TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 -
The first show
Wednesday, 1st January 1964 BBC 6.35 – 7.00pm, hosted by Jimmy Savile.
After the opening credit sequence featuring Bobby Midgeley's 'Drum Roll' the first
show begins as it would for the rest of the decade with the call “yes, it’s number
one, it’s Top Of The Pops” (spoken by Jim Moir, later to become a producer on the
show) followed by that week’s number one, The Beatles -
Savile claims to have had an unconscious teenage boy propped up under the DJ console
during the first show. The lad had fainted and his girlfriend alerted Savile of the
predicament. Savile would not be the sole host as Alan Freeman, Pete Murray and David
Jacobs (later replaced by Simon Dee) would all host in a four-
The DJs would be seen behind a desk alongside the disc girl with two record decks, two TV monitors placed far left and right of the desk and the top twenty board behind him, while at other points of the show he would be standing in front of a large back projection screen taking in a shot of the action from the stage or the audience.
Some rules were devised, a clip of the number one record would feature during the
chart run-
At the time acts from the North West of England held the cards as far as the charts were concerned, but it must have raised a few eyebrows that, like Thank Your Lucky Stars, the show would not be based in London, although this would change two years' later.
Towards the end of the first show Savile passed over to next weeks' presenter (Alan Freeman) via a feed to London, although this feature might have been dropped quite quickly. After each record played the audience would applaud, but later on in the show's run loud and very obvious canned applause would be used between each song.
The Manchester Years 1st January 1964 -
The first shows proved popular and the BBC liked it enough to extend its run for another seven weeks, but from the third show onwards for the next few months two DJs/presenters would be on duty each week.
The early shows allowed the audience of a hundred and fifty in on a first come, first served basis, but if you weren’t at the studio by 1 pm you wouldn’t get in. Helping with publicity for the show were the Rolling Stones who made the headlines after they had picked a fight before their first appearance.
Although the show was recorded in Manchester it didn’t provide too many problems for many of artists, particularly with the dominant sound of Mersey Beat continuing into 1964, but with the commercial side of the industry based in London it was imperative that acts could be relied upon to make it to the show. To make sure of attendance, the BBC hired a Dakota aircraft to fly singers and bands to Manchester every week, but if an act who was required couldn’t make it to Manchester due to other working commitments then they would be ferried to a local BBC studio to record a clip which would be inserted via a permanent TV link to a studio in London. Some acts would take the train from King's Cross to Manchester Piccadilly if they preferred.
One problem the producers gave themselves was that the broadcast day was also the
day that the chart was announced (with new records released on Friday). With the
show recorded then night before transmission it was possible to have an act promoting
a record which, by the time of broadcast, was now going down the chart. The industry,
quickly recognising the show's importance moved the announcement of the new chart
to a Tuesday lunch-
As the shows' producers were keen to point out from the very beginning the artists could mime to their record, like they did on Thank Your Lucky Stars or Ready Steady Go! "We want viewers to hear the original discs," producer Johnnie Stewart told the Daily Mirror. "All the discs will be from the current hit parade and our audience will hear the exact sound that won the disc its popularity." According to a later Daily Mirror report "The show, incidentally, is the first BBC programme in which singers have been allowed to mime their records."
The 8th October 1964 programme sees a clip of The Searchers on tour in Australia, the first major location filming for the show and as explained by Johnnie Stewart at the time "We want to get more artists out of the studio and into the open air." This might have been a response to Ready Steady Go and Thank Your Lucky Stars' own occasional outdoor endeavours.
If an artist couldn't appear and a record company promotional film wasn't available
then the producers would provide a film clip, sometimes a cartoon or a specially
shot film featuring actors or models in a scenario inspired by the lyric. These films
continued to be used up until the mid seventies when official promotional video clips
became the norm. Among the many directors who worked on these Pops promo clips was
Peter Whitehead who would later direct clips for the Rolling Stones and make the
Swinging London travelogue Tonite Let's All Make Love In London, which itself featured
a clip of Top Of The Pops filmed off-
The 19th November 1964 show saw the Top Of The Pops debut of The GoJos, a dance troupe based around The Beat Girls from BBC2's The Beat Room. Dance troupes would be an almost weekly feature until the end of 1983, but for the first few months they would only appear every few weeks. The dance troupes that appeared over the years usually filled in for American acts who wouldn’t make a visit just to do the one show.
By the end of the year the show had made its mark if the pop papers' polls were to
be believed. It charted second (so not quite the 'Top Of The Pops' itself) in the
New Musical Express end of year poll for Best TV or Radio Show. Johnnie Stewart was
interviewed about the show's format of just playing the hits "And that, in all honesty,
is the reason for the show's success." "We give the fans the current hits -
The hits of the year Christmas show would become an annual event, continuing to date,
but for the first show it was decided to pre-
The show went south to London from July 8th 1965 for three months while the Dickenson Road studio received a technical upgrade. The show returned to Manchester with the 28th October edition, and a few weeks' later on the 25th November 1965 Top Of The Pops celebrated its 100th edition.
The show would be always stuck in one quandary, whether to just play the same hits week after week as the title suggests, or cooperate with record companies and expose new acts to a potentially large audience. For example, Jonathan King's Everyone's Gone To The Moon was played four weeks' running, despite not being a number one. So a New Release slot was introduced, which was usually given to well established acts, but on occasion would be given to a new or unknown act, leading to record company 'pluggers' bombarding the office with their new releases. Pluggers would prove a problem in the broadcast industry and would lead to allegations of bribery across radio and television for both the BBC and ITV. The New Release spot also provided a get out for producers when it became evident that not all the artists they wanted would be available. However, there would be a confusion of titles for some of the new records featured, some were a 'tip for the top', while some would be deemed 'chartbusters', while some were merely 'new releases'.
In July 1965 the show featured a new closing theme, Top Of The Pops, written by Harry Rabinowitz. It was released as a single by the Dave Davani Four on Parlophone 28th August 1965 (date stamped on the label), however the promo label of the single also gives a printed on the label release date of 3rd September 1965.
In October 1965 Ready Steady Go, the show that Top Of The Pops had set out to topple was on the ropes and the producers were publicly talking up a replacement show, while the following year would also see the end to another of The Pops' targets Thank Your Lucky Stars. With the competition using the exits, maybe it was felt that The Pops could also follow them? Many of the BBC's pop shows had a short shelf life, The Beat Room, Gadzoooks, Stramash were all gone by early 1966. Responding to any thought that The Pops would go the same way as Ready Steady Go in late 1965 Producer Johnnie Stewart spoke to Disc claiming "We are keeping to the same format, featuring the top 20 and an occasional newcomer."
By the end of 1965 it was apparent that Top Of The Pops was the most popular and important pop music show on television, despite playing songs that were already hits. Fans, and particularly parents could finally see and cast judgement on the people making that noise that would come from the radio, a schism that would be so important in keeping the Generation Gap alive.
So important was the show to the industry that it had moved it's chart announcement day to accommodate it and finally to recognise its popularity the BBC gave it the ultimate reward, a Christmas Day broadcast. Christmas Day fell on a Saturday in 1965 not a Thursday, so this was both recognition and reward. However it was broadcast late at night, but had a lunchtime repeat the following day.
Jimmy Savile made himself unpopular with producers and crew when he would on occasion, burst in the studio claiming that he had a great gimmick he wanted to do on the show which would only take three or four minutes, an unthinkable amount of time on a show such as the Pops. It would only be near transmission that he would admit that he wasn't going to do anything anyway. Savile would later admit to rolling up the trouser legs of Eric Burdon and members of The Hollies while they were performing, and would also on occasion shout obscenities while the singers were performing. Nuisance behaviour by him and other hosts would continue into the seventies.
According to reminiscences from audience members on manchesterbeat.com The Black
Velvets and Manchester legends The Mockingbirds, featuring Graham Gouldman and Kevin
Godley were used as warm up bands. Fontana recording band The Admirals also had the
same task. In addition to a free Coca-
Audience members would be chosen from the crowd outside the studio by Cecil Korer. He would also go along to clubs in Manchester the previous weekend and hand out free tickets to people he wanted to see in the audience. A problem with Korer's baldness was recalled in an obituary. After seeing himself among a crowd of teenagers on the show "I said, 'God, that's me!' As a result, the BBC made me a wig. One night I went home with the wig still on and my dog wouldn't let me in."
Johnny Stewart had found it difficult to persuade artists to go up to Manchester,
when London was Britain's Pop Music Central, so the decision was made to move the
show down to London in the new year. Talking to Melody Maker at the time of the move
Johnny Hamp from Manchester-
Perceived reluctance to go to Manchester might have prompted the further use of repeat clips. A letter of complaint in Record Mirror in October 1965 claimed "What's with all those boring repeats? The three I remember before were Sonny, the Stones and Donovan (were there more?). Surely there are plenty of fantastic groups on the scene who could fill these spots instead of the show becoming a drag."
The London Years 20th January 1966 -
1966
By 1966 Mersey Beat was over and the R&B boom of 1964/5 meant that eyes were looking south again. The decision to move the show to London permanently had been made and on January 20th 1966 Alan Freeman presented the first regular London show from Television Centre (Studio 2), although initially a temporary move to BBC's Lime Grove studios would be necessary.
Talking to Melody Maker in January 1966 regarding the criticism that pop shows can be visually dull Johnnie Stewart agreed "I don't think pop shows have to be uninteresting. If they are, there is something wrong. But some artists and groups you get on pop shows are not particularly outstanding visually, and it's up to the producer to make them interesting."
In March 1966 the Musician’s Union demanded that for all television appearances singers
should sing live and that MU members should be employed as backing musicians, so
the Johnny Pearson Orchestra was introduced, much to the disappointment of the artists
who appeared. However, to be fair, as studio session musicians members of the Pops orchestra
probably would have played on many of the records they now found themselves now backing
on the show. However, this was a major deviation from the original intent to stick
to the original hit record version of each song. To facilitate the size of the orchestra
a temporary move to Lime Grove (Studio G) was in order until a larger studio at Television
Centre was re-
Not only are the Musicians Union forcing live performances by artists, but also limiting the number of live appearances made by foreign (mostly American) acts, so special promotional films are shot for The Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher, The Lovin' Spoonful among others to be included in the show. Filmed clips of Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and other British acts were also made specially for the show.
In April 1966 Samantha Juste appears on Juke Box Jury, so people finally get to hear her voice. Since she doesn't appear on the Pops with Jimmy Savile it was suggested that they don't get along, but she claims that "It's not that at all. I love him and I think he's great character but it's just not his image to have someone on the show with him. Besides there'd be no room with all his toys." Savile had a regrettable habit of bringing props with him onto the set.
In May 1966 it is alleged that The Small Faces pulled out of one edition of Top Of The Pops as they couldn’t agree on a billing placement. Since the only 'billing' the show accommodated was the number one spot this seemed unlikely. It had also been alleged that Steve Marriott had fallen out with the producer, telling him to 'fuck off', leading to a ban.
On 21st July 1966 the show is broadcast live for the first time, but the producer Stewart doesn't go out of his way to promote it as such.
The Musicians Union ban on singers and musicians' miming on TV would come into effect
on 1st August. The Union's stance was put by their General Secretary "We object to
pop programmes playing records when musicians should be employed to put over live
accompaniment." Thank Your Lucky Stars was due to finish, so wasn't affected by the
ban, while Ready Steady Go had been live for some time. A BBC spokesman said "Top
Of The Pops will continue with artists giving live performances. The show will go
on presenting top twenty numbers. It's the only one of our programmes to be affected
by the ban." This wasn't true since A Whole Scene Going had bands miming. Writing
to Melody Maker a fan of the show points out "If Top Of The Pops goes live then microphones
will pick up the noise of dancers shuffling about and girls screaming. It'll be one
big horrible noise." The 4th August 1966 show was the first one to implement the
miming ban, but some acts had been singing live for some time before. It was pointed
out by Tony Hall in Record Mirror "They can't even pre-
Films specially shot for the show become more prominent this year as the Musicians
Union ban seems to target foreign artists. Many of them are shot by Peter Whitehead,
but some are made by amateurs who send them in to the show, for which they receive
a payment and a credit at the end of the show. Talking to Record Mirror Stanley Dorfman
explains "We're always on the look-
David Jacobs bids farewell to the show on the 8th September by saying ‘thank you
for having me’. He would go on to host a new Rediffusion show Words and Music later
in the month. Talking to Disc Weekly he said "I enjoyed doing 'Top Of The Pops' but
I don't think I was very good at it. I think I looked a bit old sitting up there."
It was later suggested that he quit because he feared his new Rediffusion show would
be broadcast on the same night at The Pops. His replacement would be ex-
During 1966 a new host desk setup was created, with the monitors, chart board and turntables now gone with just a rack of singles and running order visible on the desk. The chart board had been replaced with the new Top Of The Pops logo. The show also moves from the BBC's Television Centre due to security issues, so Lime Grove becomes the Pops' new home due to it's legendary impregnability.
Producer Johnnie Stewart leaves the show at the end of the year to work on two new pilot shows. Stanley Dorfman will fill the vacancy until his return.
With the charts announced on Tuesday the acts have to be booked by Wednesday and some will come in on Wednesday and record for the following evening's show, or any future editions. The show is then rehearsed on Thursday and edit in any film clips and any artists that couldn't make in time the previous day. By this time the show based its chart on an aggregate of the New Musical Express, Record Retailer, Melody Maker, Disc and Music Echo charts, while readers of the New Musical Express voted the show 'Best TV or Radio Show' in an end of year poll.
There would be no Pops broadcast on Christmas Day this year, but the show's contribution to the festive season saw it extended to two shows on the 26th and 27th, albeit with many repeat clips used.
Rounding off the year Ginger Baker nearly died by overdosing on heroin in the Pops dressing room at Lime Grove before Cream's debut appearance.
1967
For Cream's second appearance Ginger Baker takes umbrage at the rubber cymbals he's supposed to use. Drummers who are miming have to use dampening pads and rubber cymbals for purposes of sound balance.
The show's host DJs are also appearing weekly on BBC1's Saturday evening Juke Box
Jury leading to accusations of over-
At the beginning of the year producer Stanley Dorfman posed a question to readers
of Disc. How to visibly represent hit recordings by Jim Reeves and Elvis Presley.
As Reeves had died all they could do was use stills and the little film of him that
existed. "Now, another Jim Reeves record has been released 'I Won't Come In While
He's There' It seems bound to make the charts. But you can't dance to it, and the
problem is how to present it. You can't keep showing stills of Reeves. The same with
Presley -
In February a new large Top Of The Pops logo appeared behind the host. It was a white on black design, made to look like neon. It would become one of the longest lasting of any of the logos, remaining until the early seventies.
Another change sees associate producer Stanley Dorfman leave the show on 16th February 1967, but he would later return to produce the show in the early seventies. By this time the show is regularly reaching eleven to twelve million viewers each week. One of the regular credits at the end of each show belongs to assistant producer Colin Charman. It was his job to visit London nightclubs and get the best dancers to appear in the show's audience. He admitted in a Disc interview in February 1967 that there was a small 'in crowd' of dancers who appeared on the show each week. "But that's purely because they're good looking and good dancers. Also from the point of view of safety it's good to have some kids who know how the studio works."
Simon Dee would leave after the 23rd March show to host his own early evening chat show Dee Time. When this was announced at the end on 1966 Pops producer Stanley Dorfman said that changes would have to be made should he leave "But we might not add another man. We may just carry on with the remaining three."
Pete Murray had agreed to appear on Southern TV's new pop show As You Like It, but a new edict at Top Of The Pops forbidding the shows' DJ from appearing on ITV meant meant he couldn't.
Despite attracting the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and many of Motown, Stax and Atlantic's top acts Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra would remain elusive. When daughter Nancy appeared on the show in 1967 producer Johnnie Stewart asked her to pass on his best wishes to Sinatra Snr, having worked with him when he appeared on BBC radio back in 1951. "It's a big ambition of mine to have him on Top Of The Pops."
In May the host's seating area and podium were removed and the new logo replaced with an older one. The hosts will now appear on the stage floor with members of the audience around them, while the new Top Of The Pops logo would later become a part of the scenery.
In late July Johnnie Stewart talked to Disc about the problems of featuring American
hits on the show "You really have to be something of a crystal gazer in my job. It's
very difficult to gauge how a record's going to move. I must admit I have made bloomers
by commissioning film of a group somewhere in the States only to find the record
has dropped out of the chart by the time it arrives. It's a continuous headache."
Talking about the problems that Stanley Dorfman expressed about Elvis Presley and
Jim Reeves hits "And with Reeves records we try to film a typical Country and Western
setting -
Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade Of Pale promo clip joins the list that Top Of The Pops considered controversial. The list also included The Kinks' Dead End Street and The Rolling Stones' We Love You. Footage of the Vietnam war intercut with Procol Harum on stage and posing outside a stately home was too much for an early evening showing. Other clips which showed the artists(s) miming to the song could not be shown as this broke the Musician Union rule.
Alan Freeman makes most of his nickname 'Fluff' during his Pops tenure. After previously referring to Sounds Orchestral's hit as "Cast Your Wind To The Fate" he introduces The Kinks' Dave Davies as Ray Davies on an edition this year. However, one fluff he wasn't responsible for happened on 24th August 1967 when instead of the expected playback for 'The Burning of The Midnight Lamp' by The Jimi Hendrix Experience we actually heard 'The House That Jack Built' by The Alan Price Set.
Samantha Juste fails to turn up for recording for several weeks in August, leading
to speculation that she has married Monkee Mickey Dolenz and won't be returning to
her DJ desk. Although she eventually returns, it would only be for a few weeks, leaving
the show in late October to live in the USA with her new husband. Her absence would
lead to a makeover of the show. After Freeman announced her departure on the show
the producer's office was flooded with potential applicants, however producer Stewart
tells Disc "... I shall not now be using a girl on the show -
The show occasionally falls foul of its stars. Talking to Melody Maker in September
Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones claimed "Television pop is just terrible now.
Top Of The Pops is so bad. Awful. There is always that silence at the end of every
record and feeling of anti-
From October 1967 it was decided to showcase DJs from the BBC's new pop radio station
Radio 1 so Stuart Henry, Kenny Everett, Tony Blackburn (who hosts his own show on
Southern TV), Emperor Rosko, Mike Raven, Chris Denning, Mike Lennox, Keith Skues,
Pete Brady, Dave Cash, David Symonds, Ed Stewart and John Peel would take in turns
to co-
It was rumoured before Christmas that the Radio 1 DJs will be replacing the resident
hosts, but this wouldn't actually happen for another two years. Jimmy Savile commented
in Disc "It would bother me if I was off 'Top Of The Pops' -
The Pops decides to enter the spirit of the Summer of Love a few months late as the producers use a new lightning system for the two Christmas shows. The rig was designed by Mike Leonard, who usually worked with the likes of Pink Floyd.
Controversy dogged the show as Scott Walker's hit single Jacky was effectively banned.
Talking to Disc Bill Cotton Jr said "There are certain programmes on which records
like Scott Walker's 'Jacky' will not be played. To my mind some of the words are
not the sort twelve and thirteen year-
The show appeared to be a dating agency for pop stars. In 1967 alone Mickey Dolenz met Samantha Juste and married her, similarly Barry Gibb met Linda and Maurice Gibb met future wife Lulu all backstage at the show.
Fans of the show would finally get to see a complete archive edition as the Boxing
Day show, and its promotional trailer, were kept by the BBC. However, since the show
features co-
The year ends with Top Of The Pops voted Best Radio / TV Show by the readers of the New Musical Express over second placed Dee Time by some considerable margin, with Pops hosts Jimmy Savile and Tony Blackburn voted Top Disc Jockeys.
1968
Mike Leonard's psychedelic light show seems to have made it into the early shows, but by the summer a more subdued version seems to have been used.
Alan Freeman would leave the show for several months to host his own BBC pop show
All Systems Freeman, but it flopped, so he returns to the show in April. Producer
Johnnie Stewart also leaves to work on Freeman's show, and is replaced by Colin Charman
who tells Disc "The future format of 'Top Of The Pops' is still in the melting pot.
But it must be kept basically the same. We have, however, a brilliant new designer
in Mel Cornish and he will be bringing some exciting visual ideas to the show. We
hope to get a lot of pace in it." The set design expands as audience members are
now seen dancing behind one of the stages. Care it apparently taken in not playing
records that are likely to be played on BBC1's new All Systems Freeman show the following
night. The Tip For The Top and New Release spots will stay until further notice.
However, after the first edition of Freeman's show The Pops decided to drop the New
Release spot. Talking to Disc Johnnie Stewart said "We couldn't run the 'New Release'
item bearing in mind the format of Alan's show. So we have dropped it. Instead we
may have something bubbling under the Top Twenty." It's probably no co-
The chart run down at the beginning of the show is still based on the top twenty,
running in ascending order from 20-
Confirming the BBC's commitment to the show Bill Cotton Jnr tells Disc "'Top Of The
Pops' is a fantasy-
On the 1st February it would be John Peel's turn to appear on the show, co-
Pete Murray announced in February that he will be leaving the show as soon as his TV sitcom reaches the screens. He tells Melody Maker in February "I shall come off when the series of situation comedies I am in starts its run." He was referring to the show Mum's Boys. But he was back in May and continued to host the show until the end of the decade.
The media begin to take notice of the dance troupe, but a letter to Melody Maker in March suggests "Occasionally a good dancer is spotlighted, but mainly we get them twitching about like epileptic octopuses."
In April Bill Cotton Jr, head of Variety and Light Entertainment at the BBC briefly considered extending the show to fifty minutes, beginning in June, but then changed his mind. Talking to Melody Maker he said "I decided against it. One has to take into account the pop content of other programmes like Dee Time and the Billy Cotton Show." Adding ""That's all you can do with a pop show of this type. It's fast moving, very popular and we want to keep it that way."
In May the Musician's Union voted to ban session players from standing in for group members in recording sessions and on TV. The Love Affair had admitted in a TV interview that they didn't play on their own records, leading to action by the union. A BBC spokesman told the Melody Maker that "Groups appearing live on Top Of The Pops play with the studio accompanying orchestra and simulate the sound of their hit record as closely as possible. But they may record the number earlier for showing on the programme. This is permissible." There was already a no miming agreement between the show and the union.
Stuart Henry is announced as the new, regular addition to the hosting line up. Talking to Disc in May he said "I never really thought 'Top Of The Pops' would happen for me. I've heard rumours about me getting the show almost since I joined Radio 1, and they were beginning to get me down. and now it's happened I can't really believe it."
In May 1968 show a new dance troupe appeared. Pan's People had been brought in to
replace the occasionally absent GoJos, who would go on to be regular dancers on The
Val Doonican Show later in the year. Choreography would be handled by American dancer
Felicity 'Flick' Colby who would stay with the show until the dancers were disposed
of during the Michael Hurll years in the early eighties. The three founder members,
Dee Dee, Flick and Babs had been members of The Beat Girls, but left in December
1966 after turning down work in panto' in order to return home to their families.
After a despondent drunken night they decided to form their own dance troupe and
after ditching the idea of calling themselves Dionysus Darlings the idea of Pan,
the goddess of dance came to them. After working on Belgian and Dutch TV they got
the gig at the BBC. Pan's People defined Top Of The Pops for many viewers, not just
the lecherous Benny Hill stereotypes, but for girls too who would love the outfits,
much to the concern of many mothers! Colby would later admit frustration of having
chosen a record to choreograph on Friday for the following weeks' show, only to find
the record had gone down the chart a few days' later. So the routine, and even the
costumes, had to be scrapped and a new routine to another song hastily arranged.
The troupe were never contracted together for the show, signing contracts individually
and renewed every thirteen weeks. Despite the anonymity they decided to wear signature
colours wherever possible -
The show continues with it's regular presenter and Radio 1 DJ co-
On the 20th June Radio 1 DJ Stuart Henry became the first Radio One DJ to become the sole presenter that week, becoming a regular presenter from the end of July onwards. Sole presenters would be the norm from then on.
In August Johnnie Stewart claimed in a Melody Maker interview that there was interest
in an American version of the show. While acknowledging that clips of the show were
sent to Germany he also raised doubts about such a project "... so many odd things
stand in the way of deals of this kind. Some agents don't want clips of their artists
to be seen on TV. There are also problems involving copyright and the musician's
unions -
About the same time Radio One boss Robin Scott was questioned by Melody Maker regarding the lack of women DJs at the station. "Women don't take to girl deejays" he replied "We are always ready to listen to approaches from girls." This probably accounts for the lack of women presenters on the Pops, but at least it did have female disc jockeys on screen, even though they said little or nothing.
In September it won the top prize in the Pop TV Show category in the annual Melody
Maker awards. It concluded "As well as its award from the MM, the Show has also been
paid several tributes from America. For number of TV companies in the USA have expressed
interest in buying and screening the shows." When asked about the problems a show
like this can raise, especially trying to get Elvis Presley to make a contribution,
Johnnie Stewart claimed "When we have managed to make contact there has been a hang-
By the time of the Pops' 250th show on October it was pulling in around twelve million viewers a week, and all four current presenters were brought together for the occasion. Talking to the Daily Mirror Colin Charman, producer of the anniversary show, claimed "The reason for the show's success is that Top Of The Pops has always catered for a universal pop taste for the whole family. It has never gone too way out."
Again, the show was given a Christmas Day special, with two presenters playing the hits of the year, with part two on Boxing Day hosted by the other two presenters.
1969
Into its fifth anniversary and the show continues with its 'yes, it's number one, it's Top Of The Pops' intro, followed by the chart run down with the number one record and the DJ introduced by Jim Moir. The show ends with Harry Rabinowitz's 'Top Of The Pops' with the audience dancing as it has done since 1966.
The 20th of February show sees the chart extend its coverage from the top twenty to the top thirty. According to Top Pop magazine the show's producer Colin Charman "decided to enlarge the scope of the programme to use the current Top 30 of the BBC's new computerised chart." The same show saw an appearance by comedian Dick Emery whose new release was given a plug on the Pops. Over the next few years other BBC variety faces like Clive Dunn, Ronnie Corbett and Bruce Forsyth would use the show in the hope in attracting more attention to their own shows.
The Pops would on occasion either be cancelled or presented in an shortened format due to sport, elections (also held on a Thursday in Britain) or in the case of 13th March 1969 the Apollo 9 splashdown to earth, leading to a fourteen minute show, easily the shortest in the show's lifetime.
The set design now incorporated a raised platform, over by the TOTP logo for dancers, while a back projected light show was still evident.
The now regular presenting team of Savile, Murray, Freeman and Henry continued, but
Stuart Henry bows out on 27th March and on 24th April they were joined by Radio 1's
Tony Blackburn who would stay with the show until the early eighties. Talking to
Melody Maker a BBC spokesman said "For a long time, this fourth deejay spot has been
quite fluid. The idea was to introduce new faces into the show and Stuart came into
this category." However, Stuart Henry told a different story in the same article
"The BBC hasn't bothered to notify either my agent, Bunny Lewis, or me about the
change. Obviously the BBC has its reasons. The one that springs to mind is that Tony
is much prettier than me. That's indisputable. Of course, I'm sorry to be leaving
Top Of The Pops, but I do have my own eight week series coming up on Tyne Tees from
February 21." According to Melody Maker Tony Blackburn was also being lined-
It was suggested by Tom Sloan, BBC head of light entertainment while at the Montreux
television festival that there could be a Eurovision Top Of The Pops each month with
participating countries sending over their number one record via Eurovision. Sweden
had agreed to the idea, with Hans Lagerkvist, programme manager of the Swedish Broadcasting
Corporation claiming "The show would be shown each month, giving viewers the best
of European pop music". The show never happened, but for a brief period in the mid-
In June the American Federation of Musicians imposed a ban on visiting British musicians, which leads the British Musicians Union to respond with their own ban, leading to projected appearances by The Ohio Express and Paul Revere & The Raiders to be cancelled. A BBC spokesman talking to the Melody Maker stated “It is obvious that if the top five places in the in the charts were held by American groups, and they happened to be in this country and available for TV, it would be a great pity not to be able to feature them. Now, when groups appear in Britain, we will obviously not go out of our way to book them.”
Among the musicians playing in the 'Johnny Peason Orchestra' during 1969 are bass player Herbie Flowers, Barry Morgan on drums, Alan Parker on guitar and pianist Roger Coulam. They along with singers Roger Cook and Madeline Bell they would have their own hits from 1969 onwards as Blue Mink. This would on occasion mean band members would have leave the orchestra, play on their own record, then go back to the orchestra again.
October brings a problem that the Pops would have to deal with on occasion in years to come, a record at number one which had been blanket banned by the BBC, so not given any radio, or television airtime. The record in question was Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin's 'Je T'aime Moi Non Plus.' The ban was enforced due to its erotic lyrical content (despite the fact that most viewers/listeners couldn't speak French so wouldn't be offended), so an instrumental version by the Johnny Pearson Orchestra was used instead. Speaking to Melody Maker at the time Johnnie Stewart said "If it gets to number one, I'll play the instrumental cover version of the song by Sounds Nice", despite the fact that the cover version wasn't the number one record and didn't even have the same title, theirs being "Love At First Sight". "I've already made enquiries about getting them for the show, and if they're available they'll be on." Sounds Nice were in fact a group of studio musicians put together to cover the song, led by Paul Buckmaster and produced by Gus Dudgeon, who together would work later miracles for David Bowie, Carly Simon, Arrival and Elton John. Despite the success Philips Records had deleted it, handing it over to the independent Major Minor Records whose boss Philip Solomon threatened legal action if Top Of The Pops refused to play it.
BBC1 In Colour
Both the BBC and ITV had been making colour shows for several years in advance of the proposed colour television service, announced for introduction mid November 1969. The BBC had made colour test recordings in 1959, while some ITV companies had been filming shows in colour since the mid sixties specifically for the American market. As for the Pops, some colour recording had been made in 1967, but this was purely for test purposes only and was never intended for broadcast. Talking to Melody Maker in July 1969 a spokesman for Top Of The Pops talked of the move to colour in November "We shall probably go into the colour studios before that to get the feeling of it." However, problems occurred when the new colour monitors, which had to be banked in a row alongside each other, overheated and valves exploded, something that new colour TV owners at home would also have to contend with.
On Friday 14th November 1969 BBC1 and ITV both switched to colour and the Pops equipped itself with a larger studio at Television Centre which could now take an audience of three hundred. The set had been redesigned to have more room for the audience to dance. However the intended 20th November show had to make way in the schedule for the Apollo 12 lunar mission, so we had to wait until the following Thursday 27th November 1969 to see Top Of The Pops in colour for the first time. From the available evidence the opening and closing credits appear not to have changed, but they would soon be replaced.
However, the week of the first colour show brought bad news for fans of Alan Freeman and Pete Murray as it was announced that they were leaving the show. Johnnie Stewart, who had just left the show as producer told Record Mirror "Pete Murray feels he needs a change and I think Alan Freeman feels the same way." While the show's new producer Mel Cornish told Melody Maker "There are no plans at all to present any new faces, but the position will be reviewed in the new year." Freeman claimed "It wasn't a shock. I've had six very good years. One has to be philosophical about these things." However, Pete Murray claims that he was leaving the show anyway "I decided to leave some time ago" he told Record Mirror "and my idea was to finish at the end of the year. I think the Christmas programme will be a good one to bow out on." Record Mirror suggested that David Symonds and Dave Cash would take over in the new year.
The BBC announced in December 1969 that Top Of The Pops would be extended to 45 minutes
in the new year. Talking to the Melody Maker a BBC spokesman explained "The extended
time means that Top Of The Pops will now be able to draw from the Top 30 instead
of the Top 20. Instead of six or seven records being featured it will mean something
like 12. And there will now be an opportunity to include groups who are around the
32 or 42 mark in the chart, so this will give more scope for the screening of up-
Pan's People got regular credits in the Radio Times for their appearances on Lulu's
and Bobbie Gentry's shows, but not for Top Of The Pops. The first colour Christmas
show didn't use Pan's People, but the male-
TOP OF THE POPS
The 1960s