Post by valerie davenport on Sept 5, 2007 6:08:24 GMT -5
Top of the Pops finally flops
WHO would have thought that a disused church in Salford would become known as the birthplace of musical television? But it was there, on New Year's Day 1964, that the very first episode of Top of the Pops was broadcast - fronted by Jimmy Savile and featuring the Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield and a popular beat combo called The Beatles.
Several hundred miles south and 42-and-a-half years later, the longest-running musical TV show in British history was given its last rites. The final edition of Top of the Pops will be broadcast on 30 July, it was announced yesterday, by a BBC that says the show can no longer compete with 24-hour music channels. Following a much-criticised revamp in 2003 and a number of bounces around the schedules, not everyone in the industry will be surprised by this news.
But then, how could the modern TOTP compete with those halcyon days in the early 1970s, when the gorgeous Pan's People would trip happily on to the screen and into the fevered imaginations of millions of British schoolboys? And, for the older generation, there was always Cliff Richard, who, to date, has appeared on the show a whopping 150 times.
Presenters including John Peel (who disgraced himself during his first 1968 appearance by forgetting the name of guests Amen Corner and wasn't invited back again until 1981), the aforementioned Sir Jimmy Savile, Tony Blackburn, Simon Bates, Noel Edmonds, Bruno Brookes, Annie Nightingale and Janice Long all contributed to the show's popularity, plonking themselves in the middle of the audience and doing their to-camera stints amid a group of grinning teenagers in what was considered at the time a new and novel way of TV presenting.
TOTP took itself seriously. And why not? Before the days of MTV and VH1, it was the show to be seen on - whether you were an aspiring band or at the top of the charts.
The Beatles appeared myriad times (although all their recordings have been lost, thanks to an old BBC rule about deleting tapings), plus the Rolling Stones, Queen, the Bay City Rollers, the Kinks, Wham!, U2, the Spice Girls, Oasis, Nirvana - no wonder the show attracted 15 million viewers in the 1970s, and was still one of the BBC's most popular programmes come the mid-1990s, despite its wholesome attitude meaning that it banned such big acts of their day as Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the Sex Pistols.
Strangely, one of the few bands never to have appeared on TOTP was Led Zeppelin, despite their hit, Whole Lotta Love providing the show with one of its most popular theme tunes.
But TOTP was anything but po-faced. Dexy's Midnight Runners were behind one of the show's most famous japes when, during a 1982 performance of their hit Jackie Wilson Said, a huge projection of darts player Jocky Wilson was displayed behind the band.
Controversy still surrounds the debate over whether it was a genuine mistake, or a deliberate joke by the band (and the BBC production staff).
Many acts also openly mocked the show's miming rule - with Oasis on several occasions deliberately singing out of synch or swapping instruments - and in 1991 the show adopted a short-lived live vocal performance rule, which resulted in some dire singers being exposed, as well as providing some extraordinary live performances, such as that by a young Kurt Cobain and Nirvana of the grunge anthem, Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Now then, as Sir Jimmy himself might say, it is a different story. With hundreds of non-terrestrial channels devoted to music alone, TOTP can no longer compete - and, you might say, it shouldn't even try.
But for the many millions who grew up with that familiar theme tune and iconic logo, Top of the Pops will always be the No 1.
Web link
BBCi
www.bbc.co.uk
WHO would have thought that a disused church in Salford would become known as the birthplace of musical television? But it was there, on New Year's Day 1964, that the very first episode of Top of the Pops was broadcast - fronted by Jimmy Savile and featuring the Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield and a popular beat combo called The Beatles.
Several hundred miles south and 42-and-a-half years later, the longest-running musical TV show in British history was given its last rites. The final edition of Top of the Pops will be broadcast on 30 July, it was announced yesterday, by a BBC that says the show can no longer compete with 24-hour music channels. Following a much-criticised revamp in 2003 and a number of bounces around the schedules, not everyone in the industry will be surprised by this news.
But then, how could the modern TOTP compete with those halcyon days in the early 1970s, when the gorgeous Pan's People would trip happily on to the screen and into the fevered imaginations of millions of British schoolboys? And, for the older generation, there was always Cliff Richard, who, to date, has appeared on the show a whopping 150 times.
Presenters including John Peel (who disgraced himself during his first 1968 appearance by forgetting the name of guests Amen Corner and wasn't invited back again until 1981), the aforementioned Sir Jimmy Savile, Tony Blackburn, Simon Bates, Noel Edmonds, Bruno Brookes, Annie Nightingale and Janice Long all contributed to the show's popularity, plonking themselves in the middle of the audience and doing their to-camera stints amid a group of grinning teenagers in what was considered at the time a new and novel way of TV presenting.
TOTP took itself seriously. And why not? Before the days of MTV and VH1, it was the show to be seen on - whether you were an aspiring band or at the top of the charts.
The Beatles appeared myriad times (although all their recordings have been lost, thanks to an old BBC rule about deleting tapings), plus the Rolling Stones, Queen, the Bay City Rollers, the Kinks, Wham!, U2, the Spice Girls, Oasis, Nirvana - no wonder the show attracted 15 million viewers in the 1970s, and was still one of the BBC's most popular programmes come the mid-1990s, despite its wholesome attitude meaning that it banned such big acts of their day as Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the Sex Pistols.
Strangely, one of the few bands never to have appeared on TOTP was Led Zeppelin, despite their hit, Whole Lotta Love providing the show with one of its most popular theme tunes.
But TOTP was anything but po-faced. Dexy's Midnight Runners were behind one of the show's most famous japes when, during a 1982 performance of their hit Jackie Wilson Said, a huge projection of darts player Jocky Wilson was displayed behind the band.
Controversy still surrounds the debate over whether it was a genuine mistake, or a deliberate joke by the band (and the BBC production staff).
Many acts also openly mocked the show's miming rule - with Oasis on several occasions deliberately singing out of synch or swapping instruments - and in 1991 the show adopted a short-lived live vocal performance rule, which resulted in some dire singers being exposed, as well as providing some extraordinary live performances, such as that by a young Kurt Cobain and Nirvana of the grunge anthem, Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Now then, as Sir Jimmy himself might say, it is a different story. With hundreds of non-terrestrial channels devoted to music alone, TOTP can no longer compete - and, you might say, it shouldn't even try.
But for the many millions who grew up with that familiar theme tune and iconic logo, Top of the Pops will always be the No 1.
Web link
BBCi
www.bbc.co.uk
