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| From | "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Goodbye Top Of The Pops |
| Date | Wed, 21 Jun 2006 00:40:02 -0400 |
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FROM MSN.COM
The British Broadcasting Corp. has announced it will cancel the long-running
pop music program Top of the Pops.
CBC Arts
The show began in 1964 with a broadcast that featured The Beatles and The
Rolling Stones.
It will end July 30 after riveting two generations of music fans and helping
the careers of hundreds of pop groups.
"The time has come to bring the show to its natural conclusion," said the
BBC's director of television Jana Bennett.
In a statement released Tuesday, the BBC said "ever-increasing competition"
from multimedia outlets makes it impossible for the show to continue in its
current weekly form.
At its peak in the 1970s, Top of the Pops had a weekly audience of 15
million viewers, but viewing figures fell below three million two years ago.
In 2005, the show was moved from its weekday slot on BBC1 to Sunday night on
BBC2, but failed to improve its ratings.
Increased use of iPods, the rise of 24-hour music TV channels and the
splintering of music markets into different genres has diminished interest
in the show.
Only six episodes of Top of the Pops were commissioned in 1964, but the show
proved so popular it became a Thursday night fixture on British TV. The
2,000th show ran in 2002.
Over the years, the program went through many makeovers, but always featured
a countdown of the top 10 pop songs, culminating in the announcement of the
No. 1 single of the week.
The current edition features Canadian singer Nelly Furtado at No. 1 with her
hit, Maneater.
Before music videos, dancers would perform as background while the hit
singles played. Many artists played their hits live. A hosting gig on Top of
the Pops was often a ticket to celebrity status.
Top of the Pops featured most of music's biggest names from Jimi Hendrix in
the 1960s, The Jackson Five and David Bowie in the 1970s, Madonna and Kate
Bush in the 1980s to Oasis and Britney Spears in the 1990s.
The mix of live TV and rock stars sometimes provided unwelcome surprises. In
1991, Nirvana's lead singer Kurt Cobain sang "load up on drugs, kill your
friends" during a live performance of Smells Like Teen Spirit.
TOTP2, a spinoff show, will continue to be seen irregularly on BBC.
Earlier this year, a U.S. music producer said he was planning to launch a
version of Top of the Pops, based on the Billboard Top 20, in the U.S.
Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
"Not Infecting Our Customers' Computers Since 1985!!"
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
http://www.bullseyerecords.com
Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/
http://www.myspace.com/jaimievernonsmovingtargetz
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