FEATURE:
It's Thursday Night, It's Seven O'Clock…
IMAGE CREDIT: BBC
Top of the Pops at Sixty
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THERE is something interesting to think about…
IN THIS PHOTO: Clara Amfo presented Top of the Pops: Review of the Year 2023, which aired on 28th December on BBC Two/PHOTO CREDIT: BBC Studios/Michael Leckie
when it comes to marking a big anniversary that happens on 1st January. On Monday, it will be sixty years since Top of the Pops launched. There is a case to suggest that the legendary and long-running series had its flaws. With some of its presenters mired in scandal and disgrace (especially the vile Jimmy Saville), there are black marks and issues if we look at the series with rose-tinted glasses! The show went through various shifts in terms of its format. Acts being made to perform live. Not all changes and ideas worked out. Some of the presenter should be written out of history. There were a raft of guest presenters, normally artists, who were hit and miss. Even so, there is no doubting the importance of an institution. I want to bring in a few features that talk about the evolution of Top of the Pops. The highs and lows. I will end with a feature that quite rightly calls for its return (and the reasons why it is a good idea). The series ended in 2006. Almost eighteen years later, there is a definite desire and rationale to reinstating and repurposing Top of the Pops for a modern audience. The BBC charted the history of Top of the Pops. Its early days must have been so exciting and different. Nothing that had really been seen on British television:
“When the BBC launched Top of the Pops on 1 January, 1964, absolutely no one could have believed it would become an authentic pop institution. Originally transmitted from a converted church in Manchester, Top of the Pops was commissioned for six shows. There have been over 1800 editions of the Pops since then.
The reason for its success is simple. Top of the Pops always remains true to its original format. After 34 years, the show still provides - via the Top 40 chart - a weekly snapshot of what's truly popular in pop music, always ending with the number one record. "It's a great idea for a programme, a brilliant format," says Chris Cowey, who has produced the show since the summer of 1997.
The influence of the Pops has been so huge over the years, that performing on the show is now almost a 'rite of passage' for aspiring young artists. "I always used to consider myself a failure until I appeared on Top of the Pops," says Jarvis Cocker of Pulp. There have even been two songs - by The Kinks and The Rezillos - named after the show, which was also name-checked in The Boomtown Rats' 1978 number one hit, 'Rat Trap'.
The very first Top of the Pops, broadcast on a Wednesday evening at 6.36 pm, was introduced by DJ Jimmy Savile. The opening band was The Rolling Stones, who had just made number 13 in the chart with 'I Wanna Be Your Man'. They were followed by Dusty Springfield with 'I Only Want to be With You'; 'Glad All Over' by the Dave Clark Five; The Hollies with 'Stay' and The Swinging Blue Jeans performing 'The Hippy Hippy Shake'. The show was completed by filmed pieces with Cliff Richard & The Shadows and Freddie & The Dreamers, together with The Beatles, who played the week's number one, 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'”.
Even though Top of the Pops spanned five decades, there were definite periods where it was at its peak. Many would say the 1970s and 1980s were when the series was at its very best. Not only in terms of the acts who performed on the show. There was also this perfect balance between the quality of the music, the variation on offer, and the excellent presenters. This feature from earlier in the year discussed how Top of the Pops was a go-to for legendary artists the world over:
“Having established a transatlantic connection, the 70s was when Top Of The Pops became a truly global brand. In a decade that has more than its fair share of variety – everything from punk to glam, hip-hop, reggae and high-octane rock’n’roll made it into the charts – it’s also remarkable how many overseas acts made the pilgrimage to BBC Television Centre, knowing that the show’s audience of up to 19 million couldn’t be found anywhere else. Having dropped by to perform his classic reggae hit “The Israelites” in 1969, Jamaican star Desmond Dekker returned in 1970, performing “You Can Get It”; as the decade came to a close, Australian hard rock icons AC/DC were on hand to deliver some ear-splitting “powerage.” Swedish pop icons ABBA made several appearances through the 70s, introducing classics such as “Mamma Mia,” “Waterloo,” and “Fernando” to the UK.
And so a pattern was set. In the decades that followed, every style of music was represented, and acts came from all over the world to add the iconic TV show to their list of successes. So important was the show that even the most established stars came back throughout their career, with Queen appearing in 1982, almost a decade after releasing their debut album, Queen II, to perform “Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love)” on 17 June 1982.
A glance at the list of luminaries that appeared on Top Of The Pops also traces the changing cultural zeitgeist throughout the years. American alt.rock began to make its first tentative forays into the mainstream when R.E.M. turned up to perform “Orange Crush,” in a decade that saw shimmering UK pop (in the shape of The La’s’ “There She Goes,” first released in 1988) nestle with globe-straddling synth-pop courtesy of Soft Cell (“Tainted Love”), The Human League (“Don’t You Want Me”), and Duran Duran (“Girls On Film”). And that’s just the 80s. Fast-forward to the 90s and you’ll witness the battle for dominance between Blur and Oasis also form part of a wider transatlantic face-off between UK Britpop and the US grunge scene. Add in the show’s dedication to promoting some of the more memorable promo clips by the likes of Underworld and Kelis, and it becomes clear to see why the 90s is remembered as a uniquely postmodern decade”.
In July, The Scotsman explored how Top of the Pops was an excellent documentary of music evolution. Among the chaos and controversy, there were these iconic moments. With BBC Four putting out old episodes weekly, we still get to experience these snapshots of Top of the Pops and how it changed through the years. I wonder if there is an easy archive and access where you can watch every episode available from the BBC. Maybe an updated documentary is needed that looks inside the brilliant Top of the Pops. All of its wonder and weirdness:
“One of my favourites has to be the 1972 intastella rock-and-roll performance of Starman by David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars. The live shot is a good sum-up of Bowie’s pioneering spirit, innate skill for transcending the boundaries of music and revolutionary fashion sense. The interactions between guitarist Mick Ronson and Bowie on stage are fun to watch and the performance showcases the band’s studio excellence.
Another has to be Kate Bush’s debut on the show. At barely 20, the English musician, who has now sold millions of albums worldwide, graced the stage with her performance of Wuthering Heights in 1978. Watching the recording now, which she apparently described as “a bloody awful performance” at the time, and knowing what success she went on to have is perhaps what adds to it.
As for the weird, or rather provocative, spectacles on stage, TOTP doesn’t disappoint. From Rod Stewart playing football on stage midway through his gig to Robbie Williams singing with his jeans down round his ankles (I think they were meant to come all the way off but got stuck), to Blur’s energetic performance of Country House where bassist Alex James is wearing an Oasis t-shirt while smugly smiling at the camera – a nod to the hit chart frenemy relationship between the two bands at the time.
Also Nirvana giving the middle finger to TOTP rules that musicians had to lip sync to prerecorded songs with frontman Kurt Cobain changing the lyrics and putting on a strange voice – for example "Load up on guns, bring your friends" became "Load up on drugs, kill your friends.”
Cobain later supposedly said he was trying to sound like former Smiths frontman Morrissey. The take is a contrast to their furiously energetic debut TV performance playing the same song with such raw energy on the 90s Channel 4 show The Word.
Looking back on the show with hindsight also spotlights the musical gems who were ahead of the curve for their time, such as Gary Numan’s performance with the band Tubeway Army of Are Friends Electric in 1979. At this point, punk rock was still raging, new wave was on the horizon, but Numan brings to the stage a kind of poptronica and new electronic sounds that the crowd seem unsure how to take at first, but by they end become totally entranced.
Delving back into the recorded videos naturally evokes a wave of nostalgia, and a reminder of the inimitable excitement as a child seeing some of the bands you first heard come alive on stage. And, is it fair to say some of the dancing is pretty entertaining to watch now? I think people danced differently when there were no smartphones. There’s more a sense that they are really feeling it; a ‘dance like nobody’s watching you’ vibe. I think the visually arresting debut performance of Roxy Music’s Virginia Plain on the show with Andy Mackay and his jaunty oboe playing illustrates this point well.
Even if you’re not that fussed about the bands (which would be strange), rewatching TOTP’s footage also gives an interesting lesson on the evolution of music which I think also explains its grip to this day.
The programme demonstrates the quantum leaps music made between the ‘60s and the 2000s. From rock to punk to new wave with some Britfunk in the mix, TOTP is an excellent documentary of one of music’s most interesting evolutionary periods.
While on this topic, footage of The Old Grey Whistle Test (TOGWT) is equally indulgeable. While TOTP showcased UK chart hits, TOGWT was more album-focused. The former got me into my love for music in many ways, while watching footage of the latter in later years expanded it”.
I am going to move forward and think about why Top of the Pops, which celebrates its sixtieth anniversary on Monday, needs to return. Den of Geek wrote about Top of the Pops’ iconic moments earlier this year. The more we remember that legacy ad highlights of Top of the Pops, the more it makes me wonder whether we could ever match that today. How would the studio audience react?! Would artists be made to sing live?! What sort of branding would it have?! It is interesting to ponder:
“Top of the Trolls
For most of Top of the Pops‘ first three decades, acts were encouraged to mime their music and vocals over a pre-recorded track – barring rare exceptions. Many acts sought to play around with this stricture, shattering the shared illusion for comedic effect. Sometimes this was done in a spirit of fun, as when Rod Stewart and his Faces bandmates had a quick game of football mid-‘Maggie May’, while DJ John Peel uncomfortably squatted nearby ‘playing’ a mandolin.
Sometimes the mockery came in the spirit of a two-fingered salute. In one memorable appearance in 1995, Oasis’ Gallagher brothers decided to swap places for their performance of ‘Roll With It’. Liam strummed gamely away in the background, while Noel channelled his brother’s bow-legged, front-man swagger, complete with tambourine. Perhaps owing to Oasis’ nascent fame in those days, the producers reportedly didn’t notice the switch until it was pointed out to them afterwards.
A question-mark has long hung over Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ 1982 Top of the Pops appearance. They were performing their cover version of Van Morrison’s 1972 hit ‘Jackie Wilson Said’, when viewers noticed behind them what appeared to be an egregious yet hilarious mistake: a large video screen displaying the image not of the late, great soul singer Jackie Wilson – on whom the song was obviously based – but of Scottish darts’ legend Jocky Wilson. Viewers were quick to assume that Top of the Pop‘s production staff must have goofed, but the wheeze was apparently very much Dexy’s idea. In 2002, the band’s frontman Kevin Rowland admitted to The Guardian: “For a laugh, we told the producer to put a picture of Jocky Wilson up behind us. He said: ‘But Kevin, people will think we made a mistake.’ I told him only an idiot would think that. The morning after, the [Radio 1] DJ Mike Read said: ‘Bloody Top of the Pops. How could they mix up one of the great soul singers with a Scottish darts player?'”
But no flipping of Top of the Pops‘ format was as memorable as Nirvana’s version of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ in 1991. Singer Kurt Cobain’s surprise languid, low-octave performance of the high-energy grunge hit has been mythologised as the ultimate fuck-you to the man in response to the show’s miming tradition. The reality though, might have been much more banal. From around 51:00 in Top of the Pops: the Story of 1991, hear James’ Tim Booth, who performed on the same show, tell a completely different story. In this version, Cobain had lost his voice and was suffering with a cold during filming and so asked to mime his vocal but Top of the Pops refused. According to Booth, the Ian Curtis/Morrissey impersonation was Cobain’s workaround response. Whatever the behind-the-scenes truth, the performance went down in legend.
Live and Dangerous
In 1983, New Order was the first band to throw caution, and their potential credibility, to the wind by going fully live, synthesisers and all. This performance of their hit ‘Blue Monday’ is regularly cited in lists of Top of the Pops‘ biggest gaffes and cringe-worthy moments, though its inclusion is a little unfair. Sure, singer Bernard Sumner occasionally looks like a tortoise trying to recreate Henry Hill’s final car-borne dash in Goodfellas, and the music isn’t always exactly in key, but it’s a fine and bold performance of one of the most 80s songs ever; one, moreover, that’s proven to be timeless.
More worthy of inclusion in said lists is All About Eve’s performance of their song ‘Martha’s Harbour’ in 1988. Due to a production snafu, everyone – the studio audience, the viewers at home – could hear the first minute or so of the song… except for Julianne Regan and Tim Bricheno, who sat on stage deathly-still, staring awkwardly out at the audience, in a move that must have been interpreted, at least initially, as a devil-may-care protest. ‘Those bastards are pulling a Nirvana.’ ‘Who’s Nirvana?’ ‘Oh right, that hasn’t happened yet. Forget I said anything.’
Drink Jiving
In 1982, the Scottish national football team appeared on the Top of the Pops’ stage along with actor John Gordon Sinclair to sing their World Cup anthem ‘We Have a Dream’: a half-spoken, half-chanted, self-deprecating ditty that seemed to say: Yeah, we know we’re probably going to last about as long in this tournament as a red-shirt on his first away mission with Captain Kirk, so let’s just have a good time’.
Whatever you think of Top of the Pop‘s lip-syncing tradition, it’s undeniably the best way to counter your average pop star’s predilection for imbibing potentially performance-wrecking substances prior to taking to the stage. That goes ten-fold when your act is a bunch of booze-loving Scottish footballers, none of whom seem to mind leaning hard into national stereotypes. Scotland’s goalkeeper, the appropriately named Alan Rough, explained in a recent BBC Scotland documentary: “You could tell why we were all swaying. We’d been in that BBC bar for about five hours so we didn’t have to practise that bit.”
Given Shane McGowan’s reputation, it came as no surprise to anyone that when he took to the stage in 1987 to mime his way through a performance of ‘Fairytale of New York’ with Kirsty McColl, he was in such a state of inebriation that the act of mouthing along to his own words made him look like a badly dubbed Korean movie. This was jarring for a lot of reasons, but mainly because the young and goofy McGowan – cocooned inside an ill-fitting leather jacket – didn’t look like the kind of man who’d be in possession of a voice so rich in pathos and world-weary agony. Instead, many in the audience would have been wondering: ‘Where is the real Shane McGowan? Why have they kidnapped a young drunk boy from a school disco and forced him to mime along to this song? I’m calling Ofcom.’
Speaking of complaints, no act attracted the level of official opprobrium as the Manic Street Preachers when they performed their 1994 hit ‘Faster’ with singer James Dean Bradfield decked out in a balaclava, which was interpreted by more than 25,000 angry viewers as some sort of signal of support for the IRA. Needless to say: it wasn’t.
Memorable and Iconic
The singles’ charts were a capricious beast, so it was often impossible to predict who’d be appearing on any given Top of the Pops edition. The show could be forced to put bad boys like Cliff Richard on the same bill as more wholesome acts as Rage Against the Machine. Juxtapositions like that, of course, were a crucial part of its charm. Especially when, divorced from their natural environment of the club, rave or music video, even some of the acts weren’t entirely sure how to convey their vibe.
Take The Orb’s rendition of ‘Blue Room‘, their 39-minute epic trance tune, heavily cut down for transmission, featuring two people dressed in industrial, vaguely post-apocalyptic garb playing a weird variation of space chess for three long minutes. Any member of The Greatest Generation who happened to be passing by their TV set that evening in 1992 – and catching a song that sounded like the sort of aggressive hold music their descendants might be subjected to in 2096 – might have been moved to opine: ‘Ah, so THAT’S the freedom millions of us went to our graves protecting in the 1940s…’
Certainly memorable. However, the artists who gave the most iconic Top of the Pops performances were those who best understood the show’s format and how to play to its strengths and weaknesses. It was about pitching yourself in a fun, endearing way without coming off as too silly, but steering clear of pompous pretentiousness – in short, giving the audience a live music video”.
I am going to wrap up with some debate as to whether we need to revive Top of the Pops. This feature an interesting take on it. At a time when we have radio stations and streaming services highlight new acts, together with a vast array of music media websites out there, does Top of the Pops have the same necessity and cachet?! I think that, at a time when major acts are charging fans a load to see them, watching them on Top of the Pops provides that access that they would not otherwise have. We have BBC’s long-running Later… with Jools Holland. Even so, only one music show on national television is pretty poor - at a time when there is a real call for more! Also, Top of the Pops is very different in terms of its tone and format compared to Jools Holland’s series. Metro published a feature this year that argued why we need to see Top of the Pops back on the screens:
“Given this, it’s desperately sad that there is no regular space dedicated to live music on the telly anymore – unless of course you can’t fork out £340 on a Glastonbury ticket so watch it on TV instead. Delightful as the broadcast is, this only happens once a year and doesn’t really cut it.
So of course normal people are going to be priced out of concerts. But it’s not all Ticketmaster and Madonna’s fault.
Ticket prices have also increased because the cost and expectation of production is much higher, with better technology available to make performances pop.
And of course, touring is now the humble artist’s biggest form of revenue since streaming giants have made music less pricey to buy.
IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour promotional poster
But at a time when the UK is battling with the cost-of-living crisis, and people can’t afford to heat their homes, over £100 for one night of live music seems tasteless and out of touch.
This price is totally unaffordable to the average Brit, 60% of whom have admitted to struggling financially due to the rising costs of living.
I think if we can’t bring ticket prices down for live shows, it’s time to bring Top Of The Pops back so everyone can enjoy live music like we used to.
Even ex-host Fearne Cotton agrees, as in 2021 she revealed she couldn’t understand why it was axed in the first place.
‘After the show had finished, I sort of campaigned: “Please can we bring it back?” Why is there no decent music TV? I just don’t understand it,’ she said on The Gaby Roslin Podcast.
Experiencing the atmosphere of live music should not be limited to people who can afford it – and it’s not just fans that need this, but artists too.
In a world where everyone with a voice, camera, and internet can call themselves a musician, quality can sometimes be lost in the sheer quantity of content out there.
Bringing back TOTP would fill a much-needed gap of brilliant, curated content, showcasing the best genuine talent in the music industry today.
And why wouldn’t artists want to give more access to fans who can’t afford to see them live?
As a rule, music should not discriminate – especially in our current, polarised world. It should unite. That’s what makes it so powerful.
And while most people don’t have a spare £100 knocking around which they can happily splurge on one night, most people do have a TV and a favourite song.
So let’s bring the music into people’s homes again for free. It’s not just future generations and artists that need accessible live music – the country needs it, especially now”.
As we remember Top of the Pops at sixty on 1st January – though most will have other things on their minds…not least a hangover! -, we cannot say it was faultless and golden. Issues and controversies that mean it is a series that had its problems. That being said, think about all the brilliant moments and those legendary performances! I can imagine there is a big call for its return. So people can see artists play live without paying big money! A great way of discovering new acts. Mixing established artists and rising into this show, together with music news, features and archives. It may not enjoy another huge run. Though I could see Top of the Pops lasting for years more. Clara Amfo’s Top of the Pops Review of 2023 show on 28th December rekindled that love and spark of legendary series! Why it is such a beloved format. If Amfo and another presenter were to helm a new version of Top of the Pops, I can see it sitting alongside Later with Jools Holland. Some may want Top of the Pops left in the past. Maybe us being misty-eyed and too romantic! Sixty years after it launched on the BBC, generations recall their favourite Top of the Pops memories. The more we fondly reminisce, the more we will want to relive that all over again. There is a whole new generation unaware of the madness, magic and musical excellence…
THAT only Top of the Pops provides.