"Everybody's on Top Of The Pops" - The Rezillos, on Top Of The Pops.

As I suspected he would, Diamond Geezer has also written about the demise of TOTP today. He has lots of interesting links too.

What's your favourite TOTP memory? Despite all the cliched clips that we see over and over again on other shows (like Noddy Holder screaming 'IT'S CHRIIIIIIIIISTMAS!', John Peel playing the mandolin for Rod Stewart, Pan's People wagging their fingers at dogs for Gilbert O'Sullivan's 'Get Down' and Dexy's Midnight Runners performing with a picture of Jocky (not Jackie) Wilson behind them), there is one memory of TOTP which stands out above any other for me, because it was such a shock.

Cast your minds back to 1984, the year that my life changed in so many ways. I turned 18, passed my driving test, took my 'A' Levels and left school. My parents split up, we moved house in July, and in September I went to university.

It was also a classic year for pop music, with more million sellers than any other year, and the year that Band Aid broke all sales records that Christmas. The first chart of January had seen 'Relax' by new group Frankie Goes To Hollywood clamber inconspicuously into the Top 40 at number 35, having wandered around the bottom of the Top 75 since the previous November. It then appeared on Top Of The Pops, as the highest new entry that week. (I meant to put this fact in the first draft of this piece, so Diamond Geezer has rightly pointed it out in the comments.)

Then, on his Radio 1 breakfast show chart recap, Mike Read caused all sorts of controversy as I heard him declare the record 'disgusting' and refuse to play it. There is no such thing as bad publicity, and 'Relax' then vaulted from 35 to 6 the next week, and was number one a fortnight after that. It stayed at the top for five weeks. That was five weeks of unprecedented embarrassment for the BBC as, for five weeks, Top Of The Pops didn't end with the number one single, because they refused to show it. The embarrassment lingered on, as 'Relax' stayed in the Top 40 continuously until September, dipping as low as 31 in May, then rising again as its follow-up 'Two Tribes' entered at number one. For two weeks in July 1984, Frankie were at number 1 with 'Two Tribes' and at number 2 with 'Relax'. Despite being the event of the year, you couldn't see 'Relax' on the telly at all.

So, Christmas Day 1984. The appearance of our Christmas dinner had unfortunately coincided with the start of TOTP on the TV, much to my disgust. The compromise situation was that the TV was on in the lounge as we ate our dinner in the kitchen and I strained to hear what was on. (We didn't have a video; there was no way I'd ever be able to see this again.) Then, out of the blue, I heard the unmistakable sound of Holly Johnson's voice, wailing 'Give it to me one time, nooooooooow...' and I nearly choked on my dinner. I dropped my cutlery, shouted, "They're on" and ran into the lounge. The BBC had relented! The song that was too 'disgusting' to be on the Beeb all year was on, on Christmas Day! Oh, the irony. It was a classic TV moment and I lapped up every second of it.

Which TOTP appearances stick in your mind the most?


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