:-(
A former member
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Last edited by A former member on 26 March 2021 9:38pm - 2 times in total
JA
That awful "chart over a video" thing we're seeing on the BBC4 episodes right now really doesn't work. The idea they had when they revisited it in the 90s worked much better, with it across the bottom of the screen with no voiceover. Having it scrolling the entire height of the screen with the presenter talking over the video was just an irritant.
RW
It's strange that they go back to a normal countdown for first new-look TOTP at the start of April, and then reverting to running the charts with a video for a couple of weeks. It's a slight improvement on the current method, where the video shrinks down to reveal a background that looks roughly drawn with crayons, and the graphics stay at the bottom of the screen, but the voiceover still clashes with the music.
Anyway, I'm here plugging my new history of TOTP's graphics and presentation: https://www.desandmick.co.uk/television/totp/1964-1981/ which mainly uses screenshots from the BBC Four repeats so it starts to fizzle out a bit after 1986!
Robert Williams
Founding member
That awful "chart over a video" thing we're seeing on the BBC4 episodes right now really doesn't work. The idea they had when they revisited it in the 90s worked much better, with it across the bottom of the screen with no voiceover. Having it scrolling the entire height of the screen with the presenter talking over the video was just an irritant.
It's strange that they go back to a normal countdown for first new-look TOTP at the start of April, and then reverting to running the charts with a video for a couple of weeks. It's a slight improvement on the current method, where the video shrinks down to reveal a background that looks roughly drawn with crayons, and the graphics stay at the bottom of the screen, but the voiceover still clashes with the music.
Anyway, I'm here plugging my new history of TOTP's graphics and presentation: https://www.desandmick.co.uk/television/totp/1964-1981/ which mainly uses screenshots from the BBC Four repeats so it starts to fizzle out a bit after 1986!
WO
It's strange that they go back to a normal countdown for first new-look TOTP at the start of April, and then reverting to running the charts with a video for a couple of weeks. It's a slight improvement on the current method, where the video shrinks down to reveal a background that looks roughly drawn with crayons, and the graphics stay at the bottom of the screen, but the voiceover still clashes with the music.
Anyway, I'm here plugging my new history of TOTP's graphics and presentation: https://www.desandmick.co.uk/television/totp/1964-1981/ which mainly uses screenshots from the BBC Four repeats so it starts to fizzle out a bit after 1986!
I'm just reading your page on the latter days of TOTP - I never knew that there was a Slovak version of the show. Fascinating! In fact, I'd be interested to see a comprehensive list of all the territories which did their own version of TOTP at one point or another. An article I found here suggests that by mid-2000, there were local variants of TOTP in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Thailand, with the aforementioned Slovak version, along with Italian, Turkish and Dutch versions, getting ready to launch.
That awful "chart over a video" thing we're seeing on the BBC4 episodes right now really doesn't work. The idea they had when they revisited it in the 90s worked much better, with it across the bottom of the screen with no voiceover. Having it scrolling the entire height of the screen with the presenter talking over the video was just an irritant.
It's strange that they go back to a normal countdown for first new-look TOTP at the start of April, and then reverting to running the charts with a video for a couple of weeks. It's a slight improvement on the current method, where the video shrinks down to reveal a background that looks roughly drawn with crayons, and the graphics stay at the bottom of the screen, but the voiceover still clashes with the music.
Anyway, I'm here plugging my new history of TOTP's graphics and presentation: https://www.desandmick.co.uk/television/totp/1964-1981/ which mainly uses screenshots from the BBC Four repeats so it starts to fizzle out a bit after 1986!
I'm just reading your page on the latter days of TOTP - I never knew that there was a Slovak version of the show. Fascinating! In fact, I'd be interested to see a comprehensive list of all the territories which did their own version of TOTP at one point or another. An article I found here suggests that by mid-2000, there were local variants of TOTP in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Thailand, with the aforementioned Slovak version, along with Italian, Turkish and Dutch versions, getting ready to launch.
JA
According to Popscene, it's not even consecutive then. It was used on all 4 episodes in March 86, not done on the first episode of April (the first revamp episode), then it's done again on the 2nd & 3rd episodes on April, not done on the 4th in April, then done for the final time on the first episode in May.
It was done on a grand total of 7 episodes- of which we'll only be getting 3 on BBC4, as it was during a Mike Smith heavy period (not as heavy as September/October 1987 though!).
I notice they don't read out the songs that are going down during this either, a bit like during the spring of 1991 where the chart countdown didn't include songs that were going down either:
It's strange that they go back to a normal countdown for first new-look TOTP at the start of April, and then reverting to running the charts with a video for a couple of weeks. It]].
According to Popscene, it's not even consecutive then. It was used on all 4 episodes in March 86, not done on the first episode of April (the first revamp episode), then it's done again on the 2nd & 3rd episodes on April, not done on the 4th in April, then done for the final time on the first episode in May.
It was done on a grand total of 7 episodes- of which we'll only be getting 3 on BBC4, as it was during a Mike Smith heavy period (not as heavy as September/October 1987 though!).
I notice they don't read out the songs that are going down during this either, a bit like during the spring of 1991 where the chart countdown didn't include songs that were going down either:
Last edited by james-2001 on 27 August 2018 7:41pm
:-(
A former member
The member requested removal of this post
Last edited by A former member on 26 March 2021 9:20pm - 3 times in total
BU
I’m not sure why they didn’t just stick with the 1980 format of splitting the charts up to 10 or 15 places at a time...by 1985 they seemed resigned to doing 40-11 in one go which invariably took forever and so had a couple of goes at speeding it up, but never had the idea of a) doing it over a video without voiceover, ie 1991-1997, or just going back to the 1980 model which whilst no quicker was at least a bit less of a slog.
They drop 40-11 entirely for a bit prior to year zero don’t they?
They drop 40-11 entirely for a bit prior to year zero don’t they?
:-(
A former member
The member requested removal of this post
Last edited by A former member on 26 March 2021 9:20pm
RW
It's strange that they go back to a normal countdown for first new-look TOTP at the start of April, and then reverting to running the charts with a video for a couple of weeks. It's a slight improvement on the current method, where the video shrinks down to reveal a background that looks roughly drawn with crayons, and the graphics stay at the bottom of the screen, but the voiceover still clashes with the music.
Anyway, I'm here plugging my new history of TOTP's graphics and presentation: https://www.desandmick.co.uk/television/totp/1964-1981/ which mainly uses screenshots from the BBC Four repeats so it starts to fizzle out a bit after 1986!
Hi Robert, liked having a dig around your link there. Checked out your YT stuff and saw the Top 40 Countdown for 5th April 1984 that you did as a 7 year old. You placed the No's 2 and 3 in the wrong place and wondered if it was your mistake at the time or if they were announced like that on the day. Well at that time I'd just started compiling the full chart each week into a standard red exercise book from school, the top twenty on the front side and the lower half on the reverse side of the same page. I wrote the positions into it on 3rd April and Shaky was definitely announced as No2, where I wrote him, with Bananarama at No3. Bananarama never got above No3 ever. That is incredibly cute and I cannot believe you haven't even hit 200 views yet. At first I actually thought it was an adult who had been tweaked into sounding like a child by modern tech.
The very week you did this was the week I got my first ever Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles and started paying detailed attention to chart archives as well as current ones of the time. But I was twice your age at the time, 14. Your countdown was impressive for a mere 7 year old.
Thank you for the comments, the recording is indeed totally genuine, only the graphics were newly made last year to go with it!
I was particularly into the charts at that time, and from late 83 to late 84 made my own Top of the Pops charts book using sheets of A4 paper stuck together with sellotape, and scribbled down the charts each week during the rundown. I was a bit annoyed about having to change the page layout when the TOTP countdown expanded from a Top 30 to a Top 40 at the start of 1984! I wish I still had that book, but it must have been thrown out years ago. Luckily I still have the cassette tape.
I had wondered for a long time where I got the real Top 20 from that week, until I remembered about the Top 20 countdown on Wednesday mornings on Breakfast Time. I would sometimes get ahead by filling in the Top 20 then, whilst eating my breakfast at the same time, so it's entirely likely that I will sometimes have made mistakes writing them down!
I'm getting very self-indulgent, so I will stop now!
Robert Williams
Founding member
That awful "chart over a video" thing we're seeing on the BBC4 episodes right now really doesn't work. The idea they had when they revisited it in the 90s worked much better, with it across the bottom of the screen with no voiceover. Having it scrolling the entire height of the screen with the presenter talking over the video was just an irritant.
It's strange that they go back to a normal countdown for first new-look TOTP at the start of April, and then reverting to running the charts with a video for a couple of weeks. It's a slight improvement on the current method, where the video shrinks down to reveal a background that looks roughly drawn with crayons, and the graphics stay at the bottom of the screen, but the voiceover still clashes with the music.
Anyway, I'm here plugging my new history of TOTP's graphics and presentation: https://www.desandmick.co.uk/television/totp/1964-1981/ which mainly uses screenshots from the BBC Four repeats so it starts to fizzle out a bit after 1986!
Hi Robert, liked having a dig around your link there. Checked out your YT stuff and saw the Top 40 Countdown for 5th April 1984 that you did as a 7 year old. You placed the No's 2 and 3 in the wrong place and wondered if it was your mistake at the time or if they were announced like that on the day. Well at that time I'd just started compiling the full chart each week into a standard red exercise book from school, the top twenty on the front side and the lower half on the reverse side of the same page. I wrote the positions into it on 3rd April and Shaky was definitely announced as No2, where I wrote him, with Bananarama at No3. Bananarama never got above No3 ever. That is incredibly cute and I cannot believe you haven't even hit 200 views yet. At first I actually thought it was an adult who had been tweaked into sounding like a child by modern tech.
The very week you did this was the week I got my first ever Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles and started paying detailed attention to chart archives as well as current ones of the time. But I was twice your age at the time, 14. Your countdown was impressive for a mere 7 year old.
Thank you for the comments, the recording is indeed totally genuine, only the graphics were newly made last year to go with it!
I was particularly into the charts at that time, and from late 83 to late 84 made my own Top of the Pops charts book using sheets of A4 paper stuck together with sellotape, and scribbled down the charts each week during the rundown. I was a bit annoyed about having to change the page layout when the TOTP countdown expanded from a Top 30 to a Top 40 at the start of 1984! I wish I still had that book, but it must have been thrown out years ago. Luckily I still have the cassette tape.
I had wondered for a long time where I got the real Top 20 from that week, until I remembered about the Top 20 countdown on Wednesday mornings on Breakfast Time. I would sometimes get ahead by filling in the Top 20 then, whilst eating my breakfast at the same time, so it's entirely likely that I will sometimes have made mistakes writing them down!
I'm getting very self-indulgent, so I will stop now!
:-(
A former member
The member requested removal of this post
Last edited by A former member on 26 March 2021 9:19pm
LL
That was at the start of the “Year Zero” relaunch. Prior to it, they were running 40-2 across the bottom of the screen of the first video.
They drop 40-11 entirely for a bit prior to year zero don’t they?
That was at the start of the “Year Zero” relaunch. Prior to it, they were running 40-2 across the bottom of the screen of the first video.