226 episodes

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

A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs Andrew Hickey

    • Music
    • 4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

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

    Song 175: “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone Part 1 Different Strokes For Different Folks

    Song 175: “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone Part 1 Different Strokes For Different Folks

    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 “Everyday People”. This week we take a short look at the formation of Sly and the Family Stone, and in a week’s time we’ll look at the group’s career after they formed.
    Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
    Patreon backers also have a twenty-five-minute bonus episode, on “Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus” by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin.
    Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

    (more…)

    Song 174B: “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” Part Two, “It Takes Two”

    Song 174B: “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” Part Two, “It Takes Two”

    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 “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”. This week we’re looking at the career of Marvin Gaye from 1963 through 1970, as well as his duet partners Mary Wells, Kim Weston, and Tammi Terrell, whose tragically short life comes with a great many content warnings.
    Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
    Patreon backers also have a twenty-minute bonus episode, on “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly
    And if you just can’t get enough of me talking, I’ve also guested this week, with Tilt and Gary from The Sitcom Club, on our friend Tyler’s podcast Goon Pod, talking about the 1974 film Man About The House.
    Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

    (more…)

    Song 174A: “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” Part One, “If At First You Don’t Succeed…”

    Song 174A: “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” Part One, “If At First You Don’t Succeed…”

    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 “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”. This week we take a short look at the song’s writers, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, and the first released version by Gladys Knight and the Pips. In two weeks time we’ll take a longer look at the sixties career of the song’s most famous performer, Marvin Gaye. This episode is quite a light one. That one… won’t be.
    Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
    Patreon backers also have a half-hour bonus episode, on “Bend Me Shape Me” by Amen Corner.
    Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

    (more…)

    An Alert: Someone Plagiarising Me

    An Alert: Someone Plagiarising Me

    Transcript
    The next proper episode will be up in a couple of days – I’m recording it tonight – but I just wanted to make a brief announcement. It has recently been brought to my attention that the French language podcast Un dernier disque avant la fin du monde has, for nearly two years, been making French-language versions of my podcast without giving me credit (the episodes before that don’t seem to be ripped off from me), and has been monetising them on Patreon – including making his own French-language versions of some of my Patreon bonuses.
    This is not a case of someone just taking inspiration from my work. It’s not someone doing episodes on the same songs and possibly leaning a little too heavily on me as a source. That kind of thing is forgivable. This is someone who has been doing word-for-word translations, without my permission, and without crediting me or even notifying me, and posting them as his own work. As far as my schoolboy French indicates he’s not even lightly paraphrasing.
    He clearly listens to my podcast, so I am going to give him until Monday to take all those episodes down and post an apology before I contact a lawyer. I’m posting this publicly so that anyone who has been listening to his show and wondering about the similarity, or listening in the belief I authorised his work, knows that this is the work of a plagiarist, not something I’ve endorsed in any way.
    And if anyone *wants* to do translated versions of my work, they can contact me and make proper arrangements. I put too much time and effort into my job to have someone pass my work off as theirs without a fight.

    Song 173: “All Along the Watchtower” Part Two, The Hour is Getting Late

    Song 173: “All Along the Watchtower” Part Two, The Hour is Getting Late

    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 “All Along the Watchtower”. Part one was on the original version by Bob Dylan, while this part is on Jimi Hendrix’s cover version.
    Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
    Patreon backers also have a half-hour bonus episode, on “Games People Play” by Joe South.
    Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

    Errata: I mispronounce Ed Chalpin’s name as Halpin for most of the episode. And towards the end I say “January the 28th 1969” when I meant 1970
    (more…)

    Song 173: “All Along the Watchtower”, Part One: “He’s Not the Messiah”

    Song 173: “All Along the Watchtower”, Part One: “He’s Not the Messiah”

    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 of a two-episode look at the song “All Along the Watchtower”. This one is on the original version by Bob Dylan, while part two will be on Jimi Hendrix’s cover version.
    Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
    Patreon backers also have a half-hour bonus episode, on “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” by Arlo Guthrie.
    Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/

    (more…)

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
2.2K Ratings

2.2K Ratings

Harvester of Eyes ,

Tune in, Turn On

This pod was recommended to me around Christmastime 2022. I thanked my friend and spread the message to others. They’ve all thanked me. My only complaint is that over time Mr. Hickey has adjusted his output so that what was originally a double Herculean feat has become “merely” a Herculean feat. So really not a complaint but an acknowledgement that A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs is Herculean.

Gjelly16 ,

Perfect

I challenge you to find one negative review of this podcast that doesn’t have some ridiculous claim of “wokeness”. Hickey is a true master of his work

jmstwo ,

Nothing Better

If you like Rock and Roll even just a little bit, there is no better source of information than Hickey's podcast. I guarantee you will find yourself saying many times during each carefully crafted episode: Wow! I didn't know that.

So many connections so thorough, and so enthusiastic.

Thank you.

Top Podcasts In Music

The Joe Budden Podcast
The Joe Budden Network
New Rory & MAL
Rory Farrell & Jamil "Mal" Clay & Studio71
Doing Music
Ableton
Friday Night Karaoke
Friday Night Karaoke
Song Exploder
Hrishikesh Hirway
The Story of Classical
Apple Music

You Might Also Like

Behind The Song
The Drive | Hubbard Radio
Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond
Pushkin Industries
McCartney: A Life in Lyrics
iHeartPodcasts and Pushkin Industries
Cocaine & Rhinestones: The History of Country Music
Tyler Mahan Coe
Rolling Stone Music Now
Rolling Stone | Cumulus Podcast Network
Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia
Slate Podcasts