FMS-Blog : The Wildly Whimsical, Mostly Musical WebLog
Monday, July 31, 2006
End of an Era : Top of the Pops
It was with mixed feelings last night that I watched the very final episode of Top of the Pops, a veritable monument of British popular music culture. I remember tuning in religiously with my siblings as a child to find out who was this week's Number 1 and in a sense there are lots of memories of some fine televisual experiences. However, of recent years the programme has gone downhill rapidly, replacing the original quirkiness of the studio sets and performances with a more in-your-face attitude to musical journalism.
Of course, the show has been renowned over the years as much for the total lack of ability on the part of its guests as for anything else. Really since it began in 1964 most of the 'live' performances have been mimed and often in the most comically crap manner. There was a period where TOTP, as it has become known, insisted that all their guests at least sing live (with the backing track pre-recorded) but there was very quickly a U-turn on this when they realised that most of the performers on the show simply couldn't accurately reproduce the recorded versions of their songs when asked to do it on live television. Others still took the opportunity to mock the whole thing, such as Kurt Cobain from Nirvana - his classic rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit (from their 1991 Nevermind album) was mostly comprised of him making grating noises with his throat. He really made no attempt whatsoever to sing the song 'properly', perhaps because of whatever he was on at the time or maybe just because he thought that an appearance on a cheesy pop show for teenagers was somehow beneath what the band was trying to achieve. Who knows : either way, I think he did right!
Then, of course, there are the presenters. Lastnight's final episode of TOTP was presented collectively by many of the past faces, including Jimmy Savile, Tony Blackburn and Pat Sharp. Frankly, though, I found watching Savile mumbling his way through obviously scripted conversations with the other presenters quite disturbing, especially after seeing the documentary / interview that Louis Theroux conducted with him a couple of years ago. In that show he came across as a deluded, paranoid wash-up with an over-inflated sense of his own popularity and an unprovoked defensive attitude to the non-suggestion that he has paedophilic tendencies. A weirdo in my opinion best avoided, especially when relaxing in front of the telly, of an evening!!
Of course, the show has been renowned over the years as much for the total lack of ability on the part of its guests as for anything else. Really since it began in 1964 most of the 'live' performances have been mimed and often in the most comically crap manner. There was a period where TOTP, as it has become known, insisted that all their guests at least sing live (with the backing track pre-recorded) but there was very quickly a U-turn on this when they realised that most of the performers on the show simply couldn't accurately reproduce the recorded versions of their songs when asked to do it on live television. Others still took the opportunity to mock the whole thing, such as Kurt Cobain from Nirvana - his classic rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit (from their 1991 Nevermind album) was mostly comprised of him making grating noises with his throat. He really made no attempt whatsoever to sing the song 'properly', perhaps because of whatever he was on at the time or maybe just because he thought that an appearance on a cheesy pop show for teenagers was somehow beneath what the band was trying to achieve. Who knows : either way, I think he did right!
Then, of course, there are the presenters. Lastnight's final episode of TOTP was presented collectively by many of the past faces, including Jimmy Savile, Tony Blackburn and Pat Sharp. Frankly, though, I found watching Savile mumbling his way through obviously scripted conversations with the other presenters quite disturbing, especially after seeing the documentary / interview that Louis Theroux conducted with him a couple of years ago. In that show he came across as a deluded, paranoid wash-up with an over-inflated sense of his own popularity and an unprovoked defensive attitude to the non-suggestion that he has paedophilic tendencies. A weirdo in my opinion best avoided, especially when relaxing in front of the telly, of an evening!!
