A TARTAN torrent of rock 'n' roll, punk, new wave and pop tunes you heard in the 1970s are all part of a new music programme on BBC Scotland.

Rip it Up as the BBC blurb says: "This series sees the biggest names in Scotland's early pop story tell their own unique tales in their own words and share how they went from bedroom dreamers to international superstars.

"Celebrated solo performers like Lulu and Donovan are joined by members of pioneering groups, including The Skids, Nazareth, The Incredible String Band, Josef K, The Average White Band, Middle of the Road, The Rezillos, The Beatstalkers and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band."

The programme takes you from the birth of pop music in Scotland right up to emergence of new wave groups such as Orange Juice.

Many of us know a lot about this history of rock 'n' roll in the UK but doing a programme about the rise of pop music in Scotland adds a different dimension to history.

It gives music fans a new layer, another level of understanding of how and what influences were picked up on by successive generations of would be pop stars North of the Border.

Allowing the original members of the bands or singers to speak about how they felt at the time and tell us the viewer how they achieved what they did, make the story more fascinating.

Watching the first episode of three, I felt there was a definite link between each style of music 'born in Scotland'. It is like unwinding or unravelling a ball of wool. There is a constant thread and each progressive band or popular singer helps fuel the next.

The spark which ignites the Scottish revolution was Lonnie Donegan.

No surprise I hear you cry, as he influenced a raft of rock legends who were inspired by his musical invention such as The Beatles. But one of the facts I and maybe you have forgotten is Lonnie Donegan was born in Bridgeton, Glasgow.

From that moment on pop music in Great Britain changed for ever, it was a matter of what was coming next and what direction it would go.

Watching the programme is a learning curve in the sense it fills in some gaps of music history you might not realise you did not have and yet are now glad you discovered via Rip it Up.

You can catch episode one on BBC iPlayer and the next two when they have been broadcast.

If you want to watch it next week it is on BBC Two Scotland at 9pm on Tuesday, July 24.