So the industrial dispute we were pretending wasn’t happening last week has been resolved, the audience has been allowed back out of the tiny airless booths from where they were encouraged to cheer and applaud in sound only, and everything’s … read more
Up next on BBC1, another edition of Let’s Pretend Nothing’s Wrong And This Is Just A Normal Edition Of Top Of The Pops Even Though It’s Painfully Obvious That There’s Another Strike On And We’re Desperately Stringing Pre-Recorded Clips Together … read more
Now then, here’s someone we haven’t seen since last September when he was playing second, in fact third fiddle to Leo Sayer and Russ Abbot. Now, six months later, Mike Read is Radio 1’s hottest property, having inherited the breakfast … read more
Never let it be said that this site doesn’t get results. After carping on for weeks about how this new look Top of the Pops needs an opening sequence instead of just crashing straight into the grinning host over the … read more
Doesn’t time fly? We’re certainly powering through the run on BBC Four now they’ve started showing two editions every week, and as they’re still skipping the ones hosted by Dave Lee Travis it’s possible to get through a short month … read more
“You’re right, it’s Top of the Pops!” confirms knowledgeable Richard Skinner before anyone’s even had a chance to ask the question. This week it appears that Skinner is being remodeled, in an attempt to cast off his stuffy image and … read more
February already, so let’s pause and take stock of how 1981 is going so far. The charts are currently dominated by John Lennon (who remains dead) and Adam Ant (who is still very much alive), but the New Romantics are … read more
Week two of the new supercharged BBC Four repeat run and it’s the end of January already; in all probability the 8 January show will have been the last time we weren’t way ahead of ourselves. Your host this week … read more
Well, this is awkward. Keen to get 1981 over and done with as soon as possible, BBC Four have hit the turbo button and scheduled two editions per week for the foreseeable future, meaning that the idea of the show … read more
Two episodes into the 1981 run on BBC Four and everyone’s already confused. Since the repeats started with 1976 back in 2010 it’s been once a week, generally on Thursdays at 7:30 as it used to be in the old … read more
Here we go then with the first proper Top of the Pops of 1981, and after last week’s review of the dregs of 1980 that didn’t make it onto the Christmas Day show, BBC Four’s usual Story of 1981 documentary … read more
1980 was an important year for Top of the Pops: it was the year it began to transform from a light entertainment show into essential viewing for pop music aficionados. The appointment of Michael Hurll as producer was pivotal in … read more
