A definitive, but light-hearted look at the world of mid to late-Sixties psychedelia. Exploring the world changing counter-culture on both sides of the Atlantic via music, art, mind-bending band names and an impressive rogues gallery. Paying homage to legends such as Hendrix and Pink Floyd whilst celebrating lesser-known artists like Linda Perhacs. Some wonderful stories too - George Clinton’s hair-straightening job, The Beatles’ chauffeur on backing vocals and what Brian Wilson and his brothers did when their mum and dad went on holiday. Researched and presented by BBC 6 Music’s Marc Riley and music journalist Rob Hughes. Adult themes and drugs references mentioned throughout.
Full length introductory episode to welcome you to the box set. Marc and Rob set out their stall discussing the main themes and players & their flexible approach to the alphabet!
Did you know the Rolling Stones took a witch on tour with them? How drugs affected the 13th Floor Elevators' Roky Erickson and the treatment he had to endure? It's all in here.
When Syd met Gilmore, what is the definition of psycedelia, the truth about the Byrds song Eight Miles High and how a gift of a banjo aged 13, influenced the young Tim Buckley.
The Chocolate Watchband support Frank Zappa but don't support The Grateful Dead or Jefferson Airplane - disaster. The Creation play an electric guitar with a violin bow - unique.
Was Jim Morrison's dad responsible for the escalation of the Vietnam War? Was there tension between Donovan and Bob Dylan? - see Donovan's song Hey Mr Tangerine Eyes.
Which band were given their first break by an estate agent and played the definitive Psych song? Eddie Kramer helps the beatles and the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix - legend.
Non violent demonstrations and the flower power symbol linked to HG Well's Time Machine - wow. There's an in-depth look at The Fool a Dutch Design company working for The Beatles.
Advice for Jerry Garcia's parents, while a middle finger goes missing. Bill Graham is discussed, the greatest rock promoter ever. Plus Grace Slick's lift off moment - pun intended
A plot-less film called Head as the Monkees go slapstick, Beatniks are explained, discussed and dissected and band posters come into their own under Hapshash and the Coloured Coat
In The Park becomes a tribute to Brian Jones and why were Marc's wife's grandparents there. Jeff Lynn and Roy Wood a match made in heaven and Marianne Faithfull's botty on show?
The only band to play at Woodstock, Monterey and Altamont - Jefferson Airplane. Marc Bolan leaves John's Children after 4 months to join Tyrannosaurus Rex & Kevin Ayres in Malaya
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - the stories behind this iconic title. The Leaves take over The Byrds' residency at Ciro's on sunset Boulevard and the real Pat Boone steps forward.
Moby Grape launches first album at The Avalon Ballroom - they had their own wine made - but nobody brought a corkscrew - oops and somebody skips recordings by The Move - naughty.
Facts - The Beatles's Magical Mystery Tour reaches only number 2 in the UK charts, John Peel champions The Misunderstood and The Moody Blues perform their first gig in 1964.
Michelle Phillips is served with a writ to leave the Mamas and The Papas, Mama Cass is involved in blanketgate & Magic Alex promises The Beatles x ray cameras and invisible paint.
Todmorden is revealed as the rock capitol of the north, The Nice recruit Lemmy as a roadie and Floyd's Nick Mason owns a helicopter and completes the Le Mans classic car race.
Does Randy Holden save the day for The Yardbirds? Did he really leave The Other Half because he didn't like his guitar? And what band used to be called The Six Sided Rockets? Enc.
George Clinton straightens hair for a living but goes onto produce cosmic funk operas. Janis Joplin has a sad decline but The Pink Fairies are on the up and up.
It's all kicking off in Vietnam and the Civil Right's Movement is centre stage. The Purple Gang's singer was a disciple of occultist Aleistar Crowley, John Peel was a huge fan.
Virgos and Geminis are all ruled by the planet Mercury - a good way to name a band? The Rolling Stones take inspiration from African culture and Rocky Erickson's hair cut protest.
Marc's Uncle Chris played the Sgt Pepper album to him when he was 6 so The Beatles were the first band he ever got into, Rob's first was I'm a Tiger by Lulu - enough said.
Can Marc and Rob solve the mystery of Sky Saxon's birth date? Did you know The Seeds coined the phrase Flower Power? Plus Strawberry Alarm Clock on tour with The Beach boys.
Skip Spence's life is dissected as is his album Oar, learn more than you've ever forgotten about legendary studio Abbey Road and hear Marc's Abbey Road anecdotes - tempting.
The Small Faces and their singer Steve Marriott profiled in this episode. Steve was a huge Buddy Holly fan, a prankster and played in the stage play Oliver, much more inside.
Giggles galore as Marc and Rob discover The Smoke were managed by The Krays. Strawberry Fields is put under the microscope and Ravi Shankar too small to dance? - discuss.
Some great names in this Acid Rock episode - Mars Bonfire, Goldy McJohn, Hoyt Axton and Rushton Moreve download to check for other humdingers. Spirit play with Led Zeppelin - wow.
T. Rex go from making rock to baroque in a musical career change. The film The Trip, staring Peter Fonda, happily confuses Marc and Rob as to its location.
Marc calls Traffic's Steve Winwood a genius Rob calls him something all together different. While still as school Steve supported the likes of Muddy Waters, BB King & Chuck Berry
Politics feature highly in The United States of America band, courtesy of singer Joseph Byrd and singer Dorothy Moskowitz. Plus The UFO club was a victim of it's own success.
Unravelling the truths from the many claims made about Beefheart's extraordinary & dark life from the LA Zoo to Trout Mask Replica. Marc recounts a story about a Beefheart doodle
The emergence of 'The Velvet Underground & Nico' under Warhol's management, 'Revolver' sleeve designer Klaus Voorman and ground-breaking and gut-busting volume from Blue Cheer.
We explore the psychedelic brilliance and sandpit of Brian Wilson and hear how Woodstock became a free festival by default with Hendrix playing the Monday morning graveyard shift.
A band named The Detours change their name to The Who, write Tommy and sell over 20 million copies - but was it an original idea, controversial - See, The Pretty Things.
Ringo Star sings, Abbey Rd sound effects room is raided and The Beatles Chauffeur performs backing vocals. Marc and Rob also look at the career of the Zombies.
Zappa and the Mothers of Invention 'Freak Out!' and insist 'We're Only In It For The Money'. Plus the ultimate death of the psychedelic Summer of Love at Altamont.
Stories from the notorious Anarchy Tour in 1976, how watching The Sex Pistols inspired Stuart Goddard to form Adam and the Ants and ‘One Chord Wonders’ The Adverts get a deserved mention.
The story of Buzzcocks including the seminal ‘Spiral Scratch’, ‘hardcore’ punk band from Washington Bad Brains, who famously hated the association with hardcore and the band Blondie, not just the lead singer.
The Clash sign to CBS, New York's CBGB venue becomes the home of punk and New Wave and the bard of Salford himself Dr John Cooper Clarke makes an appearance.
Tales of The Fall with its 66 members, the phenomenon of fanzines including the bible of the punk movement, ‘Sniffing Glue’ fanzine plus the ubiquitous record label Factory Records, set up in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.
The story of the provocative Bill Grundy interview with Sex Pistols and the furore that followed. Plus, the story behind why Glenn Matlock wasn’t in the film ‘The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle’, a film accounting the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols.
Marc and Rob take a look at the introduction of Heroin into the Punk scene. H is also a tribute to Buzzcocks frontman Howard Devoto, the influence of the 100 Club, plus Marc reads some special memories from Vic Godard of Subway Sect.
Marc proposes that 1930's band leader Louis Jordan is the godfather of Punk Rock and in some shocking news, reveals Sid Vicious was named after a hamster - true fact.
Marc and Rob discuss how Jello Biafra was influenced by the assassination of JFK and went on to form ‘Dead Kennedys’ with East Bay Ray, plus some of the exploits of Jordan including how she worked for Vivian Westwood and was married to an Ant. Also (spoiler alert) J is for The Jam.
Hear stories about Killing Joke including their manifesto and connection with Kurt Cobain. K is also for Nick Kent and Kevin Rowland, who formed The Killjoys and later, Dexy’s
Marc and Rob champion the letter L including Lux Interior of the Cramps, who was once described as "a cross between Iggy Pop and Lurch". Lydia Lunch meets Brian Eno in New York and No Wave is born. Also tales about the Lesser Free Trade Hall, the venue famous for the Sex Pistols concert credited for the start of the punk rock movement.
Marc and Rob bring you tales of The Ruts singer Malcolm Owen and music promoter and manager, amongst many things Malcolm McLaren. Also, Marquee Moon, a contender for the best debut album by Television.
Marc and Rob have No Future...on their minds at least. They also dip into Northern Ireland's punk rock scene and investigate the punk pasts of Nick Cave and Shane McGowan.
P can only be for Punk and its close relative Post Punk. It's also for Pere Ubu, Public Image and the Prefects. Plus we discover just who invented the Pogo and why.
Discover the secret history of the brothers Ramone before they actually became brothers and learn just how John Lydon turned into Johnny Rotten. Plus Rough Trade Records and Rock Against Racism feature.
The Punk A-Z reaches S for the Stranglers, Suicide, Sham 69 and Swell Maps. Plus Marc and Rob investigate the murky question - just who invented spitting? Nice
The second instalment of the letter S, with stories featuring Siouxsie and the Banshees, Patti Smith and the Skids. Learn how Woody Mellor became Joe Strummer and the story of Stiff, "the World's Most Flexible Record Label"
David Byrne's journey from Dumbarton to Talking Heads, "Part Time Punks" TV Personalities, plus The Producers - a whistle stop tour of the men behind punk's finest records. There's so much to fit in there will be more T in the next episode.
A guide to the TV and radio transmissions that brought punk to the nation (or in some cases, didn't) including The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. T is also for Marty Thau, the Boy Looks at Johnny and 6 Music's Tom Robinson.
The A-Z of Punk brings you two letters for the price of one with U and V, for Undertones, Upstarts and Vivienne Westwood. Learn how Sid Vicious was named after a hamster (yes, really) and how Charlie Harper went from hairdresser to punk hero.
Marc and Rob discuss W for lost Pistol Wally Nightingale, 'not-a-punk-band' Wire and the dysfunctional success that is Wreckless Eric. Plus stories of glam rock from Wythenshawe and learn whose middle name isn't Penelope.