Music Programmes on TV

A Brief(ish) History

The Background

The existence of youth culture, forging new identities around music and fashion is universally accepted nowBut for Post-war teenagers, this idea was revolutionaryPre 1950’s, teenagers dressed and behaved in a similar style to their parentsChanges in the economy gave school-leavers a previously unthinkable buying power – money that was soon spent on records and clothes

The Late 1950’s

Broadcasters unsure how to approach TV exposure of rock ‘n’ roll Early attempts such as Cool For Cats (BBC, 1957-58) and Six-Five Special (ITV, 1956-61) combined performance with bantering comperes, which was not always successfulOh Boy! (ITV, 1958-59) got the balance right. Its fast pace and irreverent approach worked perfectly

Jukebox Jury (1959-67)

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/stream.jsp?id=1164317

Incredibly simple format to the show – a panel of four judges listened to that weeks chart releases, passing a judgment of hit or miss on the record

Huge lack of visual interest, as during the song the camera would pan around the audience or the panel

Appeared a a time when there was no dedicated pop music radio

Brief revivals in 1979 (Noel Edmonds) and 1989 (Jools Holland), but audiences needed performance

Ready, Steady, Go! (ITV 1963-66)

Arguably the most fashionable of the music programmes in the early 60’sTurned its presenter Cathy McGowan, into a style icon Catchphrase “the weekend starts here”Eclectic mix of acts and live showManifesto of new youth hedonism that saw the weekend as a chance to forget work and partyMore artistically influential and more visually exciting than anything before it

Top of the Pops (BBC 1964-2006)

Dominance of the show reflected the pre-eminence of the 7” singleSingle sales grew – mostly due to young people’s keenness to buy recordsSole regular spot to see chart acts perform, especially prior to MTVTo appear on TOTP, you had to have top 20 singleWhen acts couldn’t perform, there were in-house troupes to dance to the songs being played, like the Pans People, Legs and Co.http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/stream.jsp?id=1171887

Its Number 1…Its Top of the Pops

Videos then took the place of the dancers, but essentially it was a return to the live performance which made TOTP popular againhttp://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/stream.jsp?id=1171920 Hugely popular with teenagersMade stars of its hosts like Tony BlackburnChart rundown was iconichttp://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/stream.jsp?id=1171876

The Logos

The Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC 1971-87)

More adult show, complement to TOTPAlbum orientatedhttp://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/stream.jsp?id=1169447 The title derived from slang - the test of whether a song was destined to be a hit was to play it to the doormen, cruelly nicknamed the 'old greys', and see if they could whistle it after one or two listens. Key was live performances – where TOTP artists mimed, TOGWT was all about the live performance

The Tube (C4, 1982-87)

Screened in the first week channel 4 went on air.http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/stream.jsp?id=1171363 Its hosts were Jools Holland and the provocative Paula Yates. The pair's confidently irreverent approach chimed well with Channel 4's mould-breaking self-image. The series supported the rock and pop aristocracy as well as the independent music scenes Refreshing lack of musical snobbery http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/stream.jsp?id=1171349

Later with Jools Holland

Now established as the BBC's longest-running serious contemporary music programme The programme typically opens with a somewhat chaotic jam session featuring most if not all of the evening's line-up, the camera swooping from performer to performer, all of whom are arranged in various parts of the studio http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/stream.jsp?id=1177590 Each programme, typically running 45-60 minutes, features around five sets, generally representing a mix of styles and genres, solo performers and larger ensembles, established names and relative newcomers http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/stream.jsp?id=1177454 Dominated BBC2's New Year's Eve coverage since 1993 in the form of Jools' Annual Hootenanny, essentially an expanded edition of the main programme

R.I.P?

The growing popularity of the music video and a change in the broadcasting landscape helped break music TV out of its ghetto via a range of dedicated music channels, led by MTV. The Chart Show (Channel 4/ITV, 1986-98) pioneered a video-only format on network television. Now, with TOTP gone, no music programme, apart from Later… exists on terrestrial televisionMTV now only shows programmes, like Made and Cribs, rather than the music videos of old…

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