Walk on By: The Story of Popular Song

It begins by tracing the roots of pop in the meeting of two cultures: Jewish and African-American. Among the refugees from Eastern Europe who arrived in the USA and shaped the sound of the 1920s and 30s were Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.

This week's programme tells the story of the momentous meeting of the voice of Bing Crosby and the trumpet of Louis Armstrong. Up until then, singers had merely been part of big jazz bands rather than stars in their own right. Crosby changed that, becoming the first true pop star of the recording era, and it was not long before Frank Sinatra was generating the kind of fan hysteria that today's bands would die for. A huge debt was due to Armstrong, whose free-flowing singing style paved the way for the likes of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.

When Elvis Presley made his explosive debut and introduced the world to rock 'n' roll in 1956, he seemed to come from nowhere. But far from being a bolt from the blue, the seductive sound of rock 'n' roll was the product of a process of musical evolution that had been taking place in America's Deep South for at least 50 years.

The late forties saw the emergence of a figure who would dominate the music business for the next 50 years - the record producer. People like Mitch Miller and Phil Spector became all powerful, choosing not only the song but also the singer. A new generation of songwriters emerged and created classics like Will You Love Me Tomorrow? and the most played song of the rock 'n' roll era You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' .

This week's edition deals with arguably the greatest decade in pop history - the sixties. In 1964, the Beatles occupied the top five slots in Billboard magazine's Top 100 - an achievement never rivalled to this day- and ushered in the British invasion of the US. They were also one of the first groups to write their own songs and America's answer to the subsequent wave of bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Kinks and the Animals came in the shape of the Beach Boys, the Byrds and, of course, Bob Dylan.

This week's edition begins with the transition period at the end of the drug-fuelled, psychedelic sixties when some of the more innovative groups in America took on a new direction. The country rock they pioneered was typified on the East Coast by the Band while in the West the Byrds embraced the steel guitars of Nashville. The sound of California mellowed out and the best of the folk singers returned as singer-songwriters and Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Bill Withers suddenly found themselves centre stage. Gram Parsons was another of the pioneers and it was his legacy which inspired the biggest band of the seventies – the Eagles.

From The Wizard of Oz to The Lion King, the story of popular song continues with a celebration of classic songs from stage and screen. Broadway and Hollywood musicals have been the launching pad for some of the greatest songs of all time and the fortunes of many a dull show or routine flick have been transformed by a hit tune. The penultimate in the series, this edition tells the stories behind such standards as Night and Day, Over the Rainbow, My Funny Valentine, Somewhere, Cabaret, I Don't Know How to Love Him, and Stayin' Alive, charting the course of the show tune through Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein and Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber to Disney's role in bringing about the renaissance of the big movie song

The relationship between the perfect pop performer and the perfect pop song comes under the spotlight, revealing that most contemporary pop music acts are totally dependent on professional songwriters. The programme kicks off with Hearsay, the latest in a long line of manufactured pop groups, and takes in the Monkees, Britney Spears, ABBA, the Jackson Five, Blondie, Madonna and Kylie Minogue.