Top Of The Pops - Episodes Before April 1976!

merrim01merrim01 Posts: 2,677
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Here's a list of the shows that the BBC have in their archive from before April 1976. Can't believe how many shows they wiped!

December 26, 1967 - Jimmy Saville & Pete Murray
February 15, 1968 - Jimmy Savile & Dave Cash
June 6, 1968 - Jimmy Saville & Davy Jones
February 27, 1969 - Stuart Henry
January 29, 1970 - Jimmy Savile
February 5, 1970 - Tony Blackburn
July 9, 1970 - Tony Blackburn
October 15, 1970 - Tony Blackburn
January 14, 1971 - Jimmy Savile
February 25, 1971 - Jimmy Savile
April 29, 1971 - Tony Blackburn
June 17, 1971 - Jimmy Savile
July 1, 1971 - Jimmy Savile
December 27, 1971 - Tony Blackburn
December 30, 1971 - Ed Stewart
November 16, 1972 - Jimmy Savile
December 28, 1972 - Noel Edmonds & Tony Blackburn
January 25, 1973 - Jimmy Savile
February 1, 1973 - Noel Edmonds
September 27, 1973 - Noel Edmonds
October 11, 1973 - Kenny Everett
November 15, 1973 - Tony Blackburn
December 25, 1973 - Noel Edmonds & Tony Blackburn
December 27, 1973 - Jimmy Savile
April 11, 1974 - Noel Edmonds
April 18, 1974 - Greg Edwards
May 2, 1974 - Jimmy Savile
August 8, 1974 - Jimmy Savile
October 4, 1974 - Jimmy Savile
November 27, 1974 - Dave Lee Travis
December 25, 1974 - Jimmy Savile & Tony Blackburn
December 27, 1974 - Dave Lee Travis & Noel Edmonds
January 2, 1975 - Jimmy Savile
March 13, 1975 - Noel Edmonds
March 20, 1975 - Tony Blackburn
April 10, 1975 - Emperor Rosko
July 24, 1975 - Noel Edmonds
August 28, 1975 - Tony Blackburn
September 4, 1975 - Jimmy Savile
December 23, 1975 - Dave Lee Travis & Jimmy Saville
December 25, 1975 - Noel Edmonds & Tony Blackburn
January 1, 1976 - Jimmy Saville
January 8, 1976 - Noel Edmonds
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Comments

  • PaacePaace Posts: 14,679
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    That is a poor state of affairs. It started in 1964 which they have no recordings, nor 65,66 and only 1 in 67, 2 in 68 and 1 in 69.
  • knackyknickknocknackyknickknoc Posts: 422
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    The OP missed out a June 1972 edition hosted by Ed Stewart.

    Most of the shows from 1970 to 1975 were aired on German tv in the last year or two so luckily we were able to put them on dvd.
    PM me if you want any.

    Not only are BBC4 editing current broadcasts but it looks like its not on in 2 weeks.
  • merrim01merrim01 Posts: 2,677
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    I wouldn't be surprised if they stop showing them after a few weeks as the figures go down. If that's the case they should just all be made available to DVD like everything else. After all we pay for the BBC anyway and we'll then have to pay for the DVDs.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,584
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    The OP missed out a June 1972 edition hosted by Ed Stewart.

    Most of the shows from 1970 to 1975 were aired on German tv in the last year or two so luckily we were able to put them on dvd.
    PM me if you want any.

    Not only are BBC4 editing current broadcasts but it looks like its not on in 2 weeks.

    The BBC 4 would have been better to have presented a weelky 'Big Hits, 1964-75' for 90 minutes as on April 1st, rather than weeks of the dross from 1976 probably the lowest point in the entire history of popular music since 1955. [1975 runs it's successor a close second for that dubious honour].
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4
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    :rolleyes:Hi,would love to have them on dvd please,ring me on 01132783445 i would be realy pleased to have them
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,584
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    merrim01 wrote: »
    Here's a list of the shows that the BBC have in their archive from before April 1976. Can't believe how many shows they wiped!

    December 26, 1967 - Jimmy Saville & Pete Murray
    February 15, 1968 - Jimmy Savile & Dave Cash
    June 6, 1968 - Jimmy Saville & Davy Jones
    February 27, 1969 - Stuart Henry
    January 29, 1970 - Jimmy Savile
    February 5, 1970 - Tony Blackburn
    July 9, 1970 - Tony Blackburn
    October 15, 1970 - Tony Blackburn
    January 14, 1971 - Jimmy Savile
    February 25, 1971 - Jimmy Savile
    April 29, 1971 - Tony Blackburn
    June 17, 1971 - Jimmy Savile
    July 1, 1971 - Jimmy Savile
    December 27, 1971 - Tony Blackburn
    December 30, 1971 - Ed Stewart
    November 16, 1972 - Jimmy Savile
    December 28, 1972 - Noel Edmonds & Tony Blackburn
    January 25, 1973 - Jimmy Savile
    February 1, 1973 - Noel Edmonds
    September 27, 1973 - Noel Edmonds
    October 11, 1973 - Kenny Everett
    November 15, 1973 - Tony Blackburn
    December 25, 1973 - Noel Edmonds & Tony Blackburn
    December 27, 1973 - Jimmy Savile
    April 11, 1974 - Noel Edmonds
    April 18, 1974 - Greg Edwards
    May 2, 1974 - Jimmy Savile
    August 8, 1974 - Jimmy Savile
    October 4, 1974 - Jimmy SavileNovember 27, 1974 - Dave Lee Travis
    December 25, 1974 - Jimmy Savile & Tony Blackburn
    December 27, 1974 - Dave Lee Travis & Noel Edmonds
    January 2, 1975 - Jimmy Savile
    March 13, 1975 - Noel Edmonds
    March 20, 1975 - Tony Blackburn
    April 10, 1975 - Emperor Rosko
    July 24, 1975 - Noel Edmonds
    August 28, 1975 - Tony Blackburn
    September 4, 1975 - Jimmy Savile
    December 23, 1975 - Dave Lee Travis & Jimmy Saville
    December 25, 1975 - Noel Edmonds & Tony Blackburn
    January 1, 1976 - Jimmy Saville
    January 8, 1976 - Noel Edmonds

    I'd be interested in this edition if it included 'Sparks' performing their hit from that month, 'Never turn your back on Mother Earth'
  • knackyknickknocknackyknickknoc Posts: 422
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    I'd be interested in this edition if it included 'Sparks' performing their hit from that month, 'Never turn your back on Mother Earth'

    Sparks do not appear in that show
  • Glenn AGlenn A Posts: 23,758
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    It's just a shame so few shows survive from the show's most popular era, the glam rock period from 1971-74. Also I wouldn't class music from 1975/76 to be that bad, OK it wasn't as good as what came before it, but there was still plenty of decent music around and this was also the start of the disco era, which gave the dancers something realistic to dance to.
  • James2001James2001 Posts: 73,367
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    Looking at what survives, it tells you there must have been a very sudden and dramatic policy change- before April 1976, there's scant few episodes surviving (none at all for the 2 1/2 months until then!), then all of a sudden, nearly every episode survives- there's 12 missing episodes from between July 76 and September 77, and that's it.
  • merrim01merrim01 Posts: 2,677
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    James2001 wrote: »
    Looking at what survives, it tells you there must have been a very sudden and dramatic policy change- before April 1976, there's scant few episodes surviving (none at all for the 2 1/2 months until then!), then all of a sudden, nearly every episode survives- there's 12 missing episodes from between July 76 and September 77, and that's it.

    Why did it take the BBC so long to decide to keep all of the shows. So many decent performances have been lost forever and the number of people with any form of VCR back then must have been miniscule. At least if something was lost now it would be highly likely that a collector or fan of a show would have it. The BBC seem to hold back on repeats of Top of the Pops, it's taken about 15 years for them to give us these repeats. I wouldn't mind a DVD boxset!
  • knackyknickknocknackyknickknoc Posts: 422
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    merrim01 wrote: »
    Why did it take the BBC so long to decide to keep all of the shows. So many decent performances have been lost forever and the number of people with any form of VCR back then must have been miniscule. At least if something was lost now it would be highly likely that a collector or fan of a show would have it. The BBC seem to hold back on repeats of Top of the Pops, it's taken about 15 years for them to give us these repeats. I wouldn't mind a DVD boxset!

    TOTP is not alone in being incomplete.
    Virtually all the BBC's output of the 60's was wiped .
    A few exceptions remain including some shows made for BBC2 but BBC1 material that remains are 16mm telerecordings usually filmed for foreign sales that have been returned decades later when the BBC realised what they had done.

    Until the mid 70's there are countless hours of tv that are missing.
    Even Dr Who has some of the original 625 masters lost up until 1974 and up to that point many gaps are filled by the film recordings returned from abroad or tape conversions sent to the US and Canada.

    TOTP is fortunate that most of 1976 remains.
    1976 was the year that Swap Shop started and virtually nothing of the original tapes remains as we saw on the anniversary Swap Shop special a few years back where clips were almost all viewers home video recordings

    As for a dvd boxset - it won't happen.
    Its hard enough for the BBC to repeat vintage music on tv but its almost impossible when it comes to commercial releases.
    Music is routinely edited from vintage shows on dvd either because music rights cannot be obtained or are too expensive.
    Getting the rights would be time consuming .
    Even Live Aid for example involved getting permission from every performer .
    DVD boxsets might not even be profitable when you consider the work needed to clear tracks or pay royalties and then problems start when artists refuse.

    I would expect the 40th Anniversary dvd special they released in 2004 took time to arrange even in that format.
  • richard craniumrichard cranium Posts: 4,388
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    As for a dvd boxset - it won't happen.
    Its hard enough for the BBC to repeat vintage music on tv but its almost impossible when it comes to commercial releases.
    Music is routinely edited from vintage shows on dvd either because music rights cannot be obtained or are too expensive.
    Getting the rights would be time consuming

    The Old Grey Whistle Test has released box sets of vintage performances, so it can't be that insurmountable a problem.
  • knackyknickknocknackyknickknoc Posts: 422
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    The Old Grey Whistle Test has released box sets of vintage performances, so it can't be that insurmountable a problem.

    Have they released any complete individual shows ? No.
    POPS has released a compilation too .
    What I said is that proper runs of complete shows are very unlikely to happen.

    Its also possible that as Whistle Test was often live performances it may make a difference to POPS which was predominantly miming to commercially released singles.
  • richard craniumrichard cranium Posts: 4,388
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    Have they released any complete individual shows ? No.
    POPS has released a compilation too .
    What I said is that proper runs of complete shows are very unlikely to happen.

    So ? There is no demand for complete editions of individual TOTP or OGWT shows , or else they would provide them.


    People want " best of " compilations, that's the deal, why sit through turgid dross like Tina Charles, Boney M and Black Lace when you can have seminal TOTP performances from David Bowie, Alice Cooper and Nirvana ?
  • richard craniumrichard cranium Posts: 4,388
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    Dletet
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 377
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    One man's "turgid dross" is anothers "guilty pleasure" - and there are certainly worse things to sit through than Tina Charles or Boney M.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 377
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    Sparks do not appear in that show

    "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" by the Sparks has actually turned up! It is unlikely to be repeated though as the show concerned (7/11/74) is missing both the first couple of minutes and the last 10. It was found on an old video amongst the collection of Dick Emery - a man who died in 1983, which shows that things are turning up all the time from some very unlikely sources! It's a cracking show too, with around 12 acts In the studio!
  • GlassBalloonGlassBalloon Posts: 2,571
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    TOTP2 repeats are being shown on Dave in the early morning and I am much preferring these ones to the ones shown on the BBC recently :)
  • knackyknickknocknackyknickknoc Posts: 422
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    So ? There is no demand for complete editions of individual TOTP or OGWT shows , or else they would provide them.


    People want " best of " compilations, that's the deal, why sit through turgid dross like Tina Charles, Boney M and Black Lace when you can have seminal TOTP performances from David Bowie, Alice Cooper and Nirvana ?

    Firstly , people do not want compilations.
    If they did they would have not been demanding uncut POPS shows intead of TOTP 2 for 20 years .:rolleyes:
    Shame BBC4 chose such a naff era to start from.

    You will find virtually no tv releases that are not complete individual episodic versions.
    Compilations of anything were unpopular even when the BBC started releasing stuff in the 80's.

    Secondly the demand is irrelevant.

    The BBC would not be able to release them anyway.
  • AidanLunnAidanLunn Posts: 5,320
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    merrim01 wrote: »
    I wouldn't be surprised if they stop showing them after a few weeks as the figures go down. If that's the case they should just all be made available to DVD like everything else. After all we pay for the BBC anyway and we'll then have to pay for the DVDs.

    . . . at hugely inflated costs due to the demands from the music copyright owners.

    It was difficult enough getting the permission for these repeats! DVD releases of complete episodes? Forget it!
  • AidanLunnAidanLunn Posts: 5,320
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    regentv980 wrote: »
    :rolleyes:Hi,would love to have them on dvd please,ring me on 01132783445 i would be realy pleased to have them

    Members advertising is strictly prohibited here.
  • AidanLunnAidanLunn Posts: 5,320
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    merrim01 wrote: »
    Why did it take the BBC so long to decide to keep all of the shows.

    Outside influences, such as tape cost and rights renewals. Plus different views on the cultural value of TV programmes back then.
    merrim01 wrote: »
    The BBC seem to hold back on repeats of Top of the Pops, it's taken about 15 years for them to give us these repeats. I wouldn't mind a DVD boxset!

    That's not their fault. Copyright holders can be really overprotective of material they own the rights to.
  • merrim01merrim01 Posts: 2,677
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    Well at least we have them now and we can burn these to DVD as much as we like.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,464
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    The OP missed out a June 1972 edition hosted by Ed Stewart.

    Would that be the 22/06/72 episode? I've seen a BBC tape of it - It's incomplete, missing the first few minutes. The last 25-28 minutes of it exist though.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,584
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    Sparks do not appear in that show

    That's cleared that up then, KKK. I can't see BBC4 getting good ratings by screening all episodes of TOTP from 1976, as I posted earlier. the following year, from memory, wasn't much better. !978 and 79 would have more resonance in the memory of viewers fro m the time, as the emerging punk/new wave groups were making themselves heard on the show.
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