Paul MCCARTNEY  New Radio-Series for BBC

Paul McCartney hits the airwaves Wednesday with the first of a five-part radio show for the BBC World Service that features some of the former Beatle's favorite golden oldies and musical memories.

``Hello, I'm Paul McCartney and welcome to a new series called Roots of Rock,'' he says in the first of the programs recorded at his home in southeastern England. ``Over the next few weeks I'll be playing you some great rock 'n' roll, sharing with you some of my memories and featuring tracks from my new album 'Run Devil Run.''

The list is thick with names like Elvis Presley (''Baby Let's Play House,'' ``Heartbreak Hotel''), Carl Perkins (''Honey Don't,'' ``Lend Me Your Comb'') and Jerry Lee Lewis (''Fools Like Me'') but the host isn't shy about playing a dozen of his own songs.

McCartney also reminisces about his first youthful encounter with John Lennon when his future Beatles cohort was playing with The Quarrymen at a village fete near Liverpool.

``When I first saw him, I thought 'Oh, he looks pretty handy, you know. And he's singing great and he's in command,''' he says in transcripts of the program released by the BBC.

McCartney's series was originally supposed to be in four parts. ``There was so much material after they interviewed Paul that they made it into a five-parter,'' a BBC World Service spokeswoman said Monday. (Reuters)