RIP TOTP

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Announced when I retuned from dinner on Guardian website.

Bollocks.

As Jarvis Cocker once said, it all turned to shit when they took it off Thursdays.

― suzy (suzy), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 22:15 (nineteen years ago)

>>>
TOTP, the end

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 22:18 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks, had totally visceral reaction to news, but ARGH.

― suzy (suzy), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 22:19 (nineteen years ago)

Marcello will be along in the morning to tell us why this wouldn't have happened under Harold Wilson, bless him.

― Shadow of the Waxwing (noodle vague), Tuesday, 20 June 2006 22:36 (nineteen years ago)

Well, it didn't did it?

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 07:36 (nineteen years ago)

as with smash hits, i haven't seen it in a decade (ok, three years).

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 07:39 (nineteen years ago)

I saw it last month.

YA WAI TO GO BBC. I think they've been insanely stupid here. Commissionaire who axed it is one of those Americans I'd imagine it would be impossible to engage in conversation about music. In other words the person in the world least likely to see the value in TOTP as a brand, or how having it on Thursdays was vital to British music market in terms of week-to-week commerce firstly and then as knock-on effect for entire music industry. Argh.

― suzy (suzy), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 07:50 (nineteen years ago)

Funny you should say that, NV, but if the BBC powers at the time had had its way - largely through fear of a Wilson Government - TOTP wouldn't have gone ahead.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 07:56 (nineteen years ago)

I keed because I love ;)

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 07:59 (nineteen years ago)

I had just started watching it again because they moved it to Sundays at 7pm, which was absolutely perfect for me - sandwiched between the Simpsons and Corrie.

Two great performances in the last few weeks from Gnarls Barkley and The Flaming Lips made it a nice round-off to the week.

Ah well.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:16 (nineteen years ago)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5100206.stm

Tony's perspeckative..?

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:19 (nineteen years ago)

"Record sales don't sell as much"

"Mums and Dads won't like the (strawman) American Rapper"

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:23 (nineteen years ago)

What bothers me is that the Beeb will now devote their music coverage to tossy niche programmes like Jools Holland and coverage of boring festivals. I don't want to start casting the R word around, but the lack of a broad-based pop show means Pop will get pushed to the margins, i.e. children's telly.

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:28 (nineteen years ago)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/5100314.stm - TOTP in pictures.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:29 (nineteen years ago)

R-word?

Rockism? Racism? Richardshops? Radio? RichmondHill? Raggett?

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:30 (nineteen years ago)

All of the above.

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:32 (nineteen years ago)

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41791000/jpg/_41791278_katebush1978_416.jpg

lovely

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:38 (nineteen years ago)

You have no idea how sad that makes me. :-(

― Insert Clever Screen Name Here (kate), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:40 (nineteen years ago)

i couldn't care less that it's been axed, it never played a particularly large part in my musical life and i think alot of people exaggerate the part it played in theirs.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:41 (nineteen years ago)

It played a HUGE part in my aspirational life.

And I did watch it, right up until I no longer had a telly. :-(

― Insert Clever Screen Name Here (kate), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 08:42 (nineteen years ago)

As much as I hate to agree with mass murderer Moel Edmonds, the BBC are making a mistake here even if it is just branding. Top Of The Pops is worth more to the Beeb as a brand than as a TV show. TOTP legitimises the BBC Official Chart on Radio One, and therefore legitimises them running a pop channel in the first place. Frankly low ratings even helps this as a niche audience.

Having recently seen the French TOTP (same branding different atmosphere) it is clear that this is a simple show to market wholesale and make money off of with licensing. But it is also in the public interest to have a pop music show on in prime time, since pop music is such a vital part of pop culture.

The rationale that everyone goes to MTV, free music channels, teh Interweb for their music is a bogus one. You could use exactly the same argument to ditch evening news shows.

― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:11 (nineteen years ago)

You could use exactly the same argument to ditch evening news shows.

they *should* ditch bbc1's news, it's appalling.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:13 (nineteen years ago)

I hope they do. (Dammit, beaten by Enrique.)

Seriouxly (boringly), there've been at least two TOTP triv machines, as well as books, board games, all sorts of crap. The brand must still have value, I'd've thunk.

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:15 (nineteen years ago)

They should rebrand BBC1's news as News for Dummies.

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:16 (nineteen years ago)

Brand or no brand, the fact is that TOTP didn't, or couldn't, adapt to changing times and they should never have tried to make the programme "cool."

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:19 (nineteen years ago)

everything is cool now, though. what could they do? the weird-n-allegedly-wonderful oddities you used to get charting don't exist any more.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:22 (nineteen years ago)

That's almost true, but I think there was a tendency for late-period TOTP to further manage what is an already heavily managed chart. Also, presenters that make you pine for the halcyon days of Dave Lee Bastard Travis are not a good thing.

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:24 (nineteen years ago)

who was that one guy? wes? dick.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:25 (nineteen years ago)

no! tim kash.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:25 (nineteen years ago)

TOTP topic is top of both ILE and ILM new answers at the mo. with the same people on both!

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:26 (nineteen years ago)

stupid aren't we?

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:27 (nineteen years ago)

Wes is a dick though.

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:27 (nineteen years ago)

where did tim kash come from and go to?

shame about this but the show is rubbish and insignificant

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:27 (nineteen years ago)

Basically, it's all Andi Peters' fault.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:28 (nineteen years ago)

so not that much of a shame, on balance.

xpost

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:29 (nineteen years ago)

yes

L O L

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:30 (nineteen years ago)

Tim Kash was a computer-generated character based on market research carried out amongst trendsetters aged 35-40. He was deleted from the TOTP hard drive when Producers realised he was a cock.

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:30 (nineteen years ago)

he came from MTV News. dunno where he is now. MTV News?

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)

doesn't say what became of the overprivileged ballbag.

xpost oic

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)

berkshire, maybe

crosspost

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:32 (nineteen years ago)

he was no Gary Davies or Tony Dortie.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:32 (nineteen years ago)

If I'd sent my son to a 16-grand-a-year school I'd be a tad disappointed if the best job he could manage was presenting Top of the Pops.

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:34 (nineteen years ago)

Rebrand!

Russel Brand!

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:36 (nineteen years ago)

never fear. TOTP will return, Doctor Who style, in 2017

― zebedee (zebedee), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:37 (nineteen years ago)

But it will be made in Wales and feature the Stereophonics every week.

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:38 (nineteen years ago)

TOTP topic is top of both ILE and ILM new answers at the mo. with the same people on both!
-- Konal Doddz (stevem7...) (webmail), Today 10:26 AM. (later) (link)

Ah, but the ILM thread is reminising about old highlights, and this thread is the grumpy (old) people thread.

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:43 (nineteen years ago)

I told Alice (6) the programme was ending, and she said "Well, we'd better make sure we watch it then"

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:44 (nineteen years ago)

Not grumpy or old, just perplexed.

― suzy (suzy), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:44 (nineteen years ago)

Surely in a multi-channel environment there is massive value in owning programs that everyone knows (and broadly approves of) that nobody actually watches. At least there should be for the BBC.

― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:45 (nineteen years ago)

This could go in a reverse scenario of "What the papers say" to get sold off to ITV.

Last month's "Illegal performances in front of audience" scandal - Was this the final straw?

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 21 June 2006 09:47 (nineteen years ago)

Skipping 44 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

The thing with pre-releases though was that they were usually no more than 3-4 weeks ahead of release, and generally only 1-2 weeks, unlike the two-and-a-half months you get now. But "Somebody To Love" was always going to chart high on the back of the first "new" Queen single since Bo Rap (though was eventually kept off the top by Showaddywaddy!).

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:30 (nineteen years ago)

Between 1975-9 I can offhand recall only three singles entering the chart within the top five, and only one of these ("Walking On The Moon") went on to make number one, though I suppose there could be a few more.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:33 (nineteen years ago)

Was David Soul one of them?

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:36 (nineteen years ago)

and the Elvis single that came out a couple of weeks after he died?

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:38 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, it's aggressive pre-release rotation that's really killed it. By the time any tune's charted it's been knocking around for donkey's years and no one's interested in switching on TOTP just because it might be on.

(Apologies if this point's been made upthread, I've only skimmed the thread)

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:42 (nineteen years ago)

Also, that's Grandstand and TOTP both gone in the space of a few months. Which further BBC institution are they going to axe to make it a hattrick?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:43 (nineteen years ago)

The elvis single came out a couple week before he died. It was languishing at number 45 or so. I know as I reviewed it on a radio show, said something like "This will be a bit hit" and "I heard a rumour Elvis is leaving Col Tom Parker"

wasirite?

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:44 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, the other two were David Soul's "Going In With My Eyes Open" and the aforementioned "Somebody To Love."

"Way Down" by Elvis - the chart progress was 46-42-4-1, i.e. either way he wouldn't have got past 42.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:47 (nineteen years ago)

Also, that's Grandstand and TOTP both gone in the space of a few months. Which further BBC institution are they going to axe to make it a hattrick?

They also cancelled Byker Grove!

Pretty much every hit song that I like I am sick of by the time it reaches the shops so I don't buy it. Why do they release things to the radio so early?

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:51 (nineteen years ago)

..and "They think it's all over"

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:51 (nineteen years ago)

They Think It's All Over is hardly an institution! I might give you Byker Grove.

TOTP in its heydey was Event Telly. What's the point of having Event Telly that's no longer even remotely an event?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:56 (nineteen years ago)

exactly.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Thursday, 22 June 2006 08:57 (nineteen years ago)

They should cancel Blue Peter.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:01 (nineteen years ago)

EASTENDERS

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:03 (nineteen years ago)

Grange Hill will be next.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:04 (nineteen years ago)

Grange Hill's good currently, so I hope not.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:07 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, Blue Peter. That'll get the Daily Mail crying!!!

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:09 (nineteen years ago)

blue peter is enviro-socialist propaganda though innit?

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:10 (nineteen years ago)

ITV should respond by bringing back The Roxy.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:10 (nineteen years ago)

.. or "45" with Kid Jensen.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:13 (nineteen years ago)

.. or "45" with Me. I'm 45.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:13 (nineteen years ago)

Bring back Revolver with me as Peter Cook.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:16 (nineteen years ago)

Who is yr Dudley Moore though?

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:17 (nineteen years ago)

Dud wasn't in Revolver, it was just Pete as the pissed-off club owner.

Alternatively, amalgamate TOTP with Newsnight Review - wouldn't Morley and Greer make great presenters?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:18 (nineteen years ago)

martha kearney more like.

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:19 (nineteen years ago)

mmmmm....

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:21 (nineteen years ago)

Mull Of Bastard Kintyre entered in the top five, didn't it?

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:26 (nineteen years ago)

Nope, it entered at 48, then leapt to 5 the following week.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:28 (nineteen years ago)

Ah. I only think of the chart in terms of Top 40s you see, as that's all they played on the radio and listed on TOTP.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:30 (nineteen years ago)

There are several instances of this kind of thing, which IIRC was due to singles sometimes being released on Saturday rather than Monday, e.g. Pretty Vacant went from 45 to 7. No, I meant top five actual first full week of release.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)

I remember when ToTP did their early nineties move to live singing it got discussed on Late Review (or whatever it was called then--was it still part of The Late Show at that point) and the main consensus reached was that the woman from Oceanic couldn't sing very well.

(x-post)

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:37 (nineteen years ago)

They were right enough about that. "Insanity" was number one for about six months in Scotland.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:40 (nineteen years ago)

She was very, very out of tune. "Insanity" was played all the time in pubs in Northumberland. It was really annoying.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:42 (nineteen years ago)

Wonder what branch of Greggs she's working in now?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 09:52 (nineteen years ago)

Huzzah, one of my poorly thought out arguments has made it into the Guardian blogger box (page 3). Of course everyone will assume it was Ewing.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 22 June 2006 10:39 (nineteen years ago)

go on, what was it?

― Roughage Crew (Enrique), Thursday, 22 June 2006 10:43 (nineteen years ago)

Tanya Headon appears to have posted a comment there...

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 10:55 (nineteen years ago)

Other sane utterances we have heard from the man Savile in the past include:
"Gary Glitter can come back any time he wants to."

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 10:59 (nineteen years ago)

Top Of The Pops, as a show, may not be packing them in like it used to. And much of that is due to the music television on demand. Nevertheless it was THE music chart show, and as such it lent far more legitimacy to the Official Radio One chart than just being on Radio One did. Radio One is a silly pop radio station, Top Of The Pops was on BBCTV, after the news, and as (shudder) Paul Gambacini says rightly, it was the News Of Pop.

I think they took out the Radio One is a silly pop station bit. But unfortuantely they left in the pretty gratuitous (shudder).

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 22 June 2006 11:54 (nineteen years ago)

Actually it was on after Tomorrow's World.

I blame EastEnders myself.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 22 June 2006 11:59 (nineteen years ago)

I didn't notice this earlier, but from here:

However, "The end of the weekly show does not mark the total disappearance of the Top of the Pops brand from British television screens. It will continue to feature in programmes such as TOTP2, BBC TWO's archive show based on the Top of the Pops back-catalogue which will sometimes incorporate new performance, as well as one-off specials."

― JimD (JimD), Saturday, 24 June 2006 10:35 (nineteen years ago)

Russell T. Davies should wait eighteen years then revive it.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Saturday, 24 June 2006 12:57 (nineteen years ago)

In a way that shows lots of promise, then turns out to be shite.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Saturday, 24 June 2006 16:33 (nineteen years ago)

except they killed off TOTP2 yonks ago.

― mark grout (mark grout), Sunday, 25 June 2006 16:55 (nineteen years ago)

I can't believe people are dissing "Insanity".

― Half loaf, half pompadour (noodle vague), Sunday, 25 June 2006 16:58 (nineteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

I hope they give it a proper send off, at least. I want Jimmy Saville to be guest presenter on the last ever show.

-- JimD (ji...) (webmail), June 20th, 2006 5:50 PM. (JimD) (link)

Well, that's something, at least...

― JimD (JimD), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 09:01 (nineteen years ago)

(Used "at least" twice in two lines. Spelt Savile's name wrong. I'm shit at this writing lark, me).

― JimD (JimD), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 09:03 (nineteen years ago)

I hope he gets everyone's names wrong.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 18 July 2006 10:06 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7972767.stm

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:57 (sixteen years ago)

"The days are gone when we can make a programme and just put it out there," he added.

― Mark G, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:00 (sixteen years ago)

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