When I was growing up the BBC had a programme that showed news footage(Not current)of the sixties that juxtaposed film with contemopary music.
It didn’t spare the viewer or tried to do a cosmetic job on the footage.
So you would see American troops actually fighting for their lives in Hue’ while you heard Jimi Hendrix playing “All along the Watch Tower”,likewise you would see the RAF bombing a stranded tanker that was shedding massive amounts of oil while playing incredible music.
The aftermath of an IRA bomb in Ulster showing Brit troops looking harrowed while an incredible record was played.
There was never any commentary or excuses,explanations or denials.
It was an incredible programme which ironically couldn’t be shown today because of P.C.
Ironic because at the time it was subtly subversive and not unusually for the BBC very liberal,and dare I say it left wing.
An incredible series,which I doubt anyone will have the courage to recreate nowadays.
Whether or not your from the extreme left or the extreme right in politics I believe that not only will you enjoy it but will think it iconic in its content.
Watch it if you can,I dont think that you’ll be disappointed whatever your viewpoint.
And it looks like that I’m trying to get an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest amount of the word"Incredible"used in one post.
But there literally doesn’t seem to be any other word that does justice to the thing I’m describing.
It is actually shown today, on BBC Four. I don’t remember it being controversial. It was just news footage of the time matched up to contemporary pop/rock music. I think they stopped making it simply because they ran out of years.
I can’t see any sense in which it couldn’t be shown today because it wouldn’t be P.C. Incidentally, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Years aired in the years 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1994. Each of the half-hour programs used the music of just one year. The years that the music came from ran from 1956 to 1989.
It might have seemed absolutely wonderful and innovative at the time, but today? It’s almost a cliche to play period music while showing footage of the news events of the past.
It’s been done. It’s been done again. It’s been done repeatedly. So often that I’m surprised when footage of the Viet Nam war ISN’T accompanied by classic Sixties rock music.
I didn’t realise that it was being shown,I’ll make a point of catching it,thanks for that.
As to your other point,no it wasn’t controversial in those more robust times but I think if we tried remaking it today showing for example 9/11 or British/American troops being killed in Iraq and Afghan accompanied by contemporary music there would be an uproar.
(Which I DO understand)
I get your point about the music and especially Vietnam,though I think that that comes from Vietnam War movies rather then documentaries.
I think that where the R&R years had a unique impact was partly to do with the film clips selected,the actual accompanying music that was selected but mostly because it was basically "Fly on the Wall"footage.
No one explaining what was going on,telling the viewers the in depth background,informing us of the motivations of the people seen.
It was slightly surreal,the viewer was there watching the events with no distractions(apart from the music of course) but wasn’t actually a part of it and the participants were for the most part not consciously playing to the camera.
There’s an Irish programme that ripped off the format of The Rock And Roll Years ( I think there was also a one-off called The Years That Rocked The Planet, about the environmental movement specifically) called Reeling In The Years that is similarly moving, incredible at least to an Irish audience. It has aired regularly on RTE since it was first show around the Millennium.
That was my reaction, too. And that’s why I was confused about why it would be too “P.C.” to show today. If it was shown today, I have a feeling someone would just think, “Eh, boring documentary” and flip on by to the next channel. In a world where we have “More to Love,” is there such a thing as not P.C. enough?
So you think that Brit troops being shown in Iraq/Afghan looking tired and stunned in the aftermath of a terrorist bomb that has visibly reduced people to “Meat bits” would be quite permissable watching today?
Well its all about “Horses for Courses”
I’m glad that my own personal outlook on things is not so calloused.