It Was Number One, It Was Top of the Pops

Fifty years ago today viewers to BBC TV saw the first edition of Top of the Pops. You’ll see or hear nothing on the usually anniversary-conscious  Beeb to commemorate this;  the brand has become more than a little tarnished in the last couple of years. Selected repeats start up again on BBC Four, we’re into 1979 now, but the regular series was killed off in 2006, though it limps on with the Christmas/New Year specials.

Back in May 1983 Top of the Pops celebrated its 1000th edition and BBC Radio 1 joined in with a simultaneous broadcast and a history of the show introduced by Richard Skinner.

Firstly here’s what went out on Radio 1 only for the 10 minutes before TOTP and then half an hour afterwards.

And here’s that night’s edition of the show complete with an introductory chat between Richard Skinner and David Jacobs that also aired on BBC1.

Both recordings are exactly as I committed them to tape that day and include the voices of presenters who are now ‘persona non grata’. I have made no further digital edits.

Update (December 2023): The studio set Christmas specials ended in 2021. BBC Four repeats continue and we're now up to 1995.