What was the last-ever number one performed on ‘Top of the Pops’?
The BBC has never conceived of such a British cultural institution as its long-running Top of the Pops.
Beaming into homes every Thursday evening before its later Friday and Sunday night reshuffles, Top of the Pops was for most music fans the first and only port of call as to who was number one that week.
As well as offering a rare visual package of the day’s bands long before the MTV age, there was little challenge to the BBC’s flagship music show’s chart authority, scores of households up and down the country paying close attention to the Radio 1 DJ of the day, announcing that week’s Top 20 to cheers or boos with each entry.
Yet, in the midst of declining viewing figures and the anxiety around the increasing accessibility of music in the online streaming age, the decision was made to pull the plug on Top of the Pops’ 42-year party. It was painful. A sentimental nostalgia was inexorably attached to the long-running pop jamboree, and a sense of questionable cultural harm was posed by the likes of Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant and former producer Chris Cowey, doubting that such shifting trends necessitated Top of the Pops’ axing.
Yet, Auntie Beeb delivered the final blow. Calling it quits in 2006, an hour-long special was broadcast on 20th June, corralling all the former hosting alumni from Tony Blackburn, Mike Read, Pat Sharp, and Jimmy Savile, five years before his death and sexual offences came to light.
Featuring no live acts, the presenting ensemble instead acted as compere to the roll call of archive performances, opening with a clip of The Rolling Stones’ ‘The Last Time, the first ever on stage act back in the show’s 1964 debut, followed by a carousel of Top of the Pops’ hall of fame including David Bowie, Spice Girls, Madonna, Jackson 5, and UK-specific pop sensation Robbie Williams.
Airing one last countdown, Shakira’s ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ with Wycleaf Jean was announced as that week’s top of the pops, before a parting coda of Savile turning off the lights of the empty studio concluded the world’s longest running music show – poignant before his monstrous crimes became widely reported on.
So, what was the last number one performance?
The last act to play in any capacity was indie group Snow Patrol, who played the penultimate episode, as the final broadcast was essentially a clip show. The number one single that week was McFly’s cover of Queen’s classic ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ for the BBC’s Sport Relief charity efforts, a repeat from the previous week when they were a new entry on the charts.
Across the final few weeks, Top of the Pops began relying heavily on music videos, repeat performances, and even nabbing sets from the BBC’s Later… with Jools Holland to pad out the show. The last legitimate appearance for a number one on Top of the Pops that wasn’t a repeat or sourced elsewhere was from Nelly Furtado, miming her ‘Maneater’ smash on June 11th, a good six weeks before the show’s final bow.
