A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs

Andrew Hickey

Andrew Hickey presents a history of rock music from 1938 to 1999, looking at five hundred songs that shaped the genre.

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260 episodes
Updated July 21

Episodes260

Newest first

July 21 · 2 hr 39 min
Song 185: “Peaches En Regalia” by Frank Zappa
This episode follows on from the episode on the GTOs. These two make up two parts of a three-part story, and I’m hoping to have part three, on Captain Beefheart, up before the end of the month. This episode is on “Peaches En Regalia” by
July 21 · 2 min
Teaser Trailer: It’s a Superpower??
Some of you will have seen me talk in the past about a site called The Daily Tism, a satirical news site by and for autistic people which is run by some friends of mine, and which I’ve written the odd piece for. (Perhaps you haven’t, in which
July 21 · 1 hr 30 min
Song 184: “The Captain’s Fat Theresa Shoes” by the GTOs
This episode took longer than normal to come up because, as you’ll see from the episode itself, I’m releasing it simultaneously with the next episode, on Frank Zappa. These two make up two parts of a three-part story, and I’m hoping to
March 22 · 2 hr 4 min
Song 183: “Pinball Wizard” by the Who, Part 2: “His Disciples Lead Him In”
Apologies for the delay in posting this episode — health issues have continued to affect me. They *seem* to be improving, but I should also mention here that some of the guitar demonstrations in this episode are not quite the same part as Pete Townshend
February 12 · 1 hr 44 min
Song 183: “Pinball Wizard” by the Who, part 1: Always Playing Clean
Apologies for the delay in posting this episode — I had a chronic illness flare-up and a frankly awful January. With luck, part two of this story will be up before the end of February. For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs fr
Dec 18, 2025 · 1 hr 50 min
Song 182: “Many Rivers to Cross” by Jimmy Cliff
This episode, we look at the song “Many Rivers to Cross”, the birth of reggae, and the career of the late Jimmy Cliff. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a sixty-
Nov 3, 2025
Song 181: “Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
This episode, we look at the song “Proud Mary” and the brief but productive career of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have
Sep 30, 2025
Song 180: “Dazed and Confused” by Led Zeppelin, Part Two — “Inspiration is What You Are to Me”
For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the second part of a two-episode look at the song “Dazed and Confused” by Led Zeppelin, although this episode does
Aug 24, 2025
Song 180: “Dazed and Confused” by Led Zeppelin, Part One, The Song Remains the Same
For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the first part of a two-episode look at the song “Dazed and Confused” by Led Zeppelin, although this episode doesn
Jul 26, 2025
PLEDGE WEEK: “Light Flight” by Pentangle
Erratum: At one point here I say “Cannonball Adderley” when I mean “Nat Adderley”. This episode is part of Pledge Week 2025. For five days this week, I will be posting old Patreon bonus episodes to the main feed to encourage peop
Jul 25, 2025
PLEDGE WEEK: “Fruit Tree” by Nick Drake
This episode is part of Pledge Week 2025. For five days this week, I will be posting old Patreon bonus episodes to the main feed to encourage people to subscribe to my Patreon. If you want more of these, and only if you can afford it, subscribe for $1 a
Jul 24, 2025
PLEDGE WEEK: “Living in the Past” by Jethro Tull
This episode is part of Pledge Week 2025. For five days this week, I will be posting old Patreon bonus episodes to the main feed to encourage people to subscribe to my Patreon. If you want more of these, and only if you can afford it, subscribe for $1 a
Jul 23, 2025
PLEDGE WEEK: “Pictures of Matchstick Men” by The Status Quo
This episode is part of Pledge Week 2025. For five days this week, I will be posting old Patreon bonus episodes to the main feed to encourage people to subscribe to my Patreon. If you want more of these, and only if you can afford it, subscribe for $1 a
Jul 22, 2025
PLEDGE WEEK: “La conferencia secreta del Toto’s Bar” by Los Shakers
This episode is part of Pledge Week 2025. For five days this week, I will be posting old Patreon bonus episodes to the main feed to encourage people to subscribe to my Patreon. If you want more of these, and only if you can afford it, subscribe for $1 a
Jul 22, 2025
Announcing Pledge Week 2025
Transcript It’s that time of year again, the time that regular listeners have come to know as Pledge Week, where for five days (this time from Tuesday through Saturday, because I had a migraine yesterday when I should have been recording this intro) I po
Jul 18, 2025
Song 179: “Kick Out the Jams” by the MC5 (Public Clean Version)
This episode, we look at the song “Kick Out the Jams” by the MC5, and the brief career of the most revolutionary guitar band of the sixties. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. As exp
Jun 23, 2025
Song 178: “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, Part Two: “I Have no Thought of Time”
For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the second part of a two-episode look at the song “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, and the
May 16, 2025
Song 178: “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, Part One, Going Electric
For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the first part of a two-episode look at the song “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, and the
Mar 22, 2025
Song 177: “Never Learn Not to Love” by the Beach Boys, Part 4: “Sometimes I Have A Great Notion”
For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the third and final (and very, very long) part of a multi-episode look at the song “Never Learn Not to Love” by th
Jan 31, 2025
Song 177: “Never Learn Not to Love” by the Beach Boys, Part 3: “Mister, Can You Give Me Some Direction?”
For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the third part of a multi-episode look at the song “Never Learn Not to Love” by the Beach Boys, and the links betw

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs

Song 185: “Peaches En Regalia” by Frank Zappa

Teaser Trailer: It’s a Superpower??

Song 184: “The Captain’s Fat Theresa Shoes” by the GTOs

Song 183: “Pinball Wizard” by the Who, Part 2: “His Disciples Lead Him In”

Song 183: “Pinball Wizard” by the Who, part 1: Always Playing Clean

Song 182: “Many Rivers to Cross” by Jimmy Cliff

Song 181: “Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Song 180: “Dazed and Confused” by Led Zeppelin, Part Two — “Inspiration is What You Are to Me”

Song 180: “Dazed and Confused” by Led Zeppelin, Part One, The Song Remains the Same

PLEDGE WEEK: “Light Flight” by Pentangle

PLEDGE WEEK: “Fruit Tree” by Nick Drake

PLEDGE WEEK: “Living in the Past” by Jethro Tull

PLEDGE WEEK: “Pictures of Matchstick Men” by The Status Quo

PLEDGE WEEK: “La conferencia secreta del Toto’s Bar” by Los Shakers

Announcing Pledge Week 2025

Song 179: “Kick Out the Jams” by the MC5 (Public Clean Version)

Song 178: “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, Part Two: “I Have no Thought of Time”

Song 178: “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, Part One, Going Electric

Song 177: “Never Learn Not to Love” by the Beach Boys, Part 4: “Sometimes I Have A Great Notion”

Song 177: “Never Learn Not to Love” by the Beach Boys, Part 3: “Mister, Can You Give Me Some Direction?”