New BBC2 series- 'Seven Ages Of Rock'

"Starting May 19, BBC Two takes us on a journey through the Seven Ages of Rock and explores the music that has been the soundtrack to our lives, defining each generation since the 1960's, from the crackly 45 to MP3s.

Seven Ages of Rock will, through the prism of iconic artists such as Roger Waters, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Phil Collins, Debbie Harry, Ozzy Osbourne, Johnny Marr, Dave Grohl, Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarnand Alex Kapranos, explore key eras in rock, telling the story of each age through the music itself. Each episode breaks down key tracks, providing a social context.

Notebooks ready, here’s a brief guide to the lesson plan:

1. The Road to Woodstock

The rock revolution of the 1960’s as seen through the life and music of Jimi Hendrix. This episode also explores the influence of rhythm & blues on a generation of British musicians such as The Rolling Stones, and shows how Bob Dylan and The Beatles transformed the ambitions of rock.

2. Between Rock And an Art Place

From the pop-art multi-media experiments of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground to the sinister gentility of Peter Gabriel’s Genesis, this episode will trace the story of how artistic and conceptual expression permeated rock.

3. Blank Generation

A tale of two cities, class and race-driven London and bankrupt New York. Each city gave birth to a b*****d child that changed popular music forever - punk. We will explore the music of The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, The Damned and Buzzcocks.

4. Never Say Die

The longest surviving genre in rock, certainly the loudest, Heavy Metal is the most controversial and misunderstood of all rock genres, emerging at the tail end of the hippy dream. With Black Sabbath as the undisputed Godfathers, we follow their highs and lows, and meet Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Metallica.
'Don't tell anyone you don't own 'Blonde on Blonde'. It's gonna be okay'.
Jack Black in 'High Fidelity'

5. Global Jukebox

We follow the development of some the biggest names in rock in the 70s and 80s (Queen, The Police, Dire Straits) and examine how rock achieved a global influence on culture and politics through MTV and events such as Live Aid. We see how U2 effectively brought this era to a close, re-imagining what it meant to be a successful rock band.

6. The Last Rock Star

We trace the history of the American underground music scene that produced bands like REM, Nirvana and The Pixies, and why they resonated with ‘Generation X’ – offering an alternative to the established music industry and Reaganesque politics. Of course this includes a fresh look at the Seattle ‘grunge’ scene, culminating in the short life of Kurt Cobain – an artist whose triumph and tragedy continues to cast an inescapable shadow.

7. What the World is Waiting For

British Indie music was once seen as the bastion of the earnest ‘High Fidelity’ snob. Often political, indie was a way of defining oneself in a sea of vapid chart fodder, a redoubt against Blur v Oasis, indie was a marketing device, ultimately losing it’s integrity at Oasis’s Knebworth spectacle in 1996. Indie was mainstream. Indie was dead.

But was it?

From The Libertines to Franz Ferdinand and The Arctic Monkeys, indie labels reconnected to their fans, using both new technology and good old rock n roll to inspire and motivate a new generation to ditch the decks and pick up a guitar.

Rock is back. "

And some more info here (there may be a name you will recognise amongst the comments at the bottom...):