| Show Name: | 25 Years of Rock |
| Format: | Radio Broadcast |
| Runtime: | One hour |
| Country: | England |
| Language: | English |
| Home Station: | BBC Radio 1 |
| Television: | The Rock 'n' Roll Years |
| Producer: | Trevor Dann |
| Num Episodes: | 25 |
| Othertheme: | "Oh Well" by Fleetwood Mac |
25 Years of Rock was a 25-part radio series broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 22 June to 7 December 1980. Each hour-long episode featured music and news stories from a year, starting with 1955 and finishing with 1979. The series encapsulated the period from the birth of rock and roll in 1955 to the post-punk era of the late seventies, and charted social and political events with a rock soundtrack. The series was repeated in 1981 between 4 April (1955) and 19 September (1979).[1]
The series was produced by Trevor Dann. Its theme music was the instrumental section of "Oh Well" by Fleetwood Mac.[2]
Taking 1955 as its start – the year "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets reached the UK Singles Chart – the series focused on music and the events up to 1979.
The Rock 'n' Roll Years was a television show that was adapted from the radio show. It was aired on the BBC.[3] [4]
An extended version, 30 Years of Rock, was on Radio 1 in 1985. This consisted of the original series plus five new episodes covering 1980 to 1984. 30 Years Of Rock was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 1-2pm each week, between 20 April (1955) and 16 November (1984). A one-week gap was made due to the live broadcast of "Live Aid" on 13 July. The series was most recently repeated on BBC Radio 6 Music from 28 November 2015[5] and finished on 27 December 2015.[6]
A companion book by the same name was published by Hamlyn in 1980.