12 Iconic Top of the Pops Performances That Reshaped British Music

In January 1964, the BBC saw that for the first time ever the national singles chart was overflowing with British acts. Due to this, they created a weekly music chart rundown programme called Top Of The Pops. From then on, every Thursday evening Britain’s youth would be delighted by the latest UK chart goings-on, while being the only place to see their favourite artists and discover exciting new ones.
The presenters were cheesy, or much worse, and most of the time the band had to mime, but some of these performances would embed themselves unshakably into the public consciousness, inspiring generations of bands and artists in their wake, hoping that they too could get their three-minutes of Top of The Pops glory. From Bowie to Soft Cell, The Smiths to Blur, these are 12 Iconic Top of The Pops Performances That Forever Altered British Music.
#topofthepops #britishmusic #musicdocumentary
Fact-checking by Chad Van Wagner.
00:00 Introduction
00:52 Desmond Dekker: Introducing Reggae
02:54 David Bowie: "...And I Picked On You"
06:35 The Jam: Punk On The BBC
09:38 Blondie: A Counterpoint
11:03 Gary Numan: The Cyborg Takeover
13:29 Soft Cell: "Once I Ran To You"
15:43 Shalamar: The Backslide
17:38 The Smiths: Flower to The People
21:29 Farley "Jackmaster" Funk: Enter House Music
23:52 Happy Mondays & The Stone Roses
26:40 Blur & Oasis: The Battle of Britpop
30:04 Spice Girls: The Reign of Girl Power
Bibliography
Top of the Pops: Mishaps, Miming and Music by Ian Gittins, 2007, BBC Books
Top of the Pops 50th Anniversary: 50 Years On by Patrick Humphries & Steve Blacknell, 2014, McNidder & Grace
Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s by Lori Majewski & Jonathan Bernstein, 2014, Harry N. Abrams
Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics by Dylan Jones, 2020, Faber
Mozipedia: The Encyclopedia of Morrissey and The Smiths by Simon Goddard, 2010, Ebury Press
The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock by John Harris, 2004, Harper Perennial
Top of the Pops The True Story - The Final Chapter (2006) dir. Elliott Johnson & Jeff Simpson
Reggae Britannia (2011) dir. Jeremy Marre
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1977 (2012) dir. David Vincent
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1979 (2014) dir. Matt O'Casey
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1981 (2016) dir. Matt O'Casey
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1982 (2016) dir. Matt O'Casey
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1986 (2018) dir. Verity Newman
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1995 (2022) dir. Verity Newman
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1996 (2022) dir. Becci Dyson
"The 100 greatest BBC music performances - ranked!" by Guardian Music, The Guardian, Oct 2022
"The Final Countdown: Top of the Pops" by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, Sep 2006
"Top Of The Pops: Down The Pan?" by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, Nov 1991
"RIP Top Of The Pops, 1964-2006" by Mark Pringle, Rock's Backpages, Jun 2006
"Top of the Pops a decade on: 10 stunning moments from the legendary pop show" by Fraser McAlpine, BBC, Aug 2016
"How Top of the Pops Made a Nation Fall in Love With Music" by Jamie Andrew, Den of Geek, March 2023
"The BBC’s New Music Show Could Learn From These Iconic Top Of The Pops Moments" by Kim Hillyard, NME, November 2015
"'You woke up on a Thursday and it smelled like a Top of the Pops day'" by Dave Simpson & Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, Jul 2006
"David Bowie: The Making of 'Starman'" by Rob Hughes, Uncut Magazine, Jun 2009
"David Bowie and the most influential three minutes and 55 seconds of UK TV ever" by Ian Fortnam, Classic Rock, Jul 2022
"How performing Starman on Top of the Pops sent Bowie into the stratosphere" by David Hepworth, Jan 2016
"David Bowie on ‘Top of the Pops’ 50 years on: How a pointed finger changed the world" by Tom Taylor, Far Out Magazine, Jul 2022
"Desmond Dekker and The Aces - Israelites (1969)" by Rob Barker, Every UK Number 1, Aug 2019
"Desmond Dekker - Obituary" by Pierre Perrone, The Independent, May 2006
"Reggae pioneer: Desmond Dekker" by Garry Steckles, Caribbean Beat, Sep/Oct 2006
"MIXMAG IS 40: AN INTERVIEW WITH OUR FIRST EVER COVER STAR, SHALAMAR" by Craig Seymour, Mixmag, March 2023
"Shalamar" by Peter Silverton, Smash Hits, Dec 1982
"The Smiths make their Top of the Pops debut" by Johnny Marr, The Guardian, Jun 2011
"Burning Down the House: Chicago's Club Scene" by Barry Walters, Spin Magazine, Nov 1986
"A Potted History of Dance Music on British Television: Disco Ducks and Acid Explosions" by Josh Baines, Noisey, Sep 2015
"Mancunian candidates" by Nick Kent, The Face, Jan 1990
Soundtrack
Luar - Balance ( / luarbeats )
Jesse Gallagher - The Golden Present
Luar - Citrine ( / luarbeats )
Luar - Anchor ( / luarbeats )
You can also follow me here:
Twitter: / trashtheory
Facebook: / trashtheoryyt
Instagram: / theorytrash
Or support me on Patreon:
/ trashtheory

[@TrashTheory]

Every now and then I get people asking for a playlist of every song mentioned in my videos: Well here's a Spotify link for this one: open.spotify.com/playlist/0RZODeEHlAfLb4dO88B174?si=ad0ea6e2a4ce40fa KZbin Music Link: music.kzbin.info/aero/PLooaZ33lSalc0-rFNGxSMkp1L8nyhegn9&si=jEYmyd17-SBDLvVG

[@amitraam1270]

Love the format, informative with just the short clips to remind my ear what is referenced. Reminds me of the "dancing in the street" documentary series, down to the narration tone.

[@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095]

07:45 The Jam were MODS, you berk! {:o:O:}

[@MarcoNegrisEye]

@@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095 they were but a lot of their music lended itself more to punk in their early days then more new wave later.

[@warmgreytenpercent]

Nice one thanks

[@punter1]

Thanks for this clip, can you please do more of your work more often ? seems like forever in between prolly cuz we luv your work 💯💯💯

[@TwoLeftThumbs]

Adam and the Ants- Stand and Deliver. I was 11 and I went into school the next day and painted a white stripe across my face in Art class. Then, so did 4 other kids. The teacher didn’t know what the hell was going on but he was cool and wanted to. That was my first experience of feeling part of the beginning of something. It was great.

[@lemsip207]

I first heard of Adam and the Ants in graffiti on the back of a seat on the bus I was on in London one evening in late 1978. I laughed as I had recently had a dream about a more senior colleague at work, called Nigel, getting annoyed with me by squirting liquid chloroform at me and then chasing me all over town with a tea towel full of ants. So I named the nightmare Nigel and the Ants and then a few weeks later saw that graffiti. Incidentally, Malcolm McLaren later managed them and formed Bow Wow Wow from half the band. One member later joined Republica.

[@howardosborne6295]

🎉£~£eei😢😮

[@markknoop777]

I was 5 and saved up my 10p a week pocket money to buy the 7". After I turned it over and listened to the b side Beat My Guest I was never the same again.

[@jonnywebster9245]

It wasn't a power cut for the Stone Roses. The studio had a decibel limiter as a union requirement for the crew, and in rehearsals they tripped it, so were warned to turn down the amps, which they happily did. As soon as they went live, they jacked up the back line so loud the limiter went red for 30 secs then automatically cut the power to the stage (which is why the presenters mic is still on and the lights didn't go off, which would have happened in a power cut). The SR threw a tantrum until the programme went to VT, and then instantly calmed down and thanked everyone for the stunt. My dad was running the sound in the studio, I remember him coming home moaning about them!

[@risteardohaodha23]

Thanks for the background info. Still a great moment of rebelliousness, no matter the circumstances.

[@jonnywebster9245]

totally @@risteardohaodha23

[@AutPen38]

Ian Brown has been throwing tantrums ever since. He needs limiting.

[@loontil]

luckily tho it was a top tune despite the erm, decibel limiter (shop talk)

[@PhillipWalklett-ek1ch]

Intrestin!!!!

[@dmytro-in-other-side]

David Bowie on Top of the Pops - one of the most significant moments in popular culture at all. Literally blew up the minds of a generation, having a gigantic creative force.

[@tttremendousss9789]

I’m so glad this is in there, you don’t have to be from that generation to visibly see what was happening. Bowie impacted the world, in more ways than music

[@lewilewis3944]

Ashes to Ashes was a stand out #1@@tttremendousss9789 and yet only played as a video on TOTP. MTV before its time. Even my dad liked it and he was very much Pink Floyd.

[@SteRDLK]

It didn't literally blow up any minds though did it

[@chriswalford9228]

The beginning of men's hair fashion in proper salons not just short back and sides. Went from barbers to hair styling over night .

[@thevoid99]

the moment he pointed to the TV camera.... every young kid in britain lost it. many musicians and artists were born. kids realized it was ok to be flamboyant. it was ok to wear glitter. it was ok to like the same sex. yet, the parents were in shock when they saw this.

[@macfilms9904]

You really make some of the absolute top-tier music content on KZbin.

[@MrMmnngghh]

Seconded

[@eadweard.]

Very much so.

[@irighterotica]

Absolutely.

[@warmgreytenpercent]

Trash Theory rulllesssss

[@josephyn89]

they're beautiful video essays about music and I (just) can't enough of them

[@jezoye]

I know you've covered it before, but Kate Bush's debut with Wuthering Heights was jaw dropping for me as a kid. And I guess my personal highlight would be as a 15 year old goth-curious, seeing The Sisters do TOTP 3 times in a year with This Corrosion, Dominion and Lucretia. Absolutely glorious!

[@SpeccyMan]

Kate was so extraordinary to the hormonally-ridden youth of 16 that I was back in early 1978. So amazing and so different. And she carried on doing things her way. I admire her immensely for that fact alone.

[@rarerecordcollector9459]

I know someone who remembers watching Wuthering Heights on TOTP. They'd never heard anything like it before, so her and her mother just laughed hysterically at the TV!

[@thomaschapple4749]

I first saw her perform it on Saturday Night Telky on the Mike Yarwood show.. you have to know everyone in the UK watched BBC1 on Saturday Night from Generation Game to Match of the Day so it was a huge audience

[@torbjrnlund903]

I was also thinking about Kate Bush, her performance was extraordinary, cool and hot at the same time.

[@micktubenow]

For me David Bowie, Kate Bush and Tubeway army ( Gary Numan) had the biggest impact on me . Are friends electric really changed everything for me .

[@onlyme219]

Wow, Bauhaus, Banshees, Bunnymen, Buzzcocks, Jam, I could go on. Whoever put this together, kudos

[@MrYorkiepudd]

i remember seeing Bela lugosi's dead and being blown away ... i was about 9 or 10 and already sneaking listens to john peel in bed on school nights lol

[@johngayer7136]

Thank you again for supplementing my music education. The British music canon is not readily available here in the states. This is another well researched, organized, edited, segmented and presented video. The connections between earlier and later artists are well explained. Childhood amazement turns to true respect when the younger artists emulate their idols. Well told.

[@johnmarris2965]

I just shed about 40 years and I'm back in front of the TV watching TOTP and hoping my dad won't walk into the living room and ask me what this music is all about and why I like it. Glorious nostalgia and awkwardness.

[@jrd33]

I still remember my father's reaction to Boy George on Top of the Pops. Never had the generation gap seemed so wide.

[@AutPen38]

Dad would always look up from his paper and pay attention to TOTP when Legs and Co. came on, though. The programme had something for everyone in the family.

[@JamesSmith-zk8gl]

@@AutPen38and mine lol

[@worshipthenephilim]

Excellent video and a really superb choice of performances - many of which I remember! I would add either/both Kate Bush's first performance of 'Wuthering Heights' and Siouxsie and the Banshees' 'Hong Kong Garden' in 1978 as watershed moments when female musicianship and autonomy in their images and performance began to come of age. I've heard many musicians (male and female) reference these as early influences.

[@VS-ke1qp]

Iron Maiden doing Running Free while actually playing live has gotta be number one for me, it's legendary

[@aurinrakkun8589]

Yes!!! No idea why it’s not here, it was way more impactful than Manic Street Preachers. It brought the New Wave of British Heavy Metal out of the pubs and workingmen’s clubs and onto the TVs of millions of people, even in Europe, and influenced bands like Helloween, Mercyful Fate, and Sodom.

[@teabelly1565]

Not forgetting Black Sabbath who refused to mime and insited playing live.

[@ThreadBomb]

Before Desmond Dekker's "Israelites", there was Milly Small singing "My Boy Lollipop" in 1964! That was probably the first mainstream exposure of ska in the UK. (Early ska was often in triple time, before 2/4 and 4/4 time signatures became standard.)

[@richardjones7984]

That was a great song.

[@brhbrh6326]

My Boy Lollipop was in C or 4/4 time with a swing beat. Are you perhaps meaning in Compound time, as opposed to Triple time which is 3/4, 3/2 or even 3/8?

[@DrGodinho]

i was here wondering "wait, wasn't desmond dekker a ska artist?"

[@cannotfindmyshoes3]

Yes, Ska. Not Reggae as the narrator says at the beginning. Ska came first.

[@davidspion9548]

Tubeway Army in 1979 turned the music scene on its head overnight. Are "Friends" Electric? was simply sensational and still feels shead of its time today. Numan also had a superb look and concept to go with it. The full package. His emergence also opened the door for other brilliant bands such as the original versions of Ultravox and Human League , as well as OMD to finally gain the recognition they deserved but had not got up to that point. The floodgates also opened for many other new and exciting synth based bands and solo artists. Tubeway Army/Numan were pivotal in '79 and changed the landscape dramatically.

[@greendragonreprised6885]

I bought the picture disk single of Are 'Friends' Electric?' about 3 weeks before it went to number one. Still have it. Also caught Gary Numan live in 79 when OMD were the support band and was in the gig so early I caught the end of their sound check. Those were the days.

[@tonywright8294]

Shite

[@davidspion9548]

@@tonywright8294 Fantastic insight there. Well done. 🙄

[@humanfromearth9671]

Skunk Anansie and Bjork doing Army of Me on TOTP was one of the best things I ever heard

[@Xceloverdose]

I lived as a kid in the 🇬🇧 from '84 to '92. TOTP was so influential in my upbringing and that of several generations of youths. We were so lucky to live such great years of music!

[@jeortiz-luis4288]

so you lived backwards then, matey?

[@suzannegabriel9389]

I envy you so much it hurts!

[@Stephen-lx9nm]

​@@jeortiz-luis4288dago😂

[@TheAwkwardSituation]

Babe, new Trash Theory dropped. Wake up the entire neighborhood.

[@fexcab]

💯

[@briansteidl2016]

Hell yeah! I am a Jeepster for Trash Theory

[@josephyn89]

Been in such a vortex of existential dress that I forgot to watch it 😅

[@sandgrownun66]

It's actually "neighbourhood", for those who can spell long words.

[@jamesburgess2k]

The thing I love so much about music (Rock in particular), is how everything, no matter how independent or small it may seem at the moment, can be largely influential to an entire generation... which can again influence another generation. Artists sharing their art with the world and in return, are acknowledged by the people they've influenced, even 20 years after their "prime" in the spotlight. Continuously building upon of ideas laid out by people who just wanted to share their creations with the world. Even with the commercialization of Alternative musical genres growing with each decade, authenticity ALWAYS seemed to break through above everything else. Music is always evolving because PEOPLE evolve; not manufactured radio hits.

[@kevinn1158]

I grew up in the 70s and 80s.... what a dynamic time. Love Bowie, Clash, Pistols, Specials, the Police, Beat, Jam, Marley, B52s, Spandau Ballet, UB40, OMD..Gary Numan... they were all over the place in a good way.

[@lemsip207]

An old episode of TOTP from 1977 was recently on BBC Four one Friday, and the chart run down showed Genesis, Roxy Music, and the Stranglers all in the top 30 that week. Amazing. I would buy their albums in the 70s and later saw them live. The soundtrack of my teens.

[@kevinn1158]

@@lemsip207 oh man, I would love to see Bryan Ferry. I have a 15 yr old daughter and I’m looking for good bands that are contemporary but it’s so hard now. So much crap now esp the rap. Anything but rap. Funny back when rap was in funk songs I thought hey that’s cool but now? OMG. NO And the thing is, I listen to 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s music as well. jazz, classical, opera. But no rap. Our house is a rapless zone.

[@lemsip207]

@kevinn1158 I saw him on stage twice but never met him. He always stayed in a slightly better hotel than the rest of the band.

[@cmdrblp]

My youth revisited. Thursday evenings were sacred and you typically knew / hoped who the line up would be each week based Sunday’s Radio One Top 40 broadcast. For me this is the best video this channel has ever produced because it celebrates my eclectic and broad tastes when it comes to music. And like the commentary mentioned, TOTP probably influenced me to become a musician. Performances that stick in my memory include: Cameo / Word Up (and that red codpiece), Pet Shop Boys / West End Girls, Gary Numan / Cars, and the travesty that was All About Eve / Martha’s Harbour. After watching this I’m going to spend the day creating play lists and sharing this video with friends ❤

[@petemc5070]

In the early 70s I'll never forget the uproar when some quiet 14 year old turned up at the grammar school where I was a first year with a Ziggy hairstyle. He was given a hideous verbal tirade from the prefects and he was sent home. He never came back. Back then in a miserable provincial town like ours it seemed unthinkable to be different. I was confused but impressed and shocked to see him get such a level of abuse. I hope he did okay in life.

[@ariescustom]

An iconic show in it's heyday, turned me onto many acts and new styles. It was sad to see it's decline, and the decline of pop music in genral, but nothing good lasts forever.

[@Poohze01]

I'm old enough to remember (and forget) music back to the '60s, and I love being reminded about great music that's fallen out of my brain over the years; your videos are excellent!

[@user-il6de1co8p]

This is the best in the series so far - I grew up in this era watching TOTP - and it is hard to understate how influential it was. A great video telling a great story.

[@rogergibson8925]

A superb, accurate and hugely intelligent overview of TOTP, which I never missed throughout my teenage years and beyond. I still remember some early 70’s performances, but the one really special for me at the time and that I’ve never forgotten was Are Friends Electric, which I immediately recognised as sub-Bowie fabulousness. Terrific stuff, superb video.

[@sean6387]

In an alternative video, Trash theory shows TOTP performances by Joe Dolce, St. Winifred's School Choir, et al. The wonderful thing about TOTP was its jumping from cool to cringe. And which was which was always debated long and hard in our house.

[@porkpiepilgrim5302]

I was 13 in 1980 and the ‘Bowie’ moment for me and most people my age was Adam And The Ants first time on TV doing Dog Eat Dog, the rest is history

[@IdahoJudd]

What an awesome vid. As a US viewer, I've had little exposure to TOTPs, and this was such a great overview of the influence it's had over music everywhere. You make such amazing videos -- please keep them coming!

[@drdavid1963]

Great video. As someone who grow up on TOTP (I vaguely remember as a toddler seeing The Beatles perform Hey Jude in 1968), I was really sad to see it go. Not for nostalgia's sake but because music simply doesn't as mean as much anymore. TOTP provided a focus and an influence for generations as you pointed out and without it, youth aren't given the aspiration as we were. Of course, they have other interests but Tiktok content has a short life, we are still talking about TOTP, watching the videos, years later. Music helped forge a significant youth culture and powerfully brought each generation together, focussed on style and fashion to celebrate youth identity and share a common memory.

[@AutPen38]

Pop music became my religion in about 1978 (when I was seven) and for about 25 years TOTP was my church. If I missed an episode, I was excommunicated for a week. As far as I'm concerned, Britain's terminal decline can be dated to the moment that TOTP was moved from its Thursday slot to Friday, before being cancelled altogether. Life has been getting worse ever since and I wish to complain to the manager. I love this video.

[@pete246785]

Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights, I was only 10 but can still remember the performance as being something very special!

[@howkel]

Excellent episode. Your American viewers are probably unaware of how important this show was. I spent a year in the UK in the early 90s and we watched regularly. You might consider doing an episode on the comparable importance of the musical guests on Saturday Night Live for American music lovers. It's where I first saw Bowie, The Clash, and Elvis Costello and so many more.

[@georgeerhard1949]

I don't think we had a venue for music like Top Of The Pops. Yes, there was SNL and the comedy shows, and Kasey Casem would do a countdown every week, but until MTV went live, we didn't really have much.

[@howkel]

@@georgeerhard1949 we had Soul Train, American Bandstand and SNL. Other than SNL they played it safe. When I was a kid in the 70s I discovered Devo, Elvis Costello, Bowie (see the one with Klaus Nomi to get an idea how mind blowing that was for a 10 year old boy in rural Texas), The Clash, The Specials and Fear via SNL, all playing live. Early SNL was the place for me getting new music.

[@bellestarr9976]

The Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack (U.S.) was a great show for music on Friday evenings. That was the first time I saw Roxy Music.

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

​@@bellestarr9976 Yes we loved the Midnight Special because they played live! Also Don Kirshner's Rock Concert was great too. Their list of performances was like a who's who of rock royalty!

[@StuartWoodwardJP]

I watched Top of the Pops from 1972 (5 years old) to 1985 (18 years old) - this is the history of my childhood. I remember seeing many of these performances. You absolutely could not miss it as, pre VHS/Betamax, there was no way to see many of these performances if you missed them. It was only when KZbin came out I saw many of these half remembered legendary performances for a second time. I’m seeing 1988~ and on for the first time now.

[@fastyaveit]

Paul Weller said in an interview that The Jam were never punks, they were mods

[@hogwashmcturnip8930]

The Stranglers weren't Punk either, nor many other bands that got thrown onto the bandwagon by their record companies. In the same way that Sweet and Slade and a few others were never Glam Interesting fact. Our local club was a bit of a legend. We had every band on the way up. Dire Straits, U2, The Sex Pistols, the Clash,, to name but a few. We never got Queen, because Freddie wanted £25 more than the usual fee, so our erstwhile club owner told him 'on yer bike' He turned down Blondie too, for some reason 'Well, they wor gooin' anywheere was they?' About both! Then laugh his head off. The Stranglers were the only band where they had to give the members their money back, they were that bad! I wasn't there that night, more's the pity. That would have been fun.

[@RandallSlick]

I'll never forget Bombalurina performing their seminal cover of Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini in 1990. It distilled so much of what TOTP truly was into three minutes of pure purgatory. For all the greats moments in that long-lost programme, there was so very, very much more dross that age and rose-tinted specs have caused to fade into the distance. Forgiveness is the blessing of the senile.

[@AurumEtAes]

Oh god I always found novelty acts like Bombalurina toe curling

[@rudycramer225]

Excellent Video! I'm an Austrlian and we didn't have Top of the Pops, but heard about it. Well done!

[@Qlyphy]

Great subject, really dives into the heart of UK music. I would love one of these on the Old Grey Whistle test, very much the opposite of TOTP but I hope just as well loved by those that watched it. There are some amazing clips about.... Meatloaf doing Paradise by the Dashboard light is tremendous - plus many handfuls of other huge artists quite often near the start of their journey in the UK 🙂

[@Gr8Layks]

My all-time favorite performance of Billy Joel was his appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Always loved the image of the “Star Man” kicking.

[@moreheff]

That is a really good shout!!

[@duvelization]

There is actually a DVD set of OGWT available - some terrific stuff (with many videos ripped to youtube, I guess). Completely different vibe, but totally worth the time too.

[@PanglossDr]

I loved OGWT, I often didn't like what I heard much but I did often enough to come back.

[@cloudsinvenice]

There's a story about the Police doing Can't Stand Losing You on that show - Sting managed to spray hairspray into his eyes backstage, so borrowed Stewart Copeland's aviators to cover his eyes. They were too big for him, so onstage he kept having to jerk his head back to stop them falling down his nose, and supposedly this attempt to overcome a wardrobe malfunction read to the audience as "attitude". From such accidents are legends made...

[@JamesStoddah]

That was an excellent take on the programme and evolution of Pop Music. Well done.

[@warmgreytenpercent]

One of my favorite vids so far. TT is great with single band deep dives but also these sprawling investigations, so many great genres and artists. 10/10

[@IlBiggo]

We didn't get TOTP in Switzerland, but I had a subscription to NME in the '80s. So I knew about most of the groups without ever hearing any of their songs (apart for the really big international hits). The first time I visited London (1984?) I came back with a half ton of vinyls and spent the next few months glued to my headphones.

[@StarSiren81]

Thank you so much for this superb video! I totally agree with your top. As an honourable mention, I'd add the Boomtown Rats' appearance on Top of the Pop in 1978 with Rat Trap. It really is an iconic moment and still hilarious to see Bob Geldof pretending to blow into a golden candelabra!

[@surreygoldprospector576]

Yes I was thinking of that one too. They ripped up a picture of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John who had spent all summer at number one with their song from Grease. That was considered shocking behaviour at the time!!

[@jxy566]

Another wonderful vid on one of my absolute favourite KZbin channels. Truly iconic moments chosen on one of my favourite music programmes ever (born 1976 in UK). These aren't iconic but just gonna share 3 of my fav moments from the 90s that are worth seeking out 1. Jarvis Cocker performing the song he penned "Walk Like a Panther" as Tony Christie couldn't make the appearance. An absolute joyful Jarvis performance. 2. Eels performing Novacaine on tiny toy instruments seriously. Some sort of protest against miming I assume and wonderfully bonkers 3. Beck doing Loser backed by very old men pretending to play musical instruments looking bewildered. Beck does a breakdance in the musical break. Introduced me to the skewed genius of Beck. A lifetime love. Keep up the great work!

[@tonybalinski2398]

My earliest memories of totp: David Bowie’s Laughing Gnome (a little film), Suzy Quatro, T-Rex… then Glam Rock in asll its sequined glory - which you show here. Highlights? Wuthering Heights and Bohemian Rhapsody, Police (Message in a Bottle), Gary Numan/Tubeway Army’s Are Friends Electric, Gabriel’s Sledgehammer stand out. And of course I was in love with Debbie Harry.

[@SpeccyMan]

I was in love with Noosha Fox myself. 😁

[@Jayfive276]

23:12 - this bassline kicking in on TOTP was the precise moment when the 10 year old me went "Oh cool, the music I like has been invented, that's good".

[@worshipthenephilim]

Perfect description, except for me it was seeing Tubeway Army in 1979 and having the exact same reaction!

[@katze7]

I had a similar reaction to this song when I was 12, but I was in America. We had nothing like Top of the Pops. But somehow this song snuck through onto the radio. I loved it, turned it up every time it came on. It was so fresh and different from everything else I’d heard. Then it was gone and it was a few years before I heard anything else again along those lines.

[@lemsip207]

Beat Dis sounds like the alarm going off again repeatedly once you went back to sleep and have to get up for school or work after a late night or a bad night's sleep. Love Can't Turn Around was the earworm in my head during the day at the Liberal Party autumn conference in 1986 and the DJ often played it at the Liberator disco I went to most nights of the conference week.

[@lemsip207]

​@@katze7But you had The Ed Sullivan Show in the 60s and 70s which I had never heard of until reading MAD magazine in London in the 80s and then the film about the Doors. VH1 showed old episodes of it in 1999.

[@marcosruiz1709]

Fun Fact: David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" album was the first studio album by a solo artist to reach 100 weeks on the UK chart.

[@williamsdad2000]

How was 'David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars' a solo artist

[@marcosruiz1709]

@@williamsdad2000 that's the title of the album, bowie was always a solo artist, the spiders are the backup band

[@gavinreid2741]

​@@williamsdad2000the album is called The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

[@onesong2001]

That's a fact but it's not fun.

[@TheWelwyn21]

Thanks for the information it was a fun fact

[@Iktekenkatjes]

Thank you for introducing me to some of the best music I have ever heard! Your videos inspired me to check out so many artists and many of them have become my favourites. Absolutely love your videos thanks so much!!

[@boaconstrictor3754]

24:30 Shocked to see the late Kirsty MacColl here. Maybe it wouldn't be bad if you dedicated a video just to her, because she was so unique.

[@seanharp2001]

Great content as usual, really enjoyed this one - bought back a lot of memories growing up in the 70's & 80's. TOTP really did have a huge impact then. I remember everyone at school talking about the Smiths after that appearance!

[@rowanyardley1781]

''the presenters were cheesy at best" is quite the statement

[@SpeccyMan]

Most were but one in particular stood out. Sadly passed away in 1995 but once seen, never forgotten. I'll leave you to figure out to whom I am referring.

[@AutPen38]

Savile et al were problematic, but my biggest peeve with late-stage TOTP were the hopeless presenters. Tony Dortie, Jakki Brambles, and Cybil Ruscoe are just some of the ones I remember. The ones I've forgotten were hopeless bordering on tragic.

[@donutsgoboom2735]

On Thursday night, me and my sisters would push the sofa back to make a dance floor - we'd dance to whatever TOTP offered us - what an eclectic musical education.

[@AliceHatter]

Thank you for highlighting what a HUGE influence Marc Bolan and T Rex were as many people aren't aware!

[@maketelma]

I do appreciate what you do on this channel. I always share with my friends and know that these videos will be well regarded pieces from history in 50 years.

[@davidtollefson8411]

Thank you for this insightful material and awesome footage. What a great channel. As a serious British music fan in the 80’s/90’s I knew how important this program was. Haven’t seen most of these clips until now.

[@haret0n]

your analysis, edit, voice... the whole thing is consistently on point. brilliant videos. thank you.

[@1980alsful]

Brilliant video, the bit about Johnny Marr and the first line of this charming man having a morphic resonance gave me goose bumps ❤

[@neorich59]

Such great memories, especially Sweet singing "Blockbuster." I would've mentioned "Killer Queen" and All About Eve, "Martha's Harbour," where the lead singer couldn't hear the backing track to mime to, so just sat there, throughout the entire song! If I recall, they did it live, the following week!

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

As an American fan of the Sweet I absolutely love all the TOTP videos of them- Little Willy, Wig Wam Bam, Blitz, Fox, Action, etc. Love them all! RIP Mick, Brian, and Steve! 💔❤️‍🔥

[@brewerkitty]

Fabulous video! The vast importance of Top of the Pops on decades of excellent music cannot be understated!!

[@totalpartykill999]

dude you just took me through 3/4 of my mp3 collection in one video

[@peterbondmusic]

I lived in Cambridge in 1978-79 and at age 11 Top of the Pops was the thing I looked forward to the most every Thursday, watching with my older sister. There were incredible bands and performances (lip synced and all) on that show and seeing clips from that time brings it all back.

[@robbie4406]

My first memory of ToTP was Fire performed by the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, totally mesmerised.

[@limitededition1053]

I'm so pleased you included the moment where David Bowie looks at the camera and points to everyone at home, I remember it well and thinking at the time, he's talking to me and i'd never seen anything like that before, I was drawn in.

[@AutPen38]

Hugely influential on Jarvis Cocker, among others. He realised that you don't have to choreograph a dance routine, or look like a fashion model. On TV, you just have to look at the camera and do weird pointy things with your hands.

[@KarmasAbutch]

The fact that The Exploited were on TOTP 😂 yes that didn’t change music history but it was definitely * a moment * … where lots of cups of tea stopped in mid air haha 🎉

[@marcosruiz1709]

It's incredible how the UK has the best music ever

[@iamdisgusted]

I'm American and I've been saying and thinking that for years now. Everyone always fights me on it. But I stand on it. The UK got the juice.

[@paulhalfpenny1139]

Black America wins hands down. We in Britain are second. @@iamdisgusted

[@Bruce-1956]

Not true. Beach Boys, Hendrix, CSN&Y, etc., etc.

[@deatona]

Great video. Like a cup of tea for the soul. Brought back some great memories. Thank you. X.

[@fayesouthall6604]

Great way to describe this

[@Eric_Hunt194]

You've already covered it in another video, but the Manics doing 'Faster' in balaclavas is one that always stands out in my mind. Oh, and Iron Maiden doing their version 'Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter' was sure to cause pearls to be clutched across the country! In fact there's an idea for a video- songs that got to number one the week after Christmas, that wouldn’t have a chance any other week.

[@rockstar6790]

It's so cool to see James Dean Bradfield, wearing a balaclava during the performance.

[@ethanprince356]

@@rockstar6790 What happened to that Manics video? It got removed for some reason...

[@MarcoNegrisEye]

Yes! A second supporter for the Manics 'Faster' performance 😂

[@MrMmnngghh]

I remember being excited for the appearance of Cameo, busting out their cold funk classic 'Word Up". During their performance, I was rather perplexed / amused by the camera operator's decision to shoot from the perspective of two young ladies at the front, who may have been there to see Sinitta or somesuch, being confronted literally face height by Larry Blackmon's gyrating, John - Paul Gaultier designed, shiny red codpiece.

[@AutPen38]

That was one of the many TOTP performances that would have the whole family shouting in unison "What is he wearing?" The show turned music into a visual medium.

[@declanmorrison]

"Virginia Plain" by Roxy Music on TOTP is a classic for me.

[@Alan_Mac]

That Bowie transformation, looking back, was simply incredible.

[@thesausagecontinuim1971]

as a brit born in 71 i grew up watching top of the pops, it was a weekly "everybody round the telly" moment, happy happy days!!!

[@jamesgrover2005]

Nice topic, thanks for your hard work :)

[@goldiefish72]

I think the low point for TOTP was the awful experience of All About Eve, standing around confused on stage while the track they were supposed to mime to (Martha's Harbour) played in the background, but none of them could hear it. They were invited back the following week and insisted on playing it live. It exposed the myth of performance forever. Before, the viewers could pretend the band sung live, after that, everyone knew they were miming, and in the wake of Milli Vanilli, it didn't sit well.

[@clairenoon4070]

Can't agree. Nobody minded that it wasn't 'live', that wasn't the point of TOTP. It was essentially a weekly chart run-down. It was like the chart on Radio 1, but on TV. Just as no-one expected acts to come in and perform live on the radio chart run-down, so they didn't on TOTP. We wanted to hear what the records we were thinking of buying sounded like. There were plenty of other music shows where acts performed live. TOTP experimented on and off with requiring acts to perform live, and it was disastrous.

[@thebyronicmann8292]

The 70’s and 80’s remain un championed. Great video, well researched, written and produced

[@kinolibby6580]

Since the toddler was born watching TOTP re-runs on BBC Four on a Friday night is the closest thing to a date night me and my partner get.

[@OutOfAmmoOutOfTime]

Great video! A quick shoutout to Countdown which had the same impact in Australia and featured bands which would go one to take on the world: INXS, Men at Work, Kylie Minogue and The Go Betweens and…..er….Joe Dolce to name just a few. All presided over by Mollie Meldrum who is synonymous with the show…..

[@myflatlineconstruct]

Very thought provoking vid. Thanks. As im American, just turning over in my memories of what bands crossed over from our landscapes.

[@kiereluurs1243]

English please.

[@davehandelman2832]

I never knew about TotP until watching your channel. It must have been awesome back in the day....

[@Bruce-1956]

It was usually pretty terrible.

[@trevorjones8969]

Great work. Love this! I guess we've all got our own. My vote for what I'd have discussed would have been a cheat though, 'cos it was a video - that is The Prodigy and 'Firestarter' as the epitome of commercial rave and the last truly great punk performance/record there was.

[@jchow5966]

Soft Cell - Tained Love was just EPIC when it came out!!!

[@ocelotsly5521]

One of your best videos. Great research, well articulated. Nice work, comrade.

[@squareinsquare2078]

This channel is absolutely great.

[@Me-gy7yk]

I still remember Gary Numan's first appearance. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, was talking about him at school the next day. Same when Iron Maiden played live on TotP, which bands never did at that time (there may have been one or two in the decades before but it was sufficiently rare enough to be the only topic next day at school).

[@AutPen38]

A year or two later, the same thing happened with Boy George. But not only were playgrounds full of 11-year-olds saying "Was that a man or woman on TOTP last night?" it was all over the tabloids. Gary Numan was never anywhere near as famous as Boy George became after he was on the show.

[@craigcottrell1172]

Think I saw him on Swap Shop first, was a massive game-changer

[@AdamCarnell]

No mention of Noel miming Liam's vocal while Liam strums away on the guitar?

[@caesarorzell600]

Fantastic video! I love Top of the Pops so it was great to see you talking about it again!

[@wphmusic]

This was such a beautiful trip down memory lane. Thank you

[@michaelmouse4024]

The Who doing 5.15 & smashing up their gear, The Rolling Stones doing Brown Sugar and Led Zeppelin not going on ever but having the theme tune Whole Lotta Love

[@mimimustrule]

Wow, that Lemonheads impression WAS spot on

[@amandarodrigues-ct7fo]

This was a FANTASTIC show - THANK YOU for compiling a terrific group of performances. I like so many LIVED for Thursday nights, awesome trip down memory lane - really well put together! Congrats!

[@Tetsuito]

Bela Lugosi's Dead is iconic.

[@KarenLevermore]

I would have to have added the Orb playing chess and Skunk Anansie singing with Bjork. Another great show ! Thank you !

[@Peter-gu9ph]

Awesome video - clearly a LOT of thought has gone into this! Thank you!

[@bosshogg8273]

Great vid. As a late stage Gen Xer I can verify that TOTP was vital from as long ago as I can recall...

[@llokkee]

Had the pleasure of sharing a stage with Desmond Dekker for his entire set in Dublin in 1990. He was playing with Laurel Aitken at a crackin place that has since been demolished (The New Inn Gig ) As soon as DD came on I jumped on stage and started dancing alongside him, eventually singing into the mic with him. For some reason I was the only person allowed to stay on stage while everyone else was being chucked off by the bouncers, there I was 'the token skinhead' dancing and singing the chorus to 'It Mek', '007' and ofc 'Israelites' into the same mic as DD. Arms round each other having a great laugh. I'll never forget that night, it was part of my 15th birthday party Someone somewhere has footage of that gig, would love to get me hands on it 🙂

[@jujutrini8412]

Oh wow, what a wonderful memory to have! I know people who have run shows and gigs he has done and they all say he was a lovely down to earth bloke so I am actually not surprised he let an enthusiastic fifteen year old join him. ✌️

[@kidbonesonline]

The best thing about Trash Theory is that with every new video, I always find new songs and bands to listen to.

[@SteRDLK]

Yes! I open up at least 10 new tabs every episode frantically searching the songs so I don't forget them by the end

[@seankelly7211]

This was great to see! So much good music during this era, but I was hoping to see Joe Jackson, Howard Jones, The Eurythmics, or The Thompson Twins on this list

[@HXXIIA]

So good, I learned a lot about bands I already knew a good amount about. Great video!

[@DukesMusic84]

This is fantastic. In my opinion you can't beat Nirvana tryna sound like Joy Division. That was incredible

[@babymilksnatcher]

No one seems to agree on who Kurt was trying to imitate. He said himself that he tried to sound like Morrisey, but most people believe he was challenging Ian Curtis or Dave Gahan instead.

[@jeffreyhanc1711]

I thought he was going for Morrisey. In any event, Nirvana self-sabotaging their Top-of-the-pops moment was as iconic a punk move as ever.

[@georgeneedham3970]

I would have included Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood where he rips a copy of The S*n in half and spends the entire song walking through the crowd while wearing the whitest tuxedo you’ve ever seen in your life

[@9walkerma]

Thanks for a great selection (though, like others, I might have added "Wuthering Heights"). My best friend's Dad used to sit and suffer through TOTP every Thursday when we were teenagers in the 70s, complaining about the outrageous costumes and grumbling how it wasn't proper music. Then my friend went off to college - and his Dad continued to watch every week, still complaining ...!

[@defsnotdevyn]

Great video made me excited to rewatch some top of the pops classics

[@mattmiller4821]

Motorhead I would think is a pretty influential appearance

[@usandusonly32]

Good video. One correction is that Paul Ryder wasn't the Happy Mondays guitarist, he was the bass player and driving force of the band. Mark Day is the guitarist