Dancing in the Street

The first time i seen this series was c. 1997, in a public Mexican channel (Once TV), and i was amazed for how interesting could be a documentary like this. "Dancing in the street" is very different of any other programs of that kind, many, many times devoted to nostalgic tastes, to make top lists or only to mention the "big names" related to the history of the music, and anything else.

In this case, BBC's crew try to go in deep to tell us about the music development in some directions, what make the rock & roll and the R&B cultures arrive to his contemporary ways.

This is a 10 episodes series, each one about one style or period relevant. This is not the list of names episodes, is just how i remember it (maybe there's any mistake in order):

1. The R&R and the R&B. 2. The early 60's pop. 3. The British invasion, The Beatles and Bob Dylan. 4. The English blues. 5. Motown and soul music. 6. The psychedelic rock. 7. Glam. 8. Punk. 9. Funk and disco. 10. Hip-hop and electronic music.

"Dancing in the street" had omissions and lack of the development of some greatest personalities in the history of contemporary music, but give a great landscape of what's happening in last 40 years in past since his realization.

A must see!

The BBC set themselves an audacious challenge in making this series - to document the entire history of rock and roll from its origins in the 1950s through to the 1990s, and to do it in only 10 episodes. The result is one of the finest music documentaries ever produced.

Through archival footage and interviews with key musicians (some of whom rarely gave interviews), it breaks the story down into distinct (but overlapping) eras and genres. For anyone looking to understand the history of rock music I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Unfortunately, the series has never been released on DVD (most likely due to rights issues over the songs and clips used in the show). It was released on VHS in abridged form, with each episode suffering cuts and omissions, and one episode (#2 - Be My Baby) removed entirely. The result was still good, but incomplete.

If any music documentary needs and deserves a proper DVD release, it is this one.

In the meantime, to watch it you'll need to either a) find a copy of the VHS, b) catch a repeat on television c) locate an off-air recording of the original broadcast (some university libraries hold copies) or d) find a streaming video online. If you do decide to seek it out, good luck - this series is worth the effort.