Chart Music #63: December 28th 1972 – Thank God For Belgian World In Action

Chart Music #63: December 28th 1972 – Thank God For Belgian World In Action

Author: Chart Music December 29, 2021 Duration: 7:17:47

The latest episode of the podcast which asks; Singleton Noakes Purvis and Judd, or Baxter Woollard and Rodd – who was the better Prog band?

Santa has come once more to Chart Music, Pop-Crazed Youngsters – but this year he’s decided not to curl one off into our stocking, and has dropped off what is indisputably the greatest episode of the Pops we’ve chanced upon thus far in our five-year odyssey, plucked from the very dawning of the Golden Age. No, it’s not a Xmas Day one – that year’s episode, featuring Jinglenonce OBE introducing Clair by Gilbert O’Sullivan, has been plunged into the memory hole – but as always it’s an opportunity for the show ponies of Our Brand New Favourite Year For Pop to have a trot-about, egged on by Tony Blackburn and his foul nemesis Edmonds.


Musicwise, GASP: a combination of old chancers and young upstarts team up to drag Pop away from the foul mung of the Sixventies, the Heads are chased off by unkempt youths in spangles, and the result is a glorious year for singles – and this episode of TOTP is a non-stop barrage of banger after banger after banger after banger. Mike Leander invents the DNA of Glam. Donny Osmond demonstrates why eleven year-old girls turn up at his hotel with sledgehammers. After some KID’S LIB INNIT, Hilda Woodward casts an eerie spell and enchants the Kids into the worst occurrence of Granny Claps ever seen on Top Of The Pops. Roberta Flack takes over on piano. THE PEOPLE’S BAND shake a silvery top hat. Benny Hill delivers last year’s Xmas #1. Chicory Tip whip the silver and gold-booted hooligans of Sheffield into a frenzy. Cherry Gillespie’s three-day ordeal in wrapping paper bondage mercifully comes to an end. Mary Whitehouse’s masturbatory nightmares are relived once more, with the assistance of Rolf Harris. Then it’s the three-punch knockout of Utah Valhalla, the Jackson 5 and the Blessed Marc before Ringo pitches up at the end. 


Neil Kulkarni and Taylor Parkes join Al Needham for a celebration of Top Of The Pops at its most godlike, gleefully veering off on such tangents as famous pianos we have played on, schoolkids in London being forced to watch The Third Ear Band, Saddam Hussein’s choice of Christmas chocolate, why Americans are so rubbish when it comes to Christmas #1’s, Levi Stubbs fails to get a good night’s sleep, and a brief chat about some film that the Beatles are in. TUCK IN, POP-CRAZED YOUNGSTERS – and treat yourself to some lovely festive swearing…   


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Chart Music: the Top Of The Pops Podcast is a deep, often hilarious dive into the archives of the iconic BBC television show. Each episode focuses on a single, random broadcast of Top of the Pops, subjecting it to a forensic and affectionate analysis that only a panel of former Melody Maker critics could provide. Hosted by Al Needham alongside creators Sarah Bee, Neil Kulkarni, Taylor Parkes, Simon Price, and David Stubbs, this podcast dissects the performances, fashion, and cultural moment of each show with a unique blend of expertise and nostalgia. Listeners will hear detailed commentary that treats pop history with both seriousness and irreverence, uncovering the stories behind the hits and the oddities that defined Thursday night viewing for generations. It’s more than a recap; it’s a critical reappraisal of a pop institution, exploring how music, television, and memory intertwine. The conversation is insightful, witty, and packed with the kind of context only insiders can offer, making each episode a time capsule opened with care and a sharp eye. For anyone fascinated by the evolution of pop culture and the specific alchemy of a weekly chart show, this podcast provides an endlessly engaging listen.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Chart Music: the Top Of The Pops Podcast
Podcast Episodes
#69 (Pt 2): 27.12.74 – The Ramadan #1 of 1974 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:34:29
David Stubbs, Taylor Parkes and Al Needham begin their odyssey into the second part of TOTP’s review of ’74, but not before another few rounds of Pantomime Horse and having to deal with the rampaging egos of Noel Edmonds…
#69 (Pt 1): 27.12.74 – The Ramadan #1 of 1974 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:09
Taylor Parkes and Rock Expert David Stubbs join Al Needham to prepare the ground for an in-depth trawl through one of those end-of-year TOTPs – and this one is a rare Friday teatime excursion through the bangers of 1974,…
#68: May 1st 1980 – The Ken Of The Eighventies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:43:13
The latest episode of the podcast which asks; have any of Chart Music ever had to deal with a Hard Lovin’ Woman?As listeners to the World’s Greatest Podcast About Middle-Aged Hacks Banging On About Old Episodes Of Top Of…
#68 (Pt 4): 1.5.80 – The Ken Of The Eighventies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:38:00
Neil Kulkarni, Simon Price and Al Needham hit the final straight on this very decent episode of The Pops. After getting our obligatory serving of the Nolans, it’s the double-Harringtoned attack of The Beat, Kate Bush pre…
#68 (Pt 3): 1.5.80 – The Ken Of The Eighventies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:55:38
Simon Price, Neil Kulkarni and Al Needham continue their voyage into this episode of TOTP, and the thick musk of denim and leather is beginning to permeate the air. Whitesnake! Saxon! Motörhead! Three youths up the front…
#68 (Pt 2): 1.5.80 – The Ken Of The Eighventies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:35:02
Neil Kulkarni and Simon Price commence their gleeful rip into this episode of TOTP, egged on by Al Needham. Tommy Vance gets his debut cap, and lords it above everyone else from the confines of his gun tower. Funky Belts…
#68 (Pt 1): 1.5.80 – The Ken Of The Eighventies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:44:21
Simon Price and Neil Kulkarni join Al Needham to set the scene for an episode of Top Of The Pops from 1980 which comprehensively demolishes the theory that that year was a bit rammel, breaking off to riffle through that…
May 17th 1977 - The Nationwide Jubilee Song Contest [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:34:04
In the last episode of Chart Music, we broke down Nationwide's Jubilee Fair - an astonishing melange of forelock-tuggery, Trad Jazz and moaning that things were better when we had an empire and National Service, which of…
#67: June 9th 1977 – God Save Chart Music [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:41:23
The latest episode of the podcast which asks; are the Wurzels going to float in an eternal hellscape of bodily waste and toenails for singing about turning bulls gay?This episode would have been perfect for the other mon…
#67 (Pt 4): 9.6.77 – God Save Chart Music [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:36:13
Taylor Parkes and Neil Kulkarni join Al Needham to put the Silver Jubilee episode of The Pops firmly to bed, as Legs & Co make do with Demis Roussos’ cast-offs, recount the time Bob Marley met the Wurzels, and examine th…