Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Show
1950s UK Music Scene
podcast
This 1950s UK Music Scene podcast is the original radio show and includes all the music played on the show.
First broadcast on Access North West 7 September 2020.
PLAYLIST
1 Marty Wilde – Endless Sleep
2 Humphrey Lyttelton Band – Bad Penny Blues
3 Tommy Steele and the Steelmen – Singing the Blues
4 Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group (featuring Nancy Whiskey) – Freight Train
5 Vince Taylor and His Playboys – Brand New Cadillac
6 Johnny Kidd and the Pirates – Shakin’ All Over
7 The Drifters – Sweets for My Sweet
1950s British Rock’n’Roll
In the 1950s American rock’n’roll exploded onto an unsuspecting world. In the UK, as well as discovering the joys of Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and the like, we had our own scene going. This is the story of how it all started in the UK
Trad jazz was very popular in the UK in the late 1940s. These trad jazz bands developed their own integral skiffle groups. These skiffle groups were known as “interval bands” because some of the members of the band performed as a skiffle group during the interval, when the other members of the band had retired to the bar.
By the mid-1950s skiffle groups were forming up and down the country. Some of the skiffle groups remained faithful to the original skiffle music, which had its roots in American folk blues.
However, others were more influenced by American rock’n’roll and morphed into British rock’n’roll groups. Britain’s own rock’n’roll heroes emerged. Tommy Steele was the first British rock’n’roll star. Billy Fury, Marty Wilde and others soon made their mark on the music.
By the late 1950s many of these groups morphed into beat groups. With beat groups the focus was on the band as a unit, rather than just a spotlight on the singer. The Beatles were the first beat group to score a UK hit, when Love Me Do entered the charts on 11 October 1962.
This is really when the 1950s became the 1960s…
WHO’S ON TOUR NOW?
Check out the current tour details for artists and bands mentioned in
1950s UK Music Scene podcast…
For ALL PODCASTS
COMPETITION
Win a copy of
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
For this month’s question and
TO ENTER the competition…
The names go into a hat and the lucky winner selected at random.
I’ll post the book to the lucky winner
anywhere in the world…
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled – THE BOOK
Derek Shelmerdine, author of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled.
In its unique three-part format
Timeline + What Happened Today? + Pocket Histories
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled tells the story of rock’n’roll from its roots to mid-1970s punk.
Not just the story of the music but also the social events which shaped it. The Vietnam War, Civil Rights struggle and so many other factors because they had such an influence on the music of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.
Record Collector magazine review
“Shelmerdine has made a painstaking effort to document pretty much every event that would prove significant in shaping popular music … a comprehensive guide… invaluable.”
TO BUY Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
1950s UK Music Scene – original broadcast
The Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Show
on Access North West Community Radio – 7 September 2020
