Viewers of a certain age have fond if hazy memories of Top of the Pops from the 1970s, when the likes of Dave Lee Travis and Jimmy Savile presided over a cheesy circus of big hair and bad dancing.
From next Thursday BBC4 is giving viewers the chance to compare their memories with the reality, showing vintage Top of the Pops episodes from the equivalent week, starting in April 1976, in the now defunct music chart show's old BBC1 slot, 7.30pm.
The BBC4 controller, Richard Klein, said the network planned to continue with the weekly TV nostalgia experiment for at least a year – and possibly longer – depending on its popularity.
Klein added that BBC4 had chosen April 1976 as a starting point because that was when the corporation began keeping every episode of TOTP. Before that its archive of the show, which ran between 1964 and 2006, is more patchy.
Musically, April 1976 was something of an inbetween era – after glam and before punk, with disco in full swing. According to the website everyHit.com, Brotherhood of Man's Save Your Kisses For Me was number one in early April 1976, during a six-week stay at the top of the chart.
The rest of the top 10 from early April that year consisted of Barry White (You See The Trouble With Me), John Miles (Music), Billy Ocean (Love Really Hurts Without You), Abba (Fernando), Elton John (Pinball Wizard), 10cc (I'm Mandy Fly Me), Gallagher & Lyle (I Wanna Stay With You), The Beatles (Yesterday) and Tina Charles (I Love To Love).
Save Your Kisses For Me was the top-selling single of 1976, according to everyHit, with others in the top 10 for the year including Elton John & Kiki Dee's Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Abba's Dancing Queen and Fernando, Chicago's If You Leave Me Now, Demis Roussos' The Roussos Phenomenon EP and Showaddywaddy's Under the Moon of Love.
In 1977 Wings' Mull of Kintyre was the most popular single, with other top 10 sellers including David Soul's Don't Give Up On Us and Silver Lady, Leo Sayer's When I Need You, Julie Covington's Don't Cry For Me, Argentina, Donna Summer's I Feel Love, Elvis Presley's Way Down and Brotherhood of Man's Angelo.
Punk fans will have to wait a little while to see any their heroes in action on the Top of the Pops repeats, if the BBC4 experiment lasts that long. The Sex Pistols' first appearance on the show is believed to have been in July 1977, in the promo video for Pretty Vacant, a couple of months after the BBC banned the single God Save The Queen.
"The variety is extraordinary, all types of music," said Klein. "Today singles come and go from the chart quickly. Then they continued across many weeks, bands would stay in the charts for eight or 10 weeks. You will get to watch your favourites two or three times."
The BBC commissioning editor of music and events, Jan Younghusband, added: "Top of the Pops was at its most successful as a variety show, not just as a pop show."
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook
View all comments >
comments
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion.
This discussion is closed for comments.
We’re doing some maintenance right now. You can still read comments, but please come back later to add your own.
Commenting has been disabled for this account (why?)