Product Description

"It's still Number One, it's Top of the Pops!" On New Year's Day, 1964, the first ever Top of the Pops was broadcast live from Manchester on BBC1 - 38 years later, it is celebrating its 2000th edition. This is the true story behind the stars, the fans and the changing faces of the UK's favourite music show. For nearly four decades, the greatest stars in music have been queuing up to appear on Top of the Pops - from the youthful Rolling Stones, through the outrageous antics of The Who, and sexy divas like Madonna, Janet Jackson and Britney, the show has seen it all. This book opens the lid on the controversy that surrounded Top of the Pops from the very beginning, featuring hundreds of quotes from musicians and programme-makers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #762349 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

Yes, it's still Number One...but hardly anything new!
The news of a behind the scenes book based on the world's longest-running music show is bound to get most fans of TOTP - like myself - excited,until you actually obtain a copy of it.

Loosely based on the New Year's Day 2001 documentary of the same name (with up to date additions),the book tells us all that we did (or did'nt) know about the 'Pops and more.There's also interviews with top stars like Noddy Holder,Suggs and Noel Gallagher amongst others;and contributions from ex-producers and directors like Michael Hurll and Robin Nash, record pluggers Tony Bramwell and Eric 'Monster Monster' Hall and former presenters of the show.We also find out that one of the reasons Pans People replacements Ruby Flipper were dropped was because of the black male dancer included in the troupe that sent Disgusted of Bognor Regis reaching for the phone!

While some of the info is hardly accurate (too much to go into) it still offers some surprise bits ,like the fact that a certain Craig Fairbrass (played Dirty Dan Sullivan in EastEnders) was a cheerleader on the show in the early 80's - the show's 'party atmosphere' heyday.
The best thing about the book though, has to be the photo gallery.Nearly all the shots are unpublished so you get to see stuff like The Monkees & Tina Turner as they appeared on shows that no longer exist in the BBC archive,photos taken during rehearsals, and stuff you thought you'll never see - like Janet Jackson posing with Kylie or The Coors posing in the EastEnders laundrette.
Overall, despite a few errors this is still a book worth having if you're a music fan.Still Number One...but nothing new!