Narrator / Host (mostly Dominic Sandbrook)

Because, of course, they're charging as much as they can at this point because they're desperate for money because of their tax imbroglio. But also they can because both they and the fans have grown up. And I think this is actually part of a much bigger cultural shift that we often forget about.

Because right up to this point, when people talked about the Rolling Stones, the phrase they used to describe them was a pop group. They never called them a rock group. They called them a pop group. And I think it's this point, 1967 to 69, that effectively rock music is invented as something serious and grown up and not teenage and not trivial. And I think they are absolutely the centre of this.

Because right up to this point, when people talked about the Rolling Stones, the phrase they used to describe them was a pop group. They never called them a rock group. They called them a pop group. And I think it's this point, 1967 to 69, that effectively rock music is invented as something serious and grown up and not teenage and not trivial. And I think they are absolutely the centre of this.

Because right up to this point, when people talked about the Rolling Stones, the phrase they used to describe them was a pop group. They never called them a rock group. They called them a pop group. And I think it's this point, 1967 to 69, that effectively rock music is invented as something serious and grown up and not teenage and not trivial. And I think they are absolutely the centre of this.

And I think there are three elements to it. So one is that cultural shift that we just mentioned, the shift from the kind of hippy-dippy flower power, everything is fun and sweet and sunny, to the darkness of the kind of Nixon years, which just seems the perfect match to a move from kind of pop to rock, to something a little bit more conflicted and a bit heavy and a bit more serious.

And I think there are three elements to it. So one is that cultural shift that we just mentioned, the shift from the kind of hippy-dippy flower power, everything is fun and sweet and sunny, to the darkness of the kind of Nixon years, which just seems the perfect match to a move from kind of pop to rock, to something a little bit more conflicted and a bit heavy and a bit more serious.

And I think there are three elements to it. So one is that cultural shift that we just mentioned, the shift from the kind of hippy-dippy flower power, everything is fun and sweet and sunny, to the darkness of the kind of Nixon years, which just seems the perfect match to a move from kind of pop to rock, to something a little bit more conflicted and a bit heavy and a bit more serious.

The musicians themselves, the second thing, they are much older. They're in their late 20s coming into their 30s. They no longer want to be pop stars. They want to be serious musicians. So you have people like Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page or Jeff Beck or whatever who pride themselves on being kind of guitar virtuosos. I don't want people to scream. I want people to listen to the music.

The musicians themselves, the second thing, they are much older. They're in their late 20s coming into their 30s. They no longer want to be pop stars. They want to be serious musicians. So you have people like Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page or Jeff Beck or whatever who pride themselves on being kind of guitar virtuosos. I don't want people to scream. I want people to listen to the music.

The musicians themselves, the second thing, they are much older. They're in their late 20s coming into their 30s. They no longer want to be pop stars. They want to be serious musicians. So you have people like Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page or Jeff Beck or whatever who pride themselves on being kind of guitar virtuosos. I don't want people to scream. I want people to listen to the music.

So there's a kind of an earnestness to it. And then the third thing, probably the most important thing, the market has changed. So if you're 16 in 1963 at the dawn of the kind of pop revolution, what are you? You're in your mid-20s now. And given what we know about the social structure at the time, you're almost certainly married and you almost certainly have a job.

So there's a kind of an earnestness to it. And then the third thing, probably the most important thing, the market has changed. So if you're 16 in 1963 at the dawn of the kind of pop revolution, what are you? You're in your mid-20s now. And given what we know about the social structure at the time, you're almost certainly married and you almost certainly have a job.

So there's a kind of an earnestness to it. And then the third thing, probably the most important thing, the market has changed. So if you're 16 in 1963 at the dawn of the kind of pop revolution, what are you? You're in your mid-20s now. And given what we know about the social structure at the time, you're almost certainly married and you almost certainly have a job.

So there isn't a self-consciously adult market who don't want music anymore to dance to, which was the main thing. point of music at the beginning of the 60s, they wanted to actually listen to the lyrics, which people didn't do. Which they might start printing on the back of the album. Like with Sgt. Pepper. Exactly. Which they print on the back of the album.

So there isn't a self-consciously adult market who don't want music anymore to dance to, which was the main thing. point of music at the beginning of the 60s, they wanted to actually listen to the lyrics, which people didn't do. Which they might start printing on the back of the album. Like with Sgt. Pepper. Exactly. Which they print on the back of the album.

So there isn't a self-consciously adult market who don't want music anymore to dance to, which was the main thing. point of music at the beginning of the 60s, they wanted to actually listen to the lyrics, which people didn't do. Which they might start printing on the back of the album. Like with Sgt. Pepper. Exactly. Which they print on the back of the album.

And it's at this point, the singles market goes into a long-term decline and the album market begins to surge and albums are much more profitable. So it makes sense now for bands, they start to call themselves bands rather than groups. And it makes sense for them to cater to these older listeners. So you get a band like Led Zeppelin who emerge at this point.

And it's at this point, the singles market goes into a long-term decline and the album market begins to surge and albums are much more profitable. So it makes sense now for bands, they start to call themselves bands rather than groups. And it makes sense for them to cater to these older listeners. So you get a band like Led Zeppelin who emerge at this point.

And it's at this point, the singles market goes into a long-term decline and the album market begins to surge and albums are much more profitable. So it makes sense now for bands, they start to call themselves bands rather than groups. And it makes sense for them to cater to these older listeners. So you get a band like Led Zeppelin who emerge at this point.

They don't bother with the singles market at all. They just want to make albums largely for slightly older listeners who actually aren't the teenage girls who empowered this at the very beginning. There's a brilliant discussion of this in a book by Charlie Gillick called The Sound of the City. And he talks about what a contrived and artificial sort of cleavage it is between pop and rock.