Pick of the Pops
Encyclopedia
Pick of the Pops is a BBC Radio
programme, originally based on the Top 20 UK singles chart
and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme
in 1955. It transferred to BBC Radio 1
(but simulcast
on BBC Radio 2
) from 1967. Its last edition in its original format was on 24 September 1972.
(1955), Alan Dell
(1956 and 1957–58), David Jacobs
(Sept 1956 – Sept 57, March 1958–61 and Sept–Dec 1962), Don Moss (Sept–Dec 1963) and Alan Freeman
(Sept 1961 – Sept 1962, Jan 1963 – Sept 1963 and Jan 1964 – Sept 1972). Though it did not feature the charts until Sept 1957 with Alan Dell, from then he played the top tens from various music papers plus entries to top 20s, this was around 11 pm on Sundays.
David Jacobs brought the first averaged BBC Top 20 to the helm on 29 March 1958 (on a Saturday). Alan Freeman took over in Sept 1961, but finally took the show to a regular Sunday slot at 4 pm on 7 Jan 1962. The show moved to 4.30 pm on 27 Aug 1967, the chart increased to a top 30 then. When Radio One began, the show then moved to the 5–7 pm slot on 1 Oct 1967, until its demise on the 24 Sept 1972.
Freeman, who presented the longest and whose name is probably most closely associated with the programme, had been a radio announcer in Melbourne
, Australia
. Freeman arrived in Britain in 1957 and joined the Light Programme in 1961 to present Records Around Five. That same year he replaced David Jacobs for Pick of the Pops, which was then part of a Saturday-evening programme called Trad Tavern, after traditional jazz which had a following at the time. Pick of the Pops became a separate programme in January 1962, broadcast late on Sunday afternoons. It was produced by Derek Chinnery.
Denys Jones (producer 1961–72) and Freeman split the programme into four: chart newcomers, new releases, LPs and the Top 10.
The programme attracted a huge audience as there was little other pop music on BBC
radio at that time. The BBC had to pay "needle time" to artists, but felt it inappropriate to use its radio licence revenue for copyright fees, when it had its own orchestras and singers available. That worked in the 1940s and '50s for orchestral music and crooners, but was difficult with up and coming artists such as Elvis, Little Richard and Tommy Steele.
Freeman continued with the show when Radio 1 replaced the Light Programme and stayed until the programme ended in September 1972.
, from 1982 to the end of 1988 as Pick of the Pops - Take Two, combining the new chart (for much of the time a London-only Top 15) with a chart from the past. In 1989, Freeman returned to Radio 1 on Sunday lunchtimes, where the show featured three past charts each week, and was produced by Phil Swern
from 1989–91 and Roger Pusey (who had been Jimmy Savile's final producer on Radio One from 1986–87) in 1992. Freeman's final programme, at the end of 1992, stated that he would never present it again, and signed off with the Beatles' "The End".
The slot was superseded by a similar retro show for the first nine months of 1993 under the title Ones On 1FM, presented by Man Ezeke, with number ones from all types of music charts in the UK and other countries. From April 1994 to January 1997 Freeman revived the show once more on Capital Gold
as Pick Of The Pops - Take Three, featuring two vintage top 12s, and the "Battle Of The Giants", and on other occasions featuring three vintage top 10s, two vintage top 20s and a rock request, along with competitions on Saturday mornings.
Pick of the Pops returned to the BBC as an independent production by Unique Broadcasting
(who also produced independent radio's Pepsi Chart) on BBC Radio 2 in April 1997, with Freeman now counting down two archive charts each week, interspersing trivia about the records, as researched by the producer, Phil Swern
.
.
The regular weekly edition ended on 28 August 2004, but over the following year bank holiday
specials were broadcast.
Pick of the Pops then returned on a weekly basis in September 2005, on Sunday afternoons 15.30–17.00 with Winton at the helm and one archive chart a week. It moved to 15.00–16.30 from 28 January 2007, extended to 14.30–16.30 from 25 February. Since 7 October 2007 the show has reverted to featuring two archive charts, spanning the period 1958 to 1995 and usually featuring a couple of tracks from outside the Top 20 before focusing on the chart. On 13 March 2009, the BBC announced that Pick of the Pops would move to a Saturday slot from 13.00 to 15.00 on 4 April 2009.
Winton left Pick of The Pops on Saturday 30 October 2010 due to other work, and he counted down the charts from 1959 and 1983 with classics from Culture Club
, Fats Domino
, The Cult
, Adam Ant
and Dickie Valentine
. The show's new presenter is Tony Blackburn
.
, Kool and The Gang, The Jam
, Charlie Daniels Band, Status Quo, Paul Jones
, The Rolling Stones
, Suzi Quatro
and Cliff Richard
The show continues to be produced by Phil Swern, Blackburn's long-standing friend. Although Pick Of The Pops was pre-recorded during the Winton era, the show has mostly been broadcast live since 29 January 2011, allowing Blackburn to interact with his listeners. Pre-recordings are now only used when Blackburn is on holiday, a departure from other Radio 2 shows where stand-in presenters are employed.
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
programme, originally based on the Top 20 UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme
BBC Light Programme
The Light Programme was a BBC radio station which broadcast mainstream light entertainment and music from 1945 until 1967, when it was rebranded as BBC Radio 2...
in 1955. It transferred to BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
(but simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
) from 1967. Its last edition in its original format was on 24 September 1972.
History of original programme
Original presenters included Franklin EngelmannFranklin Engelmann
Franklin Engelmann was a radio personality popular in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, nicknamed "Jingle". He was best known for hosting Down Your Way , Gardeners' Question Time and the quiz show What Do You Know?, which later became Brain of Britain. In 1955 he was also the original host of Pick...
(1955), Alan Dell
Alan Dell
Alan Dell, born Alan Creighton Mandell , was a BBC radio broadcaster, associated with dance band music of the 1920s, 30s and early 40s.- Formative years :...
(1956 and 1957–58), David Jacobs
David Jacobs (disc jockey)
David Lewis Jacobs CBE is a British actor and broadcaster who gained prominence as presenter of the peak-time BBC Television show Juke Box Jury and the BBC Radio 4 political forum, Any Questions?-Early career:...
(Sept 1956 – Sept 57, March 1958–61 and Sept–Dec 1962), Don Moss (Sept–Dec 1963) and Alan Freeman
Alan Freeman
Alan Leslie "Fluff" Freeman, MBE was a British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years.-Career:...
(Sept 1961 – Sept 1962, Jan 1963 – Sept 1963 and Jan 1964 – Sept 1972). Though it did not feature the charts until Sept 1957 with Alan Dell, from then he played the top tens from various music papers plus entries to top 20s, this was around 11 pm on Sundays.
David Jacobs brought the first averaged BBC Top 20 to the helm on 29 March 1958 (on a Saturday). Alan Freeman took over in Sept 1961, but finally took the show to a regular Sunday slot at 4 pm on 7 Jan 1962. The show moved to 4.30 pm on 27 Aug 1967, the chart increased to a top 30 then. When Radio One began, the show then moved to the 5–7 pm slot on 1 Oct 1967, until its demise on the 24 Sept 1972.
Freeman, who presented the longest and whose name is probably most closely associated with the programme, had been a radio announcer in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Freeman arrived in Britain in 1957 and joined the Light Programme in 1961 to present Records Around Five. That same year he replaced David Jacobs for Pick of the Pops, which was then part of a Saturday-evening programme called Trad Tavern, after traditional jazz which had a following at the time. Pick of the Pops became a separate programme in January 1962, broadcast late on Sunday afternoons. It was produced by Derek Chinnery.
Denys Jones (producer 1961–72) and Freeman split the programme into four: chart newcomers, new releases, LPs and the Top 10.
The programme attracted a huge audience as there was little other pop music on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio at that time. The BBC had to pay "needle time" to artists, but felt it inappropriate to use its radio licence revenue for copyright fees, when it had its own orchestras and singers available. That worked in the 1940s and '50s for orchestral music and crooners, but was difficult with up and coming artists such as Elvis, Little Richard and Tommy Steele.
Freeman continued with the show when Radio 1 replaced the Light Programme and stayed until the programme ended in September 1972.
Revivals
Freeman revived Pick of the Pops on the local London station, Capital RadioCapital Radio
Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
, from 1982 to the end of 1988 as Pick of the Pops - Take Two, combining the new chart (for much of the time a London-only Top 15) with a chart from the past. In 1989, Freeman returned to Radio 1 on Sunday lunchtimes, where the show featured three past charts each week, and was produced by Phil Swern
Phil Swern
Phil Swern is an English radio producer and music collector. He was formerly a record producer and songwriter, plus he has also written for television. He currently produces Pick of the Pops and Sounds of the 60s and formerly produced the Bob Harris Show for BBC Radio 2...
from 1989–91 and Roger Pusey (who had been Jimmy Savile's final producer on Radio One from 1986–87) in 1992. Freeman's final programme, at the end of 1992, stated that he would never present it again, and signed off with the Beatles' "The End".
The slot was superseded by a similar retro show for the first nine months of 1993 under the title Ones On 1FM, presented by Man Ezeke, with number ones from all types of music charts in the UK and other countries. From April 1994 to January 1997 Freeman revived the show once more on Capital Gold
Capital Gold
Gold is a network of oldies radio stations which was formed by the merger of the Capital Gold network and the Classic Gold Network in August 2007...
as Pick Of The Pops - Take Three, featuring two vintage top 12s, and the "Battle Of The Giants", and on other occasions featuring three vintage top 10s, two vintage top 20s and a rock request, along with competitions on Saturday mornings.
Pick of the Pops returned to the BBC as an independent production by Unique Broadcasting
UBC Media Group
UBC Media Group is an independent supplier of services to the radio industry. It provides content to BBC and commercial stations, as well as private clients...
(who also produced independent radio's Pepsi Chart) on BBC Radio 2 in April 1997, with Freeman now counting down two archive charts each week, interspersing trivia about the records, as researched by the producer, Phil Swern
Phil Swern
Phil Swern is an English radio producer and music collector. He was formerly a record producer and songwriter, plus he has also written for television. He currently produces Pick of the Pops and Sounds of the 60s and formerly produced the Bob Harris Show for BBC Radio 2...
.
Dale Winton era 2000–2010
In 2000 Freeman retired due to health concerns, and the show was taken over by Dale WintonDale Winton
Dale Winton is an English radio DJ and television presenter.-Early life:Winton's father, Gary, was "domineering" and died when Winton was 13. Winton was brought up by his mother, actress Sheree Winton...
.
The regular weekly edition ended on 28 August 2004, but over the following year bank holiday
Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
specials were broadcast.
Pick of the Pops then returned on a weekly basis in September 2005, on Sunday afternoons 15.30–17.00 with Winton at the helm and one archive chart a week. It moved to 15.00–16.30 from 28 January 2007, extended to 14.30–16.30 from 25 February. Since 7 October 2007 the show has reverted to featuring two archive charts, spanning the period 1958 to 1995 and usually featuring a couple of tracks from outside the Top 20 before focusing on the chart. On 13 March 2009, the BBC announced that Pick of the Pops would move to a Saturday slot from 13.00 to 15.00 on 4 April 2009.
Winton left Pick of The Pops on Saturday 30 October 2010 due to other work, and he counted down the charts from 1959 and 1983 with classics from Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
, Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, The Cult
The Cult
The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...
, Adam Ant
Adam Ant
Adam Ant is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...
and Dickie Valentine
Dickie Valentine
Dickie Valentine was an English pop singer in the 1950s.-Early life:Valentine was born Richard Maxwell , though Valentine was known as Richard Bryce as his mother later married Bryce and gave her young son the same name. He was born in Marylebone, London...
. The show's new presenter is Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....
.
Tony Blackburn era from 2010
On 24 September 2010, it was announced Tony Blackburn would take over Pick of The Pops from Winton who had presented the show since Alan Freeman's retirement in 2000. Blackburn counted down the charts from 1966 and 1979 for his first show with hits from The WhoThe Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Kool and The Gang, The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
, Charlie Daniels Band, Status Quo, Paul Jones
Paul Jones (singer)
Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.-Career:As P. P...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Suzi Quatro
Suzi Quatro
Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...
and Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
The show continues to be produced by Phil Swern, Blackburn's long-standing friend. Although Pick Of The Pops was pre-recorded during the Winton era, the show has mostly been broadcast live since 29 January 2011, allowing Blackburn to interact with his listeners. Pre-recordings are now only used when Blackburn is on holiday, a departure from other Radio 2 shows where stand-in presenters are employed.
Theme music
The theme tune (1961–1966) was "At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbal" written and performed by Brian Fahey and his Orchestra. It was later replaced (1966–1970) with "Quite Beside The Point" by The Harry Roberts Sound. Since April 1970 the show has used a new version of "At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbal" by Brass Incorporated.External links
- Pick of the Pops at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...