FEATURE:
Tonight, We’re Gonna Party Like It’s 1989!
IMAGE CREDIT: BBC
Why We Need a Viewable Top of the Pops Archive on the BBC iPlayer
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WHEN I have written about Top of the Pops…
IMAGE CREDIT: BBC
in past features, I have asked whether it should be revived and, when there is very little music T.V. around, why there is not a modern-day equivalent. Everyone should be aware of Top of the Pops but, if not, here is a little bit of history:
“Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1 January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The world's longest running weekly music show, TOTP was shown every Thursday evening on BBC One, except for a short period on Fridays in mid-1973, and again in autumn 1974, before once again being moved to Fridays at 7:30 pm from 1996 to 2005 and then to Sundays on BBC Two from 2005 till the last ever weekly show in 2006. Each weekly show consisted of performances from some of that week's best-selling popular music records, usually excluding any tracks moving down the chart, including a rundown of that week's singles chart. This was originally the Top 20, changing to the Top 30 during the 1970s and the Top 40 in the 80s. The distinctive TOTP theme tune – a riff of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" – first appeared in 1973 as the background music to the chart countdown.
The Official Charts Company states "performing on the show was considered an honour, and it pulled in just about every major player." The Rolling Stones were the first band to perform on TOTP with "I Wanna Be Your Man". Snow Patrol had the distinction of being the last act to play live on the weekly show when they performed their hit single "Chasing Cars". In addition to the weekly show there was a special edition of TOTP on Christmas Day (and usually, until 1984, a second edition a few days after Christmas), featuring some of the best-selling singles of the year, and, the coveted Christmas Number 1. Although the weekly show was cancelled in 2006,[6] the Christmas special has continued. In recent years, end-of-year round-up editions have also been broadcast on BBC1 on or around New Year's Eve, albeit largely featuring the same acts and tracks as the Christmas Day shows. It also survives as Top of the Pops 2, which began in 1994 and features vintage performances from the Top of the Pops archives.
Most performers on TOTP mimed until 1991 when the producers of the show allowed artists the option of singing live over a backing track. Miming has resulted in a number of notable moments. In 1991 Nirvana refused to mime to the pre-recorded backing track of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" with Kurt Cobain singing in a deliberately low voice and altering lyrics in the song. In 1995, the Gallagher brothers of Oasis switched places while performing "Roll with It". When an artist could not appear on the show the song would be played while a TOTP dance act (most notably Pan's People) would dance on stage. Later, music videos of artists unable to attend would be used. According to Queen guitarist Brian May, the groundbreaking 1975 music video for "Bohemian Rhapsody" was produced so that the band could avoid miming on TOTP since they would have looked off miming to such a complex song”.
There were numerous attempts to rebrand and relaunch Top of the Pops. I think, by the end of the 1990s, Top of the Pops was looking for a new lease of life. In 2003, with the music industry a lot different to how things were decades before:
“On 28 November 2003 (three months after the appointment of Andi Peters as executive producer), the show saw one of its most radical overhauls since the ill-fated 1991 'Year Zero' revamp in what was widely reported as a make-or-break attempt to revitalise the long-running series. In a break with the previous format, the show played more up-and-coming tracks ahead of any chart success, and also featured interviews with artists and a music news feature called "24/7". Most editions of the show were now broadcast live, for the first time since 1991 (apart from a couple of editions in 1994). The launch show, which was an hour long, was notable for a performance of "Flip Reverse" by Blazin' Squad, featuring hordes of hooded teenagers choreographed to dance around the outside of BBC Television Centre.
Although the first edition premièred to improved ratings, the All New format, hosted by MTV presenter Tim Kash, quickly returned to low ratings and brought about scathing reviews. Kash continued to host the show, but Radio 1 DJs Reggie Yates and Fearne Cotton (who had each presented a few shows in 2003, before the revamp) were brought back to co-host alongside him, before Kash was completely dropped by the BBC, later taking up a new contract at MTV. The show continued to be hosted by Reggie Yates and Fearne Cotton (usually together, but occasionally solo) on Friday evenings until 8 July 2005.
On 30 July 2004, the show took place outside a studio environment for the first time by broadcasting outside in Gateshead. Girls Aloud, Busted, Will Young and Jamelia were among the performers that night.
Figures had plummeted to below three million, prompting an announcement by the BBC that the show was going to move, again, to Sunday evenings on BBC Two, thus losing the prime-time slot on BBC One that it had maintained for more than forty years.
This move was widely reported as a final "sidelining" of the show, and perhaps signalled its likely cancellation. At the time, it was insisted that this was so the show would air immediately after the official announcement of the new top 40 chart on Radio 1, as it was thought that by the following Friday, the chart seemed out of date. The final Top of the Pops to be shown on BBC One (barring Christmas and New Year specials) was broadcast on Monday 11 July 2005, which was edition number 2,166.
The first edition on BBC Two was broadcast on 17 July 2005 at 7.00 pm with presenter Fearne Cotton. After the move to Sundays, Cotton continued to host with a different guest presenter each week, such as Rufus Hound or Richard Bacon. On a number of occasions, however, Reggie Yates would step in, joined by female guest presenters such as Lulu and Anastacia. Viewing figures during this period averaged around 1½ million. Shortly after the move to BBC Two, Peters resigned as executive producer. He was replaced by the BBC's Creative Head of Music Entertainment Mark Cooper, while producer Sally Wood remained to oversee the show on a weekly basis”.
Top of the Pops ended in 2006 and, whilst there has been talk of bringing it back, there has been no capitalisation on that interest. The BBC launched the short-lived Sounds Like Friday Night – a more youth-driven version of Top of the Pops. I think it would be odd to see Top of the Pops back, as the success of the show, I feel, is rooted in the key components that make it such a nostalgia trip. By that, I love the fashions of the time and the cool titles; the fact there was big hair, cheesy introductions and a whole array of chart acts – not to mention the obligatory chart rundown itself! I think, if Top of the Pops was rebooted, there would not be that chart element – as there is less stock in the position songs reach -, and it would not have the same warmth and heart. As we are in a digital age, I think the look and format of Top of the Pops would be radical and unwelcome. For that reason, I think it is important we remember Top of the Pops as it was, and digest as much of it as possible.
On BBC Four, we are seeing repeats of Top of the Pops from 1989. This has been running for a while, and I know there will be more 1989 editions coming up. It is wonderful to see this fruitful and diverse period of music; the typically ‘80s clothes and the rush one gets when watching the top-ten played out! It is a magical thing and, at a time when the BBC and other organisations are opening their archives, I wonder why there are only a few episodes of Top of the Pops. It is the way of things, with BBC iPlayer, that shows are normally available for thirty days and they disappear. I have never understood why there is this thirty-day period, but I guess there are sensible reasons. I am surprised there is not an official Top of the Pops website where archived shows are kept. I think you can stream most episodes here and, whilst some early episodes might have been deleted or lost, now seems like a perfect time to open the Top of the Pops archive on the BBC iPlayer so that we can all binge for the next month. I can see no reason why, when those thirty days are up, the episodes cannot be stored on a website. I know the BBC are ladling out the episodes on T.V., but it is a bit confusing why there is not this archive where we can all access. I have seen posts on social media from people who have watched Top of the Pops on BBC Four and get that nostalgic shiver.
At this difficult time, I think a treasure chest of Top of the Pops would be wonderful. As BBC Four are focused on 1989 at the moment, I am curious looking further back and the stuff we have not seen – or not seen for a while. It might be impossible to load every single episode. After all, there were 2,267 (508 missing) in total, so putting that onto a website would crash it. Rather than dumping them all online at once, maybe a year-by-year offering might be best; working from the very earliest episodes and maybe working to the end of the 1990s/middle of the next decade? As things stand, there are so many episodes that would bring delight, and it seems a shame that the ones on the iPlayer disappear after thirty days, and we only have a limited amount at one time. I think a yearly archive would work. If we started in 1964 or 1965 and then had a load of episodes for thirty days, that would be a start. Granted, it would take a long time before we got to the very end, but I would like to see an assortment of other episodes available on iPlayer. I am a huge fan of the 1990s, and there is nothing from that decade available. Similarly, the years 1985-1988 fascinate me, and many would embrace an assortment of classic episodes from that period. Maybe the BBC are running chronologically after 1989, but there is a long time to wait until we make our way through the years.
Logistical reasons mean the fleet of Top of the Pops’ episodes has to be broken up and disseminated gradually. I have actually found an explanation online regarding the thirty day rule:
“Why are programmes available for 30 days? To put programmes on iPlayer, we need to pay the people who made them. And we want to give you the best value for money. Making programmes available for longer than 30 days would cost more, and mean there would be less money for making new programmes”.
That seems fair, but I wonder if the same rules apply to old Top of the Pops episodes compared with new shows. In any case, whilst fewer new shows are coming around, there is this window to at least put a portion of the Top of the Pops gems alongside the ones currently available from 1989. It has been brilliant watching 1989’s best on BBC Four, and then revisiting them on the iPlayer. There are so many golden years that people would want to watch; it would provide joy and a sense of escape when we really need it. It would be a relief and welcomed blast from the past…
FOR all music lovers.