As Bob Stanley observes in his sleeve notes, British rock'n'roll was quite distinct from its US counterpart. In its infancy almost all of it was made up of novelty, embarrassment and red-faced politeness, as if Will Hay and Peter Glaze were running the show. Across 27 personally-picked tracks, Stanley chronicles the evolution of British rock n roll during the Fifties, from awkward early attempts by dance bands, jazz musicians and popular vocalists, through the skiffle boom popularised by Lonnie Donegan, to the emergence of genuinely talented rock n roll performers like Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard, culminating in the fully-fledged sound of Move It in 1958. The selection complements the films which Stanley has chosen for the Barbican s Britain Learns To Rock! season, from Fan Fever s depiction of the teen hysteria which greeted early pop stars like Alma Cogan, to Calling All Cats, a feature length version of Jack Good s pioneering TV pop show, and dramas starring Adam Faith, David McCallum and Cliff Richard. Stanley s sleeve notes explore Teddy boy culture, the significance of the coffee bar scene (including Soho s fabled 2 I s) and the role of the early pop music entrepreneurs.