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Top of the Pops 1964 - 2002

By Jeff Simpson

 

ISBN: 0563534761

This 128-page book was released on 01 August 2002 to coincide with the 2000th edition of Top of the Pops. It’s written by Jeff Simpson and based on his Top of the Pops – The True Story documentary. I’ve no intention of reprinting any text or photos on this website – you’ll just have to buy the book! Available from all good bookshops including The BBC Shop, priced £14.99.

 

Jeff Simpson:

“The book has detailed sections on the Gojos, Pan's People, Ruby Flipper, Legs & Co and Zoo. There are some fantastic colour pictures of Pan's, as well as some previously unpublished b/w single portraits of each of them, which are lovely. Besides drawing on the interviews for the original documentary, I was able to carry out further in depth interviews with Flick and with Ruth, and with their producer/mentor, Stan Dorfman.”

 


From the cover:


On New Year’s Day 1964, the first ever Top of the Pops was broadcast live from Manchester on BBC1 – 38 years later it is celebrating it’s 2000th edition. This is the story behind the stars, the fans and the changing faces of the UK’s favourite music show.


For nearly four decades, the greatest stars in music have been queuing up to appear on Top of the Pops – from the youthful Rolling Stones, through the outrageous antics of The Who, and sexy divas like Madonna, Janet Jackson and Britney, the show has seen it all. Here, Jeff Simpson opens the lid on the controversy that surrounded Top of the Pops from the very beginning and includes hundreds of quotes from musicians and programme-makers. We hear about those acts that ruffled feathers at the BBC, from Jimi Hendrix through to Marilyn Manson, how the pop show coped with punk, the wrangles over miming and singing live, and of course, the creation of Britain’s most famous dancing girls, Pan’s People – the Spice Girls of their day.


Each decade features its own Hall of Fame, a stunning collection of pictures taken backstage or during live performances on Top of the Pops, many of which had been lost for decades. And there are exclusive essays from the likes of Noel Gallagher, Keith Richards and Holly Johnson, reflecting on their experiences on the show.


With lavish pictures of the world’s greatest music performers from the sixties through to the present day, and fascinating first-hand accounts throughout, Top of the Pops: 1964 - 2002 tells the real history of this enduring pop show.



BBC Press Release:



Unruly egos, opinionated producers, wacky presenters – and the top talent of the pop music industry – pepper the pages of this new illustrated paperback from BBC Worldwide, Top of the Pops: 1964-2002, published on 1 August, price £14.99, to coincide with the show’s special 2000th edition on 2 August.

 

This warts and all biography of the series which, in the fickle world of pop is “still number one” after 38 years, has been written by one of the programme’s production team, Jeff Simpson, who was given full access not only to the archives, but to the full range of participants in the series’ fascinating history.

 

Along with the story comes a stunning selection of unique photographs taken backstage over the years by Top of the Pops photographers, including Harry Goodwin in the 1960s and Mark Allan in the present era. We see the respectful-looking Rolling Stones at the very first recording in January 1964; a fresh-faced Sonny and Cher in the summer of 1965; Lulu at just 15; and an exquisite Tom Jones looking cool over a cup of tea in his dressing room.  Later, we see a trouserless Robbie Williams; U2 recording from the roof of their Dublin Hotel; and the Spice Girls caught in the corridor at the BBC’s Elstree studios after their debut performance with Wannabe.

 

Jeff Simpson has interviewed dozens of stars, dancers, DJs, producers and BBC executives associated (not always happily) with the series since its earliest days.  “It’s clear that despite creating this hugely successful show, the BBC has always somehow failed to recognize exactly what the magic of Top of the Pops actually is.  Some of the best moments in this book are about what happened when a series of wild and rebellious rock ‘n’ rollers confronted the old-school establishment BBC – and neither side quite knew how to deal with the other.”

 

The book includes exclusive interviews with the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, Noddy Holder from Slade, Pan’s People, Suggs from Madness, Jarvis Cocker, Noel Gallagher, record producer Pete Waterman and Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood.  We hear about the acts that ruffled feathers at the BBC, from Jimi Hendrix through to Eminem, how the pop show coped with punk, the wrangles over miming or singing live, and of course, the creation of Britain's most famous dancing girls, Pan's People - the Spice Girls of their day.