Its rock ‘n’ roll season across the BBC, so we don blue suede shoes, do the twist and observe the inevitable whole lotta shakin’ going on between 6 and 8pm on Sunday’s Now Playing.
A-wop-bom-a-loo-mop-a-lomp-bom-bom!
Its 60 years since Little Richard released ‘Tutti Frutti’, and that provides a perfect excuse to celebrate probably the most pivotal period in contemporary music history (1954-1964) with special programmes on BBC Four, Radio 2 and of course 6 Music.
Beginning this Friday BBC Four broadcasts a three-part documentary series, Rock ‘n’ Roll America, exploring the roots of rock music in the USA. On Monday 8 June Radio 2 launched Sounds of the 50s, and 6 Music immerses itself in rock ‘n’ roll with a tribute to Little Richard presented by Huey Morgan (Sunday 5 July, 1pm), documentaries on Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, plus the station will revisit classic rock ‘n’ roll albums across selected dates in July.
So this week’s playlist is all about the invention to which we all owe an insurmountable debt: Rock and Roll. The American legends, such as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino. The early British upstarts like Billy Fury, The Shadows, Tommy Steele and Adam Faith. And of course, everything that came after…
You pick the music, so get your rock ‘n’ roll-inspired suggestions to Tom via the hashtag #RocknRoll6Music to help create a playlist. Comment on the Now Playing Facebook page, here on the blog, email [email protected] or drag tracks onto our Spotify and Rdio playlists.
