THOSE who weren’t around to experience it probably think that popular British music began with the Beatles in 1963. It’s true that the Fab Four changed the music scene, but they weren’t the first artists to keep the public’s toes tapping or, indeed persuade them to ditch their usual reserve and get on the dance floor.
BBC4’s now-traditional Friday night music documentary Rock’n’Roll Britannia is devoted to some of them. It charts the development of British rock’n’roll between 1956 and 1960, a time when the likes of Lord Rockingham’s XI, Vince Taylor and Cliff Richard and The Shadows dominated the charts, horrifying parents, but delighting their offspring in the process.
It is revealed how such acts started out as UK-based facsimiles of Bill Haley, but soon developed their own, unique style, which influenced those who came after them.
Among those offering their opinions on the period and its music is Cliff himself, as well as Marty Wilde, Joe Brown and Cherry Wainer.
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