As The Ed Sullivan Present was to the US, or Der Musikladen (follow-up to Beat-Membership) was to Germany, so High Of The Pops was to the UK: a beloved establishment that supported homegrown expertise, however which additionally turned the go-to vacation spot for abroad acts trying to get all-important publicity on international shores.
Launching in 1964, the present gave essential early-career display screen time to British acts the likes of Standing Quo (“Pictures Of Matchstick Men”), Small Faces (“All Or Nothing”), and Spencer Davis Group (“Keep On Running”), however it was fast to help the equally compelling music popping out of the US. The Seashore Boys won’t have been in a position to seem within the tv studio themselves, however High Of The Pops fortunately aired a promo clip of the band 4 occasions throughout November and December 1966 – a observe the present would proceed all through its historical past when bands had been unable to show up in individual. The present additionally gave essential slots to Motown within the years when Berry Gordy’s label was beginning to set up itself as a world powerhouse. The Supremes and Stevie Marvel each helped Britain fall for Motor Metropolis soul within the 60s, kick-starting a love affair that may final into the following decade and past, as additional Motown stars corresponding to Gladys Knight And The Pips and a solo Diana Ross would deal with the present as a house away from residence.
Having established a transatlantic connection, the 70s was when High Of The Pops turned a very international model. In a decade that has greater than its fair proportion of selection – the whole lot from punk to glam, hip-hop, reggae and high-octane rock’n’roll made it into the charts – it’s additionally exceptional what number of abroad acts made the pilgrimage to BBC Tv Centre, figuring out that the present’s viewers of as much as 19 million couldn’t be discovered anyplace else. Having dropped by to carry out his traditional reggae hit “The Israelites” in 1969, Jamaican star Desmond Dekker returned in 1970, performing “You Can Get It”; as the last decade got here to a detailed, Australian laborious rock icons AC/DC had been readily available to ship some ear-splitting “powerage.” Swedish pop icons ABBA made a number of appearances by means of the 70s, introducing classics corresponding to “Mamma Mia,” “Waterloo,” and “Fernando” to the UK.
And so a sample was set. Within the many years that adopted, each model of music was represented, and acts got here from everywhere in the world so as to add the enduring TV present to their checklist of successes. So essential was the present that even essentially the most established stars got here again all through their profession, with Queen showing in 1982, nearly a decade after releasing their debut album, Queen II, to carry out “Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love)” on 17 June 1982.
A look on the checklist of luminaries that appeared on High Of The Pops additionally traces the altering cultural zeitgeist all through the years. American alt.rock started to make its first tentative forays into the mainstream when R.E.M. turned as much as carry out “Orange Crush,” in a decade that noticed shimmering UK pop (within the form of The La’s’ “There She Goes,” first launched in 1988) nestle with globe-straddling synth-pop courtesy of Tender Cell (“Tainted Love”), The Human League (“Don’t You Want Me”), and Duran Duran (“Girls On Film”). And that’s simply the 80s. Quick-forward to the 90s and also you’ll witness the battle for dominance between Blur and Oasis additionally type a part of a wider transatlantic face-off between UK Britpop and the US grunge scene. Add within the present’s dedication to selling a few of the extra memorable promo clips by the likes of Underworld and Kelis, and it turns into clear to see why the 90s is remembered as a uniquely postmodern decade.
