This time last year Gambo was still presenting POTP. So much has happened since those twelve months ago that it feels like it was back in 1974.

Why do they seem embarrassed about the legendary POTP theme tune though? It's all but vanished from the introduction to the show, there's a quick 2 second snatch and gone and I don't get that. It's iconic and this show's trademark sound. Whose bright idea was that I wonder.

No 1974, that's normally a popular year on old chart shows. They could boycott 1999 if they wish, I heard a chart from that year recently and it was awfully dated and dreadful and hadn't held up well, charts twice as old are less dated, it was a string of Ibiza style generic and somewhat inferior dance music of that period that didn't suit regular normal radio listening.

Matt wrote:
No 1974, that's normally a popular year on old chart shows. They could boycott 1999 if they wish, I heard a chart from that year recently and it was awfully dated and dreadful and hadn't held up well, charts twice as old are less dated, it was a string of Ibiza style generic and somewhat inferior dance music of that period that didn't suit regular normal radio listening.

Or generic plastic pop for the younger generation at the time. The Ibiza music sounded all the same to me, I did buy the Tarzan soundtrack for Phil Collins, I have never seen the film though.

I was listening to Mike Batt on Talk TV last night speaking about his stellar year in 1974 with the Wombles and saying that in 1974 the Wombles became the first group since the Beatles to chart 3 singles in the same week at one point.

1981 and 1995 was today

Coming soon

2 November - 1969 / 1977
9 November - 1983 / 1990

November 16th:
1pm - 1974!!!! 1974 last played 2nd November 2019
2pm - 1987

www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl8v/2024/11/16

At last 1974 is getting played on November 16th. Maybe Mark Goodier or Tim Davie read this site. Tony Blackburn was saying this morning that the RAJOR figures state that "Sounds of the 60s" is the most played music show on bbc sounds. This would indicate that more people would like to hear 60s songs than any other decades, although they are hardly ever featured on pick of the pops. Give people what they want more years from the 60s and early 70s on potp, instead of tyring to get more 40 something listeners that aren't interested.

robbiex wrote:
At last 1974 is getting played on November 16th. Maybe Mark Goodier or Tim Davie read this site. Tony Blackburn was saying this morning that the RAJOR figures state that "Sounds of the 60s" is the most played music show on bbc sounds. This would indicate that more people would like to hear 60s songs than any other decades, although they are hardly ever featured on pick of the pops. Give people what they want more years from the 60s and early 70s on potp, instead of tyring to get more 40 something listeners that aren't interested.


I think the BBC Sounds listenership for Sounds of the 60's is the most because that show airs at 6am and is over by 8am, on a Saturday morning and it's not the ideal radio listening time for many. I admire Tony for doing it live in person at that time of the morning but I prefer my lie ins at the weekend but do sometimes give it a listen on Sounds at a more reasonable hour.

Good to see 1974 finally appearing. But not played since November 2019 and when they do so it's more or less to the same exact week again with what will be many of the same hits. MCR says they are playing 1987 again on the same show, this is a year that has been appearing five or six times annually in recent years, so at that rate must have appeared about 25 times in the past five years compared to none for 1974. That is statistically impossible by sheer chance.

robbiex wrote:
At last 1974 is getting played on November 16th. Maybe Mark Goodier or Tim Davie read this site. Tony Blackburn was saying this morning that the RAJOR figures state that "Sounds of the 60s" is the most played music show on bbc sounds. This would indicate that more people would like to hear 60s songs than any other decades, although they are hardly ever featured on pick of the pops. Give people what they want more years from the 60s and early 70s on potp, instead of tyring to get more 40 something listeners that aren't interested.



1974 at last!


There is a very good chance he did read the site's forum thread Robbie. I know this first hand because I started the Pick of the Pops thread on a major media website elsewhere eleven years ago when Tony Blackburn presented the show. That thread still continues. Tony Blackburn read that thread of mine even during the show while it was live on air and referenced it a few times and even answered me a couple of times on twitter even though I've never even been on twitter, just from reading my forum comments. So yes Robbie, they really do read this stuff, elsewhere at least.

One amusing interaction was when POTP with Tony was playing September 1981 and he played a truly appalling piece of music that reached the top forty called Classical Muddly by the Portsmouth Sinfonia which was a p*ss take on the huge Hooked On Classics hit that same time by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I thought I knew everything in that 1981 chart and wondered what the hell he was playing and mentioned this on thread in strident terms only to be shot down with a cutting barb back on twitter along the lines of it not being his fault, you lot bought it. I was actually alerted to this one by other forum members who told me Tony's answering you. While he did the show we were always aware he was keeping an eye on what we were saying.

Pick of the Pops currenty playing this week in 1974 on Radio 2 with Roxy Music's All I Want Is You as I hit the keyboard.

Who remembers Pepper Box, a rather funky instrumental by the Peppers, now following on. Why did they avoid this year so long, it sounds great.

The more than 5 year '74 drought is officially over then, about time too.

1974 back again already.


Having gone a full 5 years between playing the year 1974 on POTP when they did so on 16th November, the show is playing 1974 again just over 5 weeks later on Christmas Day at 4pm, when playing years ending in a "4" with 1984 and 1994.

You couldn't make it up.

Rather strangely for a new show of this popular type, which has already been recorded, it gets a first airing at 1am in the morning next Friday night/Saturday morning, and is already available to hear on BBC Sounds too.

Many people work on Christmas Day. It raises another issue, shouldn't the main BBC Radio station at least make an effort to have some live radio on Christmas afternoon and evening at this time, many people on Christmas Day get new radio's and devices and would be listening, I know I've done so going right back to the start of the 80's when I got new radio's for Christmas. There's nobody willing or able to do live radio at this time on Radio 2 on Christmas, really?

Would these shows have been live on Radio 2 on Christmas Day afternoon in 1974 for instance, Tony Brandon & Sam Costa, whoever they were.

genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/service_bbc_radio_two/1974-12-25

What about the main pop channel Radio 1 that date, Tony Blackburn at 3pm who always likes to broadcast live where possible even at 81, Savile at 6pm annd Emperor Rosko at 7pm with what is described as the greatest live show on earth.

genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/service_bbc_radio_two/1974-12-25

Maybe a discussion worth a thread all of its own?

Please tell me they played Orleans Parish Prison by Johnny Cash.

Pa Osteraker is the best prison concert he did.

Rich wrote:
robbiex wrote:
At last 1974 is getting played on November 16th. Maybe Mark Goodier or Tim Davie read this site. Tony Blackburn was saying this morning that the RAJOR figures state that "Sounds of the 60s" is the most played music show on bbc sounds. This would indicate that more people would like to hear 60s songs than any other decades, although they are hardly ever featured on pick of the pops. Give people what they want more years from the 60s and early 70s on potp, instead of tyring to get more 40 something listeners that aren't interested.



1974 at last!


There is a very good chance he did read the site's forum thread Robbie. I know this first hand because I started the Pick of the Pops thread on a major media website elsewhere eleven years ago when Tony Blackburn presented the show. That thread still continues. Tony Blackburn read that thread of mine even during the show while it was live on air and referenced it a few times and even answered me a couple of times on twitter even though I've never even been on twitter, just from reading my forum comments. So yes Robbie, they really do read this stuff, elsewhere at least.

One amusing interaction was when POTP with Tony was playing September 1981 and he played a truly appalling piece of music that reached the top forty called Classical Muddly by the Portsmouth Sinfonia which was a p*ss take on the huge Hooked On Classics hit that same time by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I thought I knew everything in that 1981 chart and wondered what the hell he was playing and mentioned this on thread in strident terms only to be shot down with a cutting barb back on twitter along the lines of it not being his fault, you lot bought it. I was actually alerted to this one by other forum members who told me Tony's answering you. While he did the show we were always aware he was keeping an eye on what we were saying.

and here is that page of the thread in question when Classical Muddley was played and a link to the tweet from Tony.
forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1832163...the-pops-radio-2/p28

That brings back some good memories MCR.

That's possibly the biggest ever thread on that site associated to one specific radio programme and still ticks over nicely. When Tony Blackburn was fired in early 2016 they wanted to close that discussion but I managed to get the site to remove his name from the title and keep it going without a presenter name and just the show name alone.

Regards the title of this thread which is now somewhat obsolete, a contributor over there has noted that 1971 has not been played on the show since about mid 2020, so I could conceiveably make a new "What's wrong with 1971?" discussion now, but won't push my luck! Someone at Radio 2 on that show, or Listen who produce it, clearly does not like music from the first half of the 1970s.

Gambo used to read out the name Gary Glitter when counting through the charts he was in during the seven years he presented POTP. But since he moved on none of the others, briefly Steve Wright, stand-in Gary Davies or now new full host Mark Goodier are even prepared to utter the man's name aloud and simply say the record title and move on, presumably on producer/Radio 2 advice rather than personal opinion. Okay we know they don't play the songs anymore and can understand why, but what harm is there is saying the name for a split second. He existed.