Music critic Pete Paphides tells the story behind three 'follow-up' albums - from Dexys Midnight Runners, Fleetwood Mac and Suede - with tales of musical pressure, creative differences, personal politics and mixed results. Programme 3: Suede - Dog Man Star In 1991, Suede was named "the best new band in Britain", with a string of hit singles and a universally acclaimed debut album, 'Suede'. Flamboyant singer Brett Anderson and incendiary guitarist Bernard Butler became feted as...

Stuart Maconie talks to the reclusive singer/songwriter Scott Walker, recorded at the time of the seminal album 'Tilt' which broke an 11 year silence.

When Jimi Hendrix returned to his native America as a star, the country he knew had changed. This programme, presented by Tom Robinson to tie in with the 40th anniversary of the guitarist's death, explores the pressure Jimi was under to make an explicit political declaration. Tom explores Hendrix's 14 months in the Screaming Eagles 101 Airborne Division that saw him parachute a total of 26 times before he was invalided out with a broken ankle. Brother Leon Hendrix discusses his elder...

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Joan Armatrading talks to leading guitarists about their music and guitar technique. Joan meets Bert Jansch, widely acknowledged as one of the most influential musicians of all time. Since the mid-1960s, every generation has been held spellbound by his extraordinary fingerpicking and stringbending techniques. He continues to be revered as the master guitarist of folk music. A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

The broadcaster and Doctor Who fan MATTHEW SWEET travels to The University of Manchester - home of Delia Derbyshire's private collection of audio recordings - to learn more about the wider career and working methods of the woman who realised Ron Grainer's original theme to Doctor Who. Delia's collection of tapes was, until recently, in the safekeeping of MARK AYRES, archivist for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Matthew meets up at Manchester University with Mark, along with Delia's former...

In a rare interview, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts talks about his career, his love of jazz, keeping time for the Rolling Stones and why he prefers Stravinsky to Elvis.

Immediately after the success of the BBC Radio Ballads, Ewan MacColl set about the Herculean task of trying to drag British folk music into mainstream culture. Frustrated by the dreary amateurishness of folk song performance, he decided to establish his own centre of excellence to professionalise the art. He called it "The Critics Group". MacColl tutored select artists "to sing folk songs the way they should be sung" and to think about the origins of what they were singing. He introduced...

The tale of an unexpected encounter between 20th century legends - a meeting which created a new template for global celebrity. February 1964: The Beatles fly into Miami, sparking Beatlemania as they prepare to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. Meanwhile in a low-rent Miami gym, the underdog Cassius Clay trains to fight reigning champion Sonny Liston for the world title. The pundits say Clay hasn't a hope. Quite unexpectedly, the paths of these legendary figures cross. British...

Singer/songwriter Erykah Badu tells how the Black Power movement changed American music forever in the 1960s. From free jazz to the first stirrings of hip hop, this is a story of when the new music met the new politics. Amiri Baraka, Archie Shepp and the Last Poets' Abiodun Oyewole offer reflections on a turbulent time in American history. Contains repeated use of language which may offend.

Singer/songwriter Erykah Badu tells how the Black Power movement changed American music forever in the 1960s. From free jazz to the first stirrings of hip hop, this is a story of when the new music met the new politics. Amiri Baraka, Archie Shepp and the Last Poets' Abiodun Oyewole offer reflections on a turbulent time in American history. Contains repeated use of language which may offend.

The Canadian songwriter reflects on his musical career, with observations from Jennifer Warnes , who sang in his live band and recorded an album of his songs, and Suzanne Vega, who was moved by his music while a teenager.

Marc Riley presents the story of Kraftwerk, arguably one of the most influential bands of the 20th century and certainly one of the most enigmatic. Former Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flür and fans including including Gary Numan, John Foxx, The Smiths’ Johnny Marr and writer Paul Morley offer their impressions of the band without whom modern music would sound very different. Part of Radio 4 on Music, re-releasing the best of Radio 4's music back catalogue.

Sean Street recalls the Radio Ballads, a series which heralded a completely new form of radio feature making which began in 1958. Mixing original voices and sounds with specially composed music, producer Charles Parker and folk singers Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger eloquently documented the lives of people who, up to that point, had rarely been heard on the BBC. Charles's daughter Sara recounts how the series began and its continuing influence on programme makers and listeners.

Benjamin Zephaniah reassesses dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson's 1978 debut album. Dread Beat an' Blood expressed the black British experience as it had never been heard before. Using his trademark spoken word style set to an instrumental reggae beat, the record voiced the frustration of a generation. Linton discusses the issues he tackled on the record, such as police harassment, the National Front and the criminal justice system. Thirty years on, how much has changed?

Lynne Walker talks to the hugely influential American composer about the evolution of his music, his interest in African and Indonesian music and jazz.

Music critic Pete Paphides tells the story behind three 'follow-up' albums - from Dexys Midnight Runners, Fleetwood Mac and Suede - with tales of musical pressure, creative differences, personal politics and mixed results. How many bands have found themselves with a massive and often unexpected hit album, only to struggle with the creation of their next opus? Sometimes the follow-up exceeds the first album, but often nerves kick in and bands are removed from the very stimulus that created...

In this special edition of Kaleidoscope from 1997, John Wilson explores the life, death and most importantly the music of English singer songwriter Nick Drake with the help of those who knew him, including his producer Joe Boyd, friend and arranger Robert Kirby and Nick's sister, actress Gabrielle Drake. Part of Radio 4 on Music, re-releasing the best of Radio 4's music back catalogue.

Jeff Buckley was just one of the Western musicians to fall under the powerful spell of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - a Pakistani singer of Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music whose origins can be traced back to the 8th century. In this programme Navid Akhtar explores the Nusrat phenomenon with the help of Nitin Sawhney, Peter Gabriel and Massive Attack’s Robert del Naja. Part of Radio 4 on Music, re-releasing the best of Radio 4's music back catalogue.

To coincide with Dylan's birthday (24th May 2011) presenter Emma Freud explores the singers spiritual journey revealing a side to the performer often over looked. The programme opens with how Dylan grew up a small-town Jew in Hibbing, Minnesota. We hear from Cantor Neil Schwartz he also grew up in the same town and his mother was Bob's Sunday school teacher. Author of 'Prophet, Mystic, Poet' Seth Rogovoy reflects on Dylan's early years and his Barmitzvah. We explore early Dylan music and...

The chanteuse, pianist, composer and civil rights activist Nina Simone is the choice of another female musician who has made a career of defying convention; Joanna Macgregor. Presented by Matthew Parris.

Jazz historian Helen Mayhew looks at the remarkable life of Louis Armstrong as told through his archive of tape recordings, covering his personal life as well as his music. This programme contains language that some may find offensive.

Johannesburg-based journalist Ofeibea Quist-Arcton looks at how music thrived alongside events such as the Sharpeville massacre, the Bantu Education Act, the Soweto Riots of 1976 and, of course, the fall of apartheid.

Bill Bailey tells the story of the remarkable 'hands off' electronic instrument and its enigmatic inventor and charts its use from horror and sci-fi film soundtracks through to contemporary dance music and of course its use on the Beach Boys' iconic 'Good Vibrations'.

Mark Coles talks to the famously difficult to interview Lou Reed alongside his former Velvet Underground colleagues including John Cale and Maureen “Moe” Tucker, as well as Reed's biographer Victor Bockris.with observations also from David Bowie. Coles recounts Reed’s famous disdain for journalists and interviews in general before he’s summoned in for his allotted slot with the man himself.

Germaine Greer presents a profile of Frank Zappa, the 1970s icon of eccentric rock whose range of work included serious orchestral composition, film-making and social activism, particularly in the field of anti-censorship. Contributors include Gail Zappa, son Dweezil, guitarist Steve Vai, family friend and author Peter Occhiogrosso and David Butcher, chief executive of the Britten Sinfonia.