In the final days of the yuppie decade, the summer of ’89 saw a new type of youth rebellion rip through the cultural landscape, with thousands of young people dancing at illegal Acid House parties in fields and aircraft hangars around the M25. Set against the backdrop of ten years of Thatcherism,...
Adrian Edmondson narrates a documentary chronicling the story of Stiff Records, a tiny independent that took music out of the boardroom and gave it back to the fans. Stiff's successes included Nick Lowe, the Damned, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Madness, Tracey Ullman and the Pogues. Contributors...
Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman were the producers who came, SAW and conquered the UK charts in the 1980s, spinning the music scene right round like a record with their instantly recognisable brand of disco floor-filling pop hits. The trio divided the nation between those who loved their...
By the end of the seventies, disco music, considered too mainstream, was dead. But DJs and dance floors still needed new records and faster rhythms. Built on synthesizer sounds, the hi-nrg (high energy) style swept the gay clubs before hitting the charts during the eighties.
ABBA Silver, ABBA Gold takes Abba from the Swedish heats of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, where their song 'Waterloo' swept all before it, right up to today's new CGI performances.
The story of how 2 Tone, a record label from Coventry went on to have a global impact. The brainchild of Jerry Dammers saw dance music with a message dominate the charts from 1979.
A romp through an iconic decade of the Eurovision Song Contest, featuring classic archive performances from Abba, Brotherhood of Man, Dana, Cliff Richard, alongside more notorious offerings.
One man's quest to transform a post industrial behemoth ,still ravaged by the aftershock of WW2,into a world cultural capital Pretentious,of course , loved and hated in equal measure undoubtedly. His place in history is assured.R.I.P Anthony H. Wilson.
Ken Bruce celebrates the sound of the 1980s, as icons from the British music scene pick their favourite tracks that defined a generation, to create their ultimate mixtape.
Houses buried under snow. Rivers frozen solid. World War II bombers dropping bread to isolated villages. How did Brits survive the snowiest winter ever recorded - and could it happen again? A host of familiar faces including John Craven, Amanda Barrie, Timothy West and Neil Kinnock share their...
The broadcaster puts together his perfect Christmas playlist, and talks to some of the stars behind the festive classics, who choose their own favourite tinsel-covered tracks.
