature or be mentioned, although the album covers in Tesco are still shown. The discussion of the Libertines is also curtailed with no mention of the guerilla gigs, the internet, tattoos or Can't Stand Me Now. The Kaiser Chiefs also do not feature.

Seven Ages of Rock - Part  7 of 7 - What the World Is Waiting For