Searching For The First Rock And Roll Song

What does music sound like when it is taken out of context?

When John Coltrane quits walking the bar for dance patrons or some English kids leave gentle pop music for the blues of the American south, they're following their muse. Breaking out of the formula. The result can be a disaster or miraculous. Dr. Demento plays the disasters. We play the miraculous.

Music from that time when rhythm and blues and rock and roll were emerging but hadn't yet become a predictable formula. A time when musicians were listening to and incorporating these music's exciting emergence into their own style of music. We focus on music that is difficult to categorize. C&W that sounds like rockabilly and rockabilly that sounds like R&B which sounds an awful lot like rock. That's the sweet spot for the music on the show and, sure enough, that's where the New Orleans sound is centered.

Songs are arranged in sets originating from an overall theme and between songs are short interstitial sound clips that sometimes tell a parallel story or a contrasting story or are simply audio cultural artifacts used that frame the music. Hide full description

What does music sound like when it is taken out of context? When John Coltrane quits walking the bar for dance patrons or some English kids leave gentle pop music for the blues of the American south, they're following their muse. Breaking out of the formula. The result can be a disaster or miraculous. Dr. Demento plays the disasters. We play the miraculous. Music from that time when rhythm and blues and rock and roll were emerging but hadn't yet become a predictable formula. A time when musicians were listening to and incorporating these music's exciting emergence into their own style of music. We focus on music that is difficult to categorize. C&W that sounds like rockabilly and rockabilly that sounds like R&B which sounds an awful lot like rock. That's the sweet spot for... Show full description