From The Who’s V-signs to bad miming: the most notorious Top of the Pops performances of all time
Sixty years since it first aired in early 1964 until its controversial cancellation in 2006, Top of the Pops (TOTP) played host to hundreds of titans of music. Most performances went off without a hitch, thrilling audiences and boosting record sales. But gathering a bunch of rock bands every week was always a potential recipe for disaster, and the show was frequently plagued by bizarre antics, technical glitches and battles between producers and artists over the relative merits of miming.
Generally, such incidents were welcomed. “I kind of liked having bands who gave the show an edge sometimes,” says Ric Blaxill, a senior executive at Bauer Media who produced TOTP for the BBC from 1994-1997. “I wanted a bit of rebellion and thinking outside the world of pop.”
Blaxill got what he asked for soon after taking the reins when, 30 years ago this month, a bold choice of headwear by the Manic Street Preachers prompted a record 25,000 complaints to the BBC.
The Who, 1973
Producers called in the big guns to celebrate the show’s 500th episode in October 1973, with acts including Bryan Ferry, Cliff Richard, David Cassidy and – for a fee of ￡100 – The Who, who were anxious to promote 5:15, a new single from their Quadrophenia album.
But their appearance would be marred by a fraught debate about the show’s use of miming. In an effort to reduce the risks of dud performances, producers were generally keen for acts to mime on stage while recordings of their songs played out. But in 1966, the Musicians’ Union had insisted that any miming acts would have to make a new recording specifically for that broadcast.
The Who’s Pete Townshend hated the ruling, but rules are rules, and The Who duly re-recorded 5:15 the day before taping TOTP. A young Noel Edmonds then introduced their mimed performance, which went smoothly until Townshend began smashing up the band’s instruments, and flicking V-signs at producers while members of The Who’s entourage randomly threw wigs on stage.
The V-signs were cut from the broadcast but the mayhem got the band banned. Many years later, on Later… With Jools Holland, in 2007, Townshend struggled to remember why they had been banned at all.
“I think... I don’t know… Keith Moon was trying to knock [TOTP host] Tony Blackburn’s wig off with his drumsticks, or something,” he said.
Dexys Midnight Runners, 1982
One of the biggest cockups in TOTP history quickly became BBC legend but wasn’t quite as simple as it first seemed.
In 1982, Dexys Midnight Runners, of Come on Eileen fame, were on the show to perform their cover of the Van Morrison song Jackie Wilson Said, a tribute to Wilson, the pioneering American soul singer. But as the camera pointing at Dexys frontman Kevin Rowland zoomed out, the giant screen behind him revealed the grinning, gap-toothed visage of Jocky Wilson, who was then a very famous darts champion from Kirkcaldy – and definitely not a man known for rhythm or blues.
“Bloody Top of the Pops. How could they mix up one of the great soul singers with a Scottish darts player?” the Radio 1 DJ Mike Read said the next morning, as fingers pointed to some clueless junior producer.
The cockup narrative persisted for years, even after Rowland revealed in an interview in 2002 that the whole thing had been a surreal gag. “For a laugh, we told the producer to put a picture of Jocky Wilson up behind us,” he recalled. “He said, ‘But Kevin, people will think we made a mistake.’ I told him only an idiot would think that.”
All About Eve, 1988
Singer Julianne Regan and her band’s big break came when they were invited to perform Martha’s Harbour (which turned out to be their biggest hit) on TOTP.
But the TV audience then watched a disaster unfold live because of a technical glitch. The band had been due to mime over the pre-recorded track but Regan’s earpiece was mute, leaving her sitting in awkward motionlessness while Martha’s Harbour played out in millions of homes. Producers were mortified but Regan had the last laugh; she accepted the offer of a spot the following week and her live, glitch-free performance triggered a new sales spike.
The miming issue came and went, depending on the whims of producers as much as the union, as well as the varied vocal talents of the acts. “I actually had a very open mind about miming and if a band wanted to sing live, I had no problem with that,” Blaxill says. “But I was also mindful that if you had a group doing an energetic dance routine, for example, it might be difficult for them to sing properly.”
Nirvana, 1991
Miming tensions burst onto stage yet again in 1991 when Kurt Cobain was reportedly stunned to learn that grunge giants Nirvana would be expected to go through the motions while performing to a pre-recorded version of Smells Like Teen Spirit, which had just hit the charts at No 9.
Eventually the band and producers reached a compromise: he could sing live but the band would have to mime. Still seething, and channelling an on-brand rebel spirit, Cobain decided to drop several octaves, singing a baritone version of the song he later explained was inspired by Morrissey. Strumming robotically at his guitar with a flat hand, convincing no one that he was really playing it, he at one point appeared to swallow his microphone.
Meanwhile, as the track neared its end, the band went nuts, smashing up the instruments viewers were supposed to believe they were playing. The song, with original vocals intact, jumped two places up the charts the following week.
Manic Street Preachers, 1994
Perhaps TOTP producers should have expected trouble. The Manics were at their nihilistic best in 1994 in the run-up to the release of their third album, The Holy Bible, which took on themes such as genocide, suicide and the glorification of serial killers (Q magazine described its tone as “by turns bleak, angry and resigned”).
The Welsh rockers were also falling apart; lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards suffered from severe depression and had self-harmed. In 1991, he had required 18 stitches after carving the words “4 Real” into his arm when asked about authenticity during an interview with NME.
But it was frontman James Dean Bradfield who caused a stir in June 1994, when the band appeared on TOTP to perform Faster, arguably the album’s standout track. Not that Blaxill predicted anything would go awry. “I remember chatting with them in the dressing room and James had this balaclava, which had been knitted for him by his nan or aunty or something,” he says. “And he said, ‘Do you mind if I wear this as a laugh to show her that I’m wearing it?’ I said yeah, sounds like a hoot!’”
When Bradfield paired the balaclava with what looked like the result of a raid on an army surplus store, many viewers interpreted the look as a show of support for the IRA. The BBC reportedly received a record 25,000 complaints.
Eels, 1997
The award for the best send-up of TOTP’s frequently grating miming policies goes to Eels. The LA band jetted to London in 1997 to perform their breakthrough hit Novocaine for the Soul. With a straight face throughout, the band pretended to play their song on tiny toy instruments.
Ramping up the comic absurdity of it all in the final seconds, the band smash their miniature guitars and drum kit before performing a deep bow in unison to a cheering crowd. “That was a fantastic song and if that was how they wanted to represent it on the show, I was happy with that,” Blaxill says.
