12 Iconic Top of the Pops Performances That Reshaped British Music

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In January 1964, the BBC saw that for the first time ever the national singles chart was overflowing with British acts. Due to this, they created a weekly music chart rundown programme called Top Of The Pops. From then on, every Thursday evening Britain’s youth would be delighted by the latest UK chart goings-on, while being the only place to see their favourite artists and discover exciting new ones.
The presenters were cheesy, or much worse, and most of the time the band had to mime, but some of these performances would embed themselves unshakably into the public consciousness, inspiring generations of bands and artists in their wake, hoping that they too could get their three-minutes of Top of The Pops glory. From Bowie to Soft Cell, The Smiths to Blur, these are 12 Iconic Top of The Pops Performances That Forever Altered British Music.
#topofthepops #britishmusic #musicdocumentary
Fact-checking by Chad Van Wagner.
00:00 Introduction
00:52 Desmond Dekker: Introducing Reggae
02:54 David Bowie: "...And I Picked On You"
06:35 The Jam: Punk On The BBC
09:38 Blondie: A Counterpoint
11:03 Gary Numan: The Cyborg Takeover
13:29 Soft Cell: "Once I Ran To You"
15:43 Shalamar: The Backslide
17:38 The Smiths: Flower to The People
21:29 Farley "Jackmaster" Funk: Enter House Music
23:52 Happy Mondays & The Stone Roses
26:40 Blur & Oasis: The Battle of Britpop
30:04 Spice Girls: The Reign of Girl Power
Bibliography
Top of the Pops: Mishaps, Miming and Music by Ian Gittins, 2007, BBC Books
Top of the Pops 50th Anniversary: 50 Years On by Patrick Humphries & Steve Blacknell, 2014, McNidder & Grace
Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s by Lori Majewski & Jonathan Bernstein, 2014, Harry N. Abrams
Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics by Dylan Jones, 2020, Faber
Mozipedia: The Encyclopedia of Morrissey and The Smiths by Simon Goddard, 2010, Ebury Press
The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock by John Harris, 2004, Harper Perennial
Top of the Pops The True Story - The Final Chapter (2006) dir. Elliott Johnson & Jeff Simpson
Reggae Britannia (2011) dir. Jeremy Marre
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1977 (2012) dir. David Vincent
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1979 (2014) dir. Matt O'Casey
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1981 (2016) dir. Matt O'Casey
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1982 (2016) dir. Matt O'Casey
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1986 (2018) dir. Verity Newman
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1995 (2022) dir. Verity Newman
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1996 (2022) dir. Becci Dyson
"The 100 greatest BBC music performances - ranked!" by Guardian Music, The Guardian, Oct 2022
"The Final Countdown: Top of the Pops" by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, Sep 2006
"Top Of The Pops: Down The Pan?" by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, Nov 1991
"RIP Top Of The Pops, 1964-2006" by Mark Pringle, Rock's Backpages, Jun 2006
"Top of the Pops a decade on: 10 stunning moments from the legendary pop show" by Fraser McAlpine, BBC, Aug 2016
"How Top of the Pops Made a Nation Fall in Love With Music" by Jamie Andrew, Den of Geek, March 2023
"The BBC’s New Music Show Could Learn From These Iconic Top Of The Pops Moments" by Kim Hillyard, NME, November 2015
"'You woke up on a Thursday and it smelled like a Top of the Pops day'" by Dave Simpson & Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, Jul 2006
"David Bowie: The Making of 'Starman'" by Rob Hughes, Uncut Magazine, Jun 2009
"David Bowie and the most influential three minutes and 55 seconds of UK TV ever" by Ian Fortnam, Classic Rock, Jul 2022
"How performing Starman on Top of the Pops sent Bowie into the stratosphere" by David Hepworth, Jan 2016
"David Bowie on ‘Top of the Pops’ 50 years on: How a pointed finger changed the world" by Tom Taylor, Far Out Magazine, Jul 2022
"Desmond Dekker and The Aces - Israelites (1969)" by Rob Barker, Every UK Number 1, Aug 2019
"Desmond Dekker - Obituary" by Pierre Perrone, The Independent, May 2006
"Reggae pioneer: Desmond Dekker" by Garry Steckles, Caribbean Beat, Sep/Oct 2006
"MIXMAG IS 40: AN INTERVIEW WITH OUR FIRST EVER COVER STAR, SHALAMAR" by Craig Seymour, Mixmag, March 2023
"Shalamar" by Peter Silverton, Smash Hits, Dec 1982
"The Smiths make their Top of the Pops debut" by Johnny Marr, The Guardian, Jun 2011
"Burning Down the House: Chicago's Club Scene" by Barry Walters, Spin Magazine, Nov 1986
"A Potted History of Dance Music on British Television: Disco Ducks and Acid Explosions" by Josh Baines, Noisey, Sep 2015
"Mancunian candidates" by Nick Kent, The Face, Jan 1990
Soundtrack
Luar - Balance ( / luarbeats )
Jesse Gallagher - The Golden Present
Luar - Citrine ( / luarbeats )
Luar - Anchor ( / luarbeats )
You can also follow me here:
Twitter: / trashtheory
Facebook: / trashtheoryyt
Instagram: / theorytrash
Or support me on Patreon:
/ trashtheory

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27 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 1,1 тыс.

@TrashTheory 7 месяцев назад

Every now and then I get people asking for a playlist of every song mentioned in my videos: Well here's a Spotify link for this one: open.spotify.com/playlist/0RZODeEHlAfLb4dO88B174?si=ad0ea6e2a4ce40fa RU-vid Music Link: music.ru-vid.com/group/PLooaZ33lSalc0-rFNGxSMkp1L8nyhegn9&si=jEYmyd17-SBDLvVG

@amitraam1270 7 месяцев назад

Love the format, informative with just the short clips to remind my ear what is referenced. Reminds me of the "dancing in the street" documentary series, down to the narration tone.

@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095 7 месяцев назад

07:45 The Jam were MODS, you berk! {:o:O:}

@MarcoNegrisEye 7 месяцев назад

@@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095 they were but a lot of their music lended itself more to punk in their early days then more new wave later.

@warmgreytenpercent 7 месяцев назад

Nice one thanks

@punter1 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for this clip, can you please do more of your work more often ? seems like forever in between prolly cuz we luv your work 💯💯💯

@TwoLeftThumbs 7 месяцев назад

Adam and the Ants- Stand and Deliver. I was 11 and I went into school the next day and painted a white stripe across my face in Art class. Then, so did 4 other kids. The teacher didn’t know what the hell was going on but he was cool and wanted to. That was my first experience of feeling part of the beginning of something. It was great.

@lemsip207 7 месяцев назад

I first heard of Adam and the Ants in graffiti on the back of a seat on the bus I was on in London one evening in late 1978. I laughed as I had recently had a dream about a more senior colleague at work, called Nigel, getting annoyed with me by squirting liquid chloroform at me and then chasing me all over town with a tea towel full of ants. So I named the nightmare Nigel and the Ants and then a few weeks later saw that graffiti. Incidentally, Malcolm McLaren later managed them and formed Bow Wow Wow from half the band. One member later joined Republica.

@howardosborne6295 2 месяца назад

🎉£~£eei😢😮

@markknoop777 Месяц назад

I was 5 and saved up my 10p a week pocket money to buy the 7". After I turned it over and listened to the b side Beat My Guest I was never the same again.

@jonnywebster9245 7 месяцев назад

It wasn't a power cut for the Stone Roses. The studio had a decibel limiter as a union requirement for the crew, and in rehearsals they tripped it, so were warned to turn down the amps, which they happily did. As soon as they went live, they jacked up the back line so loud the limiter went red for 30 secs then automatically cut the power to the stage (which is why the presenters mic is still on and the lights didn't go off, which would have happened in a power cut). The SR threw a tantrum until the programme went to VT, and then instantly calmed down and thanked everyone for the stunt. My dad was running the sound in the studio, I remember him coming home moaning about them!

@risteardohaodha23 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for the background info. Still a great moment of rebelliousness, no matter the circumstances.

@jonnywebster9245 7 месяцев назад

totally @@risteardohaodha23

@AutPen38 7 месяцев назад

Ian Brown has been throwing tantrums ever since. He needs limiting.

@loontil 7 месяцев назад

luckily tho it was a top tune despite the erm, decibel limiter (shop talk)

@PhillipWalklett-ek1ch 6 месяцев назад

Intrestin!!!!

@dmytro-in-other-side 7 месяцев назад

David Bowie on Top of the Pops - one of the most significant moments in popular culture at all. Literally blew up the minds of a generation, having a gigantic creative force.

@tttremendousss9789 7 месяцев назад

I’m so glad this is in there, you don’t have to be from that generation to visibly see what was happening. Bowie impacted the world, in more ways than music

@lewilewis3944 7 месяцев назад

Ashes to Ashes was a stand out #1@@tttremendousss9789 and yet only played as a video on TOTP. MTV before its time. Even my dad liked it and he was very much Pink Floyd.

@SteRDLK 7 месяцев назад

It didn't literally blow up any minds though did it

@chriswalford9228 7 месяцев назад

The beginning of men's hair fashion in proper salons not just short back and sides. Went from barbers to hair styling over night .

@thevoid99 7 месяцев назад

the moment he pointed to the TV camera.... every young kid in britain lost it. many musicians and artists were born. kids realized it was ok to be flamboyant. it was ok to wear glitter. it was ok to like the same sex. yet, the parents were in shock when they saw this.

@macfilms9904 7 месяцев назад

You really make some of the absolute top-tier music content on RU-vid.

@MrMmnngghh 7 месяцев назад

Seconded

@eadweard. 7 месяцев назад

Very much so.

@irighterotica 7 месяцев назад

Absolutely.

@warmgreytenpercent 7 месяцев назад

Trash Theory rulllesssss

@josephyn89 7 месяцев назад

they're beautiful video essays about music and I (just) can't enough of them

@jezoye 7 месяцев назад

I know you've covered it before, but Kate Bush's debut with Wuthering Heights was jaw dropping for me as a kid. And I guess my personal highlight would be as a 15 year old goth-curious, seeing The Sisters do TOTP 3 times in a year with This Corrosion, Dominion and Lucretia. Absolutely glorious!

@SpeccyMan 7 месяцев назад

Kate was so extraordinary to the hormonally-ridden youth of 16 that I was back in early 1978. So amazing and so different. And she carried on doing things her way. I admire her immensely for that fact alone.

@rarerecordcollector9459 7 месяцев назад

I know someone who remembers watching Wuthering Heights on TOTP. They'd never heard anything like it before, so her and her mother just laughed hysterically at the TV!

@thomaschapple4749 7 месяцев назад

I first saw her perform it on Saturday Night Telky on the Mike Yarwood show.. you have to know everyone in the UK watched BBC1 on Saturday Night from Generation Game to Match of the Day so it was a huge audience

@torbjrnlund903 6 месяцев назад

I was also thinking about Kate Bush, her performance was extraordinary, cool and hot at the same time.

@micktubenow 5 месяцев назад

For me David Bowie, Kate Bush and Tubeway army ( Gary Numan) had the biggest impact on me . Are friends electric really changed everything for me .

@johnmarris2965 7 месяцев назад

I just shed about 40 years and I'm back in front of the TV watching TOTP and hoping my dad won't walk into the living room and ask me what this music is all about and why I like it. Glorious nostalgia and awkwardness.

@jrd33 7 месяцев назад

I still remember my father's reaction to Boy George on Top of the Pops. Never had the generation gap seemed so wide.

@AutPen38 7 месяцев назад

Dad would always look up from his paper and pay attention to TOTP when Legs and Co. came on, though. The programme had something for everyone in the family.

@JamesSmith-zk8gl 25 дней назад

@@AutPen38and mine lol

@onlyme219 7 месяцев назад

Wow, Bauhaus, Banshees, Bunnymen, Buzzcocks, Jam, I could go on. Whoever put this together, kudos

@MrYorkiepudd Месяц назад

i remember seeing Bela lugosi's dead and being blown away ... i was about 9 or 10 and already sneaking listens to john peel in bed on school nights lol

@VS-ke1qp 7 месяцев назад

Iron Maiden doing Running Free while actually playing live has gotta be number one for me, it's legendary

@aurinrakkun8589 7 месяцев назад

Yes!!! No idea why it’s not here, it was way more impactful than Manic Street Preachers. It brought the New Wave of British Heavy Metal out of the pubs and workingmen’s clubs and onto the TVs of millions of people, even in Europe, and influenced bands like Helloween, Mercyful Fate, and Sodom.

@teabelly1565 4 месяца назад

Not forgetting Black Sabbath who refused to mime and insited playing live.

@humanfromearth9671 7 месяцев назад

Skunk Anansie and Bjork doing Army of Me on TOTP was one of the best things I ever heard

@worshipthenephilim 7 месяцев назад

Excellent video and a really superb choice of performances - many of which I remember! I would add either/both Kate Bush's first performance of 'Wuthering Heights' and Siouxsie and the Banshees' 'Hong Kong Garden' in 1978 as watershed moments when female musicianship and autonomy in their images and performance began to come of age. I've heard many musicians (male and female) reference these as early influences.

@kevinn1158 7 месяцев назад

I grew up in the 70s and 80s.... what a dynamic time. Love Bowie, Clash, Pistols, Specials, the Police, Beat, Jam, Marley, B52s, Spandau Ballet, UB40, OMD..Gary Numan... they were all over the place in a good way.

@lemsip207 7 месяцев назад

An old episode of TOTP from 1977 was recently on BBC Four one Friday, and the chart run down showed Genesis, Roxy Music, and the Stranglers all in the top 30 that week. Amazing. I would buy their albums in the 70s and later saw them live. The soundtrack of my teens.

@kevinn1158 7 месяцев назад

@@lemsip207 oh man, I would love to see Bryan Ferry. I have a 15 yr old daughter and I’m looking for good bands that are contemporary but it’s so hard now. So much crap now esp the rap. Anything but rap. Funny back when rap was in funk songs I thought hey that’s cool but now? OMG. NO And the thing is, I listen to 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s music as well. jazz, classical, opera. But no rap. Our house is a rapless zone.

@lemsip207 7 месяцев назад

@kevinn1158 I saw him on stage twice but never met him. He always stayed in a slightly better hotel than the rest of the band.

@Xceloverdose 7 месяцев назад

I lived as a kid in the 🇬🇧 from '84 to '92. TOTP was so influential in my upbringing and that of several generations of youths. We were so lucky to live such great years of music!

@jeortiz-luis4288 7 месяцев назад

so you lived backwards then, matey?

@suzannegabriel9389 7 месяцев назад

I envy you so much it hurts!

@Stephen-lx9nm 6 месяцев назад

@@jeortiz-luis4288dago😂

@johngayer7136 7 месяцев назад

Thank you again for supplementing my music education. The British music canon is not readily available here in the states. This is another well researched, organized, edited, segmented and presented video. The connections between earlier and later artists are well explained. Childhood amazement turns to true respect when the younger artists emulate their idols. Well told.

@ThreadBomb 7 месяцев назад

Before Desmond Dekker's "Israelites", there was Milly Small singing "My Boy Lollipop" in 1964! That was probably the first mainstream exposure of ska in the UK. (Early ska was often in triple time, before 2/4 and 4/4 time signatures became standard.)

@richardjones7984 7 месяцев назад

That was a great song.

@brhbrh6326 6 месяцев назад

My Boy Lollipop was in C or 4/4 time with a swing beat. Are you perhaps meaning in Compound time, as opposed to Triple time which is 3/4, 3/2 or even 3/8?

@DrGodinho 5 месяцев назад

i was here wondering "wait, wasn't desmond dekker a ska artist?"

@cannotfindmyshoes3 26 дней назад

Yes, Ska. Not Reggae as the narrator says at the beginning. Ska came first.

@jamesburgess2k 7 месяцев назад

The thing I love so much about music (Rock in particular), is how everything, no matter how independent or small it may seem at the moment, can be largely influential to an entire generation... which can again influence another generation. Artists sharing their art with the world and in return, are acknowledged by the people they've influenced, even 20 years after their "prime" in the spotlight. Continuously building upon of ideas laid out by people who just wanted to share their creations with the world. Even with the commercialization of Alternative musical genres growing with each decade, authenticity ALWAYS seemed to break through above everything else. Music is always evolving because PEOPLE evolve; not manufactured radio hits.

@davidspion9548 6 месяцев назад

Tubeway Army in 1979 turned the music scene on its head overnight. Are "Friends" Electric? was simply sensational and still feels shead of its time today. Numan also had a superb look and concept to go with it. The full package. His emergence also opened the door for other brilliant bands such as the original versions of Ultravox and Human League , as well as OMD to finally gain the recognition they deserved but had not got up to that point. The floodgates also opened for many other new and exciting synth based bands and solo artists. Tubeway Army/Numan were pivotal in '79 and changed the landscape dramatically.

@greendragonreprised6885 5 месяцев назад

I bought the picture disk single of Are 'Friends' Electric?' about 3 weeks before it went to number one. Still have it. Also caught Gary Numan live in 79 when OMD were the support band and was in the gig so early I caught the end of their sound check. Those were the days.

@tonywright8294 Месяц назад

Shite

@davidspion9548 Месяц назад

@@tonywright8294 Fantastic insight there. Well done. 🙄

@ariescustom 7 месяцев назад

An iconic show in it's heyday, turned me onto many acts and new styles. It was sad to see it's decline, and the decline of pop music in genral, but nothing good lasts forever.

@TheAwkwardSituation 7 месяцев назад

Babe, new Trash Theory dropped. Wake up the entire neighborhood.

@fexcab 7 месяцев назад

💯

@briansteidl2016 7 месяцев назад

Hell yeah! I am a Jeepster for Trash Theory

@josephyn89 7 месяцев назад

Been in such a vortex of existential dress that I forgot to watch it 😅

@sandgrownun66 4 месяца назад

It's actually "neighbourhood", for those who can spell long words.

@porkpiepilgrim5302 7 месяцев назад

I was 13 in 1980 and the ‘Bowie’ moment for me and most people my age was Adam And The Ants first time on TV doing Dog Eat Dog, the rest is history

@pete246785 6 месяцев назад

Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights, I was only 10 but can still remember the performance as being something very special!

@petemc5070 5 месяцев назад

In the early 70s I'll never forget the uproar when some quiet 14 year old turned up at the grammar school where I was a first year with a Ziggy hairstyle. He was given a hideous verbal tirade from the prefects and he was sent home. He never came back. Back then in a miserable provincial town like ours it seemed unthinkable to be different. I was confused but impressed and shocked to see him get such a level of abuse. I hope he did okay in life.

@Poohze01 7 месяцев назад

I'm old enough to remember (and forget) music back to the '60s, and I love being reminded about great music that's fallen out of my brain over the years; your videos are excellent!

@RandallSlick 7 месяцев назад

I'll never forget Bombalurina performing their seminal cover of Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini in 1990. It distilled so much of what TOTP truly was into three minutes of pure purgatory. For all the greats moments in that long-lost programme, there was so very, very much more dross that age and rose-tinted specs have caused to fade into the distance. Forgiveness is the blessing of the senile.

@AurumEtAes 3 месяца назад

Oh god I always found novelty acts like Bombalurina toe curling

@StuartWoodwardJP 7 месяцев назад

I watched Top of the Pops from 1972 (5 years old) to 1985 (18 years old) - this is the history of my childhood. I remember seeing many of these performances. You absolutely could not miss it as, pre VHS/Betamax, there was no way to see many of these performances if you missed them. It was only when RU-vid came out I saw many of these half remembered legendary performances for a second time. I’m seeing 1988~ and on for the first time now.

@sean6387 7 месяцев назад

In an alternative video, Trash theory shows TOTP performances by Joe Dolce, St. Winifred's School Choir, et al. The wonderful thing about TOTP was its jumping from cool to cringe. And which was which was always debated long and hard in our house.

@cmdrblp 7 месяцев назад

My youth revisited. Thursday evenings were sacred and you typically knew / hoped who the line up would be each week based Sunday’s Radio One Top 40 broadcast. For me this is the best video this channel has ever produced because it celebrates my eclectic and broad tastes when it comes to music. And like the commentary mentioned, TOTP probably influenced me to become a musician. Performances that stick in my memory include: Cameo / Word Up (and that red codpiece), Pet Shop Boys / West End Girls, Gary Numan / Cars, and the travesty that was All About Eve / Martha’s Harbour. After watching this I’m going to spend the day creating play lists and sharing this video with friends ❤

@user-il6de1co8p 7 месяцев назад

This is the best in the series so far - I grew up in this era watching TOTP - and it is hard to understate how influential it was. A great video telling a great story.

@rogergibson8925 7 месяцев назад

A superb, accurate and hugely intelligent overview of TOTP, which I never missed throughout my teenage years and beyond. I still remember some early 70’s performances, but the one really special for me at the time and that I’ve never forgotten was Are Friends Electric, which I immediately recognised as sub-Bowie fabulousness. Terrific stuff, superb video.

@AutPen38 7 месяцев назад

Pop music became my religion in about 1978 (when I was seven) and for about 25 years TOTP was my church. If I missed an episode, I was excommunicated for a week. As far as I'm concerned, Britain's terminal decline can be dated to the moment that TOTP was moved from its Thursday slot to Friday, before being cancelled altogether. Life has been getting worse ever since and I wish to complain to the manager. I love this video.

@Qlyphy 7 месяцев назад

Great subject, really dives into the heart of UK music. I would love one of these on the Old Grey Whistle test, very much the opposite of TOTP but I hope just as well loved by those that watched it. There are some amazing clips about.... Meatloaf doing Paradise by the Dashboard light is tremendous - plus many handfuls of other huge artists quite often near the start of their journey in the UK 🙂

@Gr8Layks 7 месяцев назад

My all-time favorite performance of Billy Joel was his appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Always loved the image of the “Star Man” kicking.

@moreheff 7 месяцев назад

That is a really good shout!!

@duvelization 7 месяцев назад

There is actually a DVD set of OGWT available - some terrific stuff (with many videos ripped to youtube, I guess). Completely different vibe, but totally worth the time too.

@PanglossDr 7 месяцев назад

I loved OGWT, I often didn't like what I heard much but I did often enough to come back.

@cloudsinvenice 6 месяцев назад

There's a story about the Police doing Can't Stand Losing You on that show - Sting managed to spray hairspray into his eyes backstage, so borrowed Stewart Copeland's aviators to cover his eyes. They were too big for him, so onstage he kept having to jerk his head back to stop them falling down his nose, and supposedly this attempt to overcome a wardrobe malfunction read to the audience as "attitude". From such accidents are legends made...

@tonybalinski2398 7 месяцев назад

My earliest memories of totp: David Bowie’s Laughing Gnome (a little film), Suzy Quatro, T-Rex… then Glam Rock in asll its sequined glory - which you show here. Highlights? Wuthering Heights and Bohemian Rhapsody, Police (Message in a Bottle), Gary Numan/Tubeway Army’s Are Friends Electric, Gabriel’s Sledgehammer stand out. And of course I was in love with Debbie Harry.

@SpeccyMan 7 месяцев назад

I was in love with Noosha Fox myself. 😁

@IlBiggo 7 месяцев назад

We didn't get TOTP in Switzerland, but I had a subscription to NME in the '80s. So I knew about most of the groups without ever hearing any of their songs (apart for the really big international hits). The first time I visited London (1984?) I came back with a half ton of vinyls and spent the next few months glued to my headphones.

@Jayfive276 7 месяцев назад

23:12 - this bassline kicking in on TOTP was the precise moment when the 10 year old me went "Oh cool, the music I like has been invented, that's good".

@worshipthenephilim 7 месяцев назад

Perfect description, except for me it was seeing Tubeway Army in 1979 and having the exact same reaction!

@katze7 7 месяцев назад

I had a similar reaction to this song when I was 12, but I was in America. We had nothing like Top of the Pops. But somehow this song snuck through onto the radio. I loved it, turned it up every time it came on. It was so fresh and different from everything else I’d heard. Then it was gone and it was a few years before I heard anything else again along those lines.

@lemsip207 7 месяцев назад

Beat Dis sounds like the alarm going off again repeatedly once you went back to sleep and have to get up for school or work after a late night or a bad night's sleep. Love Can't Turn Around was the earworm in my head during the day at the Liberal Party autumn conference in 1986 and the DJ often played it at the Liberator disco I went to most nights of the conference week.

@lemsip207 7 месяцев назад

@@katze7But you had The Ed Sullivan Show in the 60s and 70s which I had never heard of until reading MAD magazine in London in the 80s and then the film about the Doors. VH1 showed old episodes of it in 1999.

@donutsgoboom2735 7 месяцев назад

On Thursday night, me and my sisters would push the sofa back to make a dance floor - we'd dance to whatever TOTP offered us - what an eclectic musical education.

@drdavid1963 2 месяца назад

Great video. As someone who grow up on TOTP (I vaguely remember as a toddler seeing The Beatles perform Hey Jude in 1968), I was really sad to see it go. Not for nostalgia's sake but because music simply doesn't as mean as much anymore. TOTP provided a focus and an influence for generations as you pointed out and without it, youth aren't given the aspiration as we were. Of course, they have other interests but Tiktok content has a short life, we are still talking about TOTP, watching the videos, years later. Music helped forge a significant youth culture and powerfully brought each generation together, focussed on style and fashion to celebrate youth identity and share a common memory.

@howkel 7 месяцев назад

Excellent episode. Your American viewers are probably unaware of how important this show was. I spent a year in the UK in the early 90s and we watched regularly. You might consider doing an episode on the comparable importance of the musical guests on Saturday Night Live for American music lovers. It's where I first saw Bowie, The Clash, and Elvis Costello and so many more.

@georgeerhard1949 7 месяцев назад

I don't think we had a venue for music like Top Of The Pops. Yes, there was SNL and the comedy shows, and Kasey Casem would do a countdown every week, but until MTV went live, we didn't really have much.

@howkel 7 месяцев назад

@@georgeerhard1949 we had Soul Train, American Bandstand and SNL. Other than SNL they played it safe. When I was a kid in the 70s I discovered Devo, Elvis Costello, Bowie (see the one with Klaus Nomi to get an idea how mind blowing that was for a 10 year old boy in rural Texas), The Clash, The Specials and Fear via SNL, all playing live. Early SNL was the place for me getting new music.

@bellestarr9976 6 месяцев назад

The Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack (U.S.) was a great show for music on Friday evenings. That was the first time I saw Roxy Music.

@Mick_Ts_Chick 2 месяца назад

@@bellestarr9976 Yes we loved the Midnight Special because they played live! Also Don Kirshner's Rock Concert was great too. Their list of performances was like a who's who of rock royalty!

@fastyaveit 7 месяцев назад

Paul Weller said in an interview that The Jam were never punks, they were mods

@hogwashmcturnip8930 5 месяцев назад

The Stranglers weren't Punk either, nor many other bands that got thrown onto the bandwagon by their record companies. In the same way that Sweet and Slade and a few others were never Glam Interesting fact. Our local club was a bit of a legend. We had every band on the way up. Dire Straits, U2, The Sex Pistols, the Clash,, to name but a few. We never got Queen, because Freddie wanted £25 more than the usual fee, so our erstwhile club owner told him 'on yer bike' He turned down Blondie too, for some reason 'Well, they wor gooin' anywheere was they?' About both! Then laugh his head off. The Stranglers were the only band where they had to give the members their money back, they were that bad! I wasn't there that night, more's the pity. That would have been fun.

@robbie4406 7 месяцев назад

My first memory of ToTP was Fire performed by the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, totally mesmerised.

@StarSiren81 7 месяцев назад

Thank you so much for this superb video! I totally agree with your top. As an honourable mention, I'd add the Boomtown Rats' appearance on Top of the Pop in 1978 with Rat Trap. It really is an iconic moment and still hilarious to see Bob Geldof pretending to blow into a golden candelabra!

@surreygoldprospector576 7 месяцев назад

Yes I was thinking of that one too. They ripped up a picture of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John who had spent all summer at number one with their song from Grease. That was considered shocking behaviour at the time!!

@neorich59 7 месяцев назад

Such great memories, especially Sweet singing "Blockbuster." I would've mentioned "Killer Queen" and All About Eve, "Martha's Harbour," where the lead singer couldn't hear the backing track to mime to, so just sat there, throughout the entire song! If I recall, they did it live, the following week!

@Mick_Ts_Chick 2 месяца назад

As an American fan of the Sweet I absolutely love all the TOTP videos of them- Little Willy, Wig Wam Bam, Blitz, Fox, Action, etc. Love them all! RIP Mick, Brian, and Steve! 💔❤️‍🔥

@peterbondmusic 7 месяцев назад

I lived in Cambridge in 1978-79 and at age 11 Top of the Pops was the thing I looked forward to the most every Thursday, watching with my older sister. There were incredible bands and performances (lip synced and all) on that show and seeing clips from that time brings it all back.

@michaelmouse4024 7 месяцев назад

The Who doing 5.15 & smashing up their gear, The Rolling Stones doing Brown Sugar and Led Zeppelin not going on ever but having the theme tune Whole Lotta Love

@declanmorrison 7 месяцев назад

"Virginia Plain" by Roxy Music on TOTP is a classic for me.

@marcosruiz1709 7 месяцев назад

Fun Fact: David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" album was the first studio album by a solo artist to reach 100 weeks on the UK chart.

@williamsdad2000 7 месяцев назад

How was 'David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars' a solo artist

@marcosruiz1709 7 месяцев назад

@@williamsdad2000 that's the title of the album, bowie was always a solo artist, the spiders are the backup band

@gavinreid2741 7 месяцев назад

@@williamsdad2000the album is called The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

@onesong2001 7 месяцев назад

That's a fact but it's not fun.

@TheWelwyn21 6 месяцев назад

Thanks for the information it was a fun fact

@boaconstrictor3754 7 месяцев назад

24:30 Shocked to see the late Kirsty MacColl here. Maybe it wouldn't be bad if you dedicated a video just to her, because she was so unique.

@KarmasAbutch 7 месяцев назад

The fact that The Exploited were on TOTP 😂 yes that didn’t change music history but it was definitely * a moment * … where lots of cups of tea stopped in mid air haha 🎉

@totalpartykill999 7 месяцев назад

dude you just took me through 3/4 of my mp3 collection in one video

@warmgreytenpercent 7 месяцев назад

One of my favorite vids so far. TT is great with single band deep dives but also these sprawling investigations, so many great genres and artists. 10/10

@IdahoJudd 7 месяцев назад

What an awesome vid. As a US viewer, I've had little exposure to TOTPs, and this was such a great overview of the influence it's had over music everywhere. You make such amazing videos -- please keep them coming!

@rowanyardley1781 7 месяцев назад

''the presenters were cheesy at best" is quite the statement

@SpeccyMan 7 месяцев назад

Most were but one in particular stood out. Sadly passed away in 1995 but once seen, never forgotten. I'll leave you to figure out to whom I am referring.

@AutPen38 7 месяцев назад

Savile et al were problematic, but my biggest peeve with late-stage TOTP were the hopeless presenters. Tony Dortie, Jakki Brambles, and Cybil Ruscoe are just some of the ones I remember. The ones I've forgotten were hopeless bordering on tragic.

@thesausagecontinuim1971 4 месяца назад

as a brit born in 71 i grew up watching top of the pops, it was a weekly "everybody round the telly" moment, happy happy days!!!

@Alan_Mac 5 месяцев назад

That Bowie transformation, looking back, was simply incredible.

@rudycramer225 7 месяцев назад

Excellent Video! I'm an Austrlian and we didn't have Top of the Pops, but heard about it. Well done!

@JamesStoddah 7 месяцев назад

That was an excellent take on the programme and evolution of Pop Music. Well done.

@kinolibby6580 7 месяцев назад

Since the toddler was born watching TOTP re-runs on BBC Four on a Friday night is the closest thing to a date night me and my partner get.

@jxy566 7 месяцев назад

Another wonderful vid on one of my absolute favourite RU-vid channels. Truly iconic moments chosen on one of my favourite music programmes ever (born 1976 in UK). These aren't iconic but just gonna share 3 of my fav moments from the 90s that are worth seeking out 1. Jarvis Cocker performing the song he penned "Walk Like a Panther" as Tony Christie couldn't make the appearance. An absolute joyful Jarvis performance. 2. Eels performing Novacaine on tiny toy instruments seriously. Some sort of protest against miming I assume and wonderfully bonkers 3. Beck doing Loser backed by very old men pretending to play musical instruments looking bewildered. Beck does a breakdance in the musical break. Introduced me to the skewed genius of Beck. A lifetime love. Keep up the great work!

@Me-gy7yk 7 месяцев назад

I still remember Gary Numan's first appearance. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, was talking about him at school the next day. Same when Iron Maiden played live on TotP, which bands never did at that time (there may have been one or two in the decades before but it was sufficiently rare enough to be the only topic next day at school).

@AutPen38 7 месяцев назад

A year or two later, the same thing happened with Boy George. But not only were playgrounds full of 11-year-olds saying "Was that a man or woman on TOTP last night?" it was all over the tabloids. Gary Numan was never anywhere near as famous as Boy George became after he was on the show.

@craigcottrell1172 6 месяцев назад

Think I saw him on Swap Shop first, was a massive game-changer

@seanharp2001 7 месяцев назад

Great content as usual, really enjoyed this one - bought back a lot of memories growing up in the 70's & 80's. TOTP really did have a huge impact then. I remember everyone at school talking about the Smiths after that appearance!

@AliceHatter 7 месяцев назад

Thank you for highlighting what a HUGE influence Marc Bolan and T Rex were as many people aren't aware!

@MrMmnngghh 7 месяцев назад

I remember being excited for the appearance of Cameo, busting out their cold funk classic 'Word Up". During their performance, I was rather perplexed / amused by the camera operator's decision to shoot from the perspective of two young ladies at the front, who may have been there to see Sinitta or somesuch, being confronted literally face height by Larry Blackmon's gyrating, John - Paul Gaultier designed, shiny red codpiece.

@AutPen38 7 месяцев назад

That was one of the many TOTP performances that would have the whole family shouting in unison "What is he wearing?" The show turned music into a visual medium.

@jchow5966 7 месяцев назад

Soft Cell - Tained Love was just EPIC when it came out!!!

@FLITT 7 месяцев назад

I was born in 88 so I missed a lot of my favourite bands the first time around... but ToTP2 on BBC 2 playing reruns gave me all these moments out of time and order ❤

@AutPen38 7 месяцев назад

The BBC series 'The Story of 19xx' that creates one episode per year made of TOTP archive clips and interviews with the people that were there is probably my favourite thing on iPlayer. Britain's cultural history from 1979-1999 can be gleaned from the "best bits" of ToTP. A lot of the stuff that featured in the show was really terrible, but clip shows are a great way of filtering out the boring stuff.

@MartinInBC 7 месяцев назад

13:44 "[Soft Cell's] cover of an old mostly-forgotten American R&B B-side" 14:02 "seeing Bolan on the show as a boy, obsessed to the extent of stealing the spelling of his first name, Marc Almond's life ambition had been to be himself on Top of The Pops" On 16 September 1977, Marc Bolan died in a car crash. The driver of the car was Gloria Jones. Ten years earlier she had been the singer of an unsuccessful pop song: that very same "mostly-forgotten American R&B B-side" 'Tainted Love' that Marc Almond sang to massive international success.

@mimimustrule 7 месяцев назад

Wow, that Lemonheads impression WAS spot on

@Iktekenkatjes 7 месяцев назад

Thank you for introducing me to some of the best music I have ever heard! Your videos inspired me to check out so many artists and many of them have become my favourites. Absolutely love your videos thanks so much!!

@limitededition1053 7 месяцев назад

I'm so pleased you included the moment where David Bowie looks at the camera and points to everyone at home, I remember it well and thinking at the time, he's talking to me and i'd never seen anything like that before, I was drawn in.

@AutPen38 7 месяцев назад

Hugely influential on Jarvis Cocker, among others. He realised that you don't have to choreograph a dance routine, or look like a fashion model. On TV, you just have to look at the camera and do weird pointy things with your hands.

@marcosruiz1709 7 месяцев назад

It's incredible how the UK has the best music ever

@iamdisgusted 6 месяцев назад

I'm American and I've been saying and thinking that for years now. Everyone always fights me on it. But I stand on it. The UK got the juice.

@paulhalfpenny1139 6 месяцев назад

Black America wins hands down. We in Britain are second. @@iamdisgusted

@Bruce-1956 22 дня назад

Not true. Beach Boys, Hendrix, CSN&Y, etc., etc.

@goldiefish72 7 месяцев назад

I think the low point for TOTP was the awful experience of All About Eve, standing around confused on stage while the track they were supposed to mime to (Martha's Harbour) played in the background, but none of them could hear it. They were invited back the following week and insisted on playing it live. It exposed the myth of performance forever. Before, the viewers could pretend the band sung live, after that, everyone knew they were miming, and in the wake of Milli Vanilli, it didn't sit well.

@clairenoon4070 5 месяцев назад

Can't agree. Nobody minded that it wasn't 'live', that wasn't the point of TOTP. It was essentially a weekly chart run-down. It was like the chart on Radio 1, but on TV. Just as no-one expected acts to come in and perform live on the radio chart run-down, so they didn't on TOTP. We wanted to hear what the records we were thinking of buying sounded like. There were plenty of other music shows where acts performed live. TOTP experimented on and off with requiring acts to perform live, and it was disastrous.

@georgeneedham3970 7 месяцев назад

I would have included Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood where he rips a copy of The S*n in half and spends the entire song walking through the crowd while wearing the whitest tuxedo you’ve ever seen in your life

@Eric_Hunt194 7 месяцев назад

You've already covered it in another video, but the Manics doing 'Faster' in balaclavas is one that always stands out in my mind. Oh, and Iron Maiden doing their version 'Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter' was sure to cause pearls to be clutched across the country! In fact there's an idea for a video- songs that got to number one the week after Christmas, that wouldn’t have a chance any other week.

@rockstar6790 7 месяцев назад

It's so cool to see James Dean Bradfield, wearing a balaclava during the performance.

@ethanprince356 7 месяцев назад

@@rockstar6790 What happened to that Manics video? It got removed for some reason...

@MarcoNegrisEye 7 месяцев назад

Yes! A second supporter for the Manics 'Faster' performance 😂

@Tetsuito 7 месяцев назад

Bela Lugosi's Dead is iconic.

@OutOfAmmoOutOfTime 7 месяцев назад

Great video! A quick shoutout to Countdown which had the same impact in Australia and featured bands which would go one to take on the world: INXS, Men at Work, Kylie Minogue and The Go Betweens and…..er….Joe Dolce to name just a few. All presided over by Mollie Meldrum who is synonymous with the show…..

@frederickglasser5617 6 месяцев назад

Just a magnificent documentary. A brilliant history of rock and roll. Impressive how much of an impact Marc Bolan and David Bowie had on music history.

@Ed7501 7 месяцев назад

The first TV show I watched religiously when I was a kid, starting with Dexy's Midnight Runners #1, Come On Eileen.

@1980alsful 7 месяцев назад

Brilliant video, the bit about Johnny Marr and the first line of this charming man having a morphic resonance gave me goose bumps ❤

@good_king_guitarman1334 7 месяцев назад

The 70s and 80s was such a potent period of time.

@Bruce-1956 22 дня назад

That would be the 1960s.

@bels4116 6 месяцев назад

That 1st appearance of Gary Numan ( Tubeway Army) I can never forget, I didn't move the song. Still the best song ever!

@yettsoman4364 Месяц назад

Still remember "Starman" in 72 like it was yesterday. I was a 13 yr old kid...my mum was outraged by David and Mick!😂

@kidbonesonline 7 месяцев назад

The best thing about Trash Theory is that with every new video, I always find new songs and bands to listen to.

@SteRDLK 7 месяцев назад

Yes! I open up at least 10 new tabs every episode frantically searching the songs so I don't forget them by the end

@maketelma 7 месяцев назад

I do appreciate what you do on this channel. I always share with my friends and know that these videos will be well regarded pieces from history in 50 years.

@davidtollefson8411 7 месяцев назад

Thank you for this insightful material and awesome footage. What a great channel. As a serious British music fan in the 80’s/90’s I knew how important this program was. Haven’t seen most of these clips until now.

@seankelly7211 6 месяцев назад

This was great to see! So much good music during this era, but I was hoping to see Joe Jackson, Howard Jones, The Eurythmics, or The Thompson Twins on this list

@DukesMusic84 7 месяцев назад

This is fantastic. In my opinion you can't beat Nirvana tryna sound like Joy Division. That was incredible

@babymilksnatcher 7 месяцев назад

No one seems to agree on who Kurt was trying to imitate. He said himself that he tried to sound like Morrisey, but most people believe he was challenging Ian Curtis or Dave Gahan instead.

@jeffreyhanc1711 7 месяцев назад

I thought he was going for Morrisey. In any event, Nirvana self-sabotaging their Top-of-the-pops moment was as iconic a punk move as ever.

@haret0n 7 месяцев назад

your analysis, edit, voice... the whole thing is consistently on point. brilliant videos. thank you.

@stephenowens3687 6 месяцев назад

Motorhead playing 'Overkill' in 78. I was nine, and hadnt heard or seen anything like them before- and i liked it.

@myflatlineconstruct 5 месяцев назад

Very thought provoking vid. Thanks. As im American, just turning over in my memories of what bands crossed over from our landscapes.

@kiereluurs1243 4 месяца назад

English please.

@trevorjones8969 7 месяцев назад

Great work. Love this! I guess we've all got our own. My vote for what I'd have discussed would have been a cheat though, 'cos it was a video - that is The Prodigy and 'Firestarter' as the epitome of commercial rave and the last truly great punk performance/record there was.

@AdamCarnell 7 месяцев назад

No mention of Noel miming Liam's vocal while Liam strums away on the guitar?

@Helliconia54 7 месяцев назад

given that in the 60's Britain had ONE radio station BBC. They NEVER played pop It took radio Caroline to force the BBC into creating BBC2. Often wondered how the brits ever got to hear their bands.

@charlessomerset9754 6 месяцев назад

In the states we had American Bandstand and Soul Train. And Dick Ckark, who seemed like a conformist, really challenged that image by doing some great post performance interviews. And many of the performances were just as socially impactful. My sister and I were glued to the screen every Saturday at noon. As soon as cartoons were over. Still in our PJs eating cereal. It was an amazing time. And then as soon as both shows were over we dressed and ran outside to see what kind of trouble we could get into. But all the neihborhood kids just wanted to talk about the bands they had just seen.

@llokkee 6 месяцев назад

Had the pleasure of sharing a stage with Desmond Dekker for his entire set in Dublin in 1990. He was playing with Laurel Aitken at a crackin place that has since been demolished (The New Inn Gig ) As soon as DD came on I jumped on stage and started dancing alongside him, eventually singing into the mic with him. For some reason I was the only person allowed to stay on stage while everyone else was being chucked off by the bouncers, there I was 'the token skinhead' dancing and singing the chorus to 'It Mek', '007' and ofc 'Israelites' into the same mic as DD. Arms round each other having a great laugh. I'll never forget that night, it was part of my 15th birthday party Someone somewhere has footage of that gig, would love to get me hands on it 🙂

@jujutrini8412 6 месяцев назад

Oh wow, what a wonderful memory to have! I know people who have run shows and gigs he has done and they all say he was a lovely down to earth bloke so I am actually not surprised he let an enthusiastic fifteen year old join him. ✌️

@mattmiller4821 7 месяцев назад

Motorhead I would think is a pretty influential appearance

@brewerkitty 5 месяцев назад

Fabulous video! The vast importance of Top of the Pops on decades of excellent music cannot be understated!!

@CollapsingRealities 7 месяцев назад

I'm from a country where Top Of The Pops was never broadcast. We had musical TV programmes here back in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, and foreign musicians (mostly British and American) would occasionally play or mime to their songs. However, for some months between 1999 and 2000 there was cable television at home; I could watch MTV and VH1. I discovered Radiohead and the Pet Shop Boys on the latter. I was 14-15 at the time and they became two of my favourite bands ever (after Genesis 1971-1980, the Ramones and After Crying 1990-1996). They still are. They're a part of my life. Thank you VH1.

@indiekid19872 7 месяцев назад

What I loved about TOTP was that it was democratic. You get in the top 20, you get on the show. If your favourite indie band scored a minor hit, they could get the chance to appear on the show and hit the big time.

@AutPen38 7 месяцев назад

It was actually run by an autocrat, but Michael Hurrl cleverly created the illusion of democracy. Whole careers, and indeed lives, were changed due to his editorial decisions. There are bands still doing reunion tours today because they were given a slot on the show, while their equally talented peers missed out for one reason or another and thus faded into obscurity.

@MarcoNegrisEye 7 месяцев назад

The Manics performance of 'Faster' should have been included here for iconic. It also drew the record of complaints, proving that even in 1994 Britain was a nation of sour faced hand wringers 😂

@thebyronicmann8292 Месяц назад

The 70’s and 80’s remain un championed. Great video, well researched, written and produced

@nu-metalfan2654 7 месяцев назад

I think Top Of The PoPs ending in 2006 was a big mistake looking back. We really don’t get music on TV anymore, and I think that hurts music in a way. Shows like Top Of The PoP’s and especially shows like TFI Friday and others helped get bands mainstream TV exposure. I mean Slipknot got on TFI Friday back in 2000. We need music tv shows back

@michaeldallaway1988 7 месяцев назад

We were already watching on RU-vid by then. To be honest the format had been dying since channels like The Box appeared, and broadband was the final nail in the coffin

@nu-metalfan2654 7 месяцев назад

@@michaeldallaway1988 I just think it’s a benefit to hear bands on TV, it’s better for music as a whole imo.

@MarcoNegrisEye 7 месяцев назад

Slipknot on tfi was the best thing in a long time. I mind my old man having a canary 🙉😂

@JamesBurrTV 7 месяцев назад

@@nu-metalfan2654 Agreed. While in many ways it is redundant as anyone can watch anything at any time on RU-vid, I think just as part of a social cohesiveness thing one 30 min show that highlights what is selling is important - indeed, it's at the core of the BBC's supposed remit. I know I'm old, but I don't know what's Number 1 and haven't for 15 years. Even though I don't listen to pop music, I think it's important to knwo what's big at the moment.

@nu-metalfan2654 7 месяцев назад

@@JamesBurrTV Not just what’s big but for me it’s important to see more unknown acts on TV as well, get them exposure on TV.

@becks6900 7 месяцев назад

The point about The Box and MTV is a good one. I remember TOTP being the place you could put a face to the name so to speak. As a kid/young teen I saw who The Fugees, All Saints and FisherSpooner were and in the early 00s I got to do the same for The Strokes, The Libertines and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. But the format had already been somewhat regressed by the prevalence of big-beat dance acts in the second half of the 90s. I liked a lot of that music but presentationally it was usually a skinny white guy stood behind some decks, pretending to scratch or beat-mix or whatever with some dancers in front of him. It may as well have been Pan's People.

@michaeldallaway1988 7 месяцев назад

People seem to have forgotten the impact of those rolling music video channels (not really MTV which was more shows like Cribs). There was a gap between TOTP"s decline and the rise of broadband WiFi when half of us went home and spent hours flicking between The Box, Kiss, Kerrang, MTV2, Scuzz etc until we found a song we liked. TOTP was already done for and was only kept alive for nostalgia

@becks6900 7 месяцев назад

@@michaeldallaway1988 Yeah, in the timeframe you're referencing MTV had transitioned into reality tv but in the mid to late 90s UK MTV was still very much pop music videos. But I also remember getting home from college (early 2000s) and flicking constantly between music channels on Sky hoping to find A) something I liked and B) something that wasn't an insurance advert.

@michaeldallaway1988 7 месяцев назад

@@becks6900 yep, that sounds very familiar