At first I figured I would simply update the 1969 version, but as I carefully reviewed the original script I came to realize that the 1969 program suffered from serious structural, editorial and factual problems. After talking it over with Bill Drake, I reformatted the program into self-contained thematic modules and then rebuilt and reprogrammed the contents from scratch. As it turned out, Drake and I were on the same wavelength regarding the show — philosophically, structurally and content-wise — about 95% of the time. My only serious diasagreement with him came over the fact that I wanted more roots content than he though the affiliated stations would go for.

In the end, only two elements from the 1969 HRR were retained in the Billboard award-winning 1978 version: the Phil Spector listening test sequence and the involvement of Bill Mouzis, who was of enormouis help to chief engineer Mark Ford. You might also find it interesting to know that I formatted, programmed, researched and wrote the 1978 script entirely by myself with no support staff or co-writers at all (despite the office politics which rendered the closing cedits factually inaccurate). There was no budget for any of that — which was why it took me about 18 months to complete the project from beginning to end. During Bill Drake's early voicetracking sessions, he sometimes made minor changes to my copy simply to make it easier to match his speaking style. After a short time, though, I because familiar enough with his natural phrasing to craft the narration to synch with his vocal cadence.

Bill and I grew to become very good friends as a result of the HRR and I treasure the e-mails he later sent me over the years, including his last one written only the day before he entered the hospital for the very last time. After the HRR was released, I surprised Bill with a gold album award I had made up for him to commemorate the event. (One wonders where it is now.) He and I also served together on the nominating commitee of the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. You can read more about the production of the 1978 HRR on the drakechenault.org website.

I was not directly involved in the third version of the HRR, which, for some reason, was marketed as the “Silver Anniversary” edition. (Silver anniversary — of what?) The “Silver” edition was basically a condensed version of my 1978 HRR with a few “updating” hours tacked on. Unlike the first two versions, the “Silver” edition was a relative flop — even though it still gets rebroadcast from time to time. If you hear it, just keep in mind that anything in it pre-1978 was lifted from the 1978 tapes (sometimes edited in ways which I did NOT approve). The post-1978 material is stuff tacked on by others.

Remarkably, in the early to mid '70s, Ron Jacobs was interviewed in Billboard magazine and stated a belief that talent will out and implied that anyone with talent was already well-known. As a new arrival in L.A. who was just beginning to get established, I wrote to Ron and stated that I felt I had some talent but as of yet was pretty much unknown. He sent back a very warm note in which he opined that I DID have untapped expertise and that soon an opportunity would emerge which would give me the chance to show off what I could do. He was right. Less than two years later I was asked by Bill Drake and Gene Chenault to rebuild “The History of Rock 'n' Roll.” And all the time I was working on it, I kept thinking, “This has to be as good as it could possibly be. I want Ron to like this.”

Since the HRR, I have created, developed, written and produced other radio and TV programming for Disney, PBS, CBS and others and in 2009 picked up an Emmy nomination. I also spent 20 years as the Music & Entertainment Editor of Reader's Digest, have written several books, countless articles and liner notes and compiled/produced more than 300 multi-disc CD box sets with cumulative sales topping 39 million-copies. (The latest of those, “The All-Time Greatest Hits of Christmas,” will be released October 4 through Guideposts Magazine. ) And all of that can be traced back to the “History of Rock 'n' Roll.” Little did I know as a kid in school just how profoundly listening to the 1969 HRR over WLS was going to change my life. Even today I still get mail filled with questions about the “History of Rock 'n' Roll.” I'm glad that the above article was written as it clarifies where the original idea came from.

– Gary Theroux