0:00:02 > 0:00:05I must warn you - you're about to see stars.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08It was a must-see. People HAD to watch Top Of The Pops.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Every kid HAD to watch Top Of The Pops.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15When you're on Top Of The Pops, you've arrived, that's it, you're there. You've made it.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Who's on Top Of The Pops, then, eh?
0:00:17 > 0:00:19I wanted things that were kind of angry,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22to counter the boring conformity that was around us.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Just the fact they were there - the outsiders coming onto the inside.
0:00:25 > 0:00:32# Everybody's on Top Of The Pops. #
0:00:32 > 0:00:34We wanted to be the biggest, best band in the world.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37We couldn't wait to go on Top Of The Pops.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39It was a horrible experience.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44I absolutely hated it, because we were surrounded by a sea of shit.
0:00:44 > 0:00:481978 was this kind of collision of different cultures.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52And suddenly they were shoehorning all these things that didn't fit.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:00:57 > 0:01:00# I could be the driver in an articulated lorry... #
0:01:00 > 0:01:05In 1978, Britain was, quite frankly, a mess.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Remember the Winter of Discontent?
0:01:09 > 0:01:12The collapsing Labour Government?
0:01:12 > 0:01:14The whole country on strike?
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Ah, the arse-end of the '70s.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Yes, we saw the rise of Thatcher.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Yes, we made a test-tube baby.
0:01:23 > 0:01:24Oh, sorry.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27But, more importantly, John Noakes left Blue Peter.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30This one is called Move Your Body, which indeed he's going to do.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32Despite such discontent,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35you always got your fun-filled half-hour over at Top Of The Pops.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37One big cheer for Top Of The Pops. Hip-hip...
0:01:37 > 0:01:38ALL: Hooray!
0:01:38 > 0:01:42- The highest new entry in the chart, Rod Stewart, Do You Think I'm Sexy? - ALL: No!
0:01:42 > 0:01:45But in 1978, pop veered off the middle of the road,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47and as punk and disco went mainstream,
0:01:47 > 0:01:49the kids finally got a look-in.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53# I should be glad to be so inclined
0:01:53 > 0:01:56# What a waste, what a waste But the world don't mind... #
0:01:56 > 0:01:59# Ooo wah, ooo wah, cool cool kitty
0:01:59 > 0:02:02# Tell us about the boy from New York City... #
0:02:02 > 0:02:05"Oh, let's all watch Top Of The Pops,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07"it's such a relief from all the bad news."
0:02:07 > 0:02:09You just stopped. And you watched it.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12And it didn't matter whether what was on it was good or not good,
0:02:12 > 0:02:13You watched it,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17because it was absolutely part of being a 1970s teenager.
0:02:17 > 0:02:23# Cos a rose has to die every time you tell a lie... #
0:02:23 > 0:02:25Even though you were sitting watching it
0:02:25 > 0:02:29dripping with a kind of seething cynicism and hatred,
0:02:29 > 0:02:30you still watched it.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32You still had Demis Roussos and Boney M,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35so there was a mixture of light entertainment
0:02:35 > 0:02:37for the older members of the family,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41and the young people could then slag off Demis Roussos.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44# I went away without knowing
0:02:44 > 0:02:46# Changes you put me through... #
0:02:46 > 0:02:48They could have these fights that families should have
0:02:48 > 0:02:52about who's on Top Of The Pops, and who they like and don't like.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55# If I had words
0:02:55 > 0:02:58# To make a day for you... #
0:02:58 > 0:03:01I was always sitting there slagging it off the whole time.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04It was a ritual that I had to go through.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07"That's rubbish, that's rubbish, that's rubbish."
0:03:07 > 0:03:08It was a love-hate thing.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13# Shine... #
0:03:13 > 0:03:16You sort of tapped your foot furiously through, thinking,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18"Please finish, please move on.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23"Give me the stuff that speaks to me and speak to my generation."
0:03:23 > 0:03:25- This is Boney M.- Terrific. - And Rivers Of Babylon.- Yeah!
0:03:25 > 0:03:27# By the rivers of Babylon
0:03:27 > 0:03:30# There we sat down... #
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Top Of The Pops' comfort zone was pop for all the family.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36So the ultimate chart act that year was Boney M.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40# When we remembered Zion
0:03:40 > 0:03:42# By the rivers of Babylon... #
0:03:42 > 0:03:46They were ideal for Top Of The Pops - very accessible songs.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48They were perfect for radio, perfect for Top Of The Pops,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51in actual fact, perfect for the BBC.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55# Carried us away in captivity
0:03:55 > 0:03:59# Requiring from us a song... #
0:03:59 > 0:04:03Very much a manufactured band. You couldn't name them necessarily.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07- # Show me your motion - Tra la la la la
0:04:07 > 0:04:11- # Come on, show me your motion - Tra la... #
0:04:11 > 0:04:13We used to joke that somebody must have gone down
0:04:13 > 0:04:16to the job centre in Shepherd's Bush and just employed them.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20# She looks like a sugar in a plum
0:04:20 > 0:04:21# Plum, plum! #
0:04:21 > 0:04:24When you're on Top Of The Pops, you know you've arrived,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27that's it, you're there. You've made it.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28I can tell you Boney M sold
0:04:28 > 0:04:31over four million copies of their records.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35It was like nothing we expected. It was like... That was major.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38# There lived a certain man in Russia long ago
0:04:38 > 0:04:42# He was big and strong In his eyes a flaming glow... #
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Every time Boney M released something,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47it was like, "Yeah, Boney M has done it again.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50"Top Of The Pops, here they come."
0:04:50 > 0:04:54# Ra Ra Rasputin Russia's greatest love machine
0:04:54 > 0:04:58# It was a shame how he carried on... #
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Records that went big were the records that also appealed to a mass market,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06that appealed to the slightly older people, the much older people,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09the mums, the dads, the grandparents, that were acceptable.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15In the '70s, light entertainment was king
0:05:15 > 0:05:18and had the biggest pull of the family audience.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24It seemed Saturday night wasn't complete without a dancing troupe
0:05:24 > 0:05:26or a stuffed comedy puppet.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
0:05:28 > 0:05:33At home, you can play the game as well. You're going to hear one of the famous DJs say something...
0:05:33 > 0:05:36It was just one big, old party at the BBC,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39with all the talent popping in and out of each other's shows.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41APPLAUSE
0:05:46 > 0:05:49It was in this world that veteran producer Robin Nash
0:05:49 > 0:05:52had honed his production skills since the '60s.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56Good evening and welcome once again to another session of Juke Box Jury.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Robin, when I knew him,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02he was doing Juke Box Jury back in the old David Jacobs days.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05And Basil Brush.
0:06:05 > 0:06:11He was showbiz. He was BBC-trained into the art of light entertainment.
0:06:11 > 0:06:18# Oh oh, Figaro He's got magic... #
0:06:18 > 0:06:21With shows like the Generation Game and Basil Brush on his CV,
0:06:21 > 0:06:25when it came to Top Of The Pops, Robin Nash was old-school BBC.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Top Of The Pops producers always seemed to me
0:06:31 > 0:06:33to be part of another age.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36People that involved in music that was light entertainment.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39The producers were probably a generation older
0:06:39 > 0:06:43and therefore would go for something that they thought
0:06:43 > 0:06:46more appropriate, they thought more suitable.
0:06:46 > 0:06:52# I wonder why I love you like I do
0:06:52 > 0:06:56# Is it because I think you love me too? #
0:06:56 > 0:06:59There were still these really old-school formula bands
0:06:59 > 0:07:02like Showaddywaddy, Darts, Brotherhood of Man.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Bands that were really rooted in light entertainment and variety,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07and almost music hall in some ways. They were still there.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09And then a bit of Legs & Co.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13# I can't stand the rain against my window... #
0:07:13 > 0:07:18It just felt so end-of-the-pier, so Seaside Special,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20so kind of Saturday night.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Robin Nash favoured wholesome family entertainment,
0:07:26 > 0:07:28and, in spring '78, came an act from the north
0:07:28 > 0:07:30that fitted the bill nicely.
0:07:30 > 0:07:37# He painted Salford's smokey tops on cardboard boxes from the shops
0:07:37 > 0:07:41# And parts of Ancoats where I used to play... #
0:07:41 > 0:07:45Kids loved it. The mums and dads loved it.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47And the grandparents loved it.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50# Cos he painted kids who had nowt on their feet... #
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Me mam were saying to me, "It's one of those songs.
0:07:53 > 0:07:54"If the window cleaner hears it once
0:07:54 > 0:07:57"and he's whistling in the next day, it's a hit."
0:07:57 > 0:08:04# And he painted matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs
0:08:04 > 0:08:06# He painted kids on the corner of the street
0:08:06 > 0:08:09# That were sparking clogs... #
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Arriving at the studio that had seemed so busy
0:08:12 > 0:08:16and so many people shouting, "Lights, darling, more green, more red,"
0:08:16 > 0:08:20pulling cables and all this stuff, that I was frightened.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22I'm sitting there thinking, "It's all my fault, this.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25"That's why he's shouting at him."
0:08:25 > 0:08:28# Now, canvas and brushes were wearing thin
0:08:28 > 0:08:30# When London started calling him... #
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Looking across at one stage with Showaddywaddy there,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37and it was all the laser beams and fancy lights and everything.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39And then they'd flick over to David Essex,
0:08:39 > 0:08:41and he had all the fancy stuff.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43And then when they'd come over to us,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45they'd put us on like a wooden box
0:08:45 > 0:08:48with a dummy gas lamp at the side of us.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52And I thought, "God, we're even looking cheap now."
0:08:52 > 0:08:53Do you know what I mean?
0:08:53 > 0:08:56And those clothes we went out and bought in Manchester
0:08:56 > 0:08:57weren't that hot either.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02# ..Is it true you're just an ordinary chap? #
0:09:07 > 0:09:09After their first appearance,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11you couldn't keep these two off of Top Of The Pops.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15As they became regulars on the 8:15 commute from Manchester.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18# And Lowry said that's just the way they'll stay... #
0:09:18 > 0:09:21As we went on, I don't know whether it was out of pity or what,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25but they just started to elaborate a bit more
0:09:25 > 0:09:29on the backdrop and everything, and spend a few bob on us.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Everything got prettier.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36- There might have been a few sparrows sat...- On telegraph poles.- Yeah.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41Of course, though, sales of Lowry prints rocketed.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Absolutely rocketed.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Lovely piece of music.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50In the '70s, Top Of The Pops was hit central.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53It was THE most powerful pop show in the country.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55I would say Top Of The Pops has been responsible
0:09:55 > 0:09:58for so many breakthroughs of records.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01I'm not sure whether they actually create artists,
0:10:01 > 0:10:03but they certainly do break records.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07- PHONE RINGS - Good morning, Top Of The Pops.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Top Of The Pops was absolutely kind of paramount.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15They monopolised the industry to a greater or lesser degree.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18I mean, it was just sort of extraordinary, the power of it.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21It was a national iconic show.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25A quarter of the country watched it. And the three-quarters that didn't watch it
0:10:25 > 0:10:28heard about it the following day from the quarter that did watch it.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31# Nah pop, no style
0:10:31 > 0:10:34# A strictly roots
0:10:34 > 0:10:36# Nah pop, no style... #
0:10:36 > 0:10:39It was 15, 16 million a week. That was big.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41So if you got your record on there,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44and a small percentage of those people bought your record,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46you probably charted.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51I mean, the promotion men do come and see me,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55and it's their job, obviously, to make me aware of what is going on.
0:10:55 > 0:11:01It was just astronomical power of one programme
0:11:01 > 0:11:03to make and break people.
0:11:03 > 0:11:09# Those fallen leaves lie undisturbed now
0:11:09 > 0:11:12# Cos you're not here... #
0:11:12 > 0:11:14And so the all-powerful Top Of The Pops
0:11:14 > 0:11:17trundled on down the middle of the road.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20With its massive success, the show didn't hunger for change.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23But Britain's teenagers definitely did.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29From the Sex Pistols, their new one is called Pretty Vacant.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Having had a glimpse of one of their bands on Top Of The Pops in 1977,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39the kids were hungry for more. Gradually, Top Of The Pops
0:11:39 > 0:11:43began to allow the new young upstarts through their doors.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46MUSIC: "Teenage Kicks" by The Undertones
0:11:49 > 0:11:52A generation of new young bands were now in the charts
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and arrived armed with guitar, bass and drums -
0:11:55 > 0:11:56albeit not plugged in.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00# Teenage dreams So hard to beat... #
0:12:00 > 0:12:03You know, 1978 was this kind of collision of different cultures,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06and quite clearly the powers that be at Top Of The Pops
0:12:06 > 0:12:10were not massively comfortable with, you know, new wave.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13# I wanna hold you Wanna hold you tight
0:12:13 > 0:12:17# Get teenage kicks right through the night... #
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Suddenly, they were shoehorning all these things that didn't fit,
0:12:21 > 0:12:25so you did have The Undertones or The Buzzcocks
0:12:25 > 0:12:27alongside Darts and Boney M.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30# You spurn my natural emotions
0:12:30 > 0:12:33# You make me feel I'm dirt and I'm hurt... #
0:12:33 > 0:12:37You know, at 16, I wanted things that were kind of angry
0:12:37 > 0:12:38and against the system,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41and counter the boring conformity that was around us.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Anything that seemed to fit that bill I was a complete sucker for.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47# Ever fallen in love with someone? Ever fallen in love?
0:12:47 > 0:12:50# In love with someone Ever fallen in love?
0:12:50 > 0:12:51# In love with someone
0:12:51 > 0:12:54# You shouldn't've fallen in love with... #
0:12:54 > 0:12:57The kind of bands I'd read about in the NME each week,
0:12:57 > 0:13:02people like Blondie, the Buzzcocks The Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello,
0:13:02 > 0:13:03they were suddenly there.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06# I've been on tenterhooks Ending in dirty looks
0:13:06 > 0:13:08# Listening to the muzak... #
0:13:08 > 0:13:09It actually felt like a little blow,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11like you'd somehow beaten the system.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13You got one of yours in there.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17# Pump it up Until you can feel it
0:13:17 > 0:13:20# Pump it up When you don't really need it... #
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Punk had barely featured for the best part of two years,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25but by 1978, it seemed everyone was on Top Of The Pops.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Here's a group now who are going to sing all about
0:13:28 > 0:13:31the best pop show on television, Top Of The Pops from Rezillos.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36- # Hold tight - Now we're on our own
0:13:36 > 0:13:39- # Cue light - Now it's ready to roll
0:13:39 > 0:13:41- # Tonight - How I've waited for
0:13:41 > 0:13:43# Aggravated for years... #
0:13:43 > 0:13:45It sort of slags off Top Of The Pops,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47but, at the same time, you're on it.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50- # Hold on - Do I look up-to-date? #
0:13:50 > 0:13:53We were idealistic and enthusiastic about being on Top Of The Pops
0:13:53 > 0:13:56but aware that we were criticising them at the same time.
0:13:56 > 0:14:02# Everybody's on Top Of The Pops... #
0:14:02 > 0:14:06It's very flattering always to be sent up and mimicked
0:14:06 > 0:14:08and have the mickey taken out of you.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11It shows how important you are in some strange way.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20But not every true punk band
0:14:20 > 0:14:22was desperate to mime on Top Of The Pops.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Some wanted to be heard on their own terms.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Politicians deal in, "Oh, in ten years, we'll build flats there."
0:14:29 > 0:14:34It's just too long. Young people just feel they can't get into it.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38So, what do you think young people are going to do in years to come?
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Get old.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51You either played the game or you didn't. I mean, The Clash didn't.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55They were one band that took a stand and said, "No, we're not going to do it."
0:14:55 > 0:14:59They said it was phoney and inauthentic to mime.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02It was pretty much something you had to kind of buy into.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05And if you were The Clash and you decided you were
0:15:05 > 0:15:08not going to go that route, then obviously you were terribly credible,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11but you had to shift your units some other way.
0:15:14 > 0:15:15You couldn't play live,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18so The Clash took a stand against the all-powerful Top Of The Pops.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22Now bands were faced with a dilemma - to play or not to play.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25# This and that They must be the same
0:15:25 > 0:15:28# What is legal is just what is real
0:15:28 > 0:15:30# What I'm given to understand... #
0:15:30 > 0:15:34There was still an element of young groups coming on going,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38"Wow, we're on Top Of The Pops," playing bouncy records,
0:15:38 > 0:15:44and against that were the punks going, "Well, we don't really want to be here." Yes, you do.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46# ..shot
0:15:46 > 0:15:48# By both sides
0:15:48 > 0:15:53# On the run to the outside of everything... #
0:15:53 > 0:15:56I think, given the option of selling quarter of a million records
0:15:56 > 0:15:58the day after you appear on Top Of The Pops
0:15:58 > 0:16:01and not selling a quarter of a million records the day afterwards,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04it was pretty clear to them that they did it
0:16:04 > 0:16:07or they didn't sell any records!
0:16:07 > 0:16:10You had to do Top Of The Pops to sell records.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18You're never going to do anything at all ever in life unless you're in it.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21I mean, the very fact of putting out a record,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24then you're already joined in with some sort of establishment.
0:16:25 > 0:16:31The chance to play on BBC One at 7:30pm on a Thursday night to the whole nation,
0:16:31 > 0:16:33who wouldn't do that, clearly? Apart from The Clash.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37# Nice 'n' sleazy, nice 'n' sleazy
0:16:37 > 0:16:40# Does it, does it, does it every time... #
0:16:40 > 0:16:43It became part of your life. It was a mechanism that was part of your life.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48TV had such power then. There was no threat from anything else.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51If Sham 69 hadn't have said, "Right, we want to go on Top Of The Pops
0:16:51 > 0:16:53"to prove that you're not going to sweep us under the carpet,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55"you're not going to destroy us..."
0:16:55 > 0:16:57It's far better going on Top Of The Pops
0:16:57 > 0:16:58and your little kids saying,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01"Yeah, I want to watch him. Don't you switch it off."
0:17:01 > 0:17:04# Angels with dirty faces
0:17:04 > 0:17:08# Angels from nowhere places... #
0:17:08 > 0:17:11There were punk bands happy to storm the Top Of The Pops stage.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Amongst them, a new voice of the kids in the streets.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16I know think Jimmy ever felt he was compromising.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Jimmy was a showman, a commercial showman.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23# We come from places you don't wanna go... #
0:17:23 > 0:17:25Top Of The Pops came along and catapulted him
0:17:25 > 0:17:28into that sort of stratosphere for a while.
0:17:28 > 0:17:29# Angels from nowhere places
0:17:29 > 0:17:34# Kids like me and you... #
0:17:34 > 0:17:37'78, I'm on Top Of The Pops, and, of course, it's commercially acceptable,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40and punk is a part of the way of life now.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44All I was trying to do was get to the masses...
0:17:44 > 0:17:47at last, it was actually getting to the people.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51# Kids like me and you... #
0:17:51 > 0:17:54If you go on Top Of The Pops, and there's kids from 10 to 15
0:17:54 > 0:17:57that can't get in the gigs, they can see it.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01# For once in my life I've got something to say
0:18:01 > 0:18:04I wanna say it now For now is today... #
0:18:04 > 0:18:08People say, "Oh, Jimmy, you went on Top Of The Pops and you ruined punk."
0:18:08 > 0:18:12It's absolutely ridiculous to say that,
0:18:12 > 0:18:14because by doing that, I was able to talk about the kid
0:18:14 > 0:18:18that was the underdog, THE working-class kid.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22# If the kids are united
0:18:22 > 0:18:26# Then we'll never be divided
0:18:26 > 0:18:29# If the kids are united
0:18:29 > 0:18:33# Then we'll never be divided... #
0:18:33 > 0:18:35They weren't being outrageous on the show,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37but just the fact they were there -
0:18:37 > 0:18:39the outside was coming onto the inside -
0:18:39 > 0:18:41seemed so exciting in itself.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44He came to the BBC with Sham 69,
0:18:44 > 0:18:46and the whole building was trembling with nerves.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49"What are they going to do?!"
0:18:49 > 0:18:50# Come on! Come on!
0:18:50 > 0:18:53# Hurry up, Harry, come on... #
0:18:53 > 0:18:56They came in, as punks, "We're not going to make it easy for you."
0:18:56 > 0:18:59But really, of course, they're all in show business
0:18:59 > 0:19:01and loved having hit records.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04# We're going down the pub
0:19:06 > 0:19:10# We're going down the pub... #
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Robin would actually just say, "You can cut that out for a start off.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18"We're here to do a show, you're here to promote your record.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20"And this is the way we do things."
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Keep them over more to the left in the bottom of the frame?
0:19:22 > 0:19:25He had a very definite idea of what the acts should be doing,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28what they should look like in the context of the programme.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30And I say "looks like", because I remember
0:19:30 > 0:19:31once The Damned were on the programme,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34and Captain Sensible was, during the dress rehearsal,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37wearing a bridal gown. And he was told in no uncertain terms
0:19:37 > 0:19:41to take the bridal gown off if they wanted to make the actual show.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44They might have had all the attitude in the world outside,
0:19:44 > 0:19:49but you walk into the Top Of The Pops studio and you go, "Wow, this is it."
0:19:50 > 0:19:53The Skids were young punks whose appearance on Top Of The Pops
0:19:53 > 0:19:55caused division within their ranks.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58When we arrived to do Top Of The Pops on the day,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00we knew we had arrived in a foreign country.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02There was no doubt about it. We didn't fit in.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05We didn't understand the way people were speaking to us.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07It was the poshest place I've ever been.
0:20:07 > 0:20:08Three...four.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11We nearly split up, is the truth of the matter,
0:20:11 > 0:20:17based on the arguments of going to do or not to do Top Of The Pops.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20# ..How long now? #
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Stuart Adamson, our guitar player, really felt incredibly strongly -
0:20:23 > 0:20:27his favourite band was The Clash - that they were the leaders on this front.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31But my two mates were with me that day, which were Steve Jones
0:20:31 > 0:20:35and Paul Cook from The Sex Pistols, and they were saying, "Do it."
0:20:35 > 0:20:38So they were the other people in my ear that day.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42The stalwarts of punk won out
0:20:42 > 0:20:44and helped force the band's decision to play.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47# Cry to my daddy on the telephone
0:20:47 > 0:20:50# How long now?
0:20:50 > 0:20:55# Till the clouds are gone and you come home... #
0:20:55 > 0:20:57By the time we got to do the performance,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00that kind of malevolence was spilling out,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and it spilled into the performance.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05# The saints are coming
0:21:05 > 0:21:08# The saints are coming... #
0:21:08 > 0:21:12We were pretty nasty-looking, as I remember, on the show.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14# The saints are coming. #
0:21:14 > 0:21:17We actually did believe that we had something to say
0:21:17 > 0:21:21and it was worth saying and it was important to us, at least.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27And suddenly being surrounded by such incredibly life-changing
0:21:27 > 0:21:29musical acts as The Smurfs and Showaddywaddy
0:21:29 > 0:21:31didn't do your conscience much good.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37APPLAUSE
0:21:37 > 0:21:39The Skids may have been divided about Top Of The Pops,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43but the vital music press were firmly on the side of The Clash.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Top Of The Pops was seen - I was an NME reader -
0:21:45 > 0:21:47it was seen as being the enemy, really.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51And any band who got on there was basically infiltrating.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53They say only the strong survive,
0:21:53 > 0:21:55and from last year's big punk explosion
0:21:55 > 0:22:01comes a band of Irish survivors, The Boomtown Rats, and She's So M-m-m-m-m-modern.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03- # She's so - 20th century
0:22:03 > 0:22:06- # She's so - 1970s. #
0:22:06 > 0:22:10People like The Boomtown Rats were sneered upon hugely as being,
0:22:10 > 0:22:15you know, "plastic punks", I think the phrase was then.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19The music press always hated us. They hated us from day one.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23In fact, famously there was a journalist who broke ranks
0:22:23 > 0:22:25and did a long interview with us,
0:22:25 > 0:22:27and when he went back to the NME office,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30he was hissed as he went through the offices.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33# Tick tock, tick tock Tick tock, tick tock ... #
0:22:33 > 0:22:37The music press were so snooty and snobby that, you know,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39it was a sell-out just by doing it.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44# My mind beats time like clockwork
0:22:44 > 0:22:46# Ay, ay, ay. #
0:22:46 > 0:22:50We, from day one, had decided we wanted to be the biggest band, the best band in the world.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55We wanted to make loads of money. So we had no qualms about that.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58So we couldn't wait to go on Top Of The Pops.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01In the wake of punk came new wave.
0:23:01 > 0:23:02Bands were less interested in revolution
0:23:02 > 0:23:05and more keen on making it.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08# I've come across the desert to greet you with a smile
0:23:08 > 0:23:09# My camel looks so tired... #
0:23:09 > 0:23:12It was one of the ideals that we had.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16We wanted to break America, we wanted to sell records,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18and being Top Of The Pops,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21it was just one of the pieces on the menu that you had to have.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27# Take me I'm yours
0:23:27 > 0:23:30# Because dreams are made of this. #
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Squeeze were never compromised by doing Top Of The Pops
0:23:33 > 0:23:37like some of the punk bands, you know, they sort of rebelled against doing it.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38We always enjoyed doing it.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40It was one of the only ways to get on telly.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48Once Squeeze were on the show, they had to do as they were told.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50It was a bit like coming back to school.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53You had to play by the rules.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57The director sort of barked at you if you didn't do the right thing.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Even though everybody kind of knew it was a mimed show,
0:24:01 > 0:24:03it was the sort of thing my parents would have said,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05"That was great watching you on Top Of The Pops,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07"you guys can really play."
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Ah, the old Top Of The Pops bugbear - miming.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20# I love the sound of breaking glass... #
0:24:20 > 0:24:23I think it was an open secret, the miming thing.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25# I love the sound of its condition. #
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Top Of The Pops was not a Jools Holland test of your musicality
0:24:33 > 0:24:37and your cred and your ability to play a fantastic lick
0:24:37 > 0:24:39or demonstrate your amazing voice.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44It wasn't about that. It was about shifting units.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47# And I'm down in a tube station at midnight
0:24:47 > 0:24:50# Whoa-oh-oh-oh. #
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Flaunting the Top Of The Pops rules
0:24:54 > 0:24:56enabled bands to retain some integrity.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59A lot of bands made it really clear that they were kind of taking
0:24:59 > 0:25:01the piss out of the whole miming thing.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09We never pretended we were doing it live,
0:25:09 > 0:25:14so Bob would quite consciously not have the microphone in front of him
0:25:14 > 0:25:19or be out of sync with the vocal, so kids knew what he was doing.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23What you did get was one of the very few opportunities to see
0:25:23 > 0:25:27the people you admired physically in the flesh, actually there,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30and it sort of didn't matter whether they were miming or not.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Five, four, three...
0:25:32 > 0:25:36Cue applause. APPLAUSE
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Hi, good evening, it's Top Of The Pops,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40and we're going to make you feel like dancing.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42Here's Rose Royce and the chart rundown.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44If you had a golden Top Of The Pops ticket,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46you were oblivious to the office politics.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Forget the miming or the message in your music -
0:25:48 > 0:25:52this was the only chance the kids got to be on telly.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54At half past six, the audience arrives.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58It's so popular that there's an 18-month waiting list for tickets.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00The audience were just pleased to be there, whoever was on.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03They got their ticket for Top Of The Pops,
0:26:03 > 0:26:04and they were down there, they were on the floor,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06they wanted to wave to somebody at home,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08they wanted to get in the shot with you.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11"I'm here, I've made it, I'm at Top Of The Pops."
0:26:11 > 0:26:15# Everybody dance To the rhythm clap your hands. #
0:26:15 > 0:26:17I don't know where the audiences came from.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21They bussed them in? I don't know where they came from.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24You had the illusion that there were an awful lot of kids in the studio
0:26:24 > 0:26:26dancing, but in fact, it was the same 15 kids that were
0:26:26 > 0:26:29pushed from band to band, so they would do a take with a band
0:26:29 > 0:26:31and then say, "Right, kids, over!"
0:26:31 > 0:26:34And they sort of pushed the kids over to the next band.
0:26:34 > 0:26:35And the kids... "OK, dance."
0:26:37 > 0:26:39If you watch them dancing,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42you can tell a lot of them aren't music lovers,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44they're just people that wanted to be on telly.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46One big cheer for Top Of The Pops. Hip hip!
0:26:46 > 0:26:48ALL: Hooray!
0:26:48 > 0:26:50We'll see you next week. Bye-bye. Here's Donna Summer.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52The show and its DJs were the real stars,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54and bands had to take second billing.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57They'd be queueing to get autographs from Peter Powell
0:26:57 > 0:27:00and yet they had all these famous bands there,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03and the bands would just sort of, you know, fade away into the bar.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08Top Of The Pops made acts and presenters, if I'm honest,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11household names quite quickly. The acts because of the music,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13the presenters for no discernible talent
0:27:13 > 0:27:15apart from being able to introduce the acts!
0:27:15 > 0:27:18A sure sign of when spring is in the air is when love is in the air.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24# Love is in the air In the rising of the sun
0:27:27 > 0:27:29# Love is in the air... #
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Of course, at home, it always looks much bigger than it is in the studio.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35You have four of five stages in the round,
0:27:35 > 0:27:40and they'd be moving round to these sort of galleyways and galleys
0:27:40 > 0:27:44and stairs, and it made it look like a massive film set.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46In actual fact, of course, it wasn't.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48We would go into the dressing room,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52which was always a very stark, minimalist room.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55I wanted the glamour, but the glamour didn't seem to be there.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58I was very disappointed that the glamour really wasn't there.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01One of the most enthusiastic moments about being on Top Of The Pops
0:28:01 > 0:28:04was meeting Legs & Co.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07I'd gone through puberty dreaming about meeting them,
0:28:07 > 0:28:09and when we got to Top Of The Pops,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12I just raced down into the dressing rooms to try and find them.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13But they weren't very interested in me,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17they were interested in people like David Van Day and Showaddywaddy.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Alongside Legs & Co,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Top Of The Pops was still a bastion for our big female stars,
0:28:24 > 0:28:25from Lulu...
0:28:25 > 0:28:29# Ooh, baby, you can drive me crazy. #
0:28:29 > 0:28:31..to Dusty Springfield.
0:28:31 > 0:28:36# Love like yours don't come knock, knock, knocking. #
0:28:36 > 0:28:39Even our Cilla had a hit this year.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43# Silly boy, don't play with me Silly boy, cos you ain't free. #
0:28:43 > 0:28:47But 1978 saw a new kind of woman taking to the stage.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51This is Poly Styrene and X-Ray Spex.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55When you look back at the punk era, there were very few of us women,
0:28:55 > 0:28:59but I think those of us that were there made an impact.
0:28:59 > 0:29:04# And watched the world turn Day-glo, you know, you know
0:29:04 > 0:29:09# The world turned Day-glo, you know. #
0:29:09 > 0:29:11I almost feel that's one of the first times
0:29:11 > 0:29:15that a movement that crossed over and became commercial,
0:29:15 > 0:29:17women were allowed to be interesting and sexy,
0:29:17 > 0:29:20rather than just pretty, pouting girlies.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26I loved that Siouxsie crossed over and was on Top Of The Pops,
0:29:26 > 0:29:30that was the most amazing thing, and I still can't believe she did it.
0:29:30 > 0:29:35There she was, confident, self-contained, uncompromising.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37Her whole look done.
0:29:37 > 0:29:43# Harmful elements in the air Cymbals crashing everywhere... #
0:29:43 > 0:29:49It was amazing to see her on Top Of The Pops,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52because that was actually the music that you were listening to.
0:29:52 > 0:29:53# Junk floats on polluted water
0:29:53 > 0:29:57# An old custom to sell your daughter... #
0:29:57 > 0:30:01Top Of The Pops' idea of getting down with the new bands
0:30:01 > 0:30:04was to press all its special effects knobs.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08You can see this is, "We don't quite know what to do with this,
0:30:08 > 0:30:12"let's have some funny camera angles. Let's pixelate!"
0:30:12 > 0:30:18# Oh-oh, oh oh oh oh Hong Kong garden... #
0:30:18 > 0:30:21Top Of The Pops may not have known how to handle Siouxsie,
0:30:21 > 0:30:24but she was a role model for its young female viewers.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Girls weren't doing things like that in those days.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30Girls weren't putting themselves on the line.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Girls were pathetic and sort of unconfident.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36And where did Siouxsie get that from, that she could stand up on stage
0:30:36 > 0:30:39and just take command of the whole room?
0:30:39 > 0:30:41# Tourists swarm to see your face... #
0:30:41 > 0:30:45That was kind of thrilling for a 14-year-old girl.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Debbie Harry, another woman destined to thrill.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54She was sexy but on her own terms.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57# Picture this A day in December
0:30:57 > 0:30:59# Picture this Freezing cold weather... #
0:30:59 > 0:31:03I don't know what they would have made of it coming over from America,
0:31:03 > 0:31:05straight from CBGB's into Top Of The Pops.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09# If you could only, oh-oh
0:31:09 > 0:31:12# Picture this A sky full of thunder
0:31:12 > 0:31:14# Picture this My telephone number. #
0:31:14 > 0:31:17Record companies were absolutely freaked out by strong women
0:31:17 > 0:31:20in bands who knew what they wanted to do.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23Behind the flowers, a little Bush.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26Kate Bush knew exactly what she wanted.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29# Out on the wiley, windy moors
0:31:29 > 0:31:33# We'd roll and fall in green... #
0:31:33 > 0:31:36Kate Bush was an extraordinary artist to appear.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39She didn't have anything to do with punk or new wave or anything.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42She was out on her own completely.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46And when it came to our music, she was a perfectionist.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49# Possess you, I hated you... #
0:31:49 > 0:31:52They were just doing a little dummy run and just something not right.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54# Bad dreams in the night... #
0:31:54 > 0:31:57Next thing, she toddles all the way through,
0:31:57 > 0:31:59past the trombone players and the sax player,
0:31:59 > 0:32:03all the way to the piano, sits down. "It's done like this."
0:32:03 > 0:32:06She said, "This is how it's done."
0:32:06 > 0:32:11# Heathcliff, it's me Cathy, I've come home
0:32:11 > 0:32:14# I'm so cold. #
0:32:17 > 0:32:18APPLAUSE
0:32:18 > 0:32:20This is the castle at Richmond.
0:32:20 > 0:32:21Not, as you realise,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25an ancient fortress topped with battlements - it's a ballroom,
0:32:25 > 0:32:29and it's here that a curious phenomenon is manifesting itself.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33For the young people who queue to get in six nights a week
0:32:33 > 0:32:35have all caught a mysterious new disease -
0:32:35 > 0:32:37disco fever.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41# Out there dancing on the floor Darlin'
0:32:41 > 0:32:47# And I feel like I need some more and I feel your body. #
0:32:47 > 0:32:49If there'd been just disco and post punk,
0:32:49 > 0:32:50or whatever you wanted to call it,
0:32:50 > 0:32:54it would have been mad but great.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58Because that was a great year for dance music, actually.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01# Young and pretty New York City girl
0:33:01 > 0:33:04# 25, 35, hello, baby New York City girl... #
0:33:04 > 0:33:07Alongside the new woman and new wave bands,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10the other pop force in 1978 was disco.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14But we were a long way from the hedonism of Studio 54.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17The closest the Top Of The Pops viewer got to New York City
0:33:17 > 0:33:20came courtesy of Studio Three at Television Centre.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26# When he dropped you off at East 83rd
0:33:26 > 0:33:30- # Oh oh oh - Oh oh oh
0:33:30 > 0:33:34# You're a native New Yorker... #
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Here comes the queen of the UK disco scene,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Tina Charles and I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44But our home-grown disco was a little different,
0:33:44 > 0:33:47a little more dance-around-your-handbags.
0:33:47 > 0:33:53# I'll go where your music takes me
0:33:53 > 0:33:57# Where your rhythm makes me... #
0:33:57 > 0:34:01There was always Tina, but most disco hits came from Stateside
0:34:01 > 0:34:05and so had to be represented by Top Of The Pops' very own dance troupe.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11# Instant replay Got to have it now
0:34:11 > 0:34:12# Instant replay... #
0:34:12 > 0:34:15Well, we did end up with some pretty good tracks that year.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19- We did, we did.- Just trying to think of some of them.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23# Got me dancin' all around... #
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Bee Gees, Giorgio Moroder, we did.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29Donna Summer, we did a lot of Donna Summer. We did a lot of Chic.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33# Ah, freak out! Le freak, c'est Chic
0:34:33 > 0:34:35# Freak out! #
0:34:35 > 0:34:39Everybody kind of got on the dance bandwagon.
0:34:39 > 0:34:44We did a lot of disco dance competitions, didn't we? Judging.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48We'd go to do perhaps a cabaret or something, somewhere,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51and they would have a disco dancing competition that we would judge,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54and we did loads of those, didn't we? Everybody just wanted to dance.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58Of course, one of the most amazing success stories of 1978
0:34:58 > 0:35:01belongs to the Bee Gees and that film, Saturday Night Fever.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04This iconic image from the film of John Travolta
0:35:04 > 0:35:08strutting down the streets of Brooklyn made him a disco icon.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11With Saturday Night Fever, disco changed enormously.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16We had a complete change of the way people performed
0:35:16 > 0:35:20and danced on stages and in discos.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23For the first time, guys actually would get up
0:35:23 > 0:35:25and do their moves and everything else, and John Travolta gave
0:35:25 > 0:35:29real credibility to the fact that you could be very cool
0:35:29 > 0:35:31and get up there and strut your stuff and what have you.
0:35:33 > 0:35:39# I don't know why I'm surviving every lonely day
0:35:39 > 0:35:43# When there's got to be no chance for me. #
0:35:43 > 0:35:45Saturday Night Fever became so big.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48It dominated the American chart, the top five in the American chart,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51and spawned so many other hits from the back of it.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56# If I can't have you I don't want nobody, baby #
0:35:56 > 0:35:59# If I can't have you Ah ah ah. #
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Yvonne Elliman made it to the studio,
0:36:01 > 0:36:03but the Bee Gees just couldn't be arsed.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05# Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
0:36:05 > 0:36:08# You're stayin' alive Stayin' alive
0:36:08 > 0:36:10# Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
0:36:10 > 0:36:12# And we're stayin' alive Stayin' alive... #
0:36:12 > 0:36:14You had the film clips of the Bee Gees on Top Of The Pops
0:36:14 > 0:36:17as opposed to them being live in the studio.
0:36:17 > 0:36:24# Ah, ah, ah, ah Stayin' alive... #
0:36:28 > 0:36:31After disco and the Bee Gees, in 1978,
0:36:31 > 0:36:35we all wanted to grow a quiff, wear leather and get back to the '50s.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38Now, unless you were fast asleep or holidaying in Siberia last week,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41you cannot have missed the shenanigans surrounding
0:36:41 > 0:36:43the release of Mr Travolta's latest film, Grease.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47CHANTING: We want Travolta! We want Travolta!
0:36:49 > 0:36:52Before you could hang up your Tony Manero white suit,
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Grease mania had taken hold,
0:36:54 > 0:36:57and it became an even bigger phenomenon than disco in 1978.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02The longest-running number one in 1978, nine weeks at number one,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, You're The One That I Want.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10# I got chills, they're multiplying
0:37:10 > 0:37:14# And I'm losing control
0:37:14 > 0:37:18# Cos the power you're supplying
0:37:18 > 0:37:20# It's electrifying... #
0:37:20 > 0:37:22Grease made a big impact that year.
0:37:22 > 0:37:27You know, You're The One That I Want, Summer Nights - big, big hits.
0:37:27 > 0:37:28# You're the one that I want
0:37:28 > 0:37:31# You are the one that I want Ooh, ooh, ooh!
0:37:31 > 0:37:32# The one that I want
0:37:32 > 0:37:35# You are the one I want Ooh, ooh, ooh! #
0:37:35 > 0:37:40- It was perfect for us.- Yeah, we got some really good songs to do.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42We did Grease Is The Word.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45- Hopelessly Devoted To You. - Hopelessly Devoted, yes.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48- Summer Nights.- Yes. - Which we did with boys.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Grease was an even bigger box office hit than Saturday Night Fever,
0:37:52 > 0:37:55but it's a problem when you can't have the talent.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57Because the film was out on general release,
0:37:57 > 0:38:00you didn't actually get John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
0:38:00 > 0:38:02in the studio, so we got the numbers as routines.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05# You're too shy... #
0:38:05 > 0:38:08There had to be some sort of interpretive dance
0:38:08 > 0:38:11around the concept, you know, and all you really wanted to see
0:38:11 > 0:38:14was Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, probably.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17# Feel your way
0:38:17 > 0:38:22# I better shape up Cos you need a man... #
0:38:22 > 0:38:27Unfortunately, this Danny and Sandy actually turned up.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31Hilda Baker, Arthur Mullen, good grief, yeah. That was a tough one.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34- # Are you sure? - I'm sure down deep inside. #
0:38:34 > 0:38:37And here's the chart rundown, with just slap of Grease.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40Here it is, the number one sound on Top Of The Pops, John Travolta.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43As we expected, it's up there again, Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta
0:38:43 > 0:38:45and, oh, those Summer Nights.
0:38:45 > 0:38:46# A-well, a-well, a-well-a... #
0:38:46 > 0:38:50And before you could say, "A-well, a-well, a-well-a,"
0:38:50 > 0:38:54another song from Grease was at number one, for forever.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58# Tell me more, tell me more Did she put up a fight? #
0:39:03 > 0:39:06We had finally beaten them, and this is what we wanted to do.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Bob Geldof taking a photo of John Travolta
0:39:08 > 0:39:10and just ripping it in half,
0:39:10 > 0:39:12which at the time seemed quite a subversive blow.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19It's show business. You know?
0:39:19 > 0:39:21You know you're going to get the press out of it,
0:39:21 > 0:39:24you know you're going to get some PR out of it,
0:39:24 > 0:39:28you know that all these years on, people are still talking about it.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31We're still talking about him tearing up John Travolta,
0:39:31 > 0:39:34so his reasons for doing it worked.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37# Screaming and crying in the high-rise block
0:39:37 > 0:39:40# It's a rat trap, Billy but you're already caught
0:39:40 > 0:39:42# And you can make it if you want to
0:39:42 > 0:39:44# Or you need it bad enough
0:39:44 > 0:39:47# You're young and good-looking and you're acting kind of tough... #
0:39:47 > 0:39:51At last, we actually got to see the new number one performed
0:39:51 > 0:39:55in the studio when The Boomtown Rats finally toppled Grease's reign.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57But there was no escape from Top Of The Pops' obsession
0:39:57 > 0:39:59with a novelty song.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01Take it away, Sir Terry!
0:40:01 > 0:40:03# I thought I could hear the curious tone
0:40:03 > 0:40:06# Of a cornet, clarinet and big trombone
0:40:06 > 0:40:11# Fiddle, cello, big bass drum Bassoon, flute and euphonium
0:40:11 > 0:40:14# Each one making the most of his chance
0:40:14 > 0:40:18# All together in the floral dance... #
0:40:18 > 0:40:21I remember introducing once Terry Wogan doing The Floral Dance,
0:40:21 > 0:40:24which was a big hit at the time, and cheek by jowl with that
0:40:24 > 0:40:27was a former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, and his band, The Rich Kids.
0:40:27 > 0:40:33# Because you're rich kids You better beware... #
0:40:33 > 0:40:36Terry Wogan felt a little bit sheepish, but apart from that,
0:40:36 > 0:40:38that was typical of Top Of The Pops.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42# All together in the floral dance. #
0:40:42 > 0:40:45We allowed ourselves that little part of the British psyche
0:40:45 > 0:40:48that said, "We don't mind buying the odd quirky thing."
0:40:48 > 0:40:51And we've always bought quirky records.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53# We're going to the Argentine
0:40:53 > 0:40:57# And we'll really shake them up when we win the World Cup... #
0:40:57 > 0:41:00There were so many novelty songs.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03I mean, surely there were more than usual.
0:41:03 > 0:41:09# Hear me, love me Touch me, I can feel you
0:41:09 > 0:41:13# See me, feel me Hear me, love me... #
0:41:13 > 0:41:15# Ca plane pour moi... #
0:41:15 > 0:41:19There were even novelty punk hits.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22# Ca plane pour moi Moi, moi, moi, moi
0:41:22 > 0:41:25# Ca plane pour moi. #
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Are you feeling a bit jilted? Yeah, and me. Here's Jilted John.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32- # But I know he's a moron - Gordon is a moron
0:41:32 > 0:41:37- # Gordon is a moron - Gordon is a moron. #
0:41:41 > 0:41:45Just when you were starting to enjoy it, along came The Smurfs.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49# This is the song with a nice refrain
0:41:49 > 0:41:51# Yes, we will sing it once again... #
0:41:51 > 0:41:53The Smurfs where unwatchable.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57Unlistenable, as well.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00# La la la la la La la la la la
0:42:00 > 0:42:03# La la la la la La la la la la... #
0:42:03 > 0:42:07- And the lyrics of the song... - SHE SIGHS
0:42:07 > 0:42:09# And now the second part
0:42:09 > 0:42:11# La la la la la La la la la la. #
0:42:11 > 0:42:14The Smurfs was another one where you just think, "Glamour? No."
0:42:14 > 0:42:18Let's, you know, blue faces. I got the beard. Big feet.
0:42:18 > 0:42:19I got the glasses.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23# La la la la la La la la la la. #
0:42:23 > 0:42:24We just did our bit.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27- Yep. And Robin always said we did them so well.- Yes.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31Of course, there isn't time to include everyone who's had a bestselling record,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34but some of them you will recognise during the next five minutes,
0:42:34 > 0:42:39which are taken care of by a group who have themselves appeared on Top Of The Pops.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41The Barron Knights.
0:42:41 > 0:42:46MUSIC: "Twist And Shout"
0:42:48 > 0:42:52- # Well, pass the turkey, George - Turkey, George
0:42:52 > 0:42:56- # Let's eat and drink - Eat and drink... #
0:42:56 > 0:43:01The Barron Knights had been experts at parodying famous songs since the 1960s.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03And in a year of novelty,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06Britain welcomed back this veteran parody group,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08and they were big all over again.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10First a bit of aggro. A Taste Of Aggro.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13It is, of course, The Barron Knights.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24# When you're working and boredom's lurking
0:43:24 > 0:43:27# There must be something new to do... #
0:43:27 > 0:43:30By accident, we became known as novelty,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33because we wrote funny words to famous songs.
0:43:33 > 0:43:39- # Where are you all coming from? - We're from Dartmoor on the run. #
0:43:39 > 0:43:42Cannily using the biggest songs of 1978,
0:43:42 > 0:43:46once again, The Barron Knights were both parody and novelty.
0:43:46 > 0:43:51# And he painted Grandad's bike and next door's cats and dogs
0:43:51 > 0:43:53# He sprayed a couple on the corner
0:43:53 > 0:43:56# Of the street that were having a snog. #
0:43:57 > 0:44:02- It was changed quite a few times on the way.- It lent itself to parody, didn't it?- Yeah, yeah.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05And they said, "We sometimes use your lyrics when we sing it live,"
0:44:05 > 0:44:06which is lovely.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10Well, we're waiting for the cheque, please.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12# Ah, ah, ah, ah... #
0:44:12 > 0:44:16- A little wider, please. - # Ah, ah, ah, ah... #
0:44:16 > 0:44:17Wider!
0:44:17 > 0:44:20Yeah, that's... They changed the lyrics to
0:44:20 > 0:44:23# There was a dentist in Birmingham Ah, ah, ah, ah
0:44:23 > 0:44:24# Open wide, wider. #
0:44:24 > 0:44:27I remember that very well. I liked them. They were funny.
0:44:27 > 0:44:32# There's a dentist in Birmingham
0:44:32 > 0:44:33# He fixed my crown... #
0:44:33 > 0:44:35I've wanted to do this for years!
0:44:35 > 0:44:39We actually sold over a million singles of Taste Of Aggro
0:44:39 > 0:44:42and we never made number one. I used to see our sales.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45I was there by 11 o'clock in the morning,
0:44:45 > 0:44:50and it used to go 11,000, 21,000, 32,000, 50,000.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53And I thought, "I can't believe how many records we're selling."
0:44:53 > 0:44:56But we didn't make number one, all because of Boney M.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59The most successful group in 1978 has to be Boney M.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03As I said earlier, over 4 million copies of their record sold.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06And here now, the current Christmas number one.
0:45:06 > 0:45:11# Mary's boy child Jesus Christ
0:45:11 > 0:45:16# Was born on Christmas Day... #
0:45:16 > 0:45:19But as Christmas rolled around, Top Of The Pops reverted to type,
0:45:19 > 0:45:22and Boney M had it all wrapped up.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24Well, it was the Winter of Discontent.
0:45:25 > 0:45:32It was like, "Whoa! Boney M has done it again! This time even greater!"
0:45:32 > 0:45:34And it's like, that was it.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37We became the people's favourite when it comes to Christmas.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41# Hark, now hear the Angels sing
0:45:41 > 0:45:45# A king was born today... #
0:45:45 > 0:45:47The music I loved may have made it into the charts,
0:45:47 > 0:45:49it may have made it onto Top Of The Pops,
0:45:49 > 0:45:51but it did not make it onto the Christmas special.
0:45:51 > 0:45:56Another great success, number one for Abba and Take A Chance.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00Which was absolutely rigidly, Christmas Day, afternoon,
0:46:00 > 0:46:03easy listening, don't scare the horses.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06The Christmas Top Of The Pops was a very sanitised version of Top Of The Pops
0:46:06 > 0:46:08from the whole year.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11They were inclined to have bands like Abba and Boney M
0:46:11 > 0:46:14and Showaddywaddy, rather than the more edgy bands.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17I wonder what's on television at the moment?
0:46:17 > 0:46:18Hi, Noel.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20ALL: And Merry Christmas.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24# And a happy New Year. #
0:46:25 > 0:46:27Thank you very much!
0:46:27 > 0:46:33It was properly cheesy, so no Buzzcocks, no Undertones.
0:46:33 > 0:46:34We leave you with James Galway
0:46:34 > 0:46:37and his version of John Denver's Annie's Song,
0:46:37 > 0:46:40and I wish you a very, very happy Christmas indeed.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46The old thing of, you are not going to please all the people all the time, that's for sure,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49but Top Of The Pops certainly pleased most of the people most of the time,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52otherwise a quarter of the country wouldn't have watched it.
0:46:52 > 0:46:57You could criticise it till the cows come home, but you watched it,
0:46:57 > 0:47:00and that is the weird thing about it. It had some kind of magic.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03I think it's probably cos there wasn't an alternative.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08# Little Judy's trying to watch Top Of The Pops
0:47:08 > 0:47:12# But Mum and Dad are fighting Don't they ever stop? #
0:47:12 > 0:47:13And as 1978 drew to a close,
0:47:13 > 0:47:17Top Of The Pops had survived punk, disco and everything else.
0:47:17 > 0:47:18Just about.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21They allowed us in a controlled and limited sort of way,
0:47:21 > 0:47:24I'd like to say we changed things, but I don't think we did.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28Top Of The Pops remained exactly as it had ever been,
0:47:28 > 0:47:33with these sort of oases of coolness despite itself.
0:47:33 > 0:47:34And the music coming along,
0:47:34 > 0:47:37which at first Top Of The Pops saw as being a threat to it,
0:47:37 > 0:47:39probably was a shot in the arm for it.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41# When we go out Then I wish I'd stayed at home...#
0:47:41 > 0:47:43In order to give you that pleasure,
0:47:43 > 0:47:45they had had to compromise massively.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49But, hey, it was worth it. We appreciated it.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52# I think you've got it in for me
0:47:52 > 0:47:55# Is it all in my head? Is it in my head?
0:47:55 > 0:47:59# How can you convince me when everything I see
0:47:59 > 0:48:02# Just makes me feel you're putting me down?
0:48:02 > 0:48:06# And if it's true this pathetic clown will keep hanging around
0:48:06 > 0:48:10# That's if you don't mi-i-i-i-ind
0:48:10 > 0:48:15# I don't mi-i-i-i-i-ind I don't mi-i-i-i-i-i-ind. #
0:48:15 > 0:48:18Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd