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''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British

music chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...

television programme, made by the

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and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its history, it was broadcast on Thursday evenings on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

. Each show consisted of performances of some of the week's best-selling

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

records, usually excluding any tracks moving down the chart, including a rundown of that week's singles chart. This was originally the Top 20, though this varied throughout the show's history. The Top 30 was used from 1969, and the Top 40 from 1984.

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop music, p ...

's "

I Only Want to Be with You "I Only Want to Be with You" is a song written by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. The debut solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield under her long-time producer Johnny Franz, "I Only Want to Be with You" peaked at number 4 on th ...

" was the first song featured on ''TOTP'', while

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

were the first band to perform, with "

I Wanna Be Your Man "I Wanna Be Your Man" is a Lennon–McCartney-penned song first recorded and released as a single by the Rolling Stones, and then recorded by the Beatles. The song was primarily written by Paul McCartney, and finished by Lennon and McCartney in ...

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...

were the last act to play live on the weekly show when they performed their single "

Chasing Cars "Chasing Cars" is a song by Northern Irish-Scottish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album, ''Eyes Open'' (2006). It was released on 6 June 2006, in the United States and 24 July ...

". Special editions were broadcast 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

Christmas number one In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...

. Although the weekly show was cancelled in 2006, the Christmas special continued up until its axing in 2022. 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 ''Top of the Pops 2'' (also known as ''TOTP2'') is a British television music show broadcast on BBC Two showing archive footage from the long-running ''Top of the Pops'' show, some dating back to the 1960s when the programme first aired on Britis ...

'', which began in 1994 and features vintage performances from the ''Top of the Pops'' archives. Though ''TOTP2'' ceased producing new episodes since 2017, repeats of older episodes are still shown. The

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

states that "performing on the show was considered an honour, and it pulled in just about every major player". The show has seen seminal performances over its history. The March 1971 appearance of T. Rex frontman

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 ...

wearing glitter and satins as he performed " Hot Love" is often seen as the inception of

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

, and

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 ...

's performance of "

Starman ''StarMan'' is a 1996 fantasy novel by Australian writer Sara Douglass. It follows the second book in the series, '' Enchanter'', with Axis marching north with his army to confront a formidable enemy. Background ''StarMan'' was first published ...

" inspired future musicians. In the 1990s, the show's format was sold to several foreign broadcasters in the form of a franchise package, and at one point various versions of the show were shown in more than 120 countries. Editions of the programme from 1976 onwards started being repeated on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

in 2011 and are aired on most Friday evenings – as of January 2023 the repeat run has reached 1994. Episodes featuring disgraced

presenters A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...

and

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...

such as

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...

Dave Lee Travis David Patrick Griffin (born 25 May 1945), known professionally as Dave Lee Travis, is an English disc jockey, radio presenter and television presenter. Travis began his broadcasting career on the pirate radio station Radio Caroline in 1965. He ...

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

, and

Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), best known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved success during the glam rock era of the 1970s and 1980s, and his career ended after he w ...

are no longer repeated.

History

Johnnie Stewart Lorn Alastair "Johnnie" Stewart (7 November 1917 – 29 April 2005) was a British television producer who worked for the BBC, noted mostly for his role in creating the long-running music programme ''Top of the Pops''. Early life and career Born ...

devised the rules which governed how the show would operate: the programme would always end with the number one record, which was the only record that could appear in consecutive weeks. The show would include the highest new entry and (if not featured in the previous week) the highest climber on the charts, and omit any song going down in the chart.(2005). A record would not appear twice until it had made the Top 30
"Johnnie Stewart Television producer who put Top Of The Pops on top"
. ''The Guardian'', 6 May 2005 Tracks could be featured in consecutive weeks in different formats. For example, if a song was played over the chart countdown or the closing credits, then it was acceptable for the act to appear in the studio the following week. These rules were sometimes interpreted flexibly and were more formally relaxed from 1997 when records descending the charts were featured more regularly, possibly as a response to the changing nature of the Top 40 (in the late 1990s and early 2000s climbers in the charts were a rarity, with almost all singles peaking at their debut position). When the programme's format changed in November 2003, it concentrated increasingly on the top 10. Later, during the BBC Two era, the top 20 was regarded as the main cut-off point, with the exception made for up and coming bands below the top 20. Singles from below the top 40 (within the top 75) were shown if the band were up and coming or had a strong selling album. If a single being performed was below the top 40, just the words "New Entry" were shown and not the chart position. The show was originally intended to run for only a few programmes but lasted over 42 years, reaching landmark episodes of 500, 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000 in the years 1973, 1983, 1992 and 2002 respectively.

The first show

''Top of the Pops'' was first broadcast on Wednesday, 1January 1964 at 6:35 pm. It was produced in Studio A at

Dickenson Road Studios Dickenson Road Studios was a film and television studio in Rusholme, Manchester, in North-West England. It was originally set up in 1947 in a former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel by the film production company Mancunian Films and was acquired by B ...

Rusholme Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, England, two miles south of the city centre. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorlton-on-Medlock to the north, Victoria Park and Longsight to the east, F ...

, Manchester. The first show was presented by

, with a brief link to

Alan Freeman Alan Leslie Freeman, MBE (6 July 1927 – 27 November 2006), nicknamed "Fluff", was an Australian-born British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years, best known for presenting ''Pick of the Pops'' from 1961 to 200 ...

in London to preview the following week's programme, which featured (in order)

with "

the Dave Clark Five The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark served as the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten sin ...

with "

Glad All Over "Glad All Over" is a song written by Dave Clark and Mike Smith and recorded by The Dave Clark Five. Overview "Glad All Over" featured Smith leading unison group vocals, often in call and response style, a saxophone line used not for solo decor ...

the Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke (singer), Allan Clarke and Graham ...

with "

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tri ...

the Swinging Blue Jeans The Swinging Blue Jeans are a four-piece 1960s British Merseybeat band, best known for their hit singles with the HMV label: " Hippy Hippy Shake", " Good Golly Miss Molly", and " You're No Good", issued in 1964. Subsequent singles released tha ...

with "

Hippy Hippy Shake "Hippy Hippy Shake" is a song written and recorded by Chan Romero in 1959. That same year, it reached No. 3 in Australia. Romero was 17 years old when he wrote the song. Personnel * Chan Romero – guitar, vocals * Barney Kessel – rhythm gui ...

" and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

with "

I Want to Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded on 17 October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment. With advance orders ...

", that week's number one. Throughout its history, the programme proper always (with very few exceptions) finished with the best-selling single of the week, although there often was a separate play-out track over the end credits.

1960s and 1970s

Later in 1964, the broadcast time was moved to one hour later, at 7:35 pm, and the show moved from Wednesdays to what became its regular Thursday slot. Additionally its length was extended by 5minutes to 30 minutes. For the first three years

, David Jacobs, Pete Murray and

rotated presenting duties, with the following week's presenter also appearing at the end of each show, although this practice ceased from October 1964 onwards. Neville Wortman filled in as director/producer on Johnnie Stewart's holiday break. In the first few editions, Denise Sampey was the "disc girl", who would be seen to put the record on a turntable before the next act played their track. However, a Mancunian model,

Samantha Juste Samantha Juste (born Sandra Slater; 31 May 1944 – 5 February 2014) was a British model and television presenter who appeared in the mid-1960s as the "disc girl" on the BBC television programme ''Top of the Pops''. In 1968, she married Micky D ...

, became the regular disc girl after a few episodes, a role she performed until 1967. Initially acts performing on the show would

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...

(lip-sync) to the commercially released record, but in 1966 after discussions with the Musicians' Union, miming was banned. After a few weeks during which some bands' attempts to play as well as on their records were somewhat lacking, a compromise was reached whereby a specially recorded

backing track A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live music ...

was permitted, as long as all the musicians on the track were present in the studio. As a result, Stewart hired

Johnny Pearson John Valmore Pearson (18 June 1925 – 20 March 2011) was a British composer, orchestra leader and pianist. He led the ''Top of the Pops'' orchestra for sixteen years, wrote a catalogue of library music, and had many of his pieces used as the ...

to conduct an in-studio orchestra to provide musical backing on select performances, beginning with the 4 August 1966 edition. Later, vocal group

The Ladybirds The Ladybirds were a British female vocal harmony trio, most famous for their appearances on '' The Benny Hill Show''. They participated in over 60 episodes between 1968 and 1991. In addition, they were long-standing backing singers to many e ...

began providing vocal backing with the orchestra. With the birth of BBC Radio 1 in 1967, new Radio1 DJs were added to the roster – Stuart Henry,

Emperor Rosko Michael Joseph Pasternak (born 26 December 1942), known by his stage name Emperor Rosko, is an American presenter of rock music programmes, most widely known for his shows on Radio Caroline and BBC Radio 1 in the UK in the 1960s and early 1970s. ...

Simon Dee Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd (28 July 1935 – 29 August 2009), better known by his stage name Simon Dee, was a British television interviewer and radio disc jockey who hosted a twice-weekly BBC TV chat show, ''Dee Time'', in the late 1960s. Af ...

and

Kenny Everett Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English comedian, radio disc jockey and television presenter. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the fi ...

. Local photographer

Harry Goodwin Harry Goodwin (21 July 1924 – 23 September 2013) was a British photographer, known for his images of pop musicians and sports personalities. He was the resident photographer of the BBC Television programme ''Top of the Pops'' from its incept ...

was hired to provide shots of non-appearing artists, and also to provide backdrops for the chart run-down. He continued in the role until 1973. After two years at the Manchester Dickenson Road Studios, the show moved to London (considered to be better located for bands to appear), initially for six months at

BBC TV Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...

Studio2 and then to the larger Studio G at BBC

Lime Grove Studios Lime Grove Studios was a film, and later television, studio complex in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The complex was built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915. It was situated in Lime Grove, a residential street in Shepherd's Bush, and ...

in mid-1966 to provide space for the Top of the Pops Orchestra, which was introduced at this time to provide live instrumentation on some performances (previously, acts had generally mimed to the records). In November 1969, with the introduction of colour, the show moved to

, where it stayed until 1991, when it moved to

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

Studio C. For a while in the early 1970s, non-chart songs were played on a more regular basis, to reflect the perceived growing importance of album sales; there was an album slot featuring three songs from a new LP, as well as a ''New Release'' spot and a feature of a new act, dubbed ''Tip for the Top''. These features were dropped after a while, although the programme continued to feature new releases on a regular basis for the rest of the decade. During its heyday, it attracted 15 million viewers each week. The peak TV audience of 19 million was recorded in 1979, during the ITV strike, with only BBC1 and BBC2 on air.

''Christmas Top of the Pops''

A year-end Christmas show featuring a review of the year's biggest hits was inaugurated on 24 December 1964, and has continued every year since. From 1965 onward, the special edition was broadcast on Christmas Day (although not in 1966) and from the same year, a second edition was broadcast in the days after Christmas, varying depending on the schedule, but initially regularly on 26 December. The first was shown on 26 December 1965. In 1973, there was just one show, airing on Christmas Day. In place of the traditional second show, Jimmy Savile hosted a look back at the first 10 years of ''TOTP'', broadcast on 27 December. In 1975, the first of the two shows was broadcast prior to Christmas Day, airing on 23 December, followed by the traditional Christmas Day show two days later. The 1978 Christmas Day show was disrupted due to industrial action at the BBC, requiring a change in format to the broadcast. The first show, due to be screened on 21 December, was not shown at all because BBC1 was off the air. For Christmas Day, Noel Edmonds (presenting his last ever edition of ''TOTP'') hosted the show from the 'TOTP Production Office' with clips taken from various editions of the show broadcast during the year and new studio footage performed without an audience. The format was slightly tweaked for the Christmas Day edition in 1981, with the Radio1 DJs choosing their favourite tracks of the year and the following edition on 31 December featuring the year's number1 hits. The second programme was discontinued after 1984.

1980s

The year 1980 marked major production changes to ''Top of the Pops'' and a hiatus forced by industrial action. Steve Wright made his presenting debut on 7 February 1980. Towards the end of February 1980, facing a £40 million budget deficit, the BBC laid off five orchestras as part of £130 million in cuts. The budget cuts led to a Musicians' Union strike that suspended operations of all 11 BBC orchestras and performances of live music on the BBC; ''Top of the Pops'' went out of production between 29 May and 7 August 1980. During the Musicians' Union strike, BBC1 showed repeats of ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...

'' in the regular ''Top of the Pops'' Thursday night time slot. Following the strike, Nash was replaced as executive producer by

Michael Hurll Michael Hurll (7 October 1936 – 18 September 2012) was a British television producer who specialized in the comedy and light entertainment genres. He produced many British TV shows including ''The Two Ronnies'', ''Top of the Pops ''Top of ...

, who introduced more of a "party" atmosphere to the show, with performances often accompanied by balloons and cheerleaders, and more audible audience noise and cheering. Hurll also laid off the orchestra, as the Musicians' Union was loosening enforcement of the 1966 miming ban. Guest co-presenters and a music news feature were introduced for a short while, but had ceased by the end of 1980. The chart rundown was split into three sections in the middle of the programme, with the final Top 10 section initially featuring clips of the songs' videos, although this became rarer over the next few years. An occasional feature showing the American music scene with

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

was introduced in November 1981, and ran every few weeks until February 1985. In January 1985, a ''Breakers'' section, featuring short video clips of new tracks in the lower end of the Top 40, was introduced, and this continued for most weeks until March 1994. Although the programme had been broadcast live in its early editions, it had been recorded on the day before transmission for many years. However, from May 1981, the show was sometimes broadcast live for a few editions each year, and this practice continued on an occasional basis (often in the week of a bank holiday, when the release of the new chart was delayed, and for some special editions) for the rest of the decade. The programme moved in September 1985 to a new regular half-hour timeslot of 7 pm on Thursdays, where it would remain until June 1996. The end of 1988 was marked by a special 70-minute edition of the show broadcast on 31 December 1988, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first show. The pre-recorded programme featured the return of the original four presenters (Savile, Freeman, Murray and Jacobs) as well as numerous presenters from the show's history, anchored by

Paul Gambaccini Paul Matthew Gambaccini (born April 2, 1949) is an American-British radio and television presenter and author in the United Kingdom. He has dual United States and British nationality, having become a British citizen in 2005. Known as "The Grea ...

and

Mike Read Michael David Kenneth Read (born 1 March 1947) is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter. Read has been a broadcaster since 1976, best known for having been a DJ with BBC Radio 1, and television host for musi ...

. Numerous clips from the history of the show were included in between acts performing in the studio, which included

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

, Engelbert Humperdinck,

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

the Four Tops ''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 ...

David Essex David Essex (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. Since the 1970s, he has attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. Internationally, Essex had the most ...

Mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

Shakin' Stevens Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s. His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, althoug ...

the Tremeloes The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with "Do You Love Me". After Poole's departu ...

and from the very first edition,

Sandie Shaw Sandie may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Sandie Clair (born 1988), French professional racing cyclist * Sandie Fitzgibbon, Irish former camogie player * Sandie Jones (1950/1951–2019), Irish singer * Sandie Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker (187 ...

the Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo ...

and

Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish soft rock band formed in 1982. They scored a number of hits in the UK charts and around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. They are best known for their 1994 cover of The Troggs' 1960s hit " Love Is All Around", which ...

were billed in the ''Radio Times'' to appear, but none featured in the show other than Shaw in compilation clips. Paul Ciani took over as producer in 1988. The following year, in an attempt to fit more songs in the allocated half-hour, he restricted the duration of studio performances to three minutes, and videos to two minutes, a practice which was largely continued until May 1997. In July 1990, he introduced a rundown of the Top5 albums, which continued on a monthly basis until May 1991. Ciani had to step down due to illness in 1991, when Hurll returned as producer to cover for two months (and again for a brief time as holiday cover in 1992).

1991: 'Year Zero' revamp

From 1967, the show had become closely associated with the BBC radio station Radio 1, usually being presented by DJs from the station, and between 1988 and 1991 the programme was simulcast on the radio station in FM stereo (that is, until BBC's launch of

NICAM Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex (NICAM) is an early form of lossy compression for digital audio. It was originally developed in the early 1970s for point-to-point links within broadcasting networks.Croll, M.G., Osborne, D.W. and Spi ...

stereo for TV made such simulcasts redundant). However, during the last few years of the 1980s the association became less close, and was severed completely (although not permanently) in a radical shake-up known as the 'Year Zero' revamp. Following a fall in viewing figures and a general perception that the show had become 'uncool' (acts like

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

had refused to appear in the show in previous years), a radical new format was introduced by incoming executive producer Stanley Appel (who had worked on the programme since 1966 as cameraman, production assistant, director and stand-in producer) in October 1991, in which the Radio1 DJs were replaced by a team of relative unknowns, such as Claudia Simon and Tony Dortie who had previously worked for

Children's BBC BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC (short for Chil ...

, 17-year-old local radio DJ Mark Franklin, Steve Anderson, Adrian Rose and Elayne Smith, who was replaced by

Femi Oke Femi Oke ( ; born 30 June 1966) is a British television presenter and journalist. Early life and education Femi Oke was born in London, England, to Nigerian parents of the Yoruba ethnic group. She is a graduate of Birmingham University, where ...

in 1992. A brand new theme tune ("Now Get Out of That"), title sequence and logo were introduced, and the entire programme moved from

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, London, White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for ...

in London to

BBC Elstree Centre The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Boreh ...

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

. The new presenting team would take turns hosting (initially usually in pairs but sometimes solo), and would often introduce acts in an out-of-vision voiceover over the song's instrumental introduction. They would sometimes even conduct short informal interviews with the performers, and initially the Top 10 countdown was run without any voiceover. Rules relating to performance were also altered meaning acts had to sing live as opposed to the backing tracks for instruments and mimed vocals for which the show was known. To incorporate a shift towards USA artists, more use was made of out-of-studio performances, with acts in America able to transmit their song to the ''Top of the Pops'' audience "via satellite". These changes were widely unpopular and much of the presenting team were axed within a year, leaving the show hosted solely by Dortie and Franklin (apart from the Christmas Day editions, when both presenters appeared) from October 1992, on a week-by-week rotation.

1994–1997

By 1994, much of the 'Year Zero' revamp was quickly undone and the arrival of

Ric Blaxill Richard Eric Blaxill (born 19 July 1962) is a British radio and TV music producer and music programming director. Early life Career Radio 1 From 1988 to 1994, he was producer/senior producer at BBC Radio 1. Top of the Pops From 1994 to 1997, ...

as producer in February 1994 signalled a return to presentation from established Radio1 DJs

Simon Mayo Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo (born 21 September 1958) is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022. Mayo has presented across three BBC stations for extended periods. From 1986 to 2001 he worked for Radio ...

Mark Goodier Mark Goodier (born 9 June 1961) is a British radio disc jockey best known for his time on BBC Radio 1 between 1987 and 2002. He had two spells presenting the station's Top 40 singles chart, from 1990 to 1992 and from 1995 until 2002. He also h ...

Nicky Campbell Nicholas Andrew Argyll Campbell, OBE (born Nicholas Lackey, 10 April 1961) is a Scottish broadcaster and journalist. He has worked in television and radio since 1981 and as a network presenter with BBC Radio since 1987. Early life Campbell wa ...

and

Bruno Brookes Trevor Neil "Bruno" Brookes (born 1959 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is an English former radio presenter who became prominent on British radio in the 1980s. He was CEO of in-store radio company Immedia from 2000–2020. Early life and care ...

. Blaxill expanded the use of "via satellite" performances, taking the acts out of studios and concert halls and setting them against landmark backdrops. As a consequence,

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

performed ''Always'' from

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

and

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

beamed in '' Think Twice'' from Miami Beach. The last remnants of the Year Zero revamp were replaced in 1995, when a new title sequence, logo and theme tune were introduced (the logo having first been introduced on the new programme ''

'' some months previously), coinciding with the introduction of a new set. Blaxill also increasingly experimented with handing presenting duties to celebrities, commonly contemporary comedians and pop stars who were not in the charts at that time. In an attempt to keep the links between acts as fresh as the performances themselves, the so-called "golden mic" was used by, amongst others,

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

Des Lynam Desmond Michael Lynam, (born 17 September 1942) is an Irish-born television and radio presenter. In a broadcasting career spanning more than forty years, he has hosted television coverage of many of the world's major sporting events, presentin ...

Chris Eubank Christopher Livingstone Eubank (born 8 August 1966) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1998. He held the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles between 1990 and 1995, and is ranked by BoxRec as the thir ...

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

Harry Hill Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an off-beat, energetic performan ...

Jack Dee James Andrew Innes Dee (born 24 September 1961), known professionally as Jack Dee, is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter and writer known for his sarcasm, irony and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom ''Lead Balloon'' ...

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, deadpan delivery, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall. Lee b ...

and

Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer, whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the lead ...

. Radio1 DJs still presented occasionally, including

Lisa I'Anson Lisa I'Anson (born 31 May 1965) is a British radio presenter, television presenter, and VJ. Career I'Anson first started as a broadcaster on the then pirate radio station Kiss FM, and through to its legal licence, presenting the magazine sho ...

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music. Early life He attended The Ramsey Academy ...

Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...

and Chris Evans. ''TOTP'' was traditionally shown on a Thursday night, but was moved to a Friday starting on 14 June 1996, originally at 7 pm, but then shifted to 7.30 pm, a change which placed the programme up against the soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. This began a major decline in audience figures as fans were forced to choose between ''Top of the Pops'' and an episode of the soap.

1997–2003

In 1997, incoming producer Chris Cowey phased out the use of celebrities and established a rotating team (similar to the 1991 revamp, although much more warmly received) of former presenters of youth music magazine ''

The O-Zone ''The O-Zone'' is a weekly music magazine show broadcast on BBC from 1989 to 2000 made by BBC Children's Presentation. The first series was presented by Andy Crane on BBC One as a ten-minute filler each weekday morning during the summer sch ...

Jayne Middlemiss Jayne Middlemiss (born 3 February 1971) is an English television and radio presenter. She began presenting music television shows such as '' The O-Zone'' and ''Top of the Pops'' in the mid-1990s, before presenting a variety of other television an ...

and

Jamie Theakston James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and actor. He co-presented the former Saturday morning BBC One children's show ''Live & Kicking'', alongside Zoe Ball between 1996 and 1999. He co-hosted ...

as well as Radio1 DJs

and

Zoe Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British radio and television presenter. She was the first female host of both ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' and ''The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' for the BBC, and presented the 1990s children's show ''Live & K ...

. The team was later augmented by

Kate Thornton Kate Thornton (born 7 February 1973) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known as the first presenter of ''The X Factor'' (2004–2006) and for presenting daytime shows including '' Loose Women'' (2009–2011) and '' This Morning'' (2 ...

and

Gail Porter Gail Porter (born 23 March 1971) is a Scottish television personality, former model and actress. She started her television career in children's TV, before branching out into modelling and presenting mainstream TV. In the 1990s, she famously po ...

. Chris Cowey in particular instigated a set of 'back to basics' changes when he took over the show. In 1998, a remixed version of the classic "Whole Lotta Love" theme tune previously used in the 1970s was introduced, accompanied by a new 1960s-inspired logo and title sequence. Cowey also began to export the brand overseas with localised versions of the show on air in Germany, France, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and Italy by 2003. Finally, the programme returned to its previous home of

in 2001, where it remained until its cancellation in 2006.

2003: ''All New Top of the Pops''

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 "Flip Reverse" is a song by ten-piece hip-hop group Blazin' Squad, released as the second single from their second studio album, '' Now or Never''. Background Although initially against releasing the song as a single, East West released "Flip Re ...

" by

Blazin' Squad Blazin' Squad were an English hip hop group. The group had seven top ten hits, including " Crossroads", a cover version of the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony original. Jon O'Brien of AllMusic called them the "self-proclaimed pioneers of ' chav' cultur ...

, featuring hordes of hooded teenagers choreographed to dance around the outside of

. Although the first edition premièred to improved ratings, the ''All New'' format, hosted by

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

presenter

Tim Kash Tim Kash is a British television presenter best known for formerly presenting ''Top of the Pops'' in the United Kingdom, and '' MTV News'' on MTV UK and Ireland. He appeared on the U.S. edition of ''MTV News'', and as a presenter on E! Network's ...

, quickly returned to low ratings and brought about scathing reviews. Kash continued to host the show, but Radio1 DJs

Reggie Yates Reginald (Reggie) Yates (born 31 May 1983) is a British writer and director with a career spanning three decades on screen as an actor, television presenter and radio DJ. Yates played Leo Jones in ''Doctor Who'' and has worked at the BBC in ra ...

and

Fearne Cotton Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', ...

(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

and Fearne Cotton (usually together, but occasionally solo) on Friday evenings until 8July 2005. On 30 July 2004, the show took place outside a studio environment for the first time by broadcasting outside in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

, Busted,

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 Pop Idol (series 1), inaugural series of the ITV (TV network), ITV talent contest ''Pop Idol'', making him the f ...

and

Jamelia ' Jamelia Niela Davis (born 11 January 1981) is an English singer, songwriter and television presenter. She has released three studio albums, each of which has reached the Top 40 in the UK, which collectively have spawned eight UK top-ten singl ...

were among the performers that night.

2005: The beginning of the end

Figures had plummeted to below three million, prompting an announcement by the

...
that the show was going to move, again, to Sunday evenings on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, thus losing the prime-time slot on

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 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

, 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 Rufus Hound (born Robert James Blair Simpson 6 March 1979) is an English actor, comedian and presenter. Early life Hound was born on 6 March 1979, in Essex and moved to Surrey at the age of seven. He was educated at Hoe Bridge School Woking ...

or Richard Bacon. On a number of occasions, however,

would step in, joined by female guest presenters such as

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

and

Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter and former dancer. Her first two albums '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001) were released in quick succession to major success. Spurred o ...

. Viewing figures during this period averaged around 1 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.

2006: Cancellation

Snow Patrol at Roseland Ballroom in 2006

On 20 June 2006, the show was formally cancelled and it was announced that the last edition would be broadcast on 30 July 2006.

Edith Bowman Edith Eleanor Smith (born January 1974) is a Scottish radio DJ and television presenter. She hosted '' Colin and Edith'', weekday afternoons, weekend breakfast, and ''The Radio 1 Review'' on BBC Radio 1 until 2014 and has presented a variety of ...

co-presented its hour-long swansong, along with

(who was the main presenter on the first show),

Pat Sharp Patrick Sharpin, known professionally as Pat Sharp (born 25 October 1961), is an English radio presenter, television presenter and DJ. In the UK, he is known mainly for his work on the children's ITV programme ''Fun House'', and his extensive ...

Sarah Cawood Sarah Louise Cawood (born 7 August 1972 in St Pancras, London) is an English broadcaster, best known for presenting the BBC Children's Saturday flagship morning show ''Live & Kicking''. Career Cawood grew up in the Cambridgeshire village of ...

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter. He first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, on the BBC L ...

and

Janice Long Janice Berry ( Chegwin; 5 April 1955 – 25 December 2021), known professionally by her first married name Janice Long, was an English broadcaster who was best known for her work in British music radio. In a career that spanned five decades, s ...

. The final day of recording was 26 July 2006 and featured archive footage and tributes, including

– the very first band to appear on ''Top of the Pops'' – opening with "The Last Time", the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Gnarls Barkley Gnarls Barkley are an American soul duo, composed of singer-songwriter CeeLo Green and producer Danger Mouse. They released their debut studio album, '' St. Elsewhere'', in 2006. It contained their hit single "Crazy", which peaked at number two ...

the Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

Sonny and Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of husband and wife Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector. The pair f ...

and

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

. The show closed with a final countdown, topped by

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

, as her track " Hips Don't Lie" (featuring

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

) had climbed back up to number one on the UK Singles Chart earlier in the day. The show ended with Savile ultimately turning the lights off in the empty studio.

, who was the current presenter, was unavailable to co-host for the final edition due to her filming of

's '' Love Island'' in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

but opened the show with a quick introduction recorded on location, saying "It's still number one, it's ''Top of the Pops''".

BARB Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to: People * Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves * The Barbs, a band Places * Barb, ...

reported the final show's viewing figures as 3.98 million. As the last episode featured no live acts in the studio, the last act to actually play live on a weekly episode of ''TOTP'' was

, who performed "

" in the penultimate edition; the last act ever featured visually on a weekly ''Top of the Pops'' was

, as part of the closing sequence of bands performing on the show throughout the years. They were shown performing " Love Machine".

2006–2022: After the end

The magazine and '' TOTP2'' have both survived despite the show's axing, and the Christmas editions also continue after returning to BBC One. However, the ''TOTP'' website, which the BBC had originally promised would continue, is now no longer updated, although many of the old features of the site – interviews, music news, reviews – have remained, now in the form of the Radio 1-affiliated TOTP ChartBlog accessible via the remains of the old website.

Calls for its return

In October 2008, British

Culture Secretary The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department f ...

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 2008 ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

indie band

the Ting Tings The Ting Tings are an English indie pop duo from Salford, Greater Manchester formed in 2007. The band consists of Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drums, bass guitar, cowbells) and Jules De Martino (drums, lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards ...

called for the show to return. On 29 October 2008,

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

stated in an interview that he would be willing to buy the rights to ''Top of the Pops'' from the BBC. The corporation responded that they had not been formally approached by Cowell, and that in any case the format was "not up for sale". In November 2008, it was reported by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' and other newspapers that the weekly programme was to be revived in 2009, but the BBC said there were no such plans. In July 2009,

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

singer

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and a ...

criticised the BBC for ending the programme, stating that new acts were missing out on "that great moment of being crowned that week's Kings of Pop". In early 2015 there was increased speculation of a return of the show including rumours that

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ''T ...

might present alongside Fearne Cotton. According to a report in the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'', a BBC insider stated that "some at the highest level are massive supporters of the plan f a returnand have given the go-ahead." The move of the UK charts to a Friday due to take place in summer 2015 was also said to favour the possibility of a return, making it "the perfect tie-in" and a "perfect start to the weekend", but no weekly return has occurred.

BBC Four reruns

In April 2011, the BBC began to reshow ''Top of the Pops'' on Thursday nights on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

beginning with the equivalent show from 35 years earlier in a 7:30 pm–8:00 pm slot approximating to the time the programme was traditionally shown. The first programme shown, 1April 1976, was chosen because it was from approximately this episode onwards that most editions remain in the BBC archive. The repeat programmes come in two versions; the first is edited down to fit in the 30-minute 7:30 slot, the second is shown normally twice overnight in the following weekend, and is usually complete. However both the short and longer editions can be edited for a number of reasons. Potentially offensive content to modern audiences is cut (for example

The Barron Knights The Barron Knights are a British humorous pop rock group, originally formed in 1959 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire,Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), ), p. 32 as the Knights of the Round Table. C ...

' in-studio performance of "Food For Thought" on the edition of 13 December 1979 including a segment parodying Chinese takeaways using mannerisms that may now be viewed as offensive), and cinematic film footage can be truncated, replaced or removed entirely due to the costs to the BBC of reshowing such footage. The BBC also makes the repeats available on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

. The repeats are continuing as of June 2022 with episodes from 1993. Since October 2012, episodes featuring Jimmy Savile have ceased to be broadcast due to the

Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal It emerged in late 2012 that Jimmy Savile, an English media personality who had died the previous year, sexually abused hundreds of people throughout his life, most of them children but some as old as 75, and most of them female. He had been w ...

and subsequent

Operation Yewtree Operation Yewtree was a British police investigation into sexual abuse allegations, predominantly the abuse of children, against the English media personality Jimmy Savile and others. The investigation, led by the Metropolitan Police Service ( ...

police investigation. Following the arrest of

by Operation Yewtree officers, and his subsequent conviction for indecent assault, episodes featuring Travis were also omitted. Following

's conviction for sexual assault, episodes featuring him are not included in the run, or otherwise have Glitter's performances edited out. Mike Smith decided not to sign the licence extension that would allow the BBC to repeat the Top of the Pops episodes that he presented, with the BBC continuing to respect his wishes following his death. As a result, episodes featuring Smith are also omitted. In 2021, it was discovered that episodes hosted by Adrian Rose (later Adrian Woolfe) were being skipped, starting with the 28 November 1991 episode featuring

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

's famous performance of "

Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled ''Neve ...

" (mentioned below). Other edits that have been made to episodes have included

's reports from the US during episodes from the early 1980s, sometimes also resulting in the removal of a performance or video introduced as part of the report, and the removal of

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

' performance of "

Light My Fire "Light My Fire" is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It was recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967 on their eponymous debut album. Released as an edited single on April 24, 1967, it spent three weeks at number one on t ...

" from a 1991 episode, due to The Doors not being covered by the BBC's music licensing agreement (which also resulted in another 1991 episode being skipped).

"Story of" Specials

Prior to the 1976 BBC reruns shown in 2011, the BBC produced a special programme, "The Story of 1976". This comprised excerpts from the 1976 programmes, interspersed with new interviews with people discussing the time period. They produced similar programmes for subsequent calendar years, each airing before or during the run of repeats from the particular year. These specials went on hiatus following "The Story of 1990" in October 2020, but returned in early 2022 as a weekly series, scheduled up to "The Story of 1999" in May 2022.

"Big Hits" compilation

A series of "Big Hits" compilations have been broadcast with on-screen captions about artists.In December 2016, a festive special using the format of the "Big Hits" programmes, ''Top of the Pops: Christmas Hits'' was broadcast on BBC Four, featuring a mix of Christmas music and non-festive songs which had been hits at Christmas time. This effectively replaced the annual Christmas edition of ''

'', which did not run that year.

Christmas and New Year specials

Although the weekly ''Top of the Pops'' has been cancelled, the Christmas Specials have continued, initially hosted by Fearne Cotton and

. The Christmas specials were broadcast on Christmas Day afternoon on BBC One. From 2008 to 2021 (apart from 2010 and 2011), a New Year special has also been broadcast. A new logo and title sequence were introduced on the 2019 Christmas special. The BBC's Head of Music Television, Mark Cooper, continued to oversee the programme as executive producer until 2019 when he was replaced by Alison Howe. Meanwhile, Stephanie McWhinnie, who had replaced Wood as producer with effect from Christmas 2011, was replaced by Caroline Cullen (who had previously worked as assistant producer on the show) from Christmas 2020, when both festive shows were recorded with new studio performances but no live audience physically in attendance. On 4December 2017, Yates stepped down from hosting ''Top of the Pops'' due to comments he made regarding Jewish people and rappers. The BBC later announced

Clara Amfo Clara Amfo (born 22 May 1984) is a British radio broadcaster, television presenter, podcast host and voice-over artist. She is known for presenting her shows on BBC Radio 1. Early life and education Amfo was born in Kingston upon Thames in Lo ...

as Yates' replacement, she continues to hold the role. Amfo was joined by

Jordan North Jordan North (born 14 February 1990) is an English radio DJ, known for hosting shows on BBC Radio 1. In 2020, he was announced as the runner-up of the twentieth series of ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. Early life North was born in ...

for the 2021 specials, with him replacing Cotton. Following a change in format for 2022, the usual studio-based festive editions with new live performances did not return and was replaced by a end-of-year programme, ''Top of the Pops Review of the Year 2022'', to be aired on Christmas Eve on BBC Two with Amfo returning as host alongside fellow Radio 1 DJ Jack Saunders.

Comic Relief specials

The show was given a one-off revival (of sorts) for

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

2007 in the form of ''

Top Gear of the Pops ''Top Gear of the Pops'' was a one-off special programme that aired for BBC Two on 16 March 2007, as part of Red Nose Day 2007. The episode combined the elements of ''Top Gear'', with that of BBC music chart show ''Top of the Pops'', the latte ...

'', presented by

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...

, Richard Hammond and

James May James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme '' Top Gear'' alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also ...

. It was filmed at the ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'' aerodrome studio in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

on Sunday, 11 March 2007, although it bore little resemblance to the usual ''Top of the Pops'' format. On 13 March 2009, ''Top of The Pops'' was once again revived, this time in its usual format, for a special live

edition, airing on BBC Two while the main telethon took a break for the ''

BBC News at Ten ''BBC News at Ten'' formerly known as the ''BBC Ten O'Clock News'' or the ''Ten O'Clock News'' is the flagship evening news programme for the BBC News channel and British television channel BBC One on weekdays and Sundays at 10:00pm. Huw Edwa ...

'' on BBC One. As with the Christmas specials the show was presented by Radio1 duo Fearne Cotton and

with special guest presenter

Noel Fielding Noel Fielding (; (born 21 May 1973) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of ''The Great British Bake Off'' ...

and appearances from

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show ''French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunde ...

Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of ...

Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English television presenter, radio personality, film critic and journalist. Between 2004 and 2010, she presented '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two'' on weeknights on BBC Two. Since ...

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Davina McCall Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She was the presenter of the reality show ''Big Brother (UK), Big Brother'' during its run on Channel 4 between 2000 and 2010. She also hosted Channel 4's '' ...

(dancing in the audience and later as a Flo Rida dancer with Claudia Winkleman and French and Saunders) and

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

. Live performances – interspersed with Comic Relief appeal films – included acts such as

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fr ...

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, U2, James Morrison and

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (, ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 breakout single " Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital dow ...

(that week's Number1). Kicking off the show was a performance from

Rob Brydon Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He played Dr Paul Hamilton in the Australian/British comedy series ''Supernova'', Bryn West in the BBC sitcom '' Gavin & Stacey'' ...

and

Ruth Jones Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones (born 22 September 1966) is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer and producer. She co-wrote and co-starred in the award-winning BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey'' (2007–2010, 2019). Jones has also appeared in various ...

in their

Gavin & Stacey ''Gavin & Stacey'' is a British sitcom written by James Corden and Ruth Jones about two families: one in Billericay, Essex; one in Barry, South Wales. Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play the titular characters Gavin and Stacey and the writers st ...

guises, feat. Tom Jones and

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...

with "(Barry) Islands in the Stream", the Comic Relief single.

Performers, performances and presenters

In its extensive history, ''Top of the Pops'' has featured many artists, many of whom have appeared more than once on the show to promote many of their records.

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...

hold the record for the longest ''Top of the Pops'' performance: " Jesus of Suburbia" broadcast on 6November 2005, lasted 9minutes and 10 seconds. There is uncertainty about what was the shortest performance. In 2005, presenter Reggie Yates announced on the show that it was

Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian Ciaran ...

with " Do or Die", broadcast on 28 January 2000, clocking in at 95 seconds. However, "It's My Turn" by Angelic was 91 seconds on 16 June 2000 and, according to an August 2012 edition of '' TOTP2'', "

Here Comes the Summer "Here Comes the Summer" is a song originally written and recorded by Northern Irish band the Undertones. The song was inspired by the Ramones and was written in 1978 by the band's principal songwriter, John O'Neill. It was included, initially a ...

" by

the Undertones The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradle ...

was just 84 seconds on 26 July 1979.

appeared the most times on the show, with almost 160 performances.

were the most frequent group with 106 performances.

Miming

Throughout the show's history, many artists mimed to backing tracks. Early on, Musicians' Union rules required that groups re-record backing tracks with union members performing when possible. However, as ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' recounted in 2001: "In practice, artists pretended to re-record the song, then used their original tapes." The miming policy also led to the occasional technical hitch. In 1967, 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 ...

prepared to perform "

Burning of the Midnight Lamp "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" is a song recorded by English-American rock trio the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Written by frontman Jimi Hendrix and produced by band manager Chas Chandler, it features R&B group Sweet Inspirations on backing vocals. ...

", the song "The House That Jack Built" by Alan Price was played in studio instead, prompting Hendrix to respond: "I like the voice...but I don't know the words." In 1988,

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does ...

appeared to perform "

Martha's Harbour "Martha's Harbour" is a song by English rock band All About Eve. The acoustic ballad reached 10 on the UK Singles Chart and helped the group's self-titled debut album reach No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart. The song features only Julianne Regan's ...

". Although the song was being played on the television broadcast, it was not being played in studio, so lead singer

Julianne Regan Julie-Ann "Julianne" Regan (born 30 June 1962) is an English-Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. She achieved success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the lead singer of the band All About Eve. AllMusic describes Regan as "certainly on ...

remained silent on a stool on stage while

Tim Bricheno Tim Bricheno (born Timothy John Bricheno, 6 July 1963, Huddersfield, Yorkshire) is an English guitarist, songwriter and music teacher. He was a member of several notable English indie bands, including All About Eve, The Sisters of Mercy, XC-NN ( ...

(the only other band member present) did not play his guitar. Occasionally bands played live, examples in the 1970s and 1980s being the Four Seasons,

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

, Blondie,

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, Eddie and the Hot Rods,

Jimmy James and the Vagabonds Michael "Jimmy" James (born 13 September 1940) is a British-Jamaican soul singer, known for songs like "Come to Me Softly", " Now Is the Time" and "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me". Based in Britain, he has performed as the lead singer of J ...

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, New Order,

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and

. In 1980, heavy metal band

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played live on the show when they refused to mime to their single "Running Free". Solo artists and vocal groups were supposed to sing live to the Top of the Pops Orchestra.

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, Thelma Houston, Deniece Williams, Hylda Baker and the Nolans all performed in this way. In 1991 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,

refused to mime to the pre-recorded backing track of "

" with Kurt Cobain singing in a deliberately low voice and altering lyrics in the song, and bassist Krist Novoselic swinging his bass over his head and drummer Dave Grohl playing randomly on his kit. In 1995, the Gallagher brothers of

switched places while performing "Roll with It (Oasis song), Roll with It". During their performance of "Don't Leave Me This Way" Communards (band), the Communards singers Jimmy Somerville and Sarah Jane Morris (singer), Sarah Jane Morris swapped lyrics for part of the song towards the end. Another example of whimsy was John Peel's appearance as the mandolin soloist for Rod Stewart on "Maggie May". The new practice also exposed a number of poor live singers, and was dropped as a general rule. In its final few years miming had become less and less common, especially for bands, as studio technology became more reliable and artists were given the freedom to choose their performance style. Former Executive Producer Andi Peters said there was no policy on miming and that it was entirely up to the performer whether they wanted to sing live or mime.

Orchestra and backing singers

From 1966 to 1980, ''Top of the Pops'' had an in-studio orchestra conducted by

accompany select musical performances, with

(later Maggie Stredder Singers) providing backing vocals. Credited on the show as musical associate, Derek Warne played piano and provided musical arrangements for the orchestra. As ''The Daily Telegraph, The Telegraph'' recounted, Pearson and the orchestra Musical improvisation, improvised accompaniments with about 20 minutes of rehearsal time per song, and the musicians, "almost all middle-aged, often struggled with the enormous range of rock and pop tunes with which they were presented." In contrast, ''

'' said upon Pearson's passing in 2011 that the orchestra "often elicit[ed] excellent performances with barely enough time beforehand for a couple of run-throughs." Other notable members of the orchestra include drummer Clem Cattini, trombonist Bobby Lamb (trombonist), Bobby Lamb, and lead trumpeters Leon Calvert and Ian Hamer (musician), Ian Hamer. From 1971 to 1974, Martin Briley played guitar for the orchestra before joining rock group Greenslade. Following the 1980 Musicians Union strike, the programme resumed broadcast on 7 August 1980 without its orchestra or backing singers. However, Pearson continued to make occasional contributions as musical director until the 900th episode in the summer of 1981. Afterwards, Warne occasionally made musical arrangements through April 1982. Ronnie Hazlehurst conducted the orchestra from 1982 to 1983.

Music videos

When an artist or group was unavailable to perform in studio, ''Top of the Pops'' would show a music video in place. According to Queen (band), 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.

Dance troupes

January to October 1964 – no dance troupes

In the era before music video, promotional videos were routinely produced for every charting single, the BBC would frequently have neither the band themselves nor alternative footage available for a song selected for the programme. In the first few months of the show in 1964, the director would just scan across the audience dancing in the absence of any other footage, but by October 1964 a decision was made to at least occasionally bring in a dance troupe with a choreographed routine to some of the tracks.

November 1964 to April 1968 – The Go-Jos

An initial candidate troupe was the existing BBC TV The Beat Room, Beat Girls, but an ex-dancer from the Beat Girls, Go-Jos, Jo Cook, was eventually engaged to create a troupe, the all-female Go-Jos, with Cook as choreographer. The Go-Jos also worked outside of ''Top of the Pops'', notably for two years on the Val Doonican show – Doonican said in 1968 "I thought the Gojos were fabulous, something really new. When I got my own television series I just had to have them with me." They were initially a three-piece (Pat Hughes for the first edition only, Go-Jos, Linda Hotchkin and Go-Jos, Jane Bartlett), but their number eventually grew to six (Go-Jos, Hotchkin, Bartlett, Go-Jos, Lesley Larbey, Go-Jos, Wendy Hilhouse, Go-Jos, Barbara van der Heyde and Go-Jos, Thelma Bignell) with Cook as full-time choreographer.

remembered of their costumes "They mostly wore white boots to the knee and short skirts and the camera would go up the skirt and it was all very risqué." Cook herself said of working on the Doonican show (of which she was dance director) comparing to Top of the Pops, "Pop steps are limited... With Val we have more scope, and we can work to get more of the feel of ballet into our numbers."

May to June 1968 – Go-Jos/Pan's People transition

In April 1968, a ''Top of the Pops'' choreographer, Virginia Mason, auditioned for dancers for a routine on ''Top of The Pops'' ("Simon Says (1910 Fruitgum Company song), Simon Says" by the 1910 Fruitgum Company); two of whom that were successful (Pan's People, Ruth Pearson and Pan's People, Patricia "Dee Dee" Wilde) were part of the existing six-female dance troupe, Pan's People. Like the Go-Jos, this group was also partly drawn from ex-members of the Beat Girls. Although this routine did not make it onto the programme itself, in subsequent weeks, members of Pan's People (Pan's People, Louise Clarke, Flick Colby, Felicity "Flick" Colby, Pan's People, Barbara "Babs" Lord, Pearson, Pan's People, Andrea "Andi" Rutherford and Wilde) started to appear on the programme separately to the Go-Jos. Pan's People were then selected by the BBC over the Go-Jos when they chose a group to be the resident troupe. The Go-Jos' final ''Top of the Pops'' performance was in June 1968 dancing to "Jumping Jack Flash" by

July 1968 to April 1976 – Pan's People

As with the Go-Jos, in the first eighteen months of the Pan's People era the dancers were not a weekly fixture on the programme. However, due to group fan mail and good viewing figures, by 1970 the group was on nearly every week. Pay was not high – they were paid the minimum Equity (British trade union), Equity rate of £56 per week. One of the original Pan's People dancers, Colby, became the full-time choreographer in 1971. Colby spoke of the dancing – "They weren't Broadway-standard routines... we were definitely doing watercolours, not oil paintings."

May to October 1976 – Ruby Flipper

In early 1976, the last remaining of the early members of Pan's People, Ruth Pearson announced her retirement, leaving just four members all of whom who had joined within the last four years; Pan's People, Cherry Gillespie, Pan's People, Mary Corpe, Pan's People, Lee Ward and Pan's People, Sue Menhenick. Rather than continue with this line up or add additional members, it was decided by Colby and BBC production staff to replace this group with a male and female group created for the programme, Ruby Flipper, choreographed by Colby and managed by Colby with Pearson. Lee Ward left shortly after this decision was made, reportedly saying regarding the change: "It's a big mistake. Men rush home to watch sexy ladies. They do not want to see other men." Rehearsals for this new group started in March 1976, and the group began appearing on ''Top of the Pops'' in May 1976. Whilst producers were aware of the switch to the new group, Bill Cotton, the then head of the light entertainment unit of which ''Top of the Pops'' was part, was not. This group started as a seven-piece with three men (Ruby Flipper, Gavin Trace, Ruby Flipper, Floyd Pearce and Ruby Flipper, Phil Steggles) and four women (Menhenick, Gillespie, Ruby Flipper, Patti Hammond and Ruby Flipper, Lulu Cartwright). Corpe was not invited to join the new troupe. Trace, Pearce, Steggles and Cartwright joined following open auditions, Hammond, an established dancer, was invited to join to complete the "look" following a later individual audition. Colby viewed this gender-mixed group as an opportunity to develop more physical routines including lifts, more duets and generally not have the whole group at each performance. However, by August the BBC had decided to terminate the group due to perceived unpopularity and being "...out of step with viewers". Their final appearance was in October 1976.

November 1976 to October 1981 – Legs and Co

The group created to replace Ruby Flipper was Legs & Co, reverting to an all-female line-up, and once more choreographed by Colby. Three of the six in the initial line-up (Menhenick, Cartwight and Hammond) were taken from Ruby Flipper. with Legs & Co, Rosie Hetherington, Legs & Co, Gill Clarke and Legs & Co, Pauline Peters making up the six. Despite being an all-female group, on occasion one or more male dancers were brought in, notably Pearce several times. During their run, the group covered the transition from Disco to Punk, Electronic and Modern Romantic music. Notably, they danced to two Sex Pistols tracks.

December 1981 to September 1983 – Zoo

By late 1981, Legs & Co (by this time Legs & Co, Anita Chellamah had replaced Peters) had become more integrated into the studio audience, rather than performing set-piece routines, as a result of the 'party atmosphere' brought in by

. Also by this time Colby was particularly keen to work once more with male dancers; feeling it time for a change, Legs & Co's stint was ended, and a twenty-member dance troupe (ten male, ten female), named Zoo (dance troupe), Zoo was created, with a set of performers drawn from the pool of twenty each week. Colby was now credited as "Dance Director". Three members of previous troupes, Menhenick, Corpe and Chellamah, made at least one appearance each during the Zoo period. The dancers now chose their own clothes, moving away from the synchronised appearance of previous troupes.

October 1983 to 2006 – After Zoo

By the early 1980s, record companies were offering the BBC free promotional videos, meaning dance troupes no longer fulfilled their original purpose. Zoo's run ended in 1983, and with it the use of dance troupes on ''Top of the Pops''. After the demise of Zoo, the audience took a more active role, often dancing in more prominent areas such as behind performing acts on the back of the stage, and on podiums. However, the show also employed cheerleaders to lead the dancing.

Dance Troupe chronology

* Go-Jos' first performance: 19 November 1964 – Dancing to "Baby Love" by the Supremes * Pan's People first performance (three of the dancers, independently contracted): April 1968 – Dancing to "Young Girl (song), Young Girl" by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap or "Respect (song), Respect" by Aretha Franklin * Pan's People's first performance (as the six-piece group of early 1968): 30 May 1968 – Dancing to "U.S. Male" by Elvis Presley * Go-Jos' final performance: 27 June 1968 – Dancing to "Jumping Jack Flash" by

* Pan's People's final performance: 29 April 1976 – Dancing to "Silver Star (The Four Seasons song), Silver Star" by The Four Seasons (group), the Four Seasons * Ruby Flipper's first performance: 6 May 1976 – Dancing to "Can't Help Falling In Love" by the Stylistics * Ruby Flipper's final performance: 14 October 1976 – Dancing to "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry (band), Wild Cherry * Legs & Co's first performance (credited as Ruby Flipper & Legs & Co): 21 October 1976 – Dancing to "Queen of My Soul" by Average White Band * Legs & Co's first performance (credited as Legs & Co): 11 November 1976 – Dancing to "Spinning Rock Boogie" by Hank C. Burnette * Legs & Co's final performance: 29 October 1981 – Dancing to "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" by Haircut 100 * Zoo's first performance: 5 November 1981 – Dancing to "Twilight (Electric Light Orchestra song), Twilight" by E.L.O. * Zoo's final performance: 29 September 1983 – Dancing to "What I Got Is What You Need" by Unique (band), Unique

Titles and theme music

For much of the 1960s, the show's theme music was an organ-based instrumental track, also called "Top of the Pops", by the Dave Davani Four. * 1 January 1964 to ?: Instrumental percussion piece written by Johnnie Stewart and Harry Rabinowitz and performed by drummer Bobby Midgly. * 1965 to 1966: Dave Davani Four's "Top of the Pops" with the Ladybirds on backing vocal harmonies. Originally the opening theme, this was later played as a closing theme from 1966 up until 1970. * 20 January 1966 to 13 November 1969: Unknown instrumental guitar track. * 27 November 1969 to 29 October 1970: Unknown brass track played over colour titles with a voiceover proclaiming, "Yes! It's number one! It's Top of the Pops!" There was no ''TOTP'' on 20 November 1969 due to the Apollo 12 Moon landing. * 5 November 1970 to 14 July 1977: An instrumental version of the Led Zeppelin-Willie Dixon composition "Whole Lotta Love" performed by Collective Consciousness Society, CCS members. * 21 July 1977 to 29 May 1980: No opening theme tune; a contemporary chart song was played over the countdown stills. "Whole Lotta Love" featured only in Christmas editions, the 800th edition from 26 July 1979 and the voice-over only edition from 22 November 1979. * 7 August 1980 to 2July 1981: No opening theme tune; the Collective Consciousness Society, CCS version of "Whole Lotta Love" was played over some of the images of the featured artists and during the countdown stills in the Top 30 and Top 20 sections which were moved later on in the programme. From the edition of 7August 1980 to the edition of 2July 1981, "Whole Lotta Love" was heard only during the chart rundowns. * 9 July 1981 to 27 March 1986: "Yellow Pearl (song), Yellow Pearl" was commissioned as the new theme music. From May 1983 to July 1984, a re-recording of "Yellow Pearl" was played over the chart rundown and a pop rock version from August 1984 to March 1986. * 3 April 1986 to 26 September 1991: "The Wizard (Paul Hardcastle song), The Wizard", a composition by Paul Hardcastle. * 3 October 1991 to 26 January 1995: "Now Get Out of That" composed by Tony Gibber. * 2 February 1995 to 8 August 1997 (except 27 June & 25 July 1997 and 15 August 1997 to 24 April 1998) and 10 October 1997: the theme was a track called "Red Hot Pop" composed by Vince Clarke of Erasure. * 27 June and 25 July 1997 then 15 August 1997 to 24 April 1998 (except 10 October 1997): No theme tune; the opening of the first song of the episode was played under the titles and a song from the top 20 was played under the chart rundown. * 1 May 1998 to 21 November 2003: Updated, drum and bass version of "Whole Lotta Love" by Ben Chapman. * 28 November 2003 to 30 July 2006 and until 2012 for ''TOTP2'' and Xmas specials: A remixed version of "Now Get Out of That" by Tony Gibber. * 25 December 2013 to 25 December 2021 for ''Top of the Pops'' Christmas and New Year Specials: A mix of both the 1970s "Whole Lotta Love" theme and the 1998 remix.

Lost episodes

Due to the then standard practice of Lost television broadcast, wiping videotape, the vast majority of the episodes from the programme's history prior to 1976 have been lost, including any official recording of the only live appearance by

. Of the first 500 episodes (1964–73), only about 20 complete recordings remain in the BBC archives, and the majority of these are from 1969 onwards. The earliest surviving footage dates from 26 February 1964, and consists of performances by Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas and

. Some programmes exist only partially (largely performances that were either pre-recorded or re-used in later, surviving editions). There are also two examples of rehearsal footage, which are both from 1965, one which includes

introducing the Seekers, and another with

rehearsing "Long Live Love (Chris Andrews song), Long Live Love"—both believed to be for the end-of-year Christmas Special. There are also cases of shows that exist only in their raw, unedited form. The oldest complete episode in existence was originally transmitted on Boxing Day in 1967 (only five complete recordings from the 1960s survive, two of which have mute presenter links). The most recent that is not held is dated 8September 1977. Most editions after this date exist in full, except a few 1981–85 episodes recorded live feature mute presenter links (These episodes were skipped on the BBC Four re-runs). Some off-air recordings, made by fans at home with a microphone in front of the TV speaker, exist in varying quality, including the Jimi Hendrix Experience performing a live version of "Hey Joe" in December 1966. Some segments of ''TOTP'' which were not retained do survive in some form owing to having been included in other programmes, either by the BBC itself or by foreign broadcasters. What was thought to be the only surviving footage of the Beatles on the programme, for instance, comes from its re-use in episode one of 1965 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Chase (Doctor Who), The Chase''. Additionally a number of recordings are believed to exist in private collections. However, in 2019, an 11-second clip of the group's only live appearance on ''TOTP'', from 16 June 1966, was unearthed – this was recorded by a viewer using an 8 mm film, 8mm camera to film the live transmission on their television. Other individual but complete clips that have surfaced over recent years include The Hollies performing "Bus stop, Bus Stop", and The Jimi Hendrix Experience playing both "Purple Haze" and "The Wind Cries Mary". Thanks to a deal between the BBC and German television network ZDF around the turn of the 1970s, several TOTP clips were sent over to be shown on ''Disco'', a similar-styled chart show. This meant that performances from the likes of The Kinks (Apeman), The Who (The Seeker) and King Crimson (Cat Food) still exist in German archives. Two complete episodes from 1967 were discovered in a private collection in 2009, having been recorded at home on an early available open reel to reel video recorder. Whilst the tapes suffered from major damage and degradation of both sound and picture quality, one show featured Pink Floyd with original leader Syd Barrett performing "See Emily Play", whilst the second contained Dave Davies singing his solo hit "Death of a Clown". The programme was forced off the air for several weeks by industrial action by the Musicians' Union in both 1974 and 1980.

Spin-offs

''Top of the Pops'' has a sister show called '' TOTP2'' which uses archive footage from as early as the late 1960s. It began on 17 September 1994. The early series were narrated by Johnnie Walker (DJ), Johnnie Walker, before Steve Wright took over as narrator. In summer 2004 BBC Two's controller, Roly Keating, announced that it was being "rested". Shortly after Dave (TV channel), UKTV G2 began showing re-edited versions of earlier programmes with re-recorded dialogue. Finally after a two-year break ''TOTP2'' returned to the BBC Two schedules for a new series on Saturday, 30 September 2006, in an evening timeslot. It was still narrated by Steve Wright and featured a mixture of performances from the ''TOTP'' archive and newly recorded performances. The first edition of this series featured new performances by Razorlight and Nelly Furtado recorded after the final episode of ''Top of the Pops''. In 2009 Mark Radcliffe (radio broadcaster), Mark Radcliffe took over as narrator. ''TOTP2'' continued to receive sporadic new episodes from this point onwards, most notably Christmas specials, until 2017 when the show ceased producing new episodes, though previous episodes are still repeated on both BBC Two and BBC Four. Aired on BBC Radio 1 between the mid-1990s and late 2001 was ''Top of the Pops: The Radio Show'' which went out every Sunday at 3 pm just before the singles chart, and was presented by

and Scott Mills. It later reappeared on the BBC World Service in May 2003 originally presented by Emma B, where it continues to be broadcast weekly in an hourly format, now presented by Kim Robson and produced by former BBC World Service producer Alan Rowett. The defunct channel Play UK created two spin offs; ''TOTP+ Plus'' and ''TOTP@Play'' (2000–2001) (until mid-2000, this show was called ''The Phone Zone'' and was a spin-off from BBC Two music series ''

''). BBC Choice featured a show called ''TOTP The New Chart'' (5 December 1999 – 26 March 2000) and on BBC Two ''TOTP+'' (8 October 2000 – 26 August 2001) which featured the ''TOTP @ Play'' studio and presenters. This is not to be confused with the UK Play version of the same name. A more recent spin-off (now ended) was ''Top of the Pops Saturday'' hosted originally by

and Simon Grant, and its successor ''Top of the Pops Reloaded''. This was shown on Saturday mornings on BBC One and featured competitions, star interviews, video reviews and some ''Top of the Pops'' performances. This was aimed at a younger audience and was part of the CBBC (TV channel), CBBC Saturday morning line-up. This was to rival ''CD:UK'' at the same time on

Send-ups

A number of performers have sent up the format in various ways. This was often by performers who disliked the mime format of the show, as a protest against this rather than simply refusing to appear. * When Fairport Convention appeared to promote their 1969 hit "If You Gotta Go, Go Now, Si Tu Dois Partir", drummer Dave Mattacks wore a T-shirt printed "MIMING". * When the Smiths appeared on the show to perform their single "This Charming Man", lead singer Morrissey was unhappy about having to lip-sync and so held a bunch of gladioli on the stage instead of a microphone. * While performing their 1982 hit "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)", the band Dexy's Midnight Runners were seen performing in front of a projection of the darts player with a similar sounding name (Jocky Wilson instead of soul singer Jackie Wilson). Dexy's frontman Kevin Rowland later said in an interview that the use of the Jocky Wilson picture was his idea and not a mistake by the programme makers as is sometimes stated. * Frankie Goes To Hollywood performed one of the many 1984 performances of their hit "Two Tribes" with bassist Mark O'Toole (musician), Mark O'Toole playing drums whilst drummer Ped Gill played bass. * When

mimed to "Whatever (Oasis song), Whatever" on ''Top of the Pops'' in 1994, one of the cello players from the symphony was replaced by rhythm guitarist Paul Arthurs, Bonehead, who clearly had no idea how the instrument should be played. Towards the end of the song, he gave up the pretence and started using the bow to conduct. A woman plays his rhythm guitar. * Singer Les Gray of

went on stage to perform with a ventriloquist dummy during the performance of "Lonely This Christmas" and had the dummy lip-synch to the voice-over in the middle of the song. * EMF (band), EMF appeared on the show with one of the guitarists strumming along while wearing boxing gloves. * At the end of The Who's performance of "5:15" the band proceeded to destroy their instruments despite the fact the backing track was still playing. * In Blur (band), Blur's performance of "Charmless Man" in 1996, Dave Rowntree decided to play with oversized drumsticks, while Graham Coxon played a mini guitar. * In

's first ''Top of the Pops'' appearance in 1994, the band played the song "Welcome to Paradise". Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong wore an otherwise plain white T-shirt with the phrase "Who am I fooling anyway?" handwritten on it, most likely a reference to his own miming during the performance. He could also be seen not playing his guitar during the instrumental bridge in the song. * The performance of "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart and the Faces (band), Faces featured John Peel miming on mandolin. Near the end of the song, Rod and the Faces begin to kick around a football. This is despite the fact that the music can be still heard playing in the background. * The Cure were known for their abhorrence for miming their songs whilst on ''TOTP'' and on several occasions made it obvious they were not playing their parts – using such stunts as playing guitar left-handed and miming very badly out of synch. * Ambient house group the Orb sat and played chess while an edited version of their 39:57-minute single "Blue Room (The Orb song), Blue Room" played in the background. * Depeche Mode's performance of "Barrel of a Gun (Depeche Mode song), Barrel of a Gun" in 1997 featured Dutch photographer and director Anton Corbijn who mimed playing the drums. Also Tim Simenon (who produced the album the song appeared on) mimed playing keyboards along with Andy Fletcher. * When the Cuban Boys performed "Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia" at the end of 1999, a performance which was reportedly unbroadcast, the band wearing labcoats, covered in cobwebs.

International versions

Europe

The ''TOTP'' format was sold to RTL Television, RTL in Germany in the 1990s, and aired on Saturday afternoons. It was very successful for a long time, with a compilation album series and magazine. However, in 2006 it was announced that the German show would be ending. The Italian version (first broadcast on Rai 2 and later on Italia 1) also ended in 2006. In February 2010 the show returned on Rai 2, and was broadcast for two seasons before being cancelled again in October 2011. The French version of the show ended by September 2006 on France 2. The short-lived Turkish version was aired on ATV (Turkish TV channel), atv in 2000. In the Netherlands, ''TopPop'' was broadcast by AVRO 1970–1988, and a version of the show continued to run on BNN (Dutch broadcaster), BNN until the end of December 2006. BBC Prime used to broadcast re-edited episodes of the BBC version, the weekend after it was transmitted in the UK. Ireland began transmitting ''Top of the Pops'' in November 1978 on RTÉ2. This was the UK version being transmitted at the same time as on BBC. The broadcasts ceased in late 1993.

United States

''Top of the Pops'' had short-lived fame in the United States. In October 1987, the CBS television network decided to try an American version of the show. It was hosted by Nia Peeples and even showed performances from the BBC version of the programme (and vice versa). The show was presented on late Friday nights as part of ''The CBS Late Movie, CBS Late Night'', and lasted almost half a year. It was originally slated to be a first-run syndicated series, but it was changed when BBC Worldwide, Lionheart Television, the show's producers signed up with the network. In 2002, BBC America presented the BBC version of ''Top of the Pops'' as part of their weekend schedule. The network would get the episodes one week after they were transmitted in the UK. BBC America then tinkered with the show by cutting a few minutes out of each show and moving it to a weekday time slot. On 23 January 2006, Lou Pearlman made a deal to bring ''Top of the Pops'' back to the airwaves in the United States. It was expected to be similar to the 1987 version, but it would also utilise the Billboard (magazine), Billboard magazine music charts, most notably the Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 chart. It was supposed to be planned for a possible 2006 or 2007 launch, but with several lawsuits against Lou and his companies (which resulted in his conviction in 2008), as well as the cancellation of the UK version, the proposed US project never went forward. On 19 August 2006, VH1 aired the UK series' final episode. The United States had its own similar series, ''American Bandstand'', which aired nationally on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1957 to 1987 (although it would continue in first-run syndication until 1988 and end its run on USA Network, USA in 1989). Similar series also included ''Soul Train'' (1970–2006, featuring Rhythm and blues, R&B artists), ''Club MTV'' (1986–92, featuring dance music acts; hosted by Downtown Julie Brown, an alumnus of TOTP as part of the show's last dance troupe Zoo (dance troupe), Zoo) and ''Solid Gold (TV series), Solid Gold'' (1980–88; like the early TOTP, it also used dance troupes).

Canada

Canada's version was ''Electric Circus'' (1988–2003) on Much (TV channel), MuchMusic, which was also seen in the USA through Fuse (TV channel)#As MuchMusic USA, MuchMusic USA. It had a national chart (mostly of dance music and some pop) as well as live performances, and was based on a local late '70s programme in Toronto called ''CITY-DT, CITY-TV Boogie''.

New Zealand

The ''Top of the Pops'' brand has also been exported to New Zealand. Although the British show has been broadcast intermittently in New Zealand, the country historically relied on music video-based shows to demonstrate its own Top 20, as the major international acts, who dominated the local charts, considered New Zealand too small and remote to visit regularly. This changed to an extent in 2002, when the New Zealand government suggested a voluntary New Zealand music quota on radio (essentially a threat that if the stations did not impose a quota themselves then one would be imposed on them). The amount of local music played on radio stations increased, as did the number of local songs in the top 20. Therefore, a new local version of ''Top of the Pops'' became feasible for the first time, and the show was commissioned by Television New Zealand. The show was executive produced by David Rose, managing director and owner of Satellite Media, and began airing in early 2004 with host Alex Behan. The hour-long show (as opposed to the 30-minute UK version) which was broadcast at 5 pm on Saturdays on TV2 (New Zealand), TV2 contained a mixture of performances recorded locally on a sound stage in the Auckland CBD, as well as performances from the international versions of the show. The New Zealand Top 20 singles and Top 10 albums charts are also featured. Alex Behan stayed as host for two years before Bede Skinner took over. Despite having a sizeable fan base, in 2006 TVNZ announced that ''Top of the Pops'' had been axed. Free-to-air music channel C4 (TV channel), C4 then picked up the UK version of ''Top of the Pops'' and aired it on Saturdays at 8 pm with a repeat screening on Thursdays. However, since the weekly UK version was axed itself, this arrangement also ended.

Africa, Asia and the Middle East

An edited version of the UK show was shown on BBC Prime, the weekend after UK transmission. In addition, a licensed version was shown on the United Arab Emirates-based MBC 2 (Middle East), MBC2 television channel. This version consisted of parts of the UK version, including the Top 10 charts, as well as live performances by Arabic pop music, Arabic pop singers.

Latin America

A complete version of the UK show was shown on Liv (Latin American TV channel), People+Arts, two weeks after the UK transmission. Brazilian network TV Globo aired a loosely based version of the original format in 2018, labeled as 'Só Toca Top', hosted by singer Luan Santana and actress Fernanda Souza.

Compilation albums

A number of compilation albums using the ''Top of the Pops'' brand have been issued over the years. The first one to reach the charts was ''BBC TV's The Best of Top of the Pops'' on the Super Beeb record label in 1975, which reached number 21 and in 1986 the BBC released ''The Wizard'' by Paul Hardcastle (the 1986–1990 Top of The Pops theme tune) on Vinyl under the BBC Records and Tapes banner. Starting in 1968 and carrying on through the 1970s a rival series of ''Top of the Pops (record series), Top of the Pops'' albums were produced, however these had no connection with the television series except for its name. They were a series of budget cover version, cover albums of current chart hits recorded by anonymous session singers and musicians released on the Hallmark record label. They had initially reached the charts but were later disallowed due to a change in the criteria for entering the charts. These albums continued to be produced until the early 1980s, when the advent of compilation albums featuring the original versions of hits, such as the ''Now That's What I Call Music!'' series, led to a steep decline in their popularity. In the 1990s, the BBC ''Top of the Pops'' brand was again licensed for use in a tie-in compilation series. Starting in 1995 with Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music's Columbia Records label, these double disc collections moved to the special marketing arm of PolyGram / Universal Music Group TV, before becoming a sister brand of the ''Now That's What I Call Music!'' range in the EMI / Virgin Records, Virgin / Universal joint venture. Similarly to the roles of ''Top of the Pops'' on BBC One and BBC Two in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the compilation albums range featured current hits for the main series and classic hits (such as '70s Rock) for the "Top of the Pops 2" spin-offs. The ''Top of the Pops'' brand has now been licensed by EMI who released a compilation series in 2007–08, with one CD for each year that ''Top of the Pops'' was running. The boxset for the entire series of 43 discs was released 7July 2008. A podcast supporting the release of the boxset featuring interviews with

, Miles Leonard, Malcolm McLaren and David Hepworth is available.

Number One in the Compilation Charts

These albums in the series reached No. 1: * Top of the Pops 1 (Columbia Records, 1995) * Top of the Pops '99 – Volume 2 (Universal Music TV, 1999) * Top of the Pops 2000 – Volume Two (BBC Music / Universal Music TV, 2000)

''Top of the Pops'' magazine

Top of the Pops (magazine), ''Top of the Pops'' magazine has been running since February 1995, and filled the void in the BBC magazine portfolio where Number One (magazine), ''Number One'' magazine used to be. It began much in the mould of Q (magazine), ''Q'' magazine, then changed its editorial policy to directly compete with popular teen celebrity magazines such as ''Smash Hits'' and ''Big'', with free sticker giveaways replacing Brett Anderson covers. A July 1996 feature on the

coined the famous "Spice" nicknames for each member (Emma Bunton, Baby, Geri Halliwell, Ginger, Victoria Beckham, Posh, Mel B, Scary and Melanie C, Sporty) that stayed with them throughout their career as a group and beyond. The BBC announced that the magazine would continue in publication despite the end of the television series, and is still running. An earlier ''Top of the Pops'' magazine appeared briefly in the mid-1970s. Mud drummer Dave Mount sat reading an edition throughout a 1975 appearance on the show.

In popular culture

* The Number 6 track of the Kinks' 1970 eighth studio album ''Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One'' is called "Top of the Pops" and narrates the path to stardom by reaching Number1 in the music charts. * Benny Hill did a parody of ''Top of the Pops'' in January 1971 called "Top of the Tops". It featured satires of many music acts at the time as well as impersonations and spoofed versions of both

and

. * The Scottish punk band the Rezillos lampooned the show in their song "Top of the Pops". The band performed the song on the programme twice when it entered the charts in 1978. * In 1984, British Rail HST British Rail Class 43 (HST), power car 43002 was named Top of the Pops, by Jimmy Savile. This followed an edition which was broadcast live on a train, which 43002 was one of the power cars for. The nameplates were removed in 1989. * The Smashie and Nicey 1994 TV special ''Smashie and Nicey: The End of an Era'' featured doctored and recreated footage of the two fictional DJs hosting a montage of 1970s editions of ''Top of the Pops'', including a "Black music" edition, which the pair presented in Blackface. * In the opening credits of the

' 1997 feature film ''Spice World (film), Spiceworld: The Movie'', the girls perform their hit single "Too Much (Spice Girls song), Too Much" on a fictional episode of the show. They also performed it on the show in real life when it became their second Christmas number one in the UK that same year. * A 2001 episode of ''Tweenies'' featured a parody of ''Top of the Pops'', complete with Max imitating Jimmy Savile. The episode was unintententionally repeated in January 2013, and received 216 complaints. * A ''Newzoids'' sketch has the Twelfth Doctor (and a future version of himself) escape the too complicated modern era of ''Doctor Who'', and travel back to the 1970s (when the show was a lot less complicated). However, the two Doctors are soon horrified to realize that being at the BBC in the 1970s means that they are next door to the ''Top of the Pops'' studio, and flee into the future. A terrified and shaking Dalek begs them to "Take me with you. Take me with you".

Licensing

In May 2006, following a special Red Hot Chili Peppers concert recorded in the car park of

, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Hammersmith and Fulham Council (which governs the area the centre is located) informed the BBC that it lacked the necessary public entertainment license (as required by the Licensing Act 2003). Until the BBC could obtain the license, BBC staff stood-in as audience members for live music programmes.

DVDs

In 2004 there was a DVD released called ''Top of the Pops 40th Anniversary 1964–2004 DVD''. It features live performances, containing one song for each year, except 1966. (Two tracks from 1965 are featured instead). Also included as extras are seven opening titles, most notably the one with the flying coloured LP record, LP's from 1981. This title sequence had Phil Lynott's song "Yellow Pearl (song), Yellow Pearl" as the theme. The 1986 and 1989 titles are also featured, with Paul Hardcastle's hit "The Wizard" as the theme. This DVD was to celebrate 40 years since the show started. There was also a DVD quiz released in 2007 called ''The Essential Music Quiz''. There was also a DVD in 2001 called ''Summer 2001'', a sister DVD to the album of the same name.

References

External links

* * {{Top of the Pops Top of the Pops, 1964 British television series debuts 1964 in British music 1960s British music television series 1970s British music television series 1980s British music television series 1990s British music television series 2000s British music television series 2010s British music television series 2020s British music television series 1960s in British music 1970s in British music 1980s in British music 1990s in British music 2000s in British music 2010s in British music 2020s in British music BBC Television shows CBS original programming Television series by CBS Studios Television series by BBC Studios Lost BBC episodes Pop music television series British music chart television shows English-language television shows Jimmy Savile British television series revived after cancellation Television shows shot at BBC Elstree Centre

History

The first show

1960s and 1970s

''Christmas Top of the Pops''

1980s

1991: 'Year Zero' revamp

1994–1997

1997–2003

2003: ''All New Top of the Pops''

2005: The beginning of the end

2006: Cancellation

2006–2022: After the end

Calls for its return

BBC Four reruns

"Story of" Specials

"Big Hits" compilation

Christmas and New Year specials

Comic Relief specials

Performers, performances and presenters

Miming

Orchestra and backing singers

Music videos

Dance troupes

January to October 1964 – no dance troupes

November 1964 to April 1968 – The Go-Jos

May to June 1968 – Go-Jos/Pan's People transition

July 1968 to April 1976 – Pan's People

May to October 1976 – Ruby Flipper

November 1976 to October 1981 – Legs and Co

December 1981 to September 1983 – Zoo

October 1983 to 2006 – After Zoo

Dance Troupe chronology

Titles and theme music

Lost episodes

Spin-offs

Send-ups

International versions

Europe

United States

Canada

New Zealand

Africa, Asia and the Middle East

Latin America

Compilation albums

Number One in the Compilation Charts

''Top of the Pops'' magazine

In popular culture

Licensing

DVDs

See also

References

Further reading

External links