Although in 1969 there was a Los Angeles market foot race to see who’d release the first such rock history program. From its earliest version, nothing like The History of Rock and Roll had been done before. ĭrake’s inspiration evolved into groundbreaking broadcasts that were as iconic as the music genre they described. Drake recalls it was in 1968 when he came up with the idea of producing a detailed history of rock ‘n’ roll. The HRR was conceived by Bill Drake (left), who with Gene Chenault (right), created some of the most successful radio programming formulas and a format called Boss Radio.
The History of Rock and Roll was so successful it was produced in numerous versions over three decades.
It still stands as the longest and most listener-impacting documentary of any American medium. It’s a definitive historical account of the transition of rhythm & blues to the most marketable genre in radio. It’s a nostalgic track that always feels current.It was maybe the biggest thing to happen to rock and roll since Bo Didley, Bill Haley or Chuck Berry, discounting Elvis and the Beatles. But “T.R.O.Y.” is one of the greatest songs ever, in any genre, and people will be listening to it for decades to come. Smooth probably couldn’t have guessed that their first single from their debut album would tell the final chapter of white hillbilly girl from the Ozarks three decades later, but that’s how it works with the best songs: surely Luniz and Guns N Roses couldn’t have expected to hear their music in the context of movies, decades after they recorded them. She might have been thinking about her departed family members while she was playing it… not knowing that her remaining relative will soon be reminiscing over her. She’s a huge hip-hop fan (she famously geeked over Killer Mike while listening to Nas' Illmatic in an earlier episode), so it makes sense that she’d be listening to it.
Julia Garner’s Ruth Langmore is listening to it in her truck as she’s driving home, where she meets her demise. More recently, in the series finale of the Netflix hit Ozark, “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” scored the show’s most popular character’s final scene. Pitchfork, meanwhile, included the song at number 35 on their Top 200 Tracks of the ’90s. The song has been referenced by Gang Starr, Kanye West, De La Soul, and Method Man, among others. The song has a big legacy: The Source named it one of the “100 Best Rap Singles Of All Time.” Spin put it on their list of the “Top 20 Singles of the ’90s,” and it was ranked number 90 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. The song also mentions other people from his life: “My grandmom Pam holds the family together/My uncle Doc’s the greatest, better yet the latest/If we’re talking about a car, uncle Sterling got the latest/I strive to be live ’cause I got no choice/And run my own business like my aunt Joyce.” But even though these people are specific to his life, the sentiment of reminiscing over them is one that we can all relate to. Smooth told XXL, “before his passing, I definitely learned to respect and as the years went by I learned to cherish his memories like all the rest of my fallen soldiers in my life that meant something special to me at one point or another.” “But only you saw what took many time to see/I dedicate this to you for believing in me.” As C.L. Roy, pointing out that their relationship didn’t start out on a positive note: “T to the R-O-Y, how did you and I meet? In front of Big Lou’s, fighting in the street.” But it soon becomes clear why Troy fits into the story: he was another positive role model. It’s in the third verse that he addresses his late friend T. Dixon died in a freak accident while on tour his death also inspired the title of Heavy D & the Boyz’s next album, Peaceful Journey. The song was originally inspired by the tragic death of Troy Dixon, better known as “Trouble” T. Like the best hip-hop - and the best music of all kinds - it transcends its era. Smooth’s lyrics eschew the toughness of that era’s hip-hop for something bigger: the song thanks those who have helped us on our paths and remembers friends and family after they’re gone. Pete Rock’s incredible production sounded great in ’92, and it still sounds great today. It’s a great album, but the highlight is easily “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” It’s a song about nostalgia, and three decades on, it can make those of us who lived through hip-hop’s late ’80s/early ’90s “golden era” feel nostalgic. Smooth released their debut album, Mecca and the Soul Brother. Thirty years ago this week, Pete Rock and C.L.
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