Synopsis

When President Kennedy announced in May 1961 that there would be a man on the moon by the end of the decade, he not only kick started the space race but he also triggered the imaginations of musicians and songwriters around the world. As the space race intensified, musicians captured the hopes and fears of the era through sonic experimentation and songs about rocket men and the mysteries of the moon.

Charles Hazlewood marks the fortieth anniversary of the first moon landing, in the company of Quincy Jones, Roger McGuinn, Les Paul, and Daniel Lanois. He explores the artistic legacy of the space age - from Haydn to Bernard Herrmann, David Bowie to Brian Eno - and on the way discovers an unreleased soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey and finds out what the astronauts themselves were listening to as they headed towards the moon.