The latest episode of the podcast which asks; has Al ever been tossed off by a robot? Yes, Pop-Crazed Youngsters; after putting it off for ages, it’s finally time for another rare excursion into The Most Rubbish Century We’ve Ever Lived Through. It’s 2003, and your panel is currently 1) Doing a Sex in the Daily Mirror, 2) Baiting David Blaine with a Whopper, and 3) getting their head together in Lancaster by burying their face into a load of dogs. Top Of The Pops, on the other hand, is faring less well; we are in the Poochie Era of TOTP. Pulling down the kind of ratings that would have ill-befitted a repeat of Top Cat on a Tuesday afternoon in 1978, being absolutely kicked to buggery every Friday night by Gail Platt and Vera Duckworth, being stalked by CD:UK and Popworld, and being threatened with permanent exile to BBC3, it’s a grim, grim time for our fave weekly Pop treat.  But in this episode we finally get stuck into the tenure of Chris Cowey as Boss Of The Pops – an era which brought a shiny new studio, a spurning of videos and a modular, bolt-on, Ikea-like approach to scheduling which ensured that anyone who came remotely near the charts at the turn of the century has to pass through the TOTP studio.Musicwise, it turns out that 2003 was possibly the last golden age of Pop, but this episode is a proper Lucky Bag of Randomness. Wayne Wonder is slight, and a bit rammel. Murderdolls have decided to employ a manky potato as their lead singer, who hairballs his way through White Wedding. D-Side get ambushed by the Mrs McClusky of reality shows. Super Furry Animals are dead good. Benny Benassi pitches up with some Oven Ready Women for some Ladisfaction. And Beyoncé crushes everything we’ve seen into dust with one mighty shake of her arse and the best single of this century. And possibly the next one.    Sarah Bee and Simon Price join Al Needham for a through evisceration of 2003, veering off on such tangents as how to create half a johnny, people trying to be erotic with  lathes, the perils of running a club night in a venue owned by Sex Nazis, getting a love bite off The Strokes, James Brown’s opinions on fish supper accoutrements, Rock Star Death Fashion Shoots, and working with the Jimmy Savile Tweenie. Come for the discourse, stay for the swearing…Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Chart Music: the TOTP Podcast

Chart Music #61: July 25th 2003 – The Arsethropocene

Simon Price and Sarah Bee join Al Needham to finish off this episode of The Pops from the Poochie Era. Benny Benassi pitches up with some Oven Ready Women, The Coral are suddenly a big deal, Beyoncé reduces everything we’ve just seen into dust with one mighty shake of her arse, and D-Side flounce off. TUCK IN, Pop-Crazed Youngsters…Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#61 (Pt 4): 25.7.2003 – The Arsethropocene

Sarah Bee, Simon Price and Al Needham gasp in horror as this episode of Top Of The Pops is derailed by a massive plug for Fame Academy, and look on as poor D-Side get ambushed by a leathery headmaster. Thankfully, Super Furry Animals bring up the rear in a tribute to the Slag Brothers…Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#61 (Pt 3): 25.7.2003 – The Arsethropocene

Simon Price and Sarah Bee join Al Needham for their first tentative steps through the Poochie Era of TOTP. It’s an opportunity to put Chris Cowie’s tenure as Boss Of The Pops under the microscope – and fair play to him, the show by now is an absolute Swiss watch of precision and design. Fearne Cotton and Liz Bonnin are on hand to say things off the autocue, so what could go wrong? A very slight Wayne Wonder and a screaming potato, that’s what…     Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#61 (Pt 2): 25.7.2003 – The Arsethropocene

Sarah Bee, Simon Price and Al Needham prepare for a rare excursion into an episode of The Pops from this rubbish century, pausing along the way to discuss their time at BANG! Magazine, hosting a club night at a venue run by Sex Nazis, leafing through that week’s NME, moaning about looking like a perverted Happy Eater Man in the Daily Mirror, and the usual Pop-Crazed blather…  Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#61 (Pt 1): 25.7.2003 – The Arsethropocene

The latest episode of the podcast which asks; is the tie clip the least Rock accessory?Remember the last Xmas episode? When 1983 revealed itself to be not as catshit as we thought it was? Well, in this episode your hosts – who at the time this episode went out were staring out of the window at the glorious panorama of Barry, writing plays about Jesus getting The Chair and electing to have a Tefal Man haircut, respectively - have a tentative sniff of a regular episode from that year, and what unfolded knocked us bandy. No word of a lie, Pop-Crazed Youngsters; this is possibly, pound-for-pound, the best episode of The Pops we’ve encountered so far. If you’ve come here for the coat-downs, you’re going to be massively disappointed. Musicwise, Phwoorrrr. Simon Bates and Peter Powell are joined by the actual Kids From Fame, who have taken time out from smashing up dressing rooms and screaming at each other to stand there in the TOTP studio for some severe cross-platform brand synergisation. Dexys make their first appearance on Chart Music. Culture Club hijack a plane. Some Zoo Wankers dressed as the Bisto Kids get in the way of JoBoxers. Dee Snyder electrifies tomorrow morning’s playground and upsets your Dad. Tracie, the Everygirl of 1983, puts on her white shoes. Lots of Scottish people wear Millets shirts. And Nick Heyward remembers to mime.Simon Price and Neil Kulkarni join Al Needham around the arse of 1983 and proceed to give it a severe tonguing, breaking off to discuss such matters as record shops adopting vagrants, more details about Simon chancing across Ian Asbury getting his Wolfchild out in a Birmingham car park, the Tracey Invasion of the UK, breaking up inter-school gang wars through the power of Darnce, and an outstanding lie about sharks. And swearing!Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#60: April 7th 1983 – We Need To Talk About Kevin Rowland

Neil Kulkarni, Simon Price and Al Needham bring a nigh-perfect episode of Top Of The Pops to a close, as FR David spoils everything, Nick Heyward nervously looks out into the audience to see if anyone’s having sex at him, David Bowie brings a nuclear holocaust to Australia again, and Stuart Adamson goes; ‘SHAAAH!’ a lot. Be prepared for a full discussion of Ian Astbury getting his Wolfchild out in a Birmingham car park…Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#60 (Part 4): 7.4.1983 – We Need To Talk About Kevin Rowland

Simon Price and Neil Kulkarni  join Al Needham as banger after banger after banger rains down from the skies. JoBoxers get blocked out by Zoo. Michael Jackson stops people from hitting each other. Tracie Young performs with Rod, Jane and Freddie. And JESUS CHRIST IT’S DEE SNYDER!Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#60 (Part 3): 7.4.1983 – We Need To Talk About Kevin Rowland

Neil Kulkarni and Simon Price gleefully begin to rip into this episode of The Pops with Al Needham, pausing to gaze upon the wonder of Peter Powell’s hessian Bananarama Vest and gasp at how much money Dave Lee Travis used to earn for spending an hour in a club, before bowing to the majesty of Dexys… Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#60 (Part 2): 7.4.1983 – We Need To Talk About Kevin Rowland

Jesus and Buzz – Simon Price and Neil Kulkarni, respectively – help Al Needham lay the table for an absolute slap-up feast of Pop as we get ready to watch a glorious episode of The Pops from 1983, stopping along the way to leaf through that week’s NME and talk about wrong haircuts, juvenile delinquency in Barry, and the Action Man Massacre of 1983…Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The latest episode of the podcast which asks; The Monkees as the cast of Monkey - who's going to be Pigsy?Jabbed up and preparing to throw itself back into the world (to the extent that they might go to that gig in Cheryl Baker's back garden, depending on what the toilet facilities are like), Team ATVland reunite for a massive trawl through an episode of The Pops from the long, mediocre, pointy-headstocked, porn-frizzed, success-coated Summer of '86. The World Cup hangover is still in full effect - so much so that the menfolk of Top Of The Pops appear to be too busy frothing at the mouth over Diego Maradona to attend and have left Janice ‘All Night’ Long to mind the shop.And what an episode it is! Sure, like every episode in this era, it’s strewn with cat shit – but what interesting, marbled, and bizarrely-shaped cat shit it is. The Housemartins demonstrate that they’re not actually made of Plasticine. Gary Numan plays a gig at Stringfellows with Serving Suggestion. Saucy Soaraway Sam has a go at being a Vixtress with a former member of The Clash. Claire Usher delivers the last of the Kiddiepop bangers. Bucks Fizz invent World Music. A genuine actual brilliant single pitches up, before Wham! go Splat! with a remake of Parisienne Walkways set in Megas Wine Bar, Birmingham. And a presenter made out of fibreglass who isn’t Simon Bates pitches up.Neil Kulkarni and Taylor Parkes join Al Needham for an intensive scowl across the landscape of  the Fun Pub of 1986, veering off on such tangents as Mork’s body odour, the unbelievable grimness of British girls’ comics, being recognised in Scandinavia, the decline of Cheesy Wotsits, why Tommy Steele cried at his own party, and an intensive tutorial on the correct way to Tie Off. An obscene amount of swearing on this one, and too much appalling singing from Al: soz.Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#59: 3.7.1986 – It’s ‘Orrible Being A Slave On War Orphan Farm

Team ATVLand reach the denouement of this episode of Top Of The Pops, cheer to the rafters when an actual brilliant single from this year pops up, feels let down at the final hurrah of Wham!, and then conclude that Max Headroom was a bit of a let-down, apart from when he gets spanked with a fly swatter.Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#59 (Part 4): 3.7.1986 – It’s ‘Orrible Being A Slave On War Orphan Farm

Neil Kulkarni and Taylor Parkes join Al Needham for a proper evisceration of a mid-’86 TOTP, only to talk about what a ball-ache making covermounted videos for British grot mags was in the Nineties, how horribly grim girls comics of the Seventies were, and examine the aftermath of the Bucks Fizz coach crash…Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

#59 (Part 3): 3.7.1986 – It’s ‘Orrible Being A Slave On War Orphan Farm

The podcast that takes one random episode of Top Of The Pops - the greatest TV Pop show ever - and breaks it down to its very last compound. Created by Sarah Bee, Neil Kulkarni, Taylor Parkes, Simon Price and David Stubbs (who all wrote for Melody Maker) and hosted by Al Needham (who didn't), it's an unflinching gaze into the open wound of pop culture and a celebration of Thursday evenings past.

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Chart Music: the TOTP Podcast

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