BBC Music

Jo Brand narrates a profile which celebrates the life and times of the BBC's first flagship live music programme, The Old Grey Whistle Test, which ran from 1971 to 1987. It looks at the music, the presenters, the TV rivals, the sparse studio and the legacy, finds out why Bob Harris whispered, what Sid Vicious tried to do to him and what Camel did with a woodwind quartet and why. All these questions are answered and many more, followed by loving compilations of those early 70s years, the era that time forgot.

A compilation of BBC performances by artists who lived and worked in California in the 1970s. Featuring Jackson Browne, Little Feat, Ry Cooder, Judee Sill, Bonnie Raitt and a rare duet between James Taylor and Carly Simon.

Documentary which looks at the Irish folk revival of the last 20 or 30 years. 60 years ago virtually unheard abroad and largely unloved at home, Irish music has given the world a sense of Ireland and Ireland a sense of itself, as the country has risen from an impoverished post-colonial upstart to a modern European power. Contributors include Christy Moore, Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains, Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners, Liam Clancy of The Clancy Brothers and Shane MacGowan of The Pogues.

Lesley Joseph narrates a documentary about the unlikely pin-ups of the 1970s music scene, from Gilbert O'Sullivan and Barry White to Leo Sayer and Demis Roussos. These were men whose lyrics conjured up images of candle-lit dinners, red roses and cosy nights in with the man of your dreams. For millions of female fans their romantic music was the perfect soundtrack for dreams of escape from the day-to-day drudgery of life in 70s Britain.

How the squalid streets of '70s New York gave birth to music that would go on to conquer the world - punk, disco and hip hop. In the 1970s the Big Apple was rotten to the core, yet out of the grime, grit and low rent space emerged new music unlike anything that had gone before. Inspired by the Velvet Underground, a new wave of 'punk' rock emerged in lower Manhattan including The New York Dolls, The Ramones and the Patti Smith Group. Meanwhile, downtown loft parties held by gay New Yorkers heralded the birth of disco, which would eventually spawn the ultimate club for the privileged few: Studio 54. The swanky mid-town discos were out of bounds to black New York so in the Bronx DJs such as Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa created their own parties, heralding the birth of hip hop. With David Johansen, Patti Smith, John Cale, Richard Hell, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Nile Rodgers, Chuck D, Tommy Ramone, Chris Stein, Fab 5. Freddy, Lenny Kaye, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, Syl Sylvain, Nicky Siano, David Mancuso, DJ AJ, David Depino, Jayne County, Leee Childers, Nelson George, Victor Bokris and Vince Aletti.

Documentary about the Debbie Harry-fronted New York band Blondie, who crossed pop with punk, reggae and rap and had no 1's in all styles, from their Bowery beginnings at CBGBs in 1974 to their controversial induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. With exclusive backstage and performance footage from their 2006 UK tour, plus in-depth interviews with current and ex-band members and friends Iggy Pop, Shirley Manson, Tommy Ramone, and Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads.

Another chance to see a 23-year-old Amy Winehouse at Porchester Hall where, hot from her triumph at the 2007 Brits, she gave a special one-off concert. Crowned 2007's Best British Female, Amy performed songs from her Back to Black album and her 2003 Mercury Music Prize nominated album, Frank.

From the streets of New York City to the studios of the BBC comes the cream of the New York rock scene, including classic archive performances from the Ramones, New York Dolls, Television, Blondie, Lou Reed and many more.

A look at the colourful lifestyle and inspiring music and lyrics of Shane MacGowan, former lead singer of the Pogues. Featuring specially-recorded performances of MacGowan's songs.

A collection of some of the greatest soul performances from the BBC's archive, featuring Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Dusty Springfield, Isaac Hayes, Solomon Burke and Percy Sledge.

Documentary about brother and sister duo The Carpenters, one of the biggest selling pop acts of the 1970s, but one with a destructive and complex secret that ended in tragedy with Karen Carpenter's untimely death at 32. Featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Richard Carpenter, family and friends.

Legendary soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers, at the height of his powers in a live concert for the BBC from 1974, performing hits such as Lean on Me, Ain't No Sunshine and Grandma's Hands.

Should England have its own national anthem and should the song be Jerusalem? This documentary explores the enduring appeal of one of the nation's favourite hymns.

Documentary looking at the music and mythology of a golden era in Californian culture, and telling the story of how Los Angeles changed from a kooky backwater in the early 1960s to become the artistic and industrial hub of the American music industry by the end of the 1970s. Alongside extensive and never before seen archive footage, the programme features comprehensive first-hand accounts of the key figures including musicians (David Crosby, Graham Nash, J. D. Souther, Bernie Leadon and Bonnie Raitt, music industry bosses (David Geffen, Jac Holzman, Ron Stone and Peter Asher) and legendary LA scenesters including Henry Diltz, Pamela Des Barres and Ned Doheny. The film explores how the socially-conscious folk rock of young hippies with acoustic guitars was transformed into the coked-out stadium excess of the late 1970s and the biggest selling album of all time.

Castrati were the undisputed superstars of 18th-century musical culture, driving crowds wild with their intoxicatingly androgynous virtuoso voices. Nicholas Clapton, countertenor and castrato historian, analyses the anatomical mysteries of the castrato and the biological implications of castrato. He travels to Bologna, the adopted home of Farinelli, perhaps the most famous castrato. And for the first time in Britain, American male soprano Michael Maniaci, a young Baroque opera singer whose voice did not break at puberty, performs Mozart's Exultate Jubilate, a piece originally written for castrato Rauzzini.

Documentary which goes in search of the colliding worlds of pop and kids' TV, including the embarrassing moments, strange kids and bizarre incidents that illuminated the many facets of the genre. With interviews from past programme makers, presenters, pop stars and record company executives, including Sarah Greene, Mike Read, Stephen Gately, Tommy Boyd, Searchers and Emma Forbes.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, the album's engineer, Geoff Emerick, heads back to the studio with some of today's top artists to create new versions of the album's classic tracks. Will today's musicians succeed in recording their versions of the songs using the original studio equipment from 1967, and with only a day to record each song? The Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight and Bryan Adams are among those taking up the challenge

Thirty years after his death, the glam rock star's rise to fame with T Rex is retold with a mixture of rare footage, home movies and contributions from friends and contemporaries, including Gloria Jones.

Documentary celebrating the triumph, tragedy and human comedy that was Manchester record company, Factory. Started by the late Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, Peter Saville and Martin Hannett in the late 1970s, it became known as the home of Joy Divsion, New Order and Happy Mondays and for creating the Hacienda club. The label pioneered Britain's independent pop culture, creating a new Manchester and blowing a shed-load of money. Includes interviews with all the main players in the Factory story.

The Manchester born singer-songwriter David Gray performs his biggests tracks including 'Babylon', 'Please Forgive Me', 'This Year's Love', 'The One I Love', 'The Other Side' and recent single 'You're The World To Me'. David is joined by his new four piece band and a string section. Another in the series of intimate and exclusive shows from LSO St Luke's church in East London.

Forty years after Britain's foremost 'underground' band released their debut album, 'Piper At The Gates Of Dawn', Pink Floyd remain one of the biggest brand names and best-loved bands in the world. This film features extended archive footage alongside original interviews with David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason, and traces the journey of a band that has only ever had five members, three of whom have lead the band at different stages of its evolution.