Brierly Hill 90210

Historical! Montgomery, Suez, Hungary, Eurovision and Bert Trautmann. Musical! Little Richard, James Brown, Johnny Cash and Gene Vincent.

There wasn't a specific date when rock 'n' roll started. As mentioned in earlier episodes, it had been a term used since the 1940s. DJ Alan Freed had used it as early as 1951 and rock 'n' roll recordings had occasionally charted since 1953. But there was an event that happened in 1955 that put rock 'n' roll in the headlines and firmly on the map. That event was the movie Blackboard Jungle. So listen out for that as the rock 'n' roll story kicks up a gear This is a series about music. So I mostly introduce each episode with a musical bent. I'll sometimes tie those musical stories to events happening at the same time. But there is a commentary bigger than music and mere “stories” that I'm equipped to capture through an introductory sound-bite. I'll say no more as bigger stories unfold. Welcome to 1955.

Alan Freed used the term “rock and roll” as early as 1951. It was a euphemism for sex but Freed used it to describe rhythm and blues, or “race music”, in a way that was more acceptable to white audiences. Freed was keen to promote white cover versions of songs originally recorded by black artists. But, while this new rock 'n' roll music started to gain popularity and see increased record sales, there wasn't an instant mass take-over of the music scene. You'll hear a marginal increase in rock numbers but the charts are still dominated by big band orchestration and actor/singer cross-overs. Listen out for a crooning Norman Wisdom as you sit back and enjoy the sounds of 1954.

If you've followed this series from the beginning, it started with 1977, the year I began high school and a year when music changed with the arrival of punk rock. So why jump back to 1953? As I recorded the earlier chronological episodes, I found myself thinking, both for the music and the major news stories, how did we get here? What's the back story of each news event and what are the inspirations and ground-breakers that blazed a trail for music through to today? Because, primarily, this is a series about music, I wanted to look back to just before rock n roll to get an understanding of the popular music before it was changed forever. I thought that would mean 1956, maybe 1955 when Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock first charted in the UK. But in keeping with the series theme of taking a view from both sides of the Atlantic, things started a little earlier in the US. There's still debate about what was the first rock n roll record or even which was the first rock n roll “hit”. But the one I went with was

I was 7 as 1974 began and my musical memories are, not surprisingly, fuzzy. Most of them from this episode seem to be from around October and I suspect this is from a Sunday night chart rundown that my dad taped for me off Radio 1 and that was played over and over until the tape broke. Memories of 1974's music are further enhanced in this episode with genuine hiss and crackle from vinyl recordings. It's weird that in 2022 there is now a vinyl section in my local Walmart. While it had been around for a few years in clubs, particularly in Philadelphia and New York, 1974 was when disco started gaining mainstream attention. So get the funk out of your face and shake your pants down to the floor. It's 1974.

As 2021 begins, continuing the saga from last year, our house is still on the market, but there's more interest and it looks we'll be making a decision soon; should we stay or should we go? Similarly, in the wider world, stories from 2020 are coming to a head. COVID vaccines are being rolled out, cases attempting to show that black lives do matter will get their day in court and Donald Trump continues to not accept the result of the election. How did all these things pan out in 2021?

I was 8-years old as the year began so was mostly interested in riding my bike, climbing on the backs of tractors as the summer harvest was brought in, waiting until prompted to yell “Crackerjack” at the TV and thinking how much fun it would be to hang out with Jimmy Saville. I have a vague recollection that there was to be a referendum on the UK staying in the European Community but was fairly oblivious to anything else going on in the world. It's hard to believe that, less than 50 years ago, a major Western European nation, Spain, was still living under a dictatorship. Equally hard to believe was that the Vietnam War was still going on. But you better believe... it's 1975.

For reasons that we'll get into in the next episode, the plan had been to start this series in 1977. But that was always a bit misleading as it started with events that happened at the end of the year before. So what was the background, context and the general state of play that lead up to those events? The music of the mid 70s was disco, glam rock and sickly pop ballads. As 1976 begins, Gerald Ford is president of the United States, Harold Wilson is British prime-minister and leader of the Labor Party, Ted Heath leads the Tories and Jeremy Thorpe the Liberals. Women are being attacked in northern England by what appears to be a single person, the violence escalating to a first murder in 1975. But I was 10 years old and oblivious to all of this. I attended Northleach C of E Primary School in the Gloucestershire, Cotswold country side and my main interests lay in climbing trees, convincing my mum to let me have jeans with flares and seeing what they got up to on Blue Peter.

We'd been living in our “dream house” for 12 years but, it having been built in the 19th century, there was always something failing, breaking or otherwise needing repair. It was beginning to take it's toll, both financially and in terms of time spent. So we decided it was time to move on. With the impeccable timing that had us buy it during a major financial crisis, turns out we would try and sell as the world experienced a global pandemic! Obviously that's the main story you'll hear about in this episode. The world went into lock-down, the kids stopped going to school and I stopped going into the office. But working for a company that manufactured highly sought after items like diapers and paper towels, unlike many others less fortunate, I was in no danger of losing my job. Mostly to keep the kids occupied, we bought some chickens... and then some ducks. We lost some chickens to a fox so we got a dog. While our house, which was clearly not selling, turned into a farm, I took up walking every morning to ma

The year begins with the US Government shut down over a refusal to fund Trumps wall on the Mexico border. Globally, many are starting to wake up to the potential impact of climate change, mostly young people making their voices heard. In the UK, the bickering over Brexit is taking everybody nowhere fast. But the Windrush scandal of the previous year aligns cosmically with Black Lives Matter in the US into another global movement for good.

I missed a mention of turning 50 a couple of episodes ago. Probably from being in denial. I know the cliche about age just being a number. But there is something about reaching that particular number that, in my case at least, brings about a need to look back on one's life. I'm sure the seed of this series was planted in that flower pot of nostalgia. But it's interesting... these last few episodes haven't felt like it's MY life that I'm looking back on. They've felt more like I'm looking in from the outside as the world continues on without me. That probably sounded more overly dramatic than I intended it to. But I think a lot of us would have prefer to not be present in the world of 2018.

I only recorded one new podcast episode in 2017. Looking back, I'm not sure if there's any one reason why the show slowly petered out, though there would be a couple more shows in 2018 before work started on this current series. But I had been doing it for 12 years which is long time in the podcast universe. It probably had something to do with family. When your kids are just babies, you think you're entire life is taken up by them. And that's true. But much more of your time is taken up by their various activities as they get older. Our youngest was now 9 years old and after being continuously ill since he was born, he was finally diagnosed with something; celiacs disease. He had a major gluten allergy. The poor kid loved pizza and bread and those were things that were killing him. But he adapted quickly to a change in diet and we found gluten-free versions of his favorites. We'll never forget the time our 9-year old son told us, “I never knew you weren't supposed to get sick every time you ate something”.

I started recording this series in 2020 and it's 2021 as I record this episode. Depending on when you're listening to this of course (it could be 2030 and I'm coming to you from the implant behind your ear as you ride your self-driving rocket-ship), doesn't 2016 feel like we're up-to-date? The events seem like they've only just happened. Having said that, it could equally apply to the 1977 episode when I looked back to the 11-year old me, attending Westwoods Grammar School in the Gloucestershire countryside, listening to Tony Blackburn spinning the latest tune from The Electric Light Orchestra. Where did those 40 years go? Time plods slowly onwards and we just tag along for the ride. Time is also an album by the Electric Light Orchestra. Welcome to 2016.

In some previous episodes, I've spoken of a glut of good music for certain years. This time, more than any other I can remember, I have more news stories than usual. I think that's partly due to several long-running stories coming to their end. There are the usual smatterings of death, relegation, job suspensions and criminal indictments for past misbehaviors. But there are also many story lines that, although we didn't know it at the time, were the start of bigger things to come; stories that would define the next 4 or 5 years.

I mentioned last time that I wasn't really enjoying my job. I felt too old to mix it up with the youngsters at a New York technology start-up. But after a few years of job hunting, I finally landed a “proper job” with a manufacturing company in Pennsylvania. Elsewhere as 2014 begins, while the world still grapples with events in Ukraine and Crimea, a new middle east presence is starting to be felt. At the turn of the year, nobody's heard of it and, in the west, for those that have, is it called ISIS or is it ISIL? Here in the US, while the Black Lives Matter hashtag started to be used in 2013, connected to the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin, events of 2014 bring it to main-stream attention.

I wasn't really enjoying my job as a product manager for a software company in New York. I shouldn't have had anything to complain about; the work was challenging, I was getting good experience and I enjoyed working with my team. But the money wasn't great, it was a long slog up to New York on the train and the overselling of our software's capabilities to potential customers was grinding me down. But work was work and, despite ongoing job-hunting, I wasn't finding anything better. It seemed like another step on the endless treadmill into 2013...

The kids are growing up. One is 6 as the year begins and our youngest turns 4 in January. He's sick a lot and it'll be another 5 years before we find out why. In America, the economy continues its slow recovery; too slow for several big name brands and retailers that didn't sufficiently prepare for a digital economy. Will economic recovery be fast enough to secure Barack Obama a second term as president? Meanwhile, across the pond, the UK prepares to celebrate 60 years of Queen Elizabeth's reign. There's also the small matter of the summer Olympics coming to town. Welcome to 2012...

I had started a new job in 2010 after spending the best part of a year out of work. I was now a project manager and integration consultant working for a start-up company in New York. 2011 saw me working on an assignment on Wall Street in the city. That meant 4 hours on Amtrak and 2 hours on the New York subway each day. Musically, the long train rides coincided with me having no music to listen to on them. A hard-drive crash the year before meant that a lot of music was lost. What made it particularly sad was losing pieces that artists had recorded especially for me. Luckily, I was able to retrieve some of that but I never fully recovered from the pause in recording my podcast. What had already slipped to less than monthly, slipped further to only 1 or 2 new shows a year. Across the world, as 2010 came to a close, a horrifying event went almost unnoticed in Tunisia. That story continues into 2011 and into what would become known as The Arab Spring.

The year started with me still not in full-time employment. But I was doing contract work for a major US health insurance company so was better off than most. But come February, one of my previous contracts offered me a full-time position and I took it. I was earning half of what I was before the financial crash but beggars can't be choosers. I ended up at gig in New York State which meant a long drive up the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway on a Sunday night, back again Friday and start all over again after too brief a weekend. It was exhausting and it has to be faced that I wasn't the best father and husband as the stress took it's toll.

After living in our new house in Pennsylvania for a year, we corrected our mistake of not selling our old house first by finally off-loading it for far less than we'd planned. That was obviously not great news but things got worse in March when, with a wife and two very young children to support, I was let go from my job in California. A lot of other people around the world suffered the same fate that year. We were more fortunate than others.