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BBC Four Music Specials

Season 2008 2008

  • 2008-01-09T21:00:00Z on BBC Four
  • 1h 20m
  • 10h 40m (8 episodes)
  • United Kingdom
  • Special Interest, Documentary
A legacy collection of one-off documentaries or live performance, which aired on BBC four, and were not part of the BBC Music series. Each episode examines music culture or history, an artist or band, music genre, or an aspect of a music style.

8 episodes

Season Premiere

2008-01-09T21:00:00Z

2008x01 How Pop Songs Work

Season Premiere

2008x01 How Pop Songs Work

  • 2008-01-09T21:00:00Z1h 20m

Celebration of the magic of pop music and the skill and musical dexterity that goes into writing, performing and producing hit records. Conductor Charles Hazlewood explores the mechanics of pop songs such as Imagine, Tomorrow Never Knows and Back to Black by breaking them down into six key areas, aided by contributions from a cast of writers, producers and arrangers including Guy Chambers, Martin Fry, Steve Levine, Richard Niles, Nick Ingman, John Altman and Rob Davis.

2008-01-17T21:00:00Z

2008x02 Chuck Berry in Concert

2008x02 Chuck Berry in Concert

  • 2008-01-17T21:00:00Z1h 20m

Legendary rock 'n' roller Chuck Berry performs at the BBC Television Theatre in 1972. Johnny B Goode, Roll Over Beethoven and Nadine are just some of the highlights of this concert, shown in an extended cut. This version includes, for the first time, an epic rendition of My Ding-a-Ling that carries all before it and raises innuendo to an art form.

2008-02-22T21:00:00Z

2008x03 Caledonia Dreamin'

2008x03 Caledonia Dreamin'

  • 2008-02-22T21:00:00Z1h 20m

Documentary revealing the hidden history of Scottish pop music and how a small record label inspired bands like Orange Juice, Altered Images, Wet Wet Wet and Franz Ferdinand.

A compilation of BBC studio performances of some of the great Manchester bands from the 1960s to the present, including Freddie and the Dreamers, The Hollies, 10CC, the Buzzcocks, The Fall, Joy Division, James, M-People, Oasis and many more.

2008-09-06T20:00:00Z

2008x05 Kings of Rock and Roll

2008x05 Kings of Rock and Roll

  • 2008-09-06T20:00:00Z1h 20m

A journey back to the 1950s for a look at the wildest pop music of all time in a film that tells the stories of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly, giants from an era when pop music really was mad, bad and dangerous to know.

The programme features the artists themselves, alongside people like Bill Haley's original Comets, The Crickets, Buddy Holly's widow Maria Elena, Jerry Lee Lewis's former wife Myra Gail and his sister, Chuck Berry's son and many more, including June Juanico, Elvis's first serious girlfriend.

Other contributors include Tom Jones, Jamie Callum, Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, Joe Brown, Marty Wilde, Green Day, Minnie Driver, Jack White of The White Stripes, The Mavericks, Jools Holland, Hank Marvin, Fontella Bass, John Waters and more.

Elvis's pelvis was just the start. Who had to change the lyrics to their biggest hit because the originals were too obscene? Who married their 13-year-old cousin? Who used lard to get their hair just right? And what happened on the day the music died?

David Hepworth chronicles the history of the disc jockey. The DJ has often been a neglected profession but today's globe-trotting jocks enjoy superstar status. Contributors include Pete Tong, Annie Nightingale, Johnnie Walker and Ranking Miss P.

2008-09-19T20:00:00Z

2008x07 Roxy Music: Frejus

2008x07 Roxy Music: Frejus

  • 2008-09-19T20:00:00Z1h 20m

Roxy Music in concert at Frejus in France in 1982, in front of an audience of 15,000

First broadcast in 1988 and filmed in black and white, this TV concert filmed at the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles features Roy Orbison performing his classic songs with friends like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, kd lang, Jennifer Warnes and Bonnie Raitt.

The TCB Band which backs all featured artists was Elvis Presley's band till his death in 1977 and includes James Burton, Glen D Hardin, Jerry Scheff and Ronnie Tutt with musical director T-Bone Burnett.

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