Top of the Pops

The 1991 revamp was also notable for moving the Top 10 to the start of the show - well after the opening performance. I suspect this was Appel reviving the pre-1980 routine of the chart at the start of the show, without presenter voiceover, for no particular reason other than that's how it used to be (indeed it was put back at the end of the show pretty quick).

Another producer change I've noticed was in the Jan 1981 episodes recently repeated by BBC4; the brief return to the kaleidoscope end credits when Robin Nash comes back on board for a bit. It really feels like things take a step backwards after largely ending with the crowd dancing throughout the second half of 1980.

That chart rundown style didn't last very long, only a few weeks, but it spanned the change to The Wizard and it carried on for a few weeks after that. Indeed while the most obvious change in 1986 was the new theme and titles, the bigger changes to the show had already happened in March, with that weird top forty and also the introduction of the credits over a video instead of the audience dancing. I'm assuming that might have had something to do with a budget cut as certainly the show seemed a bit less of a spectacle after that.

That change to the opening titles in 1996 was very strange. I can only assume that Ric Blaxill commissioned it and started using it, but his bosses hadn't seen it and didn't like it - it didn't have the name of the show in it, just "TOTP" - and so demanded the old one back, perhaps.

That said, I never liked it when they referred to it as TOTP, because it takes no quicker to say than Top of the Pops.

Even in 1976 the kaleidoscope ending disappeared for a while and they ran the credits over the number one for a few months when Robin Nash was away and Johnnie Stewart returned (a producer who was also pushing 60 at the time! At least Nash was in his 30s)- even watching then going back to the kaleidoscope felt like a step backwards.

Interesting how little the show's look changed for years before 1981 though- the same style captions for the chart countdown and credits had been in use since 1973! And (excluding some Xmas specials) there'd been no opening titles since 1974 either (and some early 81 shows literally opened straight into the presenter linking to the first performance- they put in a spinning TOTP logo after a few weeks) The 81 revamp was much needed.

Sort of TOTP related- David Jensen announced today that he's been suffering for Parkinson's for 5 years.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/david-kid-jensen-opens-up-11862978

Interestingly though the rest of the show's graphics didn't change, even the top 10 animations based on the previous titles stayed in use (Chris Cowey got rid of them on his very first show though- and bought Mark Goodier in to announce rather than whoever was presenting that week).

Sad news about Jensen, though much of his latterday career has been a terrible waste. I was sort of inspired by the news to put some Network Chart excerpts on Mixcloud (and in fact a lengthy recording of that show from 1992 is my most-played upload on there).

At the time, related to an earlier speculation on the effects of Savilegate on TOTP had it still been going in 2012, it was often suggested that Global Radio's reformatting of Smooth - moving away from being a "Radio 1 retirement home" and dropping the more Radio 2-esque elements, which included Jensen's departure - had something to do with the general discrediting of the Radio 1 culture of that era. I never really bought that tbh - obviously that culture *had* been shown in a bad light, but Global would have wanted to move away from that style of presentation, with its echoes of the needletime days, and towards "that was, this is" anyway.

Im surprised today edition of TotP has played out Russ abbots Atmosphere, was this its only time it got played out ?

Why did ITV hate this chart show format? Ie the Roxy? Was there some distrust over this type of show? If it managed to get a network slot could it have rivailed TOTP and take its crown?

Did they hate it? They probably figured TOTP was already established enough that they'd have trouble poaching the performers from them. Then again my theory doesn't explain CD:UK... When they nabbed The Chart Show from Channel 4, at least it was a different format to TOTP.

CD:UK was 10 years after the roxy ended though! And in a different timeslot.

CD:UK had a fair few format difference to TOTP too, though TOTP tried to copy them in later years, especially once Andi Peters took over.

I can’t remember a lot about the format of The Roxy, but it was chart-orientated and I think a lot of artists were reluctant to travel up to Newcastle when they could appear on TOTP in London.

Thames moved the show to after midnight after a few months, which was seen as another nail in its coffin.

If this is any help about ITV stations:

September 87
* 18.30: Thames:, Central, Granada, TT, UTV
* 19.00: TSW
* 19.30: Anglia, Border, HTV, TVS, STV, YTV,

January 1988
* 19.00: Border, Central, Grampian, Granada, Thames, TSW, UTV, YTV.
* 19.30: Anglia, HTV, STV, TVS,