BBC Music’s My Generation season brings the swinging Sixties to life
BBC Music’s My Generation season – telling the story of pop music - reaches the 1960s with a raft of programmes to air in July.
Published: 17 June 2016
BBC Four is the home of music television on the BBC, and the range of programmes in this next decade of the My Generation season will truly bring to life the story of this iconic time in pop music history.
BBC Four will broadcast a new film about The Beach Boys’ seminal album Pet Sounds which features interviews with Brian Wilson and all the surviving members of the group, and Arena: 1966 marks the year pop music and popular culture ripped up the rule book. Also on BBC Four, broadcaster Danny Baker presents the next instalment of People’s History of Pop featuring incredible music memorabilia. BBC Radio 6 Music will feature tailored programming with Yoko Ono, Julian Cope, Roger Waters and Lenny Kaye, and BBC Radio 2 broadcasts a celebration of England’s 1966 World Cup win with artists performing hits from that year. Additionally, there will be a special collaboration with the Victoria and Albert museum in London.
BBC Music: My Generation is a year-long landmark season of programming charting the history of pop music across the decades, from the mid-1950s to mid-1990s through the memories of the people who were there. The season launched in April with a look at the decade of music from the 1950s to early Sixties with Twiggy fronting the first episode of People’s History of Pop. In four instalments across the year, musical icons and pop fans alike will give their own perspectives in this major BBC season.
Cassian Harrison, Channel Editor of BBC Four, says: “I’m delighted to be bringing viewers the next instalment of the brilliant My Generation story as our celebration of the power of popular music moves into the 1960s. With unique access to Brian Wilson and the surviving Beach Boys, and the next part of the ground-breaking People’s History Of Pop from Danny Baker, this will be another very special treat for music lovers.”
Jan Younghusband, Head of Commissioning for BBC Music, says: “BBC Four is the home of music television on the BBC, and the range of programmes in this next decade of the My Generation season will truly bring to life the story of this iconic time in pop music history.”
On BBC Four, Classic Album - The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (Sunday 24 July) will celebrate 50 years since the release of Pet Sounds, arguably one of the most important albums in the history of pop music. In newly filmed interviews, Brian Wilson and all the surviving members - Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnstone and David Marks - will take viewers through the writing and recording of their landmark album. It will feature unseen archive and early versions of the songs that cemented the group’s reputation as one of music's leading forces, and Brian Wilson as a song-writing genius. The documentary is directed by Martin R Smith and is produced by Eagle Rock Productions.
BBC Four also broadcasts Arena: 1966 (Sunday 24 July). Based on Jon Savage's book '1966: The Year The Decade Exploded', Arena marks the year pop music and popular culture ripped up the rule book in articulate, instinctive and radical ways. This was the year of Strawberry Fields Forever, Morgan - A Suitable Case For Treatment, Jonathan Miller's Alice In Wonderland, and the beginnings of black power, feminism and the worst years of the Vietnam War. Television was still in black and white, but the world outside was bursting with colour and controversy. In America, in London, in Amsterdam, in Paris, revolutionary ideas slow-cooking since the late Fifties reached boiling point. In popular culture and the mass media, 1966 was a year of restless experimentation and the search for new forms of expression - particularly in pop music. Written by Savage and director Paul Tickell, Arena's film takes viewers back to that moment in a vivid celebration of the music, films and TV that shaped the 1960s.
Respected writer, journalist and broadcaster Danny Baker will present the second episode of BBC Four’s People’s History Of Pop (Friday 22 July) – independently produced by 7Wonder. This programme is all about the years 1966-1975, when fans were discovering new British music at an exhilarating pace. This is the decade in which Bolan and Bowie changed people’s lives forever, bookish boys found expression through the likes of Pink Floyd, Northern Soulers danced all night at the Wigan Casino, and Bob Marley brought reggae and dreads to the British mainstream.
Danny Baker says: “To be a music fan between ‘66 and ‘76 was to be bathed in an almost daily cascade of new possibilities. If the previous 10 years were the roots, this span were the fruits. I can never understand fans who followed one tribe, one musical style. To me that misses the point of a period when entirely new genres were being forged out of the everywhere. From the rise of the singer-songwriter to the birth of heavy metal, from Bowie to Big Youth, a reborn Motown embracing the new German sounds, when what is now called Old School Soul was the brand new funk and on and on, the pop creation flourished. Everything was being tried and expanded, and almost all of it worked. What a period. Staggering to think there was only seven short years between Woodstock and the Sex Pistols.”
The show meets those who fell in love with the psychedelic sounds of Sgt Pepper, hippies who discovered peace and love at the Isle of Wight Festival, and Black Sabbath fans who turned to the new sounds of heavy metal. Contributors include a man who has a 'festival room' filled with memorabilia from the 'first proper UK festival', the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. A couple share the story of their first date in 1973 - Bowie's Ziggy Stardust concert at Earl's Court, which has led to 40 years of marriage. Another tells of reading about a new type of music in the NME called 'meaty music' and went along to see a new band called Earth perform in Northampton. When he got there, the name on the drum kit was Black Sabbath…
Viewers will also be treated to a rare and intimate view of David Bowie by a fan who shows us a mask of his face. The programme has uncovered this rare piece of memorabilia from one of the star’s many legendary personas - a chromium mask from a cast made of his face which appeared in the BBC's 1975 rock documentary Cracked Actor, which followed the progress of Bowie's Diamond Dogs tour through California.
The show reunites a former teacher and pupil of Peckham Manor School, more than 40 years after they witnessed an unknown Bob Marley perform in their sports hall. They show us priceless photographs of his set with Johnny Nash, and relive the moment they had a kick-about in the playground after. Danny also meets a Marc Bolan fan who shares his pop treasures and stories, including the time he went to Bolan's house and got given a pair of his trainers by Marc's dad - he still has the trainers today.
The producers have previously appealed to music fans around the UK to upload details about their most precious music memorabilia to the series website at bbc.co.uk/mygeneration. Currently over 3,400 items - including photos, videos and audio of their musical treasures - have been uploaded. Episodes three and four will focus on the two decades from 1976 to 1996, so the programme-makers would love to hear from people around the country who have treasured mementos from that time.
In collaboration with the BBC My Generation season focusing on the decade and in anticipation of the V&A’s upcoming exhibition, You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966-1970, the V&A will celebrate the 1960s with a day of free talks and events on Saturday 30 July. Marking the 50th anniversary of England winning the World Cup, The 60s Explosion: The Decade That Changed the World, will include talks and interviews with key players from the period and cultural historians who will explore this decade that changed the world. There will also be a rare opportunity to see memorabilia of the era from the EMI Archive. Additionally, BBC Four’s People’s History Of Pop team will be stationed at the V&A for the day, inviting the public to bring along their own music memorabilia from the 1960s to the present day.
Geoffrey Marsh, Director of the V&A’s Department of Theatre and Performance, says: “On the 50th anniversary of England winning the World Cup, we’re delighted to be inviting people to the V&A to celebrate the impact of the 1960s – a decade that has had an extraordinary impact on our lives today. It’s great that the BBC is exploring the 1960s in their My Generation season. As the V&A prepares for its major autumn exhibition on 1966-70, we’re working together to give people a taster of the show in July. Be sure to bring your music memorabilia down to the Museum for the BBC’s People’s History Of Pop team to see – anything from ticket stubs to t-shirts!”
BBC Radio 6 Music will broadcast tailored content and guests in 6 Music celebrates… Psychedelia. Programming starts with The First Time With Yoko Ono (Sunday 17 July, 1pm) who met John Lennon at the height of The Beatles’ Psychedelic era, collaborating with and influencing his more avant-garde work. She talks to presenter Matt Everitt about the first time they met, among other music firsts in her life and career. Throughout the week, 6 Music will be playing out sessions from contemporary bands, including the Duke Spirit and Mystery Jets, performing Sixties cover versions recorded recently for the station. On Friday 22 July, 6 Music’s Album Of The Day will be Their Satanic Majesty’s Request by the Rolling Stones from 1967, and Shaun Keaveny (7-10am), will explore swinging Sixites London, particularly The Underground Club which was run by Pink Floyd. On Friday night, Julian Cope (7-9pm) plays two hours of his own psychedelic music choices, and on Sunday (4-6pm), Lenny Kaye - producer of the highly acclaimed Nugget compilations - explores psychedelic music. In The First Time with Roger Waters (Sunday 24 July, 1-2pm), the founding member of British psychedelic pioneers Pink Floyd talks about his career, his early musical heroes and the musical relationship he had with his iconic bandmate, Syd Barrett. Later, the 6 Music audience helps build the ultimate psychedelic playlist in Now Playing (6-8pm) hosted by Tom Robinson, and the weekend is capped off with a special edition of Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone (8-10pm).
Exactly 50 years to the day, Saturday 30 July, BBC Radio 2 will retell the story of England’s 1966 World Cup victory. World Cup ‘66 Minute by Minute will unfold in real time at The SSE Arena, Wembley. It will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 5 live, BBC Red Button and in cinemas across the UK. Together with TBI Media, and with the support of The Football Association, Radio 2 and Picturehouse Entertainment, this live event will relive the unforgettable game from start to the finish, bringing music, arts, culture, history and sport together to create a live music documentary. Performers include James, The Vaccines, Lemar and Reef, who’ll be singing hits from 1966, a year regarded by many as one of the most important in the development of UK popular music. Presented by Jeremy Vine and Louise Minchin, the programme will celebrate the remarkable achievements of those involved with the 1966 final. More information and tickets are available from bbc.co.uk/radio2.
BBC Radio Ulster will be reflecting the My Generation season in July with a series of features on some of its programmes, including music from the Summer of Love on Kim Lenaghan’s popular weekend radio show. Time Of Our Lives will be remembering the Sixties in a programme presented by musician Colum Arbuckle, while The Mickey Bradley Record Show will feature music from the Seventies. Kerry McLean plays tracks from the Sixties and Seventies with a feature on memorabilia from the time, and Ralph McLean will host a Sixties night of popular hits, including archive content from the time. And there'll be another chance to hear Remember When – the story of The Beatles in Belfast.
Production credits
Classic Album - The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds is produced by Martin R Smith, and directed by Martin R Smith and Matthew Longfellow for Eagle Rock Film Productions. Commissioned and executive produced for the BBC by Jan Younghusband.
Arena: 1966, directed by Paul Tickell, Arena Series Editor - Anthony Wall.
People’s History Of Pop was ordered by Cassian Harrison, Channel Editor, BBC Four, and commissioned by Jan Younghusband, Head of Commissioning, Music TV. It is being made by 7Wonder, the executive producer is Steve Condie, the producer is Zoe Jewell. Executive produced for the BBC by Emma Cahusac.
For BBC Radio 6 Music programmes, Head of Programmes is Paul Rodgers. The First Time is produced by Adam Hudson, and Lenny Kaye is produced by Jax Coombes for the BBC. Now Playing is produced by Becky Grisedale-Sherry, and Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone is produced by Rebecca Gaskell - both for Somethin Else productions.
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