“Plastic and phoney”: why Ian Anderson despised Top of the Pops
The prog-flute-rock attack of Jethro Tull isn’t likely the first band that springs to mind when considering the stars of Top of the Pops’ golden age.
What exactly was Auntie Beeb to do with such a rabble? They were certainly different. A rag-tag gaggle of very hairy misfits happier in their bluesy ditch over the bright lights of the BBC’s Lime Grove Studios, fronted by the impossibly confounding flautist frontman Ian Anderson, regaling tales of hard rock esoterica with a deathly aversion to anything resembling pop.
The fact was, even the most underground bands knew how crucial a Top of the Pops slot was to their career. One of the few visual windows to the UK Top 20 in the late 1960s and guaranteeing millions in viewing figures, any band booked for that special Thursday night slot on BBC One could count on whatever single they were eagerly flogging a swift boost up the charts by Sunday. It was a make-or-break moment that Anderson knew only too well.
“Doing Top of the Pops is important because, however plastic and phoney it is, it does give people a chance to see us,” Anderson confessed to Beat Instrumental back in 1970. “I hope people get a kick out of seeing us there miming away. If you can ever switch on your set and see an hour of The Nice or the Family, then I’d like to think that we helped bring that situation about by appearing on Top of the Pops.”
He was never going to make it easy for them, however. Despite doggedly pursuing a cerebrally aloof form of folk rock theatre, pop fell on Anderson’s lap almost by accident. Jethro Tull were no strangers to chart success, with This Was peaking at a respectable number ten, but it took a few singles to win a shot at Top of the Pops.
Pushed by their manager to write a hit, a disgruntled Anderson tried every trick to thwart his pop assignment’s commercial potential, from crafting an odd 5/4 time signature to tagging a stale title, but 1969’s ‘Living in the Past’ still managed to nab a solid number three.
Still, if it was good enough for Fleetwood Mac. With credible blues having already burst the Top of the Pops bubble, a surly Jethro Tull duly made their way to the studio unprepared and with little regard for the show’s reputation for manicured presentation. Fighting through exasperated floor managers and camera crew, Anderson did his fish out of water best for their shiny pop appearance.
“I felt so embarrassed and humiliated that I couldn’t do anything on stage,” Anderson recollected to Prog in 2022. “When it came to the actual broadcast, I jumped out of my shell of embarrassment and tried to perform a bit by hopelessly overacting and gesticulating wildly.”
Eccentricity and a live wire performance style would come to define the Jethro Tull experience on stage, quite possibly honed by their diffident embrace of Top of the Pops so early in their career. Still, it wasn’t all bad. According to Anderson, at the far end of the studio was old teenage rock and roll hero Cliff Richard, trying his best to dance to ‘Living in the Past’s awkward 5/4 shuffle, “I thought that was the most wonderful moment ever.”
