BBC cancels Top of the Pops

Posted by Amber Nasrulla Jun 21, 2006

Sad news. After 42 years the Beeb has cancelled Top of the Pops. TOTP was the BBC's flagship music chart show and offered a lively countdown of the week's hits for a generation of music lovers.

When I was doing my O-Levels in Ealing, just west of London, one night a classmate, Simone Simon (yup, her real name) and I hitched a ride and went to the BBC Studios to see a taping of the show. The Pet Shop Boys were performing that night and we stood in line forever - her in the school's navy-and-gold school uniform, me in yellow and black stripe trousers with a red sweater. (Yeah, I resembled Rupert the Bear, but it was 1986 and I looked cool!)

When we heard some screams we readied ourselves with Sharpies in hand. In a silver Mercedes, there was PSB lead singer, Neil Tenant, being chauffeured away. Right outside the gates, his car stopped in front of Simone and I and the window rolled down. "Bunking off school were you?" Tenant said. I handed him my pink felt notebook and he scribbled his signature - elegant and full of loops. Then he was whisked away.

So it wasn't an Almost Famous moment or anything... but here's the thing. Long before I was born, hormone-addled teens did the same thing, hoping to catch a glimpse of their idols. They prayed to get in to see anyone from The Beatles to The Rolling Stones to Cliff Richard to Aha! to Nirvana to the Spice Girls to Duran Duran (I'm really giving my age away here to admit that I'm a massive Durannie) to Madonna. You didn't have to fork over hundreds of dollars to get a ticket or know someone in the biz - you just had to show up early.

There was something really lovely and democratic about that show. Fans were so close you could see the sweat on a performer's forehead. It was an intimate audience setting - and the best thing about it was the artists really sang their hearts out. No lip-synching here. Plus, you could see both up-and-comers and established artists.

The U.K.'s Pop Idol and other reality entertainment shows have eroded the audience for Top of the Pops. That coupled with competition from cable, satellite music channels, and the Internet killed it.

RIP TOTP.