Top of the Pops

The best music ever was definitely on Top of the Pops in the late 70s and early 80s. We used to watch it religiously every Thursday evening. Achieving number one was a big deal. By the time the overplayed songs came off the charts we would all know every lyric by heart.

Top of the Pops ran for 42 years and at its height it commanded 15 million viewers a week.

We loved the lyrics of the songs from that era so much that we used to write them out verbatim on the front of our school folders. We would sing the whole of Grease at lunch time when we were in junior school and Pink Floyd's The Wall in senior school.

The songs told stories and reflected and enhanced our emotional experiences. Some of them were ridiculous. We sang Rene and Renata's "Save your Love" in exaggerated ecstasy and sneered for Ireland every time "Grandma We Love You" came on the radio.

"Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits was a meaningful slow set song and we banged our heads and lowered our inter cert results to Rush and Meatloaf in Old Wesley every Friday Night.

We modestly covered our skinny adoleascent bodies with long skirts and hippy shirts or mod parkas and loose punk t-shirts and drainpipe jeans. No one flaunted flesh or showed off cleavage.


We can only dance with fervour and meaning to those songs because they are ingrained in our psyche like old tattoos that we can't get rid of.

One of my best friends from school turned 40 recently and she had a fantastic party in a rugby club on Friday night. The setting and the music perfectly recreated Old Wesley circa 1984. The DJ understood his audience so there was plenty of Blondie, Culture Club, The Specials, The Stranglers and Talking Heads. When "Video Killed the Radio Star" was played the girls took to the floor and we rocked.

Our clothing has changed but in a strange way it echoed our adolescence. The 40 year old "girls" were looking good but no one was dressed in an overtly sexual manner. I guess that era defined us sartorially as well as musically.