Episode 119: “You Really Got Me” by the Kinks

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 119: "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks
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The Kinks, playing around with hunting horns

Episode one hundred and nineteen of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “You Really Got Me” by the Kinks, and the song that first took distorted guitar to number one. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “G.T.O.” by Ronny and the Daytonas.

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

Continue reading “Episode 119: “You Really Got Me” by the Kinks”

Episode 118: “Do-Wah-Diddy-Diddy” by Manfred Mann

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 118: "Do-Wah-Diddy-Diddy" by Manfred Mann
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Manfred Mann

Episode 118 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Do-Wah-Diddy-Diddy” by Manfred Mann, and how a jazz group with a blues singer had one of the biggest bubblegum pop hits of the sixties.

Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a thirteen-minute bonus episode available, on “Walk on By” by Dionne Warwick.

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Continue reading “Episode 118: “Do-Wah-Diddy-Diddy” by Manfred Mann”

Episode 115: “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 115: "House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals
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The Animals

Episode one hundred and fifteen of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals, at the way the US and UK music scenes were influencing each other in 1964, and at the fraught question of attribution when reworking older songs. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “Memphis” by Johnny Rivers.

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

Continue reading “Episode 115: “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals”

Episode 113: “Needles and Pins” by The Searchers

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 113: "Needles and Pins" by The Searchers
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The Searchers

This week’s episode looks at “Needles and Pins”, and the story of the second-greatest band to come out of Liverpool in the sixties, The Searchers. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a sixteen-minute bonus episode available, on “Farmer John” by Don and Dewey.

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

Continue reading “Episode 113: “Needles and Pins” by The Searchers”

Episode 112: “She Loves You” by The Beatles

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 112: "She Loves You" by The Beatles
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The Beatles in 1963. John Lennon playing harmonica while the others look on.

This week’s episode looks at “She Loves You”, the Beatles in 1963, and the start of Beatlemania in the UK. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “Glad All Over” by the Dave Clark Five.

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

Continue reading “Episode 112: “She Loves You” by The Beatles”

Episode 108: “I Wanna Be Your Man” by the Rolling Stones

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 108: "I Wanna Be Your Man" by the Rolling Stones
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The Rolling Stones in 1963

Episode 108 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “I Wanna Be Your Man” by the Rolling Stones and how the British blues scene of the early sixties was started by a trombone player.

Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have an eight-minute bonus episode available, on “The Monkey Time” by Major Lance.

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

Continue reading “Episode 108: “I Wanna Be Your Man” by the Rolling Stones”

Episode 101: “Telstar” by the Tornados

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 101: "Telstar" by the Tornados
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The Tornadoes in the studio, with Joe Meek (standing)

Episode 101 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs is the first one of the podcast’s third year. This one looks at “Telstar” by the Tornados, and the tragic life of Joe Meek, Britain’s first great pop auteur. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Apologies for the lateness of this one — my two-week break got extended when my computer broke down.

Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “Wipe Out” by the Surfaris.

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

Continue reading “Episode 101: “Telstar” by the Tornados”

Episode 100: “Love Me Do” by the Beatles

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 100: "Love Me Do" by the Beatles







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The Beatles at the Cavern Club

This week there are two episodes of the podcast going up, both of them longer than normal. This one, episode one hundred, is the hundredth-episode special and is an hour and a half long. It looks at the early career of the Beatles, and at the three recordings of “Love Me Do”. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “Misirlou” by Dick Dale and the Deltones.

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

Continue reading “Episode 100: “Love Me Do” by the Beatles”

Episode 95: “You Better Move On” by Arthur Alexander

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Episode 95: "You Better Move On" by Arthur Alexander







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Arthur Alexander

Episode ninety-five of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “You Better Move On”, and the sad story of Arthur Alexander. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.

Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on “Mother-In-Law” by Ernie K-Doe.

Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

Continue reading “Episode 95: “You Better Move On” by Arthur Alexander”

BONUS: “Strawberry Fair” by Anthony Newley

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
BONUS: "Strawberry Fair" by Anthony Newley







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Anthony Newley turning into a ventriloquist's dummy at the climax of The Strange World of Gurney Slade

This is a special extra episode of the podcast, not one of the “proper” five hundred. A book I’ve written, on the TV series The Strange World of Gurney Slade, has just become available for pre-order from Obverse Books, so to publicise that I’ve done an extra episode, on the pop music career of its star, Anthony Newley. The next normal episode will be up in a day or two. Transcript below the cut.

Erratum: In a previous version of this episode, I mentioned, in passing, my understanding that Newley was an alcoholic. This has been strongly questioned by some fans, who took offence at the suggestion, and as it was utterly irrelevant to the point I was making I have deleted those three words rather than cause further offence. Continue reading “BONUS: “Strawberry Fair” by Anthony Newley”