The Story of 1976


The Story of 1976

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It's Thursday night, 1976. It's Top Of The Pops.

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MUSIC: "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin

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As soon as 7.30 on Thursday night came around, people tuned in.

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Oh-oh-oh!

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You make sure you'd had your supper by then,

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you made sure your homework was done by then.

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The music of 1976 appealed to all ages.

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HE IMITATES JIMMY SAVILE

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The Wurzels!

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Ooh-aar!

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-We were middle of the road, weren't we?

-No, we were brotherhood of man.

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-Oh, yeah!

-Just in case you got confused.

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It's magic.

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Top Of The Pops was very much a variety show, and it was run on variety rules.

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It was a really good party atmosphere.

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It all started to slightly parody itself.

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That real world was definitely knocking

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on Top Of The Pops' door by '76, but not getting in.

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In 1976, the British public basked in 35-degree heat.

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# Here comes the sun... #

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There were holidays by the beach, hosepipe bans and ice cream.

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Life seemed too good.

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But in all this summer madness, the cracks were beginning to show.

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James Callaghan's government struggled with social tension

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and rising unemployment.

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The nation's youth were frustrated,

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and there was racial unrest on the streets.

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But you could always switch on the telly to escape.

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APPLAUSE

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Wakey waaaaaaaaa-key!

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Billy Cotton was the king of variety in the '50s, and by 1976,

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Bill Cotton Jr was in charge of light entertainment at the BBC.

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Bill's programming reflected his variety upbringing,

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and prime-time television catered for all the family.

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Nice to see you, to see you nice!

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I grew up in the TV age, when the whole family watched telly together.

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And you only had, I think, two channels in the '60s,

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and then three in the '70s.

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No, it's for me. That's better. Right.

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Light entertainment, which was kind of all that the mainstream

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really provided, seemed really escapist.

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Hello there, and a very warm welcome to this week's edition of Top Of The Pops.

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# We got reggae, we got reggae, We got reggae, we got reggae! #

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And by 1976, even Top Of The Pops, the nation's favourite music show,

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looked more like a light entertainment show

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for all the family than a teenage chart show.

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Everybody in the family could enjoy Top Of The Pops,

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one week or another,

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because there was always something on there for them.

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But how did Top Of The Pops and the charts turn into a variety show,

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when back in 1964, it had seemed to be all about the music?

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Yes, it's number one, it's Top Of The Pops.

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Back in 64, a gentleman called Johnnie Stewart was producing

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trad and twist programmes for the BBC, very faddy.

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He persuaded the head of the BBC at that time that the nation

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needed another show as an alternative to Ready Steady Go!

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In other words, to reflect the hits of the day.

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Top groups, top records, top everything.

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MUSIC: "Let's Spend The Night Together" by The Rolling Stones

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In the '60s, Top Of The Pops was swinging.

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It was THE show where you could see

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the biggest music stars and coolest fashions.

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# Don't you worry 'bout what's on your mind, oh my

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# I'm in no hurry, I can take my time, oh my... #

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It was an institution,

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and every kid in the country wanted to watch Top Of The Pops.

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In the early '70s, the music was spectacularly,

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utterly, effing wonderful.

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# Get it on, bang a gong, get it on

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# Get it on, bang a gong, get it on... #

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I came to be a teenager in 1970, which was nice timing,

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and Top Of The Pops was absolutely important,

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in terms of bringing to you glimpses of other adventures.

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# Don't want to learn about etiquette from glossy magazines

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# Why should I try to talk correct like they do in other scenes? #

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It was what everyone talked about at school the next day.

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You sometimes talked about it with your parents.

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When Bowie first appeared on Top Of The Pops,

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performing Star Man, in a complete body suit,

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it was, "Oh, my God, he's dressed like a girl."

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# There's a star man waiting in the sky

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# He'd like to come and meet us

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# But he thinks he'd blow our minds... #

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We'd never seen androgyny. We'd never seen a hint of homosexuality.

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You probably have those conversations with children to Mum and Dad,

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"Oh, he looks a right pranny",

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and, "What are they on about?"

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And that used to be a topical thing.

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From one bopper sensation to another, this is T Rex and Metal Guru.

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# Waaa-aaaah-yeah... #

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The next day it was... Just everybody was on it, this incredible moment,

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and some of the things, you know, dictated who you'd become. Your taste.

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# Is it you?

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# Metal guru, is it you?

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# Sitting there in your armour plate chair, oh yeah

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# Metal Guru, is it true...? #

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There would be real fights, you know. David Bowie or T Rex went on.

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A lot of your friends deemed that to be teeny bop music. You know, it's singles music.

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# Could it be?

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# You're gonna bring my baby to me... #

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We couldn't really understand boys like Marc Bolan or David Bowie.

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They were too complicated when I was 13.

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Glam was also a little bit too old for me.

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At that point I wanted a simple idea of a boy.

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It seems that every now and again, in the pop world, along comes

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either a group or a singles singer, and gets the full force of the pop mania.

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The teeny bop craze had ruled the charts in the early '70s.

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Young girls could scream after their pop idols, from The Osmonds...

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# Crazy horses

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# Crazy horses... #

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..to our very own Rollers.

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-ALL CHANT:

-Bring on the Rollers!

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I remember wanting to belong to a gang of girls,

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and music seemed to be the way into this,

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and the music that everyone was listening to was the Bay City Rollers.

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# Bye bye, baby, baby goodbye... #

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So when all the girls ran into the toilets at school to listen

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to the announcement of the charts, and the Bay City Rollers were number one, and everyone screamed.

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THEY SCREAM

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# Now if I were free...

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It seemed very simple, this code. You had a tartan scarf,

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you learnt the dance steps, you screamed if anyone mentioned them

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or their music was on the radio, and you put their posters up on your wall,

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and I thought, "I've cracked it. I can be a girl now".

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# Bye bye, baby, baby goodbye

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# Bye, baby, baby bye bye... #

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Top Of The Pops helped establish the teeny bop sensations,

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and in the mid-'70s, the show was an influential player in the British record industry.

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PHONE RINGS

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Good morning, Top Of The Pops.

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The thing about Top Of The Pops was that it was a barometer of the singles chart.

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Back then, the chart was carved in stone. It was unshiftable.

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So it was an incredibly prestigious show.

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On the Monday morning, 8am in the morning, the record pluggers

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from all the different record companies

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met in Top Of The Pops' office,

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and that was the first time they knew whether any of their acts were going to be on television.

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# Blinded by the light... #

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I can remember, at the BBC, trundling down to the Tube,

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"Yes, we're on, we're on". You know, the complete joy.

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If you were just a new entry, you were praying that another artist

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was on tour and couldn't come in.

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If their acts weren't going to be on television,

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the first thing they did was to ring the factories to stop the record being produced,

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cos it was such a powerful programme.

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To be a producer on Top Of The Pops was...

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I mean, they had enormous power.

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They could make or break records, really.

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I always hesitate to be an arbiter of British taste.

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I think that we do a very successful job reflecting

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what the British public is buying in the show.

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It was Robin Nash who once said, "Top Of The Pops

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"is the only programme in the world where the producer has nothing to do with the talent". In other words,

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it was governed by forces outside his control.

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The singles market in the '70s was big business, and the only access to your favourite tune

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was buying the seven-inch for 70p.

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There were more million-selling singles in the '70s

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than in any other decade. The singles chart was enormously important.

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Over 50 million singles were sold in 1976, and there was a massive divide

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between the singles audience and album buyers.

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The album charts of the day, Steely Dan, Rainbow, Chicago, people like that,

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that was a different demographic, more longevity.

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There was huge discrepancy in the '70s between album music and single music.

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There was no mix at all.

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Here's one that went up 14 places in this week's chart, Sailor and A Glass Of Bubbly.

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# I got the money, I got the place

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# You got the figure, you got the face

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# Let's get together, the two of us over a glass of champagne... #

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Bands like Sailor, who had come out of pretty much nowhere,

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they had two or three hits. I mean, in '76, the went on Top Of The Pops

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and pretty soon it was massive.

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# The two of us over a glass of champagne... #

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Of course, with a lot of one-off singles in '76, bands didn't have long careers,

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but had a good minute or two in the spotlight.

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We take you over to the Trocadero with Showaddywaddy!

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Every act that released a single dreamed of being on Top Of The Pops.

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It meant you'd arrived.

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The show, at that time, was a priority. It was the top of the list

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for any record label. If you want to sing your sales, it would be Top Of The Pops.

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It had so much power. You knew if you were on Top Of The Pops that your record was going to go top ten.

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If Top Of The Pops put the hits on TV, the nation's favourite radio station played them to the masses.

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PIPS BLEEP

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JINGLE: # Radio 1, good morning. #

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In the '60s, 1967 onwards, Radio 1 was the number one station.

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Radio 1 blasts the airwaves from two electronic cubbyholes,

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produced as about as cheaply as radio can be.

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It's a bright, brash upstart of a channel.

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It really did rule the pop kingdom, you know, Radio 1, and still does. Sells records.

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Executive producer Doreen Davies chairs the weekly playlist meeting at Broadcasting House.

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-That'll go up, then, go up.

-I think it will go up.

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The playlist is a selection of 40 records judged suitable for maximum exposure on the air.

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The decision at the end of the day is a crucial one for the artists and the record companies.

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On Radio 1, we had audiences of every generation.

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I have a card from Lynn Cooper, Mrs Lynn Cooper,

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who lives at 19 Norfolk Crescent, Nuneaton, and she has written in for her sister,

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who I know is getting married tomorrow. We're going to go down right now to Lewes in Sussex

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and say hello to Penny Greenwood. Hello, Penny. Are you there?

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-Yes, hello.

-How are you? I can't hear you very well.

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-You'll have to talk up just a little bit.

-Oh, hello.

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That's much better. Lovely.

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You couldn't think that my breakfast show on Radio 1, I'd come off the air

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and the first audience figures we got were for 20 million.

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So 20 million people were hearing that record, and of course, you know,

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Top Of The Pops was getting millions of viewers as well.

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People forget how big the Radio 1 DJs were. Not in size, but in popularity.

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Radio 1 DJs had been big since the late 1960s, when Radio 1 started.

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Phenomenally powerful. You hung on their every word.

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Stand by, take six.

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JINGLE: # The Golden Hour

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# Tony Blackburn remembers... #

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-Best of luck, studio.

-# 1960! #

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There's another from Freddy Carter. Thank you, Noel, for the last few hours.

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Always turn off after me name check.

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There were 12 DJs, and every one of them was a household name.

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Jimmy Savile, DLT, Johnnie Walker, Alan Freeman, Tony Blackburn, and so it went on.

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Hello, good evening. Welcome once again to Top Of The Pops!

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Hello, good evening, and welcome to Top Of The Pops!

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I'll be on breakfast tomorrow. Do hope you're going to join me.

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They were the great faces of the nation in a way because they had two things on their side.

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They were constantly there cos they were on Radio 1,

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and then they had Top Of The Pops, which put them in front of millions every week.

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It was an obvious idea. I mean, you know, BBC programme, BBC radio,

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BBC television, it was an obvious link-up.

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The DJs, they were not stand-offish. They were very much part of the Top Of The Pops furniture.

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I thought tonight's proceeding would be held in camera,

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but in fact, we're just mucking in on tonight's Top Of The Pops.

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Setting the standard for the DJs was the original Top Of The Pops presenter.

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And a welcome to this week's top DJ, Jimmy Savile!

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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Hello, ladies and gentlemen. How about that?

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Welcome to Top Of The Pops.

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He was a genuine music lover, and he was into pushing new music,

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and he was a DJ pioneer.

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Oh-oh-oh! Goodness gracious.

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At number 18, would you believe, ladies and gentlemen,

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Gladys Knight and the Pips.

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Ho-ho, Midnight Train To Georgia, thank you very much indeed.

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Jimmy has always been old in my eyes, because of the look.

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You know, the white hair and everything.

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But you didn't view him as old, you weren't watching someone

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that you thought should be doing something else.

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They were the bee's knees.

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But by 1976, Jimmy had competition.

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On any radio station, certainly in the early days,

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and probably today as well, the number one presenter would be the breakfast show presenter,

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because it's the most important show of the day.

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-JINGLE:

-# Start your day with Noel Edmonds...

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-Good morning.

-# No-el, No-el, good morning. #

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He was so fashionable, he was so on the mark as a DJ,

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as a broadcaster.

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Did you always want to be a DJ,

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or did you start off wanting to be something else?

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Andy Williams?

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Oh, come on, I'm not that old.

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These people were validators, in a way.

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They were saying, "This is number one, this is Top Of The Pops."

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You believe them, they're not going through the motions.

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No Radio 1, no Tony Blackburn, mind you I'm sure he'd be sick of that.

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I wasn't aware of too much competition between the DJs,

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because we were all doing quite nicely.

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I did, at one time, wear a T-shirt saying, "I hate David Hamilton."

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Do you like the T-shirt?

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I think this is a style that is going to catch on

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for this coming Christmas, don't you?

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In actual fact, this is the new look for '77.

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I thought, "This is the most wonderful publicity I could possibly get."

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David Hamilton and I were always great friends,

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and we always had a go at one other in a nice way.

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Censored, it's censored!

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I heard that you're one of the worst players in the world.

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You couldn't even tackle a rice pudding!

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DJs had a field day in those days.

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I wish I was a presenter, then, I tell you,

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I'd be laughing.

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They were zany, almost sub-Bruce Forsyth variety characters as such, they had schtick.

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we were, in a strange sort of way, as big as the artists

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-we were presenting, and we were built up as pop stars.

-SCREAMING

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They'd be on Radio 1, they'd be on Top Of The Pops, they'd go on tour,

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they'd open supermarkets and they'd get paid huge amounts of money.

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I totted it up once and I opened 1,000 supermarkets

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around the country, and when they didn't do so well

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and they closed down, I offered to go back and close them down.

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I remember going to Scotland and opening a menswear shop.

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They dropped me at the wrong side of the street,

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and the police rushed over and showed me through the crowd.

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As I went through, they ripped my jacket to pieces.

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It was a menswear shop, and when I came out

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I was wearing a better jacket than the one I went in with!

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APPLAUSE

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It was an easy transition for the Radio 1 DJs

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when it came to also hosting the BBC's primetime

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Saturday night light entertainment shows.

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# Sunshine Saturday... #

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Yes, once again it's Seaside Special,

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the show that goes coast to coast with the very best people

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in the pop music field, the variety field,

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we've got some fabulous stars for you.

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The Radio 1 DJs not only did Top Of The Pops,

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but some of us did Seaside Special as well.

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Seaside Special went out on Saturday night in the big peak slot,

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now occupied by Strictly Come Dancing.

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Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you now to meet a real superstar

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and somebody who I have personally admired for many, many years.

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Ahem. Good evening.

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The Top Of The Pops presenters had become the perfect hosts for family viewing.

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Programmes like Seaside Special, I think,

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must have had a very similar audience to Top Of The Pops.

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Certainly in hindsight, you are aware of how not even

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a cousin of light entertainment programmes, but a close relation,

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a brother, a sister, a son, they were part of that tradition.

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# Saturday night, we're gonna have some fun... #

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It's a good British night from us on Top Of The Pops,

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it's the number one,

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it's the fabulous film of Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody,

0:18:510:18:53

marvellous, so do have a super year, God bless,

0:18:530:18:56

see you next week.

0:18:560:18:57

# Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

0:18:570:19:05

# Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality... #

0:19:050:19:11

The omnipresent Radio 1 DJs played a big part in creating the hits,

0:19:120:19:16

but what did that mean for music in 1976?

0:19:160:19:20

The year started with a radical moment of innovation.

0:19:200:19:24

Queen, with Bohemian Rhapsody, changed the whole face

0:19:240:19:27

of television, as such, with respect to Top Of The Pops.

0:19:270:19:31

People liked the video more than the song, I suppose,

0:19:310:19:34

but that did herald the storyboard and what was to come with MTV.

0:19:340:19:38

# Galileo, figaro, magnifico... #

0:19:380:19:41

But 1976 was far from from innovative in the charts,

0:19:410:19:44

with its cast of regulars hogging the limelight.

0:19:440:19:48

In '76, I guess, one of the big changes in music would be Cliff Richard with Devil woman.

0:19:480:19:53

I mean, Cliff, woo!

0:19:530:19:54

# She's just a devil woman With evil on her mind

0:19:540:19:58

# Beware the devil woman She's going to get you... #

0:19:580:20:02

The Peter Pan of pop showed us a racier side.

0:20:020:20:06

Cliff and Devil Woman. I mean, that...

0:20:060:20:08

Firstly, it's a really well-written song by an established performer.

0:20:080:20:13

It was just a bit of a shock

0:20:130:20:14

that here you had this very Christian man performing it.

0:20:140:20:18

It was a song that he never really liked,

0:20:180:20:20

because, you know, Cliff is whiter than the driven snow, isn't he?

0:20:200:20:24

It wasn't really quite his image.

0:20:240:20:26

Even by then, '76, Cliff seemed to have been around for a couple of centuries,

0:20:260:20:29

so whatever people feel about Cliff now, they felt then.

0:20:290:20:32

# She's gonna get you! #

0:20:320:20:33

APPLAUSE

0:20:330:20:36

-Congratulations!

-Oh, thank you very much indeed.

0:20:360:20:39

You've heard that before. How many hits is that now in the charts?

0:20:390:20:42

-I think we've made 64 entries.

-When I'm 64? Do you like that?

0:20:420:20:45

Nice to see that you're nearly famous, too.

0:20:450:20:47

Here is the record that is number one in the chart, yet again, for Abba. This is Fernando.

0:20:470:20:52

But the year belonged to a band that were our Swedish fantasy.

0:20:520:20:57

Abba, who I absolutely love, and they, visually,

0:20:570:21:00

are just made for Top Of The Pops.

0:21:000:21:01

# There was something in the air that night

0:21:010:21:04

# The stars were bright, Fernando... #

0:21:040:21:08

Everybody in the world wanted them on their show.

0:21:080:21:11

You'd get Benny or Bjorn saying to me, "What are we doing, then?

0:21:110:21:14

"Which shows are we doing?" I said, "Top Of The Pops,"

0:21:140:21:17

because, at the time, Top Of The Pops was the show to do.

0:21:170:21:20

# If I had to do the same again I would, my friend, Fernando... #

0:21:200:21:26

Abba represented a sort of softness. It represented sweetness.

0:21:260:21:30

They represented nothing about the country you lived in,

0:21:300:21:33

nothing about the location you lived in, nothing about your life

0:21:330:21:36

as a young person in Britain in the mid-'70s.

0:21:360:21:40

They were a kind of a fantasy.

0:21:400:21:43

# I've been cheated by you since I don't know when... #

0:21:430:21:47

Abba, to me, were the biggest group to come along,

0:21:490:21:52

certainly in the '70s, and disco was coming along as well,

0:21:520:21:56

-and I loved the disco music.

-ABBA charted three times,

0:21:560:22:00

but I don't remember Abba as having the respect then as they do today.

0:22:000:22:04

# Yes, I've been broken-hearted

0:22:040:22:07

# Blue since the day we parted

0:22:070:22:11

# Why, why, did I ever let you go?

0:22:110:22:15

# Mamma Mia, even if I say

0:22:150:22:18

# Bye-bye Leave me now or never... #

0:22:180:22:21

They looked, for me, the final splutterings of glam,

0:22:210:22:26

cos they still wore glitter, still dressed up in that sense.

0:22:260:22:29

So for me, that five years that had taken me from 13 to 18 -

0:22:290:22:34

a third of my life - it seemed, "Why are they still doing that?"

0:22:340:22:37

"Why are they still wearing the platform shoes? That's the Middle Ages now."

0:22:370:22:41

Now, we shall certainly be hearing a good deal more of this winning song,

0:22:410:22:47

and in April, of course, it'll be competing against the best of the rest in Europe.

0:22:470:22:51

But at the moment it's goodnight from the Royal Albert Hall in London,

0:22:510:22:54

and once again that winning song by the Brotherhood Of Man,

0:22:540:22:57

and it's called Save Your Kisses For Me.

0:22:570:23:01

# Though it hurts to go away

0:23:010:23:03

# It's impossible to stay

0:23:030:23:06

# But there's one thing I must say before I go

0:23:060:23:11

# I love you

0:23:110:23:13

-# I love you

-You know... #

0:23:130:23:15

From one Eurovision success to another,

0:23:150:23:17

the biggest-selling single of the year belonged to our very own version of ABBA.

0:23:170:23:23

Top Of The Pops put us definitely and firmly on the map.

0:23:230:23:25

Week after week.

0:23:250:23:26

# But you keep me hanging on... #

0:23:260:23:29

It was the public that put the record there.

0:23:290:23:32

When we arrived to do Eurovision, we were number one in the charts.

0:23:320:23:37

# Won't you save them up for me?

0:23:370:23:39

# Your...kisses for me

0:23:390:23:42

# Save all your kisses for me

0:23:420:23:47

# Bye-bye, baby, bye-bye... #

0:23:470:23:49

Years on, I mean, they still wait for the dance.

0:23:490:23:52

It's just phenomenal.

0:23:520:23:53

# Honey, don't cry... #

0:23:530:23:55

Because we were a middle-of-the-road band,

0:23:550:23:58

I think they didn't expect us to hold it for so long,

0:23:580:24:02

and I still think today that we could have done another week or two there.

0:24:020:24:06

I think they're there for life.

0:24:060:24:08

# Hang on, baby, hang on...#

0:24:080:24:11

But I think they'd had enough of us and they went, "Goodbye. That's enough."

0:24:110:24:16

# ..only three... #

0:24:160:24:18

APPLAUSE

0:24:180:24:20

Compared to other years, it probably wasn't the vintage champagne of pop.

0:24:200:24:25

Some people might see the music of 1976 as being bland. I don't,

0:24:250:24:29

I think the music of 1976 was great fun.

0:24:290:24:34

# Disco, disco duck

0:24:340:24:36

Got to have me a woman!

0:24:360:24:38

# Disco, disco duck

0:24:380:24:40

Oh, get down, mama!

0:24:400:24:42

# Try your luck

0:24:420:24:43

# Don't be a cluck

0:24:430:24:45

-# Disco

-Disco

0:24:460:24:48

-# Disco

-Disco

0:24:480:24:50

-# Disco

-Disco

0:24:500:24:52

# Disco, disco duck... #

0:24:520:24:54

Top Of The Pops did play what the people put in the charts,

0:24:540:24:58

and if it WAS incredibly mediocre and middle-of-the-road,

0:24:580:25:02

Top Of The Pops couldn't change that.

0:25:020:25:04

JJ Barrie, and No Charge.

0:25:040:25:07

TO COUNTRY BACKGROUND Well, his mom looked at him standing there expectantly,

0:25:080:25:11

and I could see the memories flashing through her mind.

0:25:110:25:15

And so she picked up the pen,

0:25:150:25:18

and turning the paper over...

0:25:180:25:20

this is what she wrote.

0:25:200:25:22

# For the nine months I carried you

0:25:220:25:25

"For the nine months I carried you..."

0:25:250:25:26

-# Growing inside me

-"..growing inside me..."

0:25:260:25:29

-# No charge

-.."no charge..."

0:25:290:25:31

Nobody new and exciting had seemed to come along to replace the glam scene.

0:25:310:25:37

And I guess the record industry was delighted with that -

0:25:370:25:40

they could put a lot of music into the charts that they were in control of.

0:25:400:25:44

It wasn't coming from somewhere else and surprising them.

0:25:440:25:46

# Baby Soon you're gonna le-e-eave me

0:25:460:25:53

# When you go don't say goodby-y-y-ye

0:25:540:26:02

# Keep on, keep on walking... #

0:26:020:26:05

As powerful as it was, as large as its audience was,

0:26:050:26:09

it wasn't manipulative to the point

0:26:090:26:11

where it was going to invent its own chart for the sake of what went on the show.

0:26:110:26:15

They had to go with Demis Roussos - who was extraordinarily popular.

0:26:150:26:20

# Ever and ever, forever and ever

0:26:200:26:25

# You'll be my dream

0:26:250:26:29

# My rainbow's end

0:26:290:26:32

# And the song I sing... #

0:26:320:26:36

When you think about it today, and what music is today,

0:26:360:26:41

you are looking at pure variety light entertainment back then.

0:26:410:26:45

-The one and only...The Wurzels.

-APPLAUSE

0:26:450:26:50

Even Somerset cider drinkers braced the charts this year.

0:26:500:26:54

# I drove my tractor through your haystack last night

0:26:540:26:58

# Ooh-arr, ooh-arr

0:26:580:26:59

The recording engineer at the time was a guy called Tony Clark.

0:26:590:27:03

He used to record bands like Sky and John Williams,

0:27:030:27:06

and he said - the first day we were recording, he said,

0:27:060:27:09

"We've got a hit here."

0:27:090:27:12

# Cos I've got a brand-new combine harvester

0:27:120:27:14

# And I'll give you the key

0:27:140:27:17

# Come on, now, let's get together

0:27:170:27:19

# In perfect harmony... #

0:27:190:27:21

It was Radio 1 that started playing the record, I think,

0:27:210:27:23

and that's how it all ended up with Top Of The Pops.

0:27:230:27:25

If you could put some a phrase on it,

0:27:250:27:28

it was "melodic, singalong fun".

0:27:280:27:32

She made I laugh... Ha-ha!

0:27:320:27:35

# I'll stick by you

0:27:350:27:36

# I'll give you all that you need

0:27:360:27:38

# Ooh-arr, ooh-arr... #

0:27:380:27:40

We were the boys that played the village halls and did this and that

0:27:400:27:43

but we'd never actually been on a national television show.

0:27:430:27:46

And then we found something that we could do.

0:27:460:27:49

We could write songs that become a part of ourselves.

0:27:490:27:52

Which makes us no different to all the bands that are around today.

0:27:520:27:55

-APPLAUSE

-Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

0:27:570:27:59

Now then, ladies and gentlemen... Applause there for The Wurzels.

0:27:590:28:03

Now, what we're going to do, a bit more magic now.

0:28:030:28:05

After three, I'm going to make these Wurzels disappear,

0:28:050:28:08

and I'm going to bring that young lady back from Birmingham.

0:28:080:28:11

One, two, three!

0:28:110:28:14

Aaah...

0:28:140:28:15

They were displaced by You To Me Are Everything by The Real Thing.

0:28:150:28:19

It was like a life-saver -

0:28:190:28:20

because at last you didn't have to sit through The Wurzels.

0:28:200:28:23

# Oh, you to me are everything

0:28:230:28:26

# The sweetest song that I can sing

0:28:260:28:28

# Oh, baby

0:28:280:28:29

# Oh, baby

0:28:300:28:32

# To you I guess I'm just a clown

0:28:330:28:35

# Who picks you up each time you're down

0:28:350:28:38

# Oh, baby

0:28:380:28:39

# Oh, baby... #

0:28:400:28:41

The Bay City Rollers! Thank you very much.

0:28:410:28:45

The teeny bop craze that had ruled the charts

0:28:450:28:47

was on the wane, as their young fans grew up.

0:28:470:28:50

Take it down!

0:28:500:28:52

My interest in The Bay City Rollers passed very quickly

0:28:520:28:56

because I was changing very quickly.

0:28:560:28:58

I was going from being 12, 13, to 14

0:28:580:29:02

which was a very different thing,

0:29:020:29:03

and I was very quickly deeply embarrassed

0:29:030:29:05

about EVER having liked The Bay City Rollers.

0:29:050:29:08

Their posters were ripped from my walls. Anything...

0:29:080:29:11

Their singles were thrown out, tartan scarves probably burnt,

0:29:110:29:14

and then they were gone for me.

0:29:140:29:16

And, as the hot summer of '76 drew to a close,

0:29:160:29:19

The Bay City Rollers' single was to be their last big hit.

0:29:190:29:23

Taking their place was a new band on the block

0:29:250:29:27

who were fast becoming everyone's favourite teddy boys.

0:29:270:29:30

INTRO: "Under The Moon Of Love"

0:29:300:29:32

DAVE BARTRAM: When Under The Moon Of Love came along later in the year,

0:29:370:29:41

it became a bit like a breath of fresh air.

0:29:410:29:42

# Let's go for a little walk

0:29:420:29:45

# Under the moon of love... #

0:29:460:29:48

Eight blokes sort of stepping out doing their thing,

0:29:480:29:53

with a hint of aggression...

0:29:530:29:54

-# I want to tell you

-I want to tell you

0:29:540:29:57

-# That I love you

-That I love you

0:29:570:29:58

# And I want you to be my girl... #

0:29:580:30:01

Everybody seemed to love the band.

0:30:010:30:03

We even sort of... got things in the music press

0:30:030:30:06

that were giving us credit for what we were doing!

0:30:060:30:10

And there were other magazines that didn't like the band

0:30:100:30:13

because we were essentially I suppose

0:30:130:30:16

what at the time was called a teeny bop band.

0:30:160:30:19

# I'm gonna talk sweet talk And whisper things in your ear... #

0:30:190:30:22

I can remember singing to audience members, and...

0:30:220:30:26

It's something that we always did

0:30:260:30:27

in our stage show anyway, so I was quite comfortable doing that.

0:30:270:30:30

# Come on, little darling, take my hand

0:30:300:30:32

# Let's go for a little walk... #

0:30:320:30:35

But if teeny bop wasn't your thing, there was always a hidden treasure.

0:30:360:30:40

I think what you often want from a great pop song -

0:30:400:30:42

and you often wanted to be on Top Of The Pops -

0:30:420:30:45

is an edge of surrealism - something surreal, something other.

0:30:450:30:49

# Everybody

0:30:490:30:50

# Plays the game

0:30:500:30:52

# You don't have to... #

0:30:520:30:55

And often that manifested itself by something, you know,

0:30:550:30:58

really, really wonderful going on this really naff programme.

0:30:580:31:01

Someone like Alex Harvey would pop up...

0:31:010:31:03

# Are you going to the party?

0:31:030:31:05

# Going to the Boston Tea Party

0:31:060:31:09

# Going to the party

0:31:090:31:12

# Going to the Boston Tea Party... #

0:31:120:31:15

There were some rather irresistible pop records

0:31:150:31:18

that you couldn't resist because they were peculiar.

0:31:180:31:21

# Girls, girls, girls Girls, girls, girls

0:31:210:31:24

# Well, they made 'em up in Hollywood

0:31:240:31:27

# Put them into the movies... #

0:31:270:31:29

In their novelty, in their attempt to get play on the radio

0:31:290:31:32

and to be...you know, to sound right and to be catchy enough,

0:31:320:31:35

they were oddly exotic.

0:31:350:31:37

# I've got a one solitary

0:31:370:31:40

# Lonesome single bed... #

0:31:400:31:43

Sometimes something would take you by surprise.

0:31:430:31:45

Even if you were - like I was - a profound snob about music.

0:31:450:31:49

And if the producer didn't pick your band,

0:31:490:31:52

there was always the dancing girls.

0:31:520:31:54

Here are the fruity...Pan's People!

0:31:540:31:57

# You sexy sugar plum... #

0:32:020:32:04

Legs & Co and Pan's People, they came on and did these very sensual and erotic routines,

0:32:040:32:10

and nobody else was doing it on TV at the time,

0:32:100:32:13

and so they were quite unique.

0:32:130:32:15

Their dance routines were... quite sexy for the time,

0:32:170:32:21

and dances like that you couldn't see anywhere else

0:32:210:32:24

on any other variety programmes.

0:32:240:32:26

It was purely on Top Of The Pops.

0:32:260:32:29

There were very few women on top of the Pops, and Pan's People

0:32:300:32:33

were moulded into whatever was needed...

0:32:330:32:35

which wasn't a very helpful role model for a young girl!

0:32:350:32:40

Pan's People, who are deep in the heart of the jungle.

0:32:400:32:43

JUNGLE DRUMS

0:32:430:32:45

What they did was, I think,

0:32:470:32:48

purely part of the entertainment variety genre,

0:32:480:32:53

where they were dancing girls,

0:32:530:32:55

who were probably considered more important

0:32:550:32:58

for shapely legs than for actually being dancers.

0:32:580:33:02

So there was this kind of Benny Hill postcard innocence

0:33:020:33:05

about watching Legs & Co.

0:33:050:33:08

Here...are Legs & Co!

0:33:080:33:10

There was almost sort of a laddishness, I think.

0:33:110:33:14

DLT - "Not 'alf." You know?

0:33:140:33:16

I know where I'm going later -

0:33:160:33:17

straight down to Pan's Persons' little carriageway,

0:33:170:33:20

through those white blocks. Woargh!

0:33:200:33:22

And Dad's going, "Ooh, yeah."

0:33:220:33:23

MUSIC: "Oh, What A Night" by The Four Seasons

0:33:230:33:26

I remember my father and my brother watching Top Of The Pops

0:33:280:33:31

because it was either Pan's People or Legs & Co.

0:33:310:33:34

And they weren't interested in what they were dancing to,

0:33:340:33:37

they weren't interested in what the movements were.

0:33:370:33:40

All they interested in was how little they were wearing

0:33:400:33:44

and what provocative moves they did.

0:33:440:33:46

Rather shamefully, we expected and accepted

0:33:480:33:50

that women would be there often for decorative purposes.

0:33:500:33:53

They were there to keep the male viewers there.

0:33:530:33:57

I don't think I ever watched it for Legs & Co!

0:33:570:33:59

Nobody really took offence.

0:33:590:34:01

Today I think you'd probably be called sexist,

0:34:010:34:05

but in those days, you know, it was...just banter.

0:34:050:34:09

Very interesting, how times have changed.

0:34:090:34:12

But it wasn't only the professional dancers

0:34:130:34:15

that got the chance to strut their stuff on Top Of The Pops.

0:34:150:34:18

-We wanted to dance, didn't we? ..You wanted to dance.

-Yes!

0:34:180:34:21

We're going to dance.

0:34:210:34:22

Lots and lots of people wanted to be on Top Of The Pops, dancing there,

0:34:220:34:26

so they came in off the streets and they were encouraged to dress up,

0:34:260:34:30

and think the rest of the country probably saw the fashions that were happening in London.

0:34:300:34:35

One of the first shows to have an audience participation in there.

0:34:350:34:38

We're going to pick out the best dancer in this one,

0:34:380:34:41

because we're going to see the kids dancing here in the studio.

0:34:410:34:43

The audience were always in shot, and that was always the public

0:34:430:34:47

looking up to the pop star. So you sort of felt part of it.

0:34:470:34:49

-LEO SAYER:

-# You make me feel like dancing... #

0:34:490:34:52

You knew you'd made it, if you were in there and you were on camera.

0:34:520:34:55

# You make me feel like dancing... #

0:34:550:34:58

When I was young I thought it would be quite romantic to be in the audience.

0:34:580:35:01

In fact, it would have been enough to just be there watching the stars.

0:35:010:35:04

-# I feel like dancing

-Wooo!

-# Dancing

-Wooo!

0:35:040:35:06

# Dance the night away... #

0:35:060:35:08

If you were in the audience, you got pushed around by the floor managers.

0:35:080:35:12

If a camera was coming your way, they didn't bother about you, that just barged into you.

0:35:120:35:16

But...the kids had a good time and it was just great fun.

0:35:160:35:19

For me there was too much of this dancing - looking over the shoulder to see if you were on camera.

0:35:190:35:24

If you were in the audience and doing the show, it was a really good party atmosphere.

0:35:240:35:30

But by now, the Top Of The Pops party didn't seem to be for its younger viewers,

0:35:310:35:35

and it was trying to cater for all the family.

0:35:350:35:38

# It's so nice, nice, nice

0:35:380:35:41

# To have you home, home again... #

0:35:410:35:45

The '70s, and my generation, were already

0:35:450:35:48

almost a backwash to what had gone on in the '60s. I couldn't love the music.

0:35:480:35:53

# It's so nice, nice, nice to have you home... #

0:35:530:35:58

It was having a mid-life crisis, and the presenters were of another era and the music had got badly lost.

0:35:580:36:05

# ..never ever gonna go away

0:36:050:36:08

# Any more #

0:36:080:36:10

You had to introduce what was in the charts that particular week.

0:36:100:36:14

I didn't have any quarrel with it. One or two things were a little bit square for me, but

0:36:140:36:19

if a record appealed to the mums and dads, or maybe the grandparents liked them - you know, so be it.

0:36:190:36:26

# It's so nice, nice, nice

0:36:260:36:29

# To have you home, home again

0:36:290:36:32

# And you're looking exactly just the way you used to look before... #

0:36:330:36:39

It was almost like being inside a very closed society -

0:36:390:36:43

you took what you had, and you believed it was all there was.

0:36:430:36:46

It was only later, when I got a tiny bit older and more adventurous,

0:36:460:36:51

that I kind of realised there was a whole world out there

0:36:510:36:54

that Top Of The Pops wasn't reaching.

0:36:540:36:57

MUSIC: Theme from "The Old Grey Whistle Test"

0:36:570:37:00

There was a much more serious approach to music on The Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC2's

0:37:010:37:06

anti-Top Of The Pops music show -

0:37:060:37:08

with no audience, no dancing...

0:37:080:37:10

and a presenter that (whispered.)

0:37:100:37:13

Hello, again. This is Bob Harris opening up another Whistle Test.

0:37:130:37:15

# Gonna make her roar

0:37:150:37:18

# Gonna make her fly... #

0:37:180:37:19

What was given to us

0:37:190:37:21

music lovers was The Old Grey Whistle Test, as a kind of counterpart.

0:37:210:37:26

HIGH-PITCHED: # Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh

0:37:260:37:30

# Ahh, ahh, ahh... Ahh! #

0:37:300:37:34

When you got The Old Grey Whistle Test, it was really

0:37:340:37:38

exploring album tracks and people who were, in inverted commas, taking their music seriously, man.

0:37:380:37:43

There weren't people being forced to look as if they were dancing and enjoying themselves,

0:37:430:37:48

and there were presenters who really took the music seriously,

0:37:480:37:52

rather than stood there trying to sound fizzy and excited.

0:37:520:37:55

A good-looking programme tonight, too. Sessions from John Martyn and Little Feat,

0:37:550:38:00

an interview later on with Robert Plant, some vintage film of Ike and Tina Turner,

0:38:000:38:04

a track from the new Jefferson Starship album, and music from the Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

0:38:040:38:08

But The Old Grey Whistle Test was a little too laid-back and worthy for a younger audience by 1976.

0:38:130:38:20

# There was a woman in Georgia didn't feel just right

0:38:200:38:23

# She had the fever all day and chills at night... #

0:38:230:38:27

I was a 14-year-old kind of caught between two worlds, really.

0:38:270:38:30

You'd have Brotherhood Of Man on Top Of The Pops, and some kind of

0:38:300:38:34

West Coast American long-haired group on The Old Grey Whistle Test.

0:38:340:38:39

And neither of them really seemed, to me,

0:38:390:38:43

to be relevant or to relate to me or my world.

0:38:430:38:47

# He's a doctor of soul

0:38:470:38:50

# He's got his very own thing, yeah... #

0:38:500:38:54

-PAUL MORLEY:

-Those that liked that music, thought that what they liked

0:38:560:39:00

was deeply serious, proper music.

0:39:000:39:01

So they were protective of that and threatened by what was about to happen too.

0:39:010:39:05

The nation's youth were becoming disenchanted with the BBC's musical offerings.

0:39:080:39:13

Time now to go up the M1 motorway to the Scratchwood service area -

0:39:130:39:16

we are going to find Laurie Lingo, the Plastic Chickens, the Dipsticks, everything - and Convoy GB!

0:39:160:39:22

# It's a lonely life truck driving But it's better than a bike... #

0:39:220:39:26

It all started to slightly parody itself.

0:39:260:39:29

The format was very well established,

0:39:290:39:32

everyone knew what was coming next...

0:39:320:39:34

# ..the saga of the M1 motorway

0:39:340:39:37

# Of the biggest bloomin' convoy outside the USA... #

0:39:370:39:41

-LAVINIA GREENLAW:

-The dancers got sillier, the songs got sillier.

0:39:410:39:45

The presenters - who were really too old to be presenting it -

0:39:450:39:49

got sillier too,

0:39:490:39:50

and it didn't make any of us feel young, or excited, or happy or free.

0:39:500:39:55

It was just as if everything had got badly stuck and no-one knew what to do.

0:39:550:39:59

Er...listen, Plastic Chicken -

0:39:590:40:01

d'you want to stick it in behind that suicide jockey?

0:40:010:40:04

-What's a suicide jockey?

-"As it happens, 'ow's about - urrgh!"

0:40:040:40:08

It just seemed to be laughable. It was becoming laughable.

0:40:100:40:13

We're all wearing white suits tonight, because we're doubling as ice cream salesmen.

0:40:130:40:18

Choc ices...!

0:40:180:40:19

Hello and welcome - tonight's programme's dedicated

0:40:190:40:22

to everyone who wanted me to get the sack.

0:40:220:40:24

It made it shallow and superficial and silly and glitzy.

0:40:240:40:26

It had become much more obviously a family entertainment show.

0:40:260:40:31

FUNKY DISCO MUSIC

0:40:310:40:33

We were clearly not being given everything that was out there,

0:40:410:40:44

and certain people were making these decisions on our behalf.

0:40:440:40:48

Even if we didn't articulate it this way, that was a political thing,

0:40:480:40:52

an ideological thing - and we needed to fight it.

0:40:520:40:54

# Boredom, boredo-o-om... #

0:40:540:40:59

The predominant mood of the young people of '76

0:41:010:41:06

wasn't necessarily anger, but was actually boredom.

0:41:060:41:10

LAVINIA GREENLAW: There didn't seem to be anything for us -

0:41:110:41:13

I spent a lot of time in bus shelters wondering what to do and where to go.

0:41:130:41:18

I hadn't yet found the music that mattered, I hadn't yet found the friends who would matter.

0:41:180:41:22

I didn't know who to be, and it felt like the country didn't know what to be either.

0:41:220:41:27

Light entertainment didn't seem to relate really or

0:41:270:41:31

care really about what young people wanted.

0:41:310:41:35

SIREN WAILS

0:41:350:41:36

The generation that was coming of an age in the late '70s

0:41:400:41:43

was a generation that was beginning to have to deal with

0:41:430:41:46

rising unemployment. Interest rates were high...

0:41:460:41:49

There was a very horrific kind of institutional

0:41:490:41:53

and street racism that you were aware of

0:41:530:41:55

in Britain - and of course you had the Notting Hill riots in 1976.

0:41:550:42:00

MUSIC: "White Riot" by The Clash

0:42:000:42:03

And there seemed to be a very big gulf between that real life, and the life that was portrayed by

0:42:050:42:12

light entertainment on the BBC including Top Of The Pops.

0:42:120:42:15

BBC's never gone this mad. Demis - come over here, darlin'!

0:42:150:42:18

It's time to say goodnight,

0:42:180:42:20

and we are going to leave you with the number one sound which has been there for 94 years.

0:42:200:42:24

Demis - cop a load of our lovely British plonk, Chateau BBC 1914...

0:42:240:42:30

That real world was definitely knocking on Top Of The Pops' door by '76...but not getting in.

0:42:300:42:37

The cult is called "punk", the music "punk rock".

0:42:370:42:40

Basic rock music - raw, outrageous and crude.

0:42:400:42:44

# I am an Antichrist

0:42:520:42:56

# I am an anarchist... #

0:42:560:42:59

Completely discombobulated the mainstream entertainment world

0:42:590:43:03

and the recording industry, because there were impulses and

0:43:030:43:06

desires that were coming from a completely different place.

0:43:060:43:10

It wasn't just about enjoyment, about being pleased, it wasn't just decoration.

0:43:100:43:14

Malcolm McLaren, you discovered and managed the group.

0:43:140:43:17

What about the accusation that you're more into chaos than anything else?

0:43:170:43:21

Well, that's an accusation by people

0:43:210:43:24

who really don't understand what kids want. Kids want excitement,

0:43:240:43:27

they want things that are going to transform

0:43:270:43:30

what is basically a very boring life for them right now.

0:43:300:43:34

And music - young rock music -

0:43:340:43:36

is the only thing they have that they thought that they controlled.

0:43:360:43:39

And if you look in the charts, they don't have anything to do with it.

0:43:390:43:42

# Anarchy for the UK... #

0:43:430:43:47

My earliest memories of punk are the kind of intrusions it made on that Top Of The Pops world.

0:43:470:43:53

They were not playing along with the idea of being a band, and being a band in a television interview.

0:43:530:43:58

# I...

0:43:580:44:00

# Wanna be...

0:44:000:44:03

# Anarchy! #

0:44:030:44:07

You'd hear a word like "anarchy", and clearly this wasn't Showaddywaddy.

0:44:070:44:10

Something else was going on.

0:44:100:44:11

At the time I thought that punk bands were anti-Establishment,

0:44:110:44:16

you know, peeing all over the audience, that kind of thing...

0:44:160:44:20

So I did actually come out once saying that I didn't think much of it.

0:44:200:44:24

Punk rock just didn't do it for me.

0:44:270:44:30

I found it... And I know a lot of people still love it -

0:44:300:44:33

I found it tuneless, mindless.

0:44:330:44:37

Everything about it. I found the artists not particularly appealing.

0:44:370:44:41

What about the word "punk"? It means worthless, nasty.

0:44:410:44:44

Johnny Rotten, are you happy with this word?

0:44:440:44:46

No, the press gave us it.

0:44:460:44:48

It's their problem, not ours.

0:44:480:44:51

We never called ourselves "punk".

0:44:510:44:53

Punk set itself up against Top Of The Pops, you know, because... it did seem part of the enemy.

0:44:530:44:59

It did seem part of that mainstream world which punk was trying to wake up.

0:44:590:45:04

Which bands do you think are really old hat now?

0:45:040:45:07

Are you against the Stones and The Who, sounds like that?

0:45:070:45:11

Yes, of course, because they're established.

0:45:110:45:13

They just do not mean anything to anyone.

0:45:130:45:16

Unfortunately, they didn't sell enough records

0:45:160:45:19

to get into the charts - and as Top Of The Pops

0:45:190:45:22

relied upon the charts

0:45:220:45:24

because of these rigid rules that had been going since 1964,

0:45:240:45:31

and nobody dared to change them for upsetting anybody.

0:45:310:45:34

The idea that basically record companies, the record industry,

0:45:340:45:37

in cahoots with the BBC, Radio 1 and Top Of The Pops,

0:45:370:45:41

were basically dictating choice...

0:45:410:45:43

It's kind of no wonder really that

0:45:430:45:45

out of that era came a whole load of new kinds of music.

0:45:450:45:51

It's no wonder really that the young people -

0:45:510:45:53

bless them, as they always do - said "Let's make our own culture."

0:45:530:45:57

It was never the sense that we wanted to smash Top Of The Pops to pieces -

0:45:570:46:01

in that sense we were oddly compliant. We were quite happy for Top Of The Pops to keep going,

0:46:010:46:05

but we wanted Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Damned

0:46:050:46:08

to go on Top Of The Pops to give it the kick...

0:46:080:46:10

# ..just for you

0:46:100:46:11

# Here's a love song, just for you

0:46:110:46:15

# Here's a love song

0:46:150:46:17

# And it makes me glad to say

0:46:170:46:18

# It's been a lovely day and it's OK... #

0:46:180:46:22

Slowly, from '77 to '78, '79, 1980,

0:46:220:46:26

you had fabulous people appearing on Top Of The Pops.

0:46:260:46:29

When they did, it was an amazing moment.

0:46:290:46:33

# Hong Kong garden

0:46:330:46:36

# Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh... #

0:46:360:46:39

I think Top Of The Pops lost a generation in 1976,

0:46:390:46:44

who eventually came back when edgier music started to top the charts.

0:46:440:46:49

I think there was a complete reinvigoration of Top Of The Pops...

0:46:490:46:53

and it seemed like their natural home, which now seems very strange!

0:46:530:46:57

# Slanted eyes meet a new sunrise... #

0:46:570:47:00

That's why Top Of The Pops sometimes has to go through these peculiar periods - or did then -

0:47:000:47:05

because then there's this wonderful antidote, this wonderful way, it swings back another way.

0:47:050:47:10

# La, la, la, la-la la-la-la

0:47:100:47:13

# Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh

0:47:130:47:16

# Hong Kong garden...

0:47:160:47:18

Hi there. All having a lovely Christmas?

0:47:180:47:20

For the next three-quarters of an hour

0:47:200:47:22

we're looking at the really big records of this year.

0:47:220:47:25

It's welcome to the Christmas Top Of The Pops!

0:47:250:47:27

MUSIC: "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin

0:47:270:47:29

But, in Christmas 1976, nothing had changed.

0:47:290:47:34

1977 may have been around the corner,

0:47:340:47:36

but as far as Top Of The Pops and its presenters were concerned

0:47:360:47:39

it was business as usual.

0:47:390:47:41

-Let me introduce you to another very young group.

-Our Kid.

0:47:410:47:44

The number one record from a number one guy, don't know if you know him.

0:47:440:47:48

Johnny Mathis, and When A Child Is Born, right this second.

0:47:480:47:52

# All across the land dawns a brand-new morn

0:47:520:47:58

# This comes to pass

0:47:580:48:02

# When a child is born

0:48:020:48:06

# A silent wish

0:48:070:48:09

# Sails the seven seas

0:48:100:48:14

# The winds of change

0:48:150:48:18

# Whisper in the trees

0:48:180:48:23

# And the walls of doubt

0:48:230:48:26

# Crumble, tossed and torn

0:48:260:48:29

# This comes to pass when a child is born. #

0:48:290:48:32

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:48:320:48:34

E-mail [email protected]

0:48:340:48:36

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