The Story of 1977

Top of the Pops

• Following BBC Four’s Top of the Pops 1976, the next stop is 1977 – in some ways a year zero for Britain’s most iconic music programme. As the country veered between strikes and street parties, pop bastion Top of the Pops was stormed by punk and new wave acts such as the Stranglers and the Jam. Yet Top of the Pops at first seemed unaware of the changes afoot and the way in which the show is made was beset by working practices that are perhaps symptoms of the way in which Britain could be said ‘not to be working’.

Jeans were getting tighter, hair shorter and the tunes louder, but it was an incredibly diverse year. Disco was also a dominant force with Donna Summer’s I Feel Love, alongside the reggae of Bob Marley and the Wailers, the pub rock of Eddie and the Hot Rods and the plastic pop of Boney M. British pop that year was in a state of flux – unpredictable and exciting.

Appearing on Top of the Pops in 1977 is explored in the documentary by artists such as the Adverts, John Otway, members of Darts, JJ Burnel from the Stranglers and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols, with insights from the Top of the Pops production team, Nicky Wire from the Manics and journalists Alexis Petridis and Pete Paphides.
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Artwork On Dvd Only