The latest episode of the podcast which asks; do we really have to hug? And rub-a-dub?The Chart Music time sofa descends upon March of 1993, Pop-Crazed Youngsters – the Forgotten Nineties, if you will. A time where the only options available to

Chart Music #73 (Pt 4): 4.3.93 – Frank Bald

Jan 6th, 2024 1h 58m

Simon Price, Sarah Bee and Al Needham hit the final stretch of this episode of TOTP with the chance to hear 20 seconds of a Xmas Number One, Bryan Ferry going through the motions, some Americans who want to weld you into a chair and Dead Madonn

Chart Music #73 (Pt 3): 4.3.93 – Frank Bald

Jan 5th, 2024 1h 32m

Sarah Bee, Simon Price and Al Needham end up having a massively deep dive on Suede, before being whipped over to Hawaii to watch the Lower-Case Canadian sit on a box for a bit. Oh, and Runrig!Video Playlist | Subscribe | Facebook | Twitter | Th

Chart Music #73 (Pt 2): 4.3.93 – Frank Bald

Jan 4th, 2024 1h 45m

Simon Price, Sarah Bee and Al Needham begin their slog through an early-Nineties episode of The Pops with an examination of the changes Stanley Appell wrought upon our fave Thursday Evening Pop Treat. Then we’re immediately assailed by the sigh

Chart Music #73 (Pt 1): 4.3.93 – Frank Bald

Jan 3rd, 2024 1h 47m

#73 (Pt 1): 4.3.93 – Frank BaldSarah Bee, Simon Price and Al Needham gird their loins for a plunge into a TOTP from the early Nineties, but before all that there’s a comprehensive leaf through that week’s NME. a heartrending discussion about th

Chart Music #72: October 3rd 1985 – Rod Vicious

Aug 25th, 2023 6h 41m

The latest episode of the podcast which asks; so how do you set fire to a trophy?Like a man in a cage, we find ourselves trapped in the mid-Eighties, imprisoned in a lurid enclosure of neon and rolled sleeves and appalling Number Ones, with Gar

#72 (Pt 4): 3.10.85 – Rod Vicious

Aug 24th, 2023 1h 26m

Simon Price, Rock Expert David Stubbs and Al Needham hit the final stretch of this episode of TOTP, and pick through the ‘delights’ of the Top Ten. It’s a meaty fist in the air for Billy Idol, King of the Quincy Punks, before being subjected to

#72 (Pt 3): 3.10.85 – Rod Vicious

Aug 23rd, 2023 1h 43m

Simon Price, Rock Expert David Stubbs and Al Needham plunge ever-onwards into a post-Live Aid episode of The Pops, and it turns out that 1985 is SKILL – well, it is when Cameo are slinking about on TOTP stage. Then we’re reminded of the dark ti

#72 (Pt 2): 3.10.85 – Rod Vicious

Aug 22nd, 2023 1h 28m

Simon Price, Rock Expert David Stubbs and Al Needham set about this episode of TOTP with the usual gleeful abandon, asking themselves; what did Paul Jordan actually do to get nobbed off from Radio 1 in less than a year? And why does Gary Davies

#72 (Pt 1): 3.10.85 – Rod Vicious

Aug 21st, 2023 2h 12m

Simon Price, Rock Expert David Stubbs and Al Needham prepare for a punishing slog through a post-Live Aid episode of The Pops – but first, a good hard shill of their new books, which are out NOW/SOON. We leaf through that week’s NME, discuss a

#71: March 19th 1981 – Shaky Of The Dorm

Jun 25th, 2023 7h 16m

The latest episode of the podcast which asks; Whoops Scotties, Tasty Tarts Foster Grants or Allied For Carpets For You?Oh yes – it’s back to the Eighventies we go, Pop-Crazed Youngsters, to a year where everyone was loaded into a cannon and fir

#71 (Pt 4): 19.3.81 – Shaky Of The Dorm

Jun 24th, 2023 1h 46m

Neil Kulkarni, Taylor Parkes and Al Needham finally stumble upon the real 1981 – Strange The Clock, and the New Street Station Dolls – while Al deals with an industrial dispute over Toyah by locking Neil and Taylor out and getting some robots i

#71 (Pt 3): 19.3.81 – Shaky Of The Dorm

Jun 23rd, 2023 2h 9m

Neil Kulkarni, Taylor Parkes and Al Needham plough on through this episode from the tail-end of the Eighventies, stopping for a deep, deep, deep dive on the post-Moon Who. Legs & Co say farewell to Pauline by sitting about under a giant Scotch

#71 (Pt 2): 19.3.81 – Shaky Of The Dorm

Jun 22nd, 2023 1h 38m

Neil Kulkarni, Taylor Parkes and Al Needham commence their odyssey into the March 19th 1981 episode, and are horrified to discover that the Top Of The Pops Orchestra are still knocking about, and The Kids – who are supposed to be dressed up as

#71 (Pt 1): 19.3.81 – Shaky Of The Dorm

Jun 21st, 2023 1h 50m

Neil Kulkarni, Taylor Parkes and Al Needham prepare the stage for a late-Eighventies episode of The Pops – but first, it’s a flick through that week’s NME, Rod Hull and Emu pay tribute to Rolls-Royce, Neil speaks of his brush with the local Mas

#70: April 17th 1986 – The Rishi Sunak Of Top Of The Pops

Apr 18th, 2023 6h 8m

The latest episode of the podcast which asks; has Rock Expert David Stubbs come from The Sky?After all the lovely Pop trifle we’ve had in recent episodes, Pop-Crazed Youngsters, it’s time for some necessary roughage, as we take a tentative walk

#70 (Pt 4): 17.4.86 – The Rishi Sunak Of TOTP

Apr 17th, 2023 1h 39m

Neil Kulkarni, Sarah Bee and Al Needham finally claw their way up the final furlong on an episode of TOTP that’s been better than any episode set in 1986 has a right to be. Neil issues a come-and-get-me statement to Janet Jackson, It’s Immateri

#70 (Pt 3): 17.4.86 – The Rishi Sunak Of TOTP

Apr 16th, 2023 1h 30m

Sarah Bee, Neil Kulkarni and Al Needham plunge deeper into the 17.4.86 episode as we hit the Breakers section. Suzanne Vega slaps it about with assorted extras from Bonfire Of The Vanities, and then we get hit with REAL KIDS ISSUES as Grange Hi

#70 (Pt 2): 17.4.86 – The Rishi Sunak Of TOTP

Apr 15th, 2023 1h 12m

Neil Kulkarni, Sarah Bee and Al Needham get stuck into the hellscape of 1986, and discover that it’s not that rammel, actually. We gaze upon the even-toed ungulate splendour of Gary Davies – a man who divides his time between going out on the p

#70 (Pt 1): 17.4.86 – The Rishi Sunak Of TOTP

Apr 14th, 2023 1h 25m

Sarah Bee and Neil Kulkarni join Al Needham and prepare for some serious loin-girding as they prepare to tackle an episode of The Pops from the unappealing middle bit of the Aydeez – a neon wasteland where the Dinosaurs of Pop are running rampa

#69: December 27th 1974 – The Ramadan #1 Of 1974

Jan 28th, 2023 6h 3m

The latest episode of the podcast which asks; have any of Team Chart Music done a streak?It’s late January, but the inflatable Jimmy Savile-as-Santa is still hanging off the roof of the Chart Music house and the wreath that looks like DLT still

#69 (Pt 4): 27.12.74 – The Ramadan #1 of 1974

Jan 27th, 2023 1h 37m

David Stubbs, Taylor Parkes and Al Needham conclude their excavation of the last TOTP of 1974. After Ray Stevens lets us all down by refusing to lob it out, Suzy Quatro drops the last ever Glam Bomb and then – YESSSS! Carl Douglas gives another

#69 (Pt 3): 27.12.74 – The Ramadan #1 of 1974

Jan 26th, 2023 1h 38m

Taylor Parkes and David Stubbs go deeper on the last TOTP of 1974 with Al Needham, and recoil at Dave Lee Travis looking none more Gnasher-like as he salivates over Stephanie De Sykes and then we’re hit with Another Chance To See the debut perf

#69 (Pt 2): 27.12.74 – The Ramadan #1 of 1974

Jan 25th, 2023 1h 34m

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 and The Living Gnasher

#69 (Pt 1): 27.12.74 – The Ramadan #1 of 1974

Jan 24th, 2023 1h 20m

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, and possibly the last e