''Top Pops'', not to be confused with ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', was a British

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

newspaper that was published in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ''Top Pops'' was founded initially as a three-weekly publication by

Woodrow Wyatt Woodrow may refer to: People *Woodrow (name), a given name and a surname Places Canada *Woodrow, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community United Kingdom *Woodrow, Buckinghamshire, England *Woodrow, Cumbria, England United States *Woodrow, Color ...

in May 1967, with Marcus Davidson acting as editor. It was conceived as a circulation-booster for the provincial newspapers published by Wyatt, following the success of an insert called 'The Monkees Special', which sold over 100,000 copies and kept the printing works at

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

busy for over a month. Under Davidson's successor Colin Bostock-Smith, ''Top Pops'' moved to Fleet Street and became fortnightly in November 1967, then weekly in June 1968. It was unusual for including colour content from its first issue, but found it hard to compete with its rivals, partly because it was initially based in Banbury, not London. On 20 September 1969 the paper was rebranded ''Top Pops & Music Now'' under the then editor John Halsall and subsequently became ''Music Now'' after a staff buyout in March 1970, when former ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' editor Jim Watson took over. The newspaper ceased publication in February 1971. In 1968, Wyatt demanded that part of its content be published in numerous European languages, to showcase his support of the '

I'm Backing Britain ''I'm Backing Britain'' was a brief patriotic campaign, which flourished in early 1968 and was aimed at boosting the British economy. The campaign started spontaneously when five Surbiton secretaries volunteered to work an extra half-hour each da ...

' campaign. At all times it was printed by Papers & Publications (Printers) Ltd in Banbury,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

(owned by Wyatt). Jeff Tarry took over as editor in September 1968, but resigned in March 1969 over Wyatt's refusal to invest further funds in the paper. His successor was John Halsall, who shifted its focus onto more serious coverage of progressive and underground rock. As of issue 90 (20 September 1969), ''Top Pops'' was renamed ''Top Pops & Music Now'', shortly after which Halsall departed in October. In November Wyatt sold his interest to production manager Doug Collins and former ''Record Mirror'' editor Jim Watson, who renamed it plain ''Music Now'' as of the 21 March 1970 issue. For the 11 months of its existence, ''Music Now'' carved out a vital niche in the British music press, offering exclusive interviews / photo spreads with stars such as

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

, Jethro Tull,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

and

Free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procur ...

(almost none of which have been drawn on since) as well as detailed feature coverage of an array of obscure bands (

Mighty Baby Mighty Baby were an English band formed in January 1969 from the ashes of The Action. They released two albums, ''Mighty Baby'' (which appeared in December 1969, but had been recorded almost a year earlier) and ''A Jug of Love'' (October 1971 ...

The Idle Race ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, Trees,

Orange Bicycle Orange Bicycle was an English psychedelic pop band, which existed between 1967 and 1971. The band played a style influenced by The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and the hippie counter culture. Previously, they acted as support, and ...

) and a panoply of interesting reviews and adverts. Having long suffered from financial problems, it ceased publication as of issue 50 (21 February 1970), when the postal strike hit it hard. Its circulation at this time was reported to be 20,000.

References

1967 establishments in the United Kingdom 1971 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Music magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Biweekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1967 Magazines disestablished in 1971 {{UK-culture-mag-stub

See also

References