The BBC has announced that it is to bring back a weekly music show nearly a decade after it ditched Top of The Pops.
Top of The Pops was the BBC’s flagship music show for over four decades with a round-up of the weekly music charts, it could dictate the pop charts and an appearance on the show would sell lots of records. Near the end they completely lost direction of the show by having specials dedicated to boring stadium acts like U2 instead of counting down the charts and introducing viewers to songs they may never have heard before. Since it’s demise the UK charts has become a sea of bad major label pop and talent show contestants.
Watching your favourite band brush shoulders with the mainstream popstars of the day was often many people’s window to another world in the pre-internet days.
Throughout the 90s many Creation bands appeared on Top of The Pops, even your Mum got a brief glimpse of Super Furry Animals whilst waiting for the latest episode of Eastenders, so here we have the highlights of bands on the show.
Super Furry Animals
It doesn’t get better than this, Super Furry Animals brought a ray of sunshine to the show whenever they appeared, here they are performing ‘Northern Lites’ from the Guerilla album in 1999.
Primal Scream
Primal Scream made numerous appearances on the show between ‘Loaded’ in 1990 and ‘Country Girl’ in 2006. This shows them in a laid back mood playing ‘Star’ from the ‘Vanishing Point’ album.
Ride
The first top 10 single on Creation sees Ride make their second visit to the Top of The pops studio. This was filmed the week Creation owned the pop charts.
The Jesus & Mary Chain
It may have been nearly three years after their move from Creation to major label Blanco Y Negro, but they were the first band from the Creation roster to appear on the TV show in April 1987.
The House of Love
Another band that had moved to a major label before hitting the charts and sadly Terry Bickers had also just left the band, but it was the reissue of their Creation debut in early 1990 that gave them their only appearance on the show.
The Boo Radleys
1995 was the year The Boo Radleys were regularly on the show mainly for ‘Wake Up Boo!’. Here’s them performing ‘It’s Lulu’ the third single from the album ‘Wake Up!’
Saint Etienne
Taken from ‘Good Humor’ the bands only album on Creation released in 1998. Saint Etienne had so many appearances on the show throughout the decade I’m sure even they can’t remember them all!
Teenage Fanclub
If my memory serves me correctly this was Teenage Fanclub’s only appearance on the show in June 1997. The first single from their ‘Songs from Northern Britain’ album gave the band a top 20 single reaching number 17.
Oasis
The first of so many appearances on the show, recorded in June 1994 when Oasis made the top 20 for the first time with ‘Shakermaker’. Oasis are another band who remained regulars on the show until its demise.
3 Colours Rad
Filmed in Creation’s final year, 3 Colours Red reached number 11 in January 1999 with ‘Beautiful Day’ taken from their second album ‘Revolt’.