Chart Music: the Top Of The Pops Podcast

Chart Music #78- February 16th 1978: Paint Along With Nancy Spungen

The latest episode of the podcast which asks; Emu versus Bernie Clifton’s ostrich – who wins in a fight?This episode is practically a scientific experiment, Pop-Crazed Youngsters; Al’s been wondering what the optimum age is to reap the full benefit of our Thursday Evening Fizzy Pop treat, and wonders if – like what people say about World Cups – it’s the ones nearest to our 10th birthdays. Consequently, because he’s a selfish bastard, this episode is a few months away from his own seventh-life crisis, which rather taints the experiment as it’s in 1978. one of the greatest years for Pop ever; that glorious period where the fallout of Punk is still drifting down, the music biz has no idea what The Kids actually want, and the door has been kicked open for the most glorious mutations to shamble about the charts.Kid Jensen – waiting to find out if he’ll be elected the Pontiff of Radio One next week – is at the controls, after spending a day being locked out of his own dressing room, and he guides us through a classic episode. Tom Robinson – denied the opportunity to lay some Gay on the youth – opts for some Kink-shaming. Kate Bush makes her debut, as she picks through the moors with the crushing weight of the TOTP Orchestra on her back. Darts refrain from diving into ornate fountains and wringing their socks out on the youth. Legs & Co finally get full ramp access. The Sexy Lions of Disco prowl the wasteland of Hollywood. Elkie Brooks and Billy Joel give us a taste of the Berni Inn, before we get one last suck of The Sweet. Howard Devoto puts the shits up the kiddies, Abba roar back, and we get to see the cameras being put away as Little Rabbit Arse has sex with a head on legs.Simon Price and David Stubbs join Al Needham for a glorious romp through the murk of ‘78, veering off on such tangents as who has the nicest bum in Europe, local pornography stashes, Simon Bates’ perm, an extract from Steve Priest’s autobiography, the Bradford Gay Liberation Front, and Keith Moon’s spend-up at a Hammersmith grot shop. DON’T GO CHANGING, POP-CRAZED YOUNGSTERS! Video Playlist | Facebook | Twitter | Bluesky | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#78 (Pt 4): 16.2.78 – Paint Along With Nancy Spungeon

Simon Price, David Stubbs and Al Needham finish off a classic episode of TOTP by strutting through New York with a paint pot in hand, being delighted to learn that Sweep is a Punk Rocker now, contemplating the Agnetharse, and being repulsed at the thought of Rod Stewart doing it with a head on legs. BRING YOUR MOTHER TOO, POP-CRAZED YOUNGSTERS! Video Playlist | Facebook | Twitter| Bluesky | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#78 (Pt 3): 16.2.78 – Paint Along With Nancy Spungeon

David Stubbs, Simon Price and Al Needham plunge the critical fist even deeper into this episode of TOTP, and the big names keep coming. Darts begin their biggest year by not doing The Wank! Legs & Co are finally granted full ramp access to one of the greatest tunes ever! Billy Joel gets a sweat on! The Sweet are back! And Elkie Brooks And All Her Looks show poor Kate how to ignore the snot-nosed urchins and put a single over to the nation!Video Playlist | Facebook | Twitter| Bluesky | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#78 (Pt 2): 16.2.78 – Paint Along With Nancy Spungeon

Simon Price, David Stubbs and Al Needham begin their odyssey through this episode of The Pops, and what a opening! We get a blast of a tune none of us have heard before, followed by Tom Robinson not being allowed to self-admit his Gayness upon the nation, and then we get the British television debut of Kate Bush, trying to beguile the surly youth of Albion as the TOTP Orchestra demonstrate they’re more than a red-hot Reggae band...Video Playlist | Facebook | Twitter| Bluesky | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#78 (Pt 1): 16.2.78 – Paint Along With Nancy Spungeon

The return of the podcast that gets it’s hand right down the back of the settee of an episode of Top Of The Pops. Al Needham has a theory that, like World Cups, the TOTPs nearest to your tenth birthday are the sweetest, which is an excuse for him, David Stubbs and Simon Price to burrow into early ‘78. But before that, a leaf through that week’s NME, a look at what else was on telly, Any Other Business, and an argument about Emu…Video Playlist | Facebook | Twitter| Bluesky | The Chart Music Wiki | Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.