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
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#65 (Pt 2): 8.7.82 – Dancey Reagan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Neil Kulkarni, David Stubbs and Al Needham commence a gleeful rip into an episode of The Pops smack in the middle of the Yellow Hurll era. And what a start! Kid Jensen pops up in a monarchist Robert Mugabe shirt, Imagina…
#65 (Pt 1): 8.7.82 – Dancey Reagan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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David Stubbs and Neil Kulkarni join Al Needham for a dance on the car roof of 1982, and prepare the ground for an episode of The Pops from that glorious, World Cup-drenched summer. Prepare for shocking revelations about…
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#64 (Pt 4): 26.4.84 – Metal Mickey Dropping His Guts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:55:35
Neil Kulkarni, Simon Price and Al Needham bring this episode of Top Of The Pops to a close by blanching at the sight of Julio Iglesias practically caressing Willie Nelson’s beer gut, scratch their heads at Echo and the B…
#64 (Pt 3): 26.4.84 – Metal Mickey Dropping His Guts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:33:10
Simon Price, Neil Kulkarni and Al Needham continue to gingerly pick through the rubble of April ’84. After gasping at the outright Lijkenpikkerij of Belle and the Devotions, they tackle Lilt Advert Bob Marley, before get…
#64 (Pt 2): 26.4.84 – Metal Mickey Dropping His Guts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:26:40
Neil Kulkarni, Simon Price and Al Needham commence their plunge into this episode of Top Of The Pops, stopping to pay respects to Our Janice and giving Simon Bates’s new jacket a thorough examination. There’s a rare oppo…
#64 (Pt 1): 26.4.84 – Metal Mickey Dropping His Guts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:47
Simon Price, Neil Kulkarni and Al Needham gird their loins in anticipation for an episode of The Pops located slap bang in the middle of the Aydeez, taking the time to discuss the decline of New Pop, leaf through that we…
63 (Pt 4): 28.12.1972 – Thank God For Belgian World In Action [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:02:10
Neil Kulkarni, Taylor Parkes and Al Needham gleefully rip into the final part of their exhumation of the last TOTP episode of 1972, and it’s banger after banger after banger. The Osmonds begin their journey on the Highwa…
#63 (Pt 3): 28.12.1972 – Thank God For Belgian World In Action [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:15:55
Taylor Parkes, Neil Kulkarni and Al Needham ramp up their excitement at this astonishing episode of The Pops as the hits keep on coming. We get the twin piano attack of Hilda Woodward and Roberta Flack, followed by the W…