NME letters about Top of the Pops in 1970

[williammcgregor]

Hi, I thought this might give us an insight into how NME readers thought about Top of the Pops in 1970 below are some readers thoughts as they were published Verbatim in the famous FROM YOU TO US column:

7TH FEBRUARY 1970
I would like to know the BBC's logic in showing a film of the Canned Heat on yesterday's (the 29th) Top of the Pops, when the group were actually present in the studio.
This seemed to be a tremendous waste of talent particularly as the Heat have not been seen live on British TV for over a year.PETER UNWIN, Nuneaton, Warks.

21st FEBRUARY 1970
Who do the BBC think they are kidding devising a new show but keeping the old title "Top of the Pops"? After the limited success of new experimental pop music shows such as "All Systems Freeman" and "Colour Me Pop" I suppose they thought they'd get the best of both worlds.
But the success of the old format, based on the Top Twenty, was undisputed, so why change it? WILLIAM A. MCINTYRE B.sc.,Blackpool, Lancs.

11th April 1970
Does'nt the BBC think that it's time they re-thought the format of "Top of the Pops." I've never seen anything quite so pathetic as people dancing frenziedly to "Two Little Boys" which is what happened in January.
The girl dancers are O.K. but the few men scattered around look like refugees from the local Government offices.
Why not cut out the dancing, tape-recorded screams and messy lighting effects? Give us something to listen and watch and stop insulting our intelligence.
Could'nt we have a concert-like atmosphere for the performances? If Top of the Pops was replaced by a weekly programme recorded at the Roundhouse or the Liverpool Phil.
then I think a lot of people would be happier. DAVID WHITE, Dorset.

To be continued....if enough interest?

[Deleted]

These are wonderful - please keep 'em coming!

Amused by Peter Unwin's complaint about Canned Heat. For once we can actually see the very show he's referring to and it is baffling seeing the whole band in the TOTP studio during shots of the audience dancing to that film and lurking behind Bob Hite as he presents the prizes for best dancers. It makes no sense since the film is pretty lousy with stills and stuff.

It's interesting to see negative criticism of that era since the handful of shows we have from early 1970 are regarded by many TOTP aficionados - myself included - as some of the finest shows in the entire archive, boasting a unique hip and happening feeling that isn't seen in other eras.

[williammcgregor]

you're right Phillip, I'm sure in hindsight these contributors would realise they were lucky to be around when TOTP still had bands and solo artists of great distinction on the show, and in the later stages of a golden era for music.

Also Canned Heat in the studio, but they show a film clip? it beggars belief!

I will keep them coming.

[Deleted]

I wonder if there were problems with work permits. They could be seen in the studio, they could be in the country but not actually be seen to be doing any "work".

Also, the Musicians Union ban on miming would have been an issue: if they couldn't "work" they wouldn't have been able to re-record the track viz MU rules. They might simply not have known ...

[Liam Joseph]

Many thanks for those letters William, fascinating reading and please keep them coming if you have the time. I love seeing the vintage footage of the TOTP audience grooving about in their 60s and 70s finery, but to Two Little Boys by Rolf Harris? A shame that one doesn't survive!

[williammcgregor]

May 29, 2013 10:27:14 GMT williammcgregor said:

Hi, I thought this might give us an insight into how NME readers thought about Top of the Pops in 1970 below are some readers thoughts as they were published Verbatim in the famous FROM YOU TO US column:

7TH FEBRUARY 1970
I would like to know the BBC's logic in showing a film of the Canned Heat on yesterday's (the 29th) Top of the Pops, when the group were actually present in the studio.
This seemed to be a tremendous waste of talent particularly as the Heat have not been seen live on British TV for over a year.PETER UNWIN, Nuneaton, Warks.

21st FEBRUARY 1970
Who do the BBC think they are kidding devising a new show but keeping the old title "Top of the Pops"? After the limited success of new experimental pop music shows such as "All Systems Freeman" and "Colour Me Pop" I suppose they thought they'd get the best of both worlds.
But the success of the old format, based on the Top Twenty, was undisputed, so why change it? WILLIAM A. MCINTYRE B.sc.,Blackpool, Lancs.

11th APRIL 1970
Does'nt the BBC think that it's time they re-thought the format of "Top of the Pops." I've never seen anything quite so pathetic as people dancing frenziedly to "Two Little Boys" which is what happened in January.
The girl dancers are O.K. but the few men scattered around look like refugees from the local Government offices.
Why not cut out the dancing, tape-recorded screams and messy lighting effects? Give us something to listen and watch and stop insulting our intelligence.
Could'nt we have a concert-like atmosphere for the performances? If Top of the Pops was replaced by a weekly programme recorded at the Roundhouse or the Liverpool Phil.
then I think a lot of people would be happier. DAVID WHITE, Dorset.

To be continued....if enough interest?

25th APRIL 1970
A few weeks ago I saw King Crimson's performance on "Top of the Pops." This group, which contains tremendous musical talent, was given about three minutes to display it, backed by stupid light effects and girls dancing round their feet.
This surely is not the way a group like this should be presented. Surely it's up to the television organisations to give us a programme to show off these types of artists and their music properly. A televised "John Peel" Sunday show would be a good start PETER HEPPARD, Durham.

23rd MAY 1970
Recently on "Top of the Pops," when the Moody Blues were performing their current release, the audience broke into applause in the middle, mistaking it for the end.
I was interested to hear "Question," (sic) as it was their first single for a long, long time. But it was most annoying to have a bunch of semi-naked louts clap halfway through. And this isn't the first time; other acts have suffered the same fate.
Can't the BBC appoint one fellow to give these people a cue when to applaud and put an end to this carry-on? MARK HENRY, Garron Tower, Co. Antrim.

10TH OCTOBER 1970
It's a shame that the guest appearance of artists on "Top of the Pops" for a short interview with either Jimmy Saville or Blackburn (sic) have recently become stale, unpleasant and rather embarrassing for everyone concerned.
A few weeks ago Humble Pie insulted Tony Blackburn by deliberatly ignoring him and insisting on calling the poor fellow 'Eamonn.' It's to Tony's credit that he was able to shrug it off.
Then there was the now in-famous Kris Kristofferson appearance in early September. I suppose he thought it all one big joke, sending up a technically outstanding programme that is really quite amusing anyway.
It's about time the BBC re-thought it's 'Top of the Pops' format and did away completly with the guest interview, which is exactly what it isn't.
Either that or future guests should take a lesson from Randy Newman last Thursday. He was concise, serious and polite. And I think that was something Tony Blackburn was very thankful for.
STEPHEN BARNARD, Dunstable, Beds.



That's it for 1970 ( if anybody wants me to do the same for another year then just let me know)

William

[Liam Joseph]

Cheers William, any years you have got from the 60s through to 1973 would be interesting to see. That letter from Peter Heppard has cleared up one bit of idle curiosity I've long had - the TOTP audience did actually attempt to dance to King Crimson's Cat Food. If they did the free form piano solo in the middle I think it might have been dislocated hips all round.

[Matthew Brannigan]

Many thanks again William! I think needless to say Mr Barnard was probably joking about Humble Pie and Tony Blackburn - they probably kept on saying "Hey, man!" when talking to him, rather than calling him "Eamonn"!

[robchapman]

No it was definitely Eamonn. I remember it well. In fact - synchronicity corner - i was just thinking about it recently in relation to something I'm writing about the Small Faces.

More to the point - I'm assuming the Stephen Barnard is the same man who went on to write ON THE RADIO, published in 1987.

Anyone remember John Peels first ill-fated appearance on the show where he announced Amen Corner as "the shape me bend me thing" and said rather dolefully "no Tyrannosaurus Rex or Captain Beefheart tonight I'm afraid. You'll have to wait till the weekend for those."

great NME letters by the way. Keep them coming.

[Chris Barratt]

The surviving interview with Jimmy and Bob 'The Bear' Hite is a classic - made all the more astonishing as it was filmed only a week after Blind Owl passed away, something that affected Bob a lot.

[jerryg]

This is great william ,really interesting reading on what some people thought about totp in 1970,i wonder if any of these people who wrote to critisise totp are still around today ,im pretty sure their opinions will have changed about totp now ,im sure they would say that those first 10 to 15 years of the show were no doubt the best.please william if you find any morecould you post them.

[Kev Mulrenan]

May 29, 2013 12:06:17 GMT williammcgregor said:

you're right Phillip, I'm sure in hindsight these contributors would realise they were lucky to be around when TOTP still had bands and solo artists of great distinction on the show, and in the later stages of a golden era for music.

Also Canned Heat in the studio, but they show a film clip? it beggars belief!

I will keep them coming.

Great work, William.

Yep the fact they could not perform must have been a union issue.

Even in the 76 to 78 repeats there is evidence of this viz interviews with David Soul and Chicago.

[Deleted]

Certainly sounds logical about union issues preventing Canned Heat from performing on the 29-1-70 show. A pity given it got archived since vintage Canned Heat footage from their golden era is always welcome. Thankfully we do have a great Beat Club clip of that from the same time so all is not lost.

Again, these letters give priceless pieces of info about long wiped shows. It's high time all these memories were collected together for a new book or website looking specifically at the finer details of lost editions of TOTP since there were all sorts of odd things that happened, often accidentally. Some are better known than others... the Humble Pie "Eamonn" one is totally new to me and the thought of the groovy audience frugging away to Rolf Harris is hilarious... shame we can never see that!

A classic one was mentioned in a piece on PJ Proby sometime in the 90's in one magazine where the writer recalled seeing Proby leaping through a paper hoop onto which some film was being projected on an early TOTP show... Proby himself confirmed he did do that and I've met two people who remember seeing that very moment. Odd tales and recollections like that do help to fill in some gaps which can never be filled visually.

[Alan Turrell]

Talking about Rolf Harris and "Two Little Boys" i've often wondered if there is a performence of this no 1 song that exists from any other show . Does anyone know.

[Deleted]

May 29, 2013 22:21:49 GMT Alan Turrell said:

Talking about Rolf Harris and "Two Little Boys" i've often wondered if there is a performence of this no 1 song that exists from any other show . Does anyone know.

I'm sure I've seen a short colour clip of Rolf performing this song on one of those "Top 100" type shows which looked like it could have dated from that era but it's hard to tell since looks wise, Rolf was remarkably consistent. The horn rimmed glasses look remained for all of the 70's and Rolf barely seemed to change or age... so it's possible that clip is maybe from a few years later. Very hard to tell. No matter what year of the 70's he looked the same - not even sideburns give any clues... most grew them but Rolf seemed to look the same in 1980 as he did in 1970!