Top Of The Pops
Half an hour on a Thursday that set the entire week.
The chart show that decided what was in your ears for the following seven days, whether you liked it or not.
It started in a converted church in Manchester on New Year's Day 1964 and ran for forty-two years. Miming was compulsory, the audience was corralled, and it was still unmissable.
The playground on Friday morning was entirely a review of the previous night. If you missed it, you were out of the conversation for a week.
Cost back then
Included in the licence fee
Goes for now
Annuals and chart books £10–£40
