please empty your brain below
Yaxlich agrees with Mr Geezer about the demise of Top of the Pops. Yaxlich remembers when it was the only TV programme that you would change your routine for. Yaxlich also agrees about the Top 40 on a Sunday night. He remembers many a Sunday night bath night which started with the Top 40 and ended with Annie Nightingale. Yaxlich wishes he was young again.

Yaxlich | Homepage | 30.07.06 - 1:52 a.m. | #

My best three memories of TotP.

The Sex Pistols...'nuff said.
The school was definately abuzz that Friday morning

Boomtown Rats(Geldof tearing up the picture of J.Travota and Olivia N.John when the Rats knocked them off the No.1 spot.)

Gary Numan. His first appearance on TotP doing Are 'Friends' Electric. A very weird lookin' dude singing a very strange sounding song. I was hooked. I've been a Numan fan ever since. He's playing in my town next Wednesday too!

I left England during the early 80's, so I missed it's slow death. It's still sad to hear it's done though.

Jackal | Homepage | 30.07.06 - 4:32 a.m. | #

Spot on as usual. Sad really but that's life unfortunately.

Emma | 30.07.06 - 8:45 a.m. | #

Muse on the final episode? Proof positive it lived at least a week too long

ian | Homepage | 30.07.06 - 9:35 a.m. | #

thursday evenings were so important to me and are a kooky part of my childhood memories, especially the night when Pan's People all fell over.

Having left the UK over 20 years ago, i, too, have missed the slow death of TotPs. MTV was far better - and is, i suspect, a major factor towards the death of TotPs.

zed | Homepage | 30.07.06 - 12:00 p.m. | #

I can't get MTV on Freeview (although, given all the non-music-related rubbish they insist on showing these days, I suspect I'm not missing out).

Will nobody show 'live' 'popular' music on mainstream TV any more?

diamond geezer | Homepage | 30.07.06 - 12:11 p.m. | #

I had a feeling this would be your subject matter today, dg. Mine too (in a slightly different way!)

Zed, the truth is, not many people can get MTV and the viewing figures are tiny. It doesn't try to replicate the live chart show format that TOTP is, so it's hard to say that MTV has contributed to TOTP's demise. It's the scheduling and the uninformed presenters which have done that. Today is a sad day.

Chig | Homepage | 30.07.06 - 12:59 p.m. | #

As I often remind myself, sometimes the only way to hold on is to let go.

"All Things Must Pass" - St George of Henley

gwplf | 30.07.06 - 1:42 p.m. | #

But the last show is dreadful, isn't it?

Inspector Sands | Homepage | 30.07.06 - 8:35 p.m. | #

The last show's more a documentary than a pop programme, which is a hugely wasted opportunity given that the producers have had a month to plan something better.

But I also watched last week's final proper 'live' TotP, and that was worse.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 30.07.06 - 8:57 p.m. | #

Just out of interest, as there weren't any in tonight's programme, who was the final act to play in the TOTP studio (ie. last week)? It might crop up in a pub quiz...

dg: McFly with (ironically) Dont' Stop Me Now

Chig | Homepage | 31.07.06 - 1:51 a.m. | #

i didn't realise that MTV isn't aired as much as it is on the continent - sorry about that.

it's gone to the dogs, anyway, but i used to enjoy watching it simply to see the videos accompanying songs.

zed | Homepage | 31.07.06 - 8:28 a.m. | #

I stopped watching TOTP back in 97 when my dad got cable and I was introduced to MTV and The Box - and I can tell you, the Box was a lot different back then - nowhere near as bland, white-toothed, personality-free and sanitised as it is now. As the audience fragments further and further, you have to go farther underground to find fresh new music.

I hope TOTP2 stays, though - when that started, I preferred it to the 'regular' TOTP.

China Blue | Homepage | 31.07.06 - 11:35 a.m. | #

I watched the tiniest section of the final TOTP and found it difficult to tap into any feelings of sadness. Maybe there was a tinge but for the most part the final show was shite displaying the same "can't be arsed with this anymore" attitude which I've come to instantly recognise with a lot of shows plugged as "institutions" by the world's "supposedly" greatest broadcaster. There is a surprising lack of "event" based television (apart from the obvious summer of Big Brother) but I hope that doesn't mean that there won't be any other attempts in the future. Still, at least there's Later with Jools Holland, or is there a suspicion that this will be axed too? Maybe we could just have the testcard on BBC1,2, 3 and 4 in future?

Jon | Homepage | 31.07.06 - 12:39 p.m. | #

That last episode was solid gold shit. Really awful. (Wot no Noel Edmonds?) It really annoyed me that the clips didn't have years for reference, they were merely assigned to decades.

The end piece with Sir Jim'll Fix it of Stoke Mandeville was, surprisingly, rather poignant.

There is room for a headline music show on BBC2/BBC1 but it won't be like TOTP. C'mon, you BYTs at the beeb, get to it!

The Randomaniac | Homepage | 02.08.06 - 11:36 p.m. | #

I agree but will add that the demise of the single has been brought about by the more realistic pricing of albums, too. I bought my first single in February 1978 for 69p (Figaro, Brotherhood of Man). Albums were about six or seven pounds then, well beyond the pocket money (or, really, even birthday or Christmas money) of a ten year old. Now, a ten year old can afford an album more easily than I could afford a single, although IME he gets most of his music collection by embedding YouTube and similar stuff into his mint webby to share with his friends (and aunt)

Gert | Homepage | 06.08.06 - 4:26 p.m. | #











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