Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Show
The Dark Side of Rock’n’Roll
podcast
Death stalks rock’n’roll heroes, sometimes with very eerie coincidences. Albums have been accused of leading to suicide pacts. Bats, chicken blood and the 27 Club certainly add to the legend – it’s all there, and more, on the – Dark Side of Rock’n’Roll
This is the original radio show and contains all the music played on the show.
First broadcast 3 May 2021 on Access North West
ARE THEY ON TOUR NOW?
Artists/bands mentioned in
The Dark Side of Rock’n’Roll
Check out if the artists/bands mentioned in the show have tour dates in the diary. In addition, you’ll find the current tour details for 181 bands/artists who all started out in the 1960s and ’70s.
(It’s not a ticket site – the links are to the bands/artists’ own websites or Facebook pages.)
ROCK’N’ROLL BLOGS ABOUT…
Stories about bands/artists, record labels, music genres, festivals, Christmas specials – all aspects of the music of the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and its roots. Background info for this and other radio shows/podcasts.
ALL PODCASTS
Check out the back catalogue of Derek Shelmerdine‘s Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Shows and other radio appearances.
Playlist
- Black Sabbath – Paranoid
- Jimi Hendrix – All Along the Watchtower
- Hank Williams – I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive
- The Ramones – Baby I Love You
- Otis Redding – That’s How Strong My Love Is
- The Beach Boys – Never Learn Not to Love
- Judas Priest – Better By You Better Than Me
- Alice Cooper – Poison
The Dark Side of Rock’n’Roll
Death is a regular visitor to the dark side of rock’n’roll. Plane and car crashes, murder and suicide, all transport rock’n’roll heroes prematurely to that great gig in the sky. In this Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Show we look at some of the more bizarre examples, where, just maybe, fate took a hand. Moreover, band managers are not always the band’s genial friend. Decapitated bats and drinking chicken blood all play their part – on the dark side of rock’n’roll.
Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison all joined the legendary 27 Club. However, each of their deaths, at the age of 27, is shrouded in mystery and speculation.
The plane crashes that took Buddy Holly and Otis Redding, and the car crashes where Johnny Kidd and Hank Williams died, all have an eerie twist to the story.
Two metal bands, Blizzard of Oz and Judas Priest, both found themselves in court facing charges of inciting suicide, when fans took their own lives after listening to their albums.
Notorious serial killer Charles Manson was also a wanna-be pop star. He wrote and recorded Cease to Exist. The Beach Boys released the song as Never Learn Not to Love, as a B-side and also an album track. Charles Manson was a friend of Dennis Wilson at the time…
Tracks on the Beatles White Album were cited by Manson as motivation for his notorious mass murders.
Then there’s the stage performances, where urbane legend has it that Ozzy Osbourne bit off the head of a bat and Alice Cooper drank the blood of a chicken.
It’s all there, and more, in the Rock’Roll Unravelled Show – The Dark Side of Rock’n’Roll.
The Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Show
How rock’n’roll came about. It’s transition into rock music in the mid-1960s and the array of rock genres which followed in the late 1960s and ‘70s.
Blues, R&B, rock’n’roll, rock, prog, folk rock, country rock, psychedelia, glam, early metal, punk, new wave +++… will certainly all find their way into the shows.
Plus artists and bands, however, some are well known and others are more on the cult side.
Stories behind classic singles and albums, record labels, venues, gigs…
Additionally, I’ll be looking at the people behind the scenes: producers, managers, promoters, writers, Svengalis – the people who made it all happen.
If it’s relevant to the music of the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, I’ll be talking about it.
All this and great music. Although, some you’ll recognise and some you might well be hearing for the first time.
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 the book Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
Radio Appearances
The Dark Side of Rock’n’Roll
First broadcast on Access North West 3 May 2021
For all Derek Shelmerdine‘s Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Shows.
…..and appearances on all radio stations.
The Dark Side of Rock’n’Roll
A look at some of the more eerie stories – on the dark side of rock’n’roll…
