Today in Music (1964): Top of the Pops aired for the first time

January 1, 1964 Top of the Pops launched in Britain.

The British music television show Top of the Pops launched on New Year’s Day in 1964. BBC producer Johnnie Stewart created TOTP, inspired by the Radio Luxembourg show Teen and Twenty Disc Club. Each show counted down the hits from the past week. The #1 song was featured every week, but otherwise a song did not generally appear if it had been on the previous week or was heading down the charts. The inaugural show featured The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Hollies, and Dusty Springfield. The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was the #1 song that week. Each week consisted of performances of some of the most popular music artists and counted down the week’s hit singles. While the show aired live, artists actually mimed to the songs. Over the show’s history, however, there were times when songs were performed at least partially live. Traditionally TOTP aired on BBC 1 on Thursdays, but in 1996 it moved to Fridays and then in 2005 it moved to Sundays on BBC 2. The show was broadcast until July 30, 2006, becoming the world’s longest-running weekly music show. The show also aired an annual look at the best-selling singles of the year on Christmas Day. Even after the show’s cancellation, that tradition continued. Resources: Dave’s Music Database: “History Index” for more important dates in music history Dave’s Music Database: “Music Makers’ Birthdays” BBC.co.uk: Top of the Pops Wikipedia: Top of the Pops First posted 1/1/2012; updated 12/30/2023.

50 years ago: Dusty Springfield released Dusty in Memphis

First posted 4/8/2008; updated 12/1/2020.

Dusty in Memphis Dusty Springfield

Released: January 18, 1969 Charted: March 15, 1969 Peak: 99 US Sales (in millions): -- Genre: blue-eyed soul

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Just a Little Lovin’ (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) [2:19] So Much Love (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) [3:33] Son of a Preacher Man (John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins) [2:28] (11/30/68, 10 US, 9 UK) I Don’t Want to Hear It Anymore (Randy Newman) [3:12] Don’t Forget about Me (Goffin, King) [2:54] (3/1/69, 64 US) Breakfast in Bed (Eddie Hinton, Donnie Fritts) [2:59] (4/12/69, 91 US) Just One Smile (Newman) [2:44] The Windmills of Your Mind (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand) [3:54] (5/3/69, 31 US, 3 AC) In the Land of Make Believe (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) [2:34] (10/4/69, 27 AC) No Easy Way Down (Goffin, King) [3:11] I Can’t Make It Alone (Goffin, King) [4:01] Total Running Time: 33:31

Rating: 3.807 out of 5.00 (average of 14 ratings) Quotable: “The All-time rock-era torch record” – Robert Christgau Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “The idea of taking England’s reigning female soul queen to the home of the music she had mastered was an inspired one.” RW That “home” was specifically the American Sound Studio in Memphis where Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and others had recorded. Although she’d self-produced her earlier albums, she went with outside producers this time around using Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin to create what critic Robert Christgau called “the perfect instance of how a production team should work.” WK Springfield had “very real anxiety about being compared with the soul greatest who had recorded in the same studios.” WK She had recorded R&B songs before, but this was the first time she committed to an entire album’s worth. WK The “production and engineering team picked mostly perfect songs, and those that weren’t so great were salvaged by Springfield’s marvelous delivery and technique.” RW She was backed by the house band, the Memphis Cats, who had worked with Elvis Presley, Wilson Pickett, and King Curtis. She covered songs written by the famed writing teams of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and Burt Bacharach and Hal David. “This set has definitive numbers in So Much Love, Son of a Preacher Man, Breakfast in Bed, Just One Smile, I Don't Want to Hear About It Anymore, and Just a Little Lovin'.” RW The album didn’t perform well initially, peaking at #99 in the US and failing to reach the UK top 40. Music journalist Peter Robinson said the album stalled Springfield’s career, but eventually became “a popcultural milestone [and] timeless emotional reference point.” WK Entertainment Weekly’s Tony Scherman called it “one of the greatest pop records ever recorded.” WK Christgau called it “the all-time rock-era torch record.” WK “It’s truly a disc deserving of its classic status.” RW Notes: A reissue added three bonus tracks including a cover of Willie and Laura Mae Jones’ That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho) and an unreleased version of What Do You Do When Love Dies from the original Memphis sessions. A 25-song Rhino reissue included those three songs as well as “songs left over from sessions for the unfairly underrated Gamble- and Huff-produced Brand New Me album, and the unissued 1971 Jeff Barry-produced sides for a never-released third Atlantic album.” BE Also featured are “covers of David Gates' Make It with You and Carole King’s You’ve Got a Friend, the gospel-flavored Love Shine Down, and the hard-rocking Natchez Trace.” BE

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Dusty Springfield BE All Music Guide review by Bruce Eder of Rhino reissue RW All Music Guide review by Ron Wynn WK Wikipedia

Elton John & Kiki Dee hit #1 with “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart Elton John & Kiki Dee

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Carpenters hit #1 with “They Long to Be Close to You”

They Long to Be Close to You Carpenters

Writer(s): Burt Bacharach (music), Hal David (lyics) (see lyrics here) Released: May 14, 1970 First Charted: June 5, 1970 Peak: 14 US, 12 CB, 14 GR, 12 HR, 16 AC, 6 UK, 12 CN, 13 AU, 3 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.2 UK, 1.24 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 99.02 video, 134.19 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “The Carpenters didn’t invent easy listening music…But the Carpenters took that music, with all its lush and syrupy orchestration, and fused it with the starry-eyed sensibilities of late-’60s rock. In doing so, they became a commercial juggernaut and helped to invent the somnambulant sound of ’70s studio-pop. It’s not hard to figure out why a lot of people might resent them.” SG The brother and sister duo of Richard and Karen Carpenter were born in Connecticut, but the family moved to Los Angeles in 1963 when their parents realized the sibilings’ musical ambitions. After failed efforts with a jazz trio called the Carpenter Trio FB and a band named Spectrum, Richard and Karen signed to A&M as a duo. Their 1969 debut went nowhere, but their cover of the Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride” caught the attention of songwriter Burt Bacharach. FB Herb Alpert, who co-owned A&M and had hits of his own, suggested the Carpenters record “They Long to Be Close to You,” FB an obscure song Bacharach wrote with Hal David for TV star Richard Chamberlain. It was released as a B-side to “Blue Guitar,” which reached #42 in 1963. Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, and Alpert all recorded versions, but they were all “big, traditional showstopping ’60s orchestral-pop ballads.” SG Richard didn’t listen to any of them, instead coming up with his own piano arrangement. The Carpenters’ recording included members of the famed Wrecking Crew group of session musicians who served as the de facto house band for famous producer Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound in the 1960s. The “lyrics are exaggerated to the point of absurdity…Birds and stars and all the girls in town are hovering around this mythical beloved figure. The day this person was born, angels sprinkled gold dust in this person’s hair and starlight in his eyes of blue.” SG THe recording is “toothache-sweet and impeccable to the point of being antiseptic” SG but Karen’s “warm, controlled delivery…manages to get across both sadness and silliness.” SG When Albert asked Richard how he though the song would do, Carpenter said “it would either be number one of the biggest stiff the label had ever released.” FB It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and earned the Carpenters a Grammy for Best Contemporary Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Carpenters FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 278. SG Stereogum (1/8/2019). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan WK Wikipedia First posted 11/28/2022.