Season 1

In the fifties, a new musical force appeared, shaking up clean-living America – rock 'n' roll. Following Fats Domino's lead, Little Richard burst onto the scene in New Orleans. In Memphis, the new music also emerged, and a young Elvis Presley recorded his first songs.

Girl groups, the surf sound, and perfect pop take over the charts.

When Bob Dylan arrived in New York, he stirred up not only the placid world of folk music but also rock'n'roll, influencing everyone from the Beatles to the Byrds. Meanwhile in Britain, the Beatles were expanding on the legacy of the Shadows and skiffle to open out British rock music.

An examination of the birth of soul music, from Ray Charles's first adaptation of gospel through Sam Cooke's death to the start of the Motown empire and, in Memphis, the sound of Stax Records.

In the early sixties Chicago blues is adopted by British listeners and the music of artists such as Muddy Waters gives birth to a succession of new British rhythm-and-blues artists.

In 1966, San Francisco became the centre of rock's psychedelic era. Meanwhile in London, Pink Floyd were emerging with an experimental new sound.

Musicians are left nursing a hangover after the failure of the summer of love. Into the breach step some of the most outrageous figures yet to grace a rock stage, like Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop and David Bowie.

In the mid-seventies, the American music business was shaken out of its complacency by the eccentric sounds of artists like Jonathan Richman. But it was when the anarchic style was picked up in Britain by bands including the Sex Pistols and the Clash that the punk revolution really took off.

In the seventies, James Brown's musical innovations earned him the sobriquet of the godfather of funk. This episode remembers the revolution he instigated, plus the work of other funk figureheads such as Sly and the Family Stone, Bootsy Collins and George Clinton.

The concluding episode looks at how the passage of time has not compromised music's ability to innovate, excite and induce outrage. With interviews with New Order, Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and The Orb.