25 Years of Rock


25 Years of Rock was a 25-part radio series broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 22 June to 7 December 1980. Each hour-long episode featured music and news stories from a year, starting with 1955 and finishing with 1979. The series encapsulated the period from the birth of rock and roll in 1955 to the post-punk era of the late seventies, and charted social and political events with a rock soundtrack. The series was repeated in 1981 between 4 April and 19 September.
The series was produced by Trevor Dann. Its theme music was the instrumental section of "Oh Well" by Fleetwood Mac.
Taking 1955 as its start – the year "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets reached the UK Singles Chart – the series focused on music and the events up to 1979.

Related media

The Rock 'n' Roll Years was a television show that was adapted from the radio show. It was aired on the BBC.
  • 30 Years of Rock
An extended version, 30 Years of Rock, was on Radio 1 in 1985. This consisted of the original series plus five new episodes covering 1980 to 1984. 30 Years Of Rock was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 1-2pm each week, between 20 April and 16 November. A one-week gap was made due to the live broadcast of "Live Aid" on 13 July. The series was most recently repeated on BBC Radio 6 Music from 28 November 2015 and finished on 27 December 2015.
  • 25 Years of Rock
A companion book by the same name was published by Hamlyn in 1980.

Original broadcast dates

  • 1955 - 22/06/80
  • 1956 - 29/06/80
  • 1957 - 06/07/80
  • 1958 - 13/07/80
  • 1959 - 20/07/80
  • 1960 - 27/07/80
  • 1961 - 03/08/80
  • 1962 - 10/08/80
  • 1963 - 17/08/80
  • 1964 - 24/08/80
  • 1965 - 31/08/80
  • 1966 - 07/09/80
  • 1967 - 14/09/80
  • 1968 - 21/09/80
  • 1969 - 28/09/80
  • 1970 - 05/10/80
  • 1971 - 12/10/80
  • 1972 - 19/10/80
  • 1973 - 26/10/80
  • 1974 - 02/11/80
  • 1975 - 09/11/80
  • 1976 - 16/11/80
  • 1977 - 23/11/80
  • 1978 - 30/11/80
  • 1979 - 07/12/80