In the early 1980s it was the only nationally available outlet for this genre of music, and Vance's enthusiasm for showcasing new bands and his rapport with fans made the show essential listening for rockers.
This material included bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Uriah Heep, The Nice, Rush and Genesis, among others.
At the time the majority of this material was not available on general release and even today, in the current era of the deluxe edition CD album featuring bonus tracks, some remains unavailable to the general public, mainly because Tony Wilson took the tapes with him when he left the BBC in 1995.
The person whose selection was chosen would still receive the record voucher and Van der Graaf's "Theme One" was still used to introduce the feature.
Examples are "Red lady Too", George Harrison from his 1968 Apple LP Wonderwall Music; and "The Stumble", John Mayall with Peter Green.
Also "Open Invitation" by Santana from their 1978 LP Inner Secrets, spliced together by producer Tony Wilson from two guitar passages when the pace of the song accelerated.
"Jas'Moon" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is another backing track, as is Stanley Clarke's "Silly Putty" (from the album Journey To Love).
The show was taken over by Claire Sturgess, who had been Radio 1 DJ Simon Bates' secretary prior to her appointment, but it went on a temporary break for a while.
Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden fronted a new Friday Rock Show on BBC Radio 6 Music between 9 pm and twelve midnight.
[4] NWOBHM band Saxon paid tribute to the Friday Rock Show in their song "Denim and Leather".