TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

1990

A parade of Radio One DJs were still employed as hosts, but they were now expected to introduce an ever-increasing conga line of one hit wonder dance acts, all offering up a similar sounding groove, while the boy band bubble will still bouncing along with the likes of Bros, Halo James and the first American pop sensation since Madonna, New Kids On The Block, but even their time on Planet Pop was short lived.

The year gets off to a bad start with only two acts appearing in the studio for the first show, and so it continues with a mass of promo clips, some of which are repeated quickly, which suggests booking acts to appear was now an issue. An over-abundance of dance acts and a sub's bench of rappers was turning the show into The Hitman and Her. But if the acts couldn't supply their own dancers on stage they would be provided by the show.

The 20th December 1990 show only contained one new in the studio clip. Plainly saving their money for the Christmas show.

The show remained as was, but another shake up was due, actually overdue.

1991

TOTP heads towards the Filofax and male ponytail era. The monthly album chart is still present, but the top 40 rundown would abandon records sliding downwards.

In April Nicky Campbell introduced Blur, seemingly yet another post-baggy combo, but whose intuition to evolve meant they would be there for years beyond their expected sell-by date. However, the almost immeasurable number of anonymous dance hits by DJs continue to clog up the chart, while nearly a third of the year would see the same single resident at number one.

Producer Paul Ciani had to leave the show due to illness, so previous occupant Michael Hurll was brought back to fill the gap until Stanley Appel was hired. The show struggled to find a permanent studio at the Television Centre, so Appel moved the show to BBC's Elstree studios in October. To celebrate the move a new opening sequence and a new theme, Get Out Of That were commissioned. The show will now include the USA top ten, but this idea would be dropped soon after. Artists were asked to sing live, against their better judgement in many cases, but some still opt out and lip synch'. The Breakers promo clip excerpts are still present, as are album chart tracks, but again, it's a feature that didn't last. Unfortunately the dry ice machine, along with its owner Roger, was packed away and also taken to Elstree. Despite the move most acts still have the usual set designs, but specially designed sets for some artists would slowly begin to appear, similar to the kind that Thank Your Lucky Stars used to have in the mid-sixties. There are now two large stages with foldback monitors at the front, giving an almost concert like feel to some of the performances, an idea that BBC2's Later would use. Radio One DJs were dropped in favour of relatively unknown presenters hired via an advert in The Stage weekly paper, along with the occasional guest host, but most of the new faces had been axed within a year. Also dropped is the top forty chart run down, leaving it to the more relevant top ten, but the full chart would be reinstated later. Promo clips which they had an 'Exclusive' on were trumpeted in order to belittle The Chart Show, ITV's only proper pop contender now that The Roxy had gone.

The audience were sometimes brought in from the streets of Elstree in order to make the studio look a little less bare. Clips sent via satellite from around the world were now included, harking back to the early days of the show when they had clips sent from as far as Australia.

1991's changes would later be referred to as 'year zero' by the show's fans.

1992

Another year brings in further set of minor tweaks which any viewer could be forgiven for thinking was either a lack of confidence or the result of a seemingly limitless budget. The set design becomes more dramatic with stars on the black background, concert quality lighting, yet more dry ice and drapes, lots of drapes. The big stage comes in handy for some of the bands who would like to think they could fill arenas. However, plainly money has been saved hiring new presenters, some of them sounding scared and frighteningly amateur. Occasional guest celebrity co-presenters are invited on to make a nuisance of themselves, with Bob Geldof being the most sarcastic and creepy. Anonymous dancers were still employed to bop around on the spot for dance tracks.

Some in studio performances have an 'Exclusive' designation, like the promo clips, but since there was no other show like it on TV at the time, it seems a little ludicrous and boastful.

In June Take That finally have their first hit and make The Pops their hangout for the next few years, while in October an archive spot (Vintage TOTP) was introduced and hastily disposed of, but it would be back.

The 1500th show in November has the host quoting impressive statistics about the show between the songs, one is that the show has had 57 presenters since the beginning. But what he doesn't mention is that the majority of those had been in the past five years.

The Christmas shows' set design becomes the norm from now on with all the acts playing in what looks like a west end department store window. The show now falls to about 7 million viewers.

1993

The year that Take That became the biggest thing since T Rex and records were again selling like it was the seventies. Post-rave dance, Ibiza grooves, Bangra, Dancehall and Reggae took up residence on the show in the mid-nineties, while British soul continued to evolve, not merely copying their Stateside counterparts.

Radio One DJs were still hosting the show, but radical changes at the station would see them disappear over the next year. Stanley Appel was still the producer and invited David Essex, Barry Manilow and Cilla Black among others to appear, to a mostly quizzical audience. There also seems to be a team of about six, mostly female dancers who would be used on a few songs each week. Although not a return to the Pan's People / Legs and Co era you can tell someone who remembers the show's heritage is in charge.

The set designs became more elaborate, occasionally featuring roaring flames on the sides of the stage with The Waterboys and Take That among those keeping an eye out for extinguishers, while live vocals gave some the opportunity to do a Jimmy Pursey and namecheck Top Of The Pops during the song. Many of the songs feature choreographed dance routines and the starry curtains were regularly put to good use. The chart rundown now doesn't bother to mention whether each song was going up or down.

Anonymous dance acts were still buzzing around like mosquitos, and the almost ruinous appearance of 1970s disco remakes and re-mixes in the first half of the year has the audience pleading for real-time fast forward. A new sense of identity was required to save pop music and the show.

1994

The show turns thirty and a new executive producer would be appointed in February. Former Radio One producer Rik Blaxill would see the show through the Britpop years and see not just the return of Radio One DJs, with Simon Mayo claiming the show "is back in bed with Radio One again", but comedians and actors guest hosting, with unfunny, smug, or just plain awful results. Blaxill's results were also mixed, as the show's ratings continue to fall, at one point to 4.6 million. However they begin to pick up to by the end of the year with a more solid 7.6 million. The Breakers section survived for the first few months before being dropped again.

Many acts seemed to prefer to sing live and the much improved stereo sound mix over the past few years would accommodates this, alongside a new and much louder PA system which got everyone dancing for the first time since the seventies, while the travelogue nature of the show continues with specially recorded clips coming in from around the world. Rampant pyromania is still evident, while a large video screen is now seen at the back of one stage. A dance troupe of about six women continue appear, the first since the 'cheerleaders' of the early eighties, but they, nor their choreographer, are ever credited.

This year also sees the launch of companion show, TOTP2 on BBC2, hosted by Johnnie Walker, and to promote it an archive clip would be shown at the end of each weeks' show. In June a stand-by show The Exclusive Mix was made, but not shown.

An alternate universe awaited the show in August when Malcolm McLaren was invited to host, bringing along with him four mysterious looking women in black evening dress. McLaren decided that Jacques Derrida would be an appropriate presentational spin on the show guaranteeing that this was an experiment that would never be repeated. In fact, the show has never been repeated as the BBC longer have a broadcast quality copy of the show. The idea was to make this edition look like it was shot on film, so special software was employed to give it a more 30's Hollywood look, possibly shot in 14:9 ratio. A studio tape from the edition has a floor manager/warm up man geeing up the audience, like Chris Hill at a 1978 Caister disco, requesting them to be more lively, and in a nod the the early 1970 re-boot bribery was afoot, "we're still looking for the best dancer in the house tonight 'cause their gonna get ten top CDs." McLaren is plainly in trouble as a visible script is at his side.

Predictions for new entries in next week's chart are played on a scrolling text bar at the bottom of the screen during the number one single, presumably they are referencing entries in the mid-week chart, published on Tuesdays.

The Christmas Day show features a genuine exclusive however. For the first time a chart is announced on Christmas Day which gives whoever was on presenting duties the chance to say "And now for the first time, TOTP can announce that the Christmas number one is..." Producer Ric Blaxill has the presenters record six or seven alternate versions announcing potential number ones. Blaxill tells Music Week "I should get the chart results through by around 11 am on Christmas morning and I'll phone Television Centre and tell them which version to use." If, however he's caught out by a surprise number one then "I'll fly like an eagle to the studio and have three hours to film something else."

1995

The celebrity presenters chosen were still very much a hit and miss bunch, with styles ranging from distain to embarrassing over-enthusiasm, but the shows' usual supermarket for presenters Radio One was in a mess presenter wise at the time.

The 2nd February show sees yet another format launch, but this time the acts don't have to perform live, but many would continue to do so if only to prove a point. The show temporarily moves back to Television Centre while the new set is built at Elstree ready for the 2nd February re-boot. A new lozenge shaped TOTP logo and graphics set is designed by BBC in-house designer Paula Williams, while Vince Clark of Erasure provides the shows' new theme 'Red Hot Pop'. Radio One DJs and the odd celebrity continue to host the show, each given the show's golden microphone. Performers still bring visual props, like dancers and circus performers, while satellite clips from around the world continue to be shown.

Top Of The Pops launches a weekly magazine on 22nd February edited by Peter Lorraine who had previously worked on Just Seventeen magazine. It was initially intended to be a one-off, but was given an extension, as long as they wouldn't waste time competing with Smash Hits. But in the end they shouldn't have worried as Smash Hits wasn't long for this world anyway. TOTP magazine had access to all the stars that appeared on the show, often without PR people buzzing around them. In May the brand extends to records as a compilation tie-in with Sony results in a chart-topping double album. By this time the show is reaching more than 8 million viewers.

The show continued to persuade the world's biggest stars to make a personal appearance, even Celine Dion broke away from her honeymoon to show up at Elstree, while many stars would tape a special greeting for the show's intro. Expecting all the big stars, particularly from America, to appear on the show would have been unthinkable until recently, but such was the respect, and international impact the show was now having. By 1995 the Internet was still a new thing and had the show continued beyond 2006 then maybe it would have been even more internationally recognised, in the same way as The Graham Norton Show is at time of writing.

The Christmas Day show proves why the show was just about the best when it comes to presenting pop on TV. It shouldn't be difficult. The "build it and they will come" quote was entirely applicable for The Pops. However, 1995 was probably the last truly great year for pop.

1996

14th June 1996 saw the show move to Fridays, initially because of Euro 96 football and the Olympics. It was announced to the music press that the move would actually be for two months' only, but the show ended up taking permanent residence.

In an attempt to attract viewers from Jools Holland's Later Oasis and Paul Weller were invited to play two songs live on their respective editions. Talking to Music Week producer Rik Blaxill claimed "Normally people play to backing tracks or are just singing live. I can't have a programme full of live stages, but some artists can't get to grips with playing to backing tracks and Paul Weller wanted to play live. Once it's established, I'm sure there won't be any shortage of bands wanting to play live."

In the summer the show inaugurated a short-lived Meet and Greet contest in which a contest winner would meet a pop star the following week.

On 6th September 1996 an archive spot is included which is intended to co-inside with the advert break in Coronation Street, hoping that adults will flip over to BBC1 and maybe stay there. It didn't work, and besides, the clip took up time which should have been afforded for new hits, leading to resentment. A previous archive spot at the end of the show had been temporarily employed to promote TOTP2 on BBC2.

The move to a different day provokes a promotional campaign of trails across the BBC to remind existing, and potential new viewers, of the move, but despite the promotion fans started missing the show. The move was a terrible mistake.

Britpop was still dominant, but the rot had begun to set in.

1997

It was time for another change, and this time ex-Tube alumnus Chris Cowey takes over as producer. Trevor Dann had poached Cowey and under his influence the show takes on a White Room vibe. The Pops was known world-wide, so it was Cowey's intention to sell the show internationally and make Top Of The Pops a brand. About six months later the show was in a hundred territories, which made it more attractive to the bigger names who would fly into London for the day and shoot a few songs which would then be staggered over the next few months. Cowey effectively banned promo clips, which anyone could watch on any other show or platform. Aware that the Internet was now a reality, promo clips could be seen just about anywhere, even in pre-You Tube days.

He had brought the viewership up from about two million a week to about five and a half million. He also broadcast a longer Saturday night repeat. The show now included eight songs per show, instead of the six or seven before, cutting out a lot of between song chat.

A new set design saw bigger stages, using more of the studio space, including the studio floor which hadn't really been used since the Michael Hurll days in the early eighties. Cowey had tried to bring back the spirit of Ready Steady Go with the audience more engaged with the artists.

The live sound also improved with Cowey bringing in three, twenty-four track mixers.

It must have been gratifying that the show still had pulling power. In one edition in July they had Oasis in the studio, plus exclusive live clips of Michael Jackson and U2, the three biggest acts in the world at the time on one show.

1998

A new remixed version of Whole Lotta Love was introduced as the new theme, which is lucky as the show finally played host to Page and Plant from Led Zeppelin who, back in the seventies, vowed never to appear on the show.

The sheer mass of A-listers who were willing to appear on the show was frankly astounding, with Madonna, Page and Plant, Mariah Carey, Cher and Jay-Z all turning up at Elstree. The legend of Mariah Carey demanding white kittens backstage was a story invented by the show's team in order to gain maximum tabloid exposure for the show. However, Madonna had demanded (and got) a whole corridor of rooms cordoned off for her appearance.

Producer Cowey hired more female presenters.

1999

In the late nineties the then USA-led music industry makes the greatest single mistake in its recent history and the one that would set the agenda for its own demise. Persuading customers to buy albums rather than singles had been a successful tactic in the seventies. Peter Frampton sold more albums than singles in the Comes Alive era, but single releases were the way that many previous non-Frampton fans got into the album, so singles were duly issued and many of the single buyers later went on to buy the album as well, keeping it top of the USA album charts for many weeks and accounting for the fourteen million sales at the time. The same would also happen for Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and others. The practice of releasing the first single a month ahead of the album meant that the single would be the only way you could access anything from the new album for the first month and when the album was finally released further singles would be released, mostly less successful, but a worthwhile venture as it kept those songs on the radio. This was fine for traditional rock acts, but it wouldn't work for pop. For many pop acts albums sales were some kind of bonus to more prominent single sales. However by the late nineties the industry had had enough of singles and wanted even devoted pop fans only to buy the album, and expensive an one at that, hiking prices up to sometimes as much as $18 a time. With no singles sales alternative they had no option but to buy the album. That was until Napster filled the void.

Napster became the singles market in the USA for about eighteen months, and the major labels were analysing its statistics to see who was popular and who to dump. Britain didn't really find Napster as tempting as its singles market was still healthy due to dance music chart hyping, in many cases targeting certain record stores with cheap CD singles in order to get a chart placing. The dance music market in Britain was something that America didn't have or understand and was almost exclusively singles based, so to wipe that away would be a mistake. Also the Pete Waterman produced Steps became Britain's biggest selling singles act for many years, and without singles there would be no pop and without pop there would be no Top Of The Pops. But an era without singles would be something that the show would have to contend with just before its demise.

TOP OF THE POPS

The 1990s