A two decade long staple on WWOZ in New Orleans, Searching For The First Rock and Roll Song features records coveted by collectors from the era when rock and roll was emerging but hadn’t yet settled on a definition of itself.
On Searching For The First Rock and Roll Song, listeners will hear music
- from before rock and roll was domesticated into a commercial music industry.
- when country and western sounded like swing,
- when pop music sounded like rockabilly,
- when rockabilly sounded like rhythm and blues,
- when doo wop sounded like girl groups,
and all those musics sounded an awful lot like what we now call “rock and roll.”
Not a hits, oldies, or “history of” radio show. it’s all the songs that influenced our now-legendary musicians who are regularly featured in all those hits, oldies, and “history of” radio shows.
P.S. We never find the first rock and roll song. Just like our journey through life, the search is the joy. Finding the final destination in life or music is something to continually delay until after next week’s episode.
Available FREE on PRX & Download