Top of the Pops: The Story of 1979 (2014)

Top of the Pops: The Story of 1981 (2016)

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Top of the Pops: The Story of 1978 (2013)

Sue Perkins

Pete &apos;Peanut&apos; Langford

Kathryn Flett

Documentary looking at Top Of the Pops&apos; changing musical direction in 1978, when pop singles were slowly being replaced in the chart by disco, punk and New Wave. It looks the show&apos;s treatment of particularly punk and New Wave acts...

Dione Newton

Top of the Pops: The Story of 1978

The BBC researchers strike again!!

This is yet another of the BBC&apos;s badly researched and revisionist &quot;documentaries&quot;, which supposedly tells how punk rock saved us from all the bad pop music which was in the charts, during the latter years of the 1970s. But anyone like me who was alive back then, or even watches the repeats of editions of Top of the Pops that are currently being shown on BBC 4, may well see a much more accurate depiction of that era. Because actually, there was some great pop music, reggae music, soul music, disco music, and even rock music in the charts while quite a lot of the punk music was dire and amateurish to say the least.

Programs like this, often depict a very selective, and one-sided view of the past, with very little balance on show to even things up; Not everyone hated Boney M, or Shawaddy Waddy, or The Barron Knights. In fact a lot of people liked those novelty bands, that is why they sold so many records. It wasn&apos;t just down to good PR men. And by the same token, not everyone saw punk rock as the saviour of British music. Granted, it was something new and different. But it was also very short-lived and controversial (Try Googling the name Sid Vicious, if you don&apos;t know who he was). In fact, the soul and disco bands of the past, have left a much more influential legacy to today&apos;s music.

I think it was very remiss of the BBC to broadcast a program which (purposely?) left out the facts, and presented half-truths as being the gospel.

They&apos;ve done it before, and they&apos;ll do it again. No doubt.

This is yet another of the BBC's badly researched and revisionist "documentaries", which supposedly tells how punk rock saved us from all the bad pop music which was in the charts, during the latter years of the 1970s. But anyone like me who was alive back then, or even watches the repeats of editions of Top of the Pops that are currently being shown on BBC 4, may well see a much more accurate depiction of that era. Because actually, there was some great pop music, reggae music, soul music, disco music, and even rock music in the charts while quite a lot of the punk music was dire and amateurish to say the least.

Programs like this, often depict a very selective, and one-sided view of the past, with very little balance on show to even things up; Not everyone hated Boney M, or Shawaddy Waddy, or The Barron Knights. In fact a lot of people liked those novelty bands, that is why they sold so many records. It wasn't just down to good PR men. And by the same token, not everyone saw punk rock as the saviour of British music. Granted, it was something new and different. But it was also very short-lived and controversial (Try Googling the name Sid Vicious, if you don't know who he was). In fact, the soul and disco bands of the past, have left a much more influential legacy to today's music.

I think it was very remiss of the BBC to broadcast a program which (purposely?) left out the facts, and presented half-truths as being the gospel.

They've done it before, and they'll do it again. No doubt.

Documentary looking at Top Of the Pops' changing musical direction in 1978, when pop singles were slowly being replaced in the chart by disco, punk and New Wave. It looks the show's treatment of particularly punk and New Wave acts, and New Wave performers in general swallowing their pride and appearing on TotP, a show which was still seen mainly as Light Entertainment.

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Top of the Pops: The Story of 1978

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