Top Gear of the Pops

Infobox television
show_name = Top Gear of the Pops


caption = The "Top Gear of the Pops" logo
format = Motoring, Music
picture_format = 720x576, anamorphic 16:9
runtime = 30 minutes
presenter = Jeremy Clarkson
Richard Hammond
James May
country = UK
network = BBC Two
first_aired = 16 March 2007
num_episodes = 1
producer =
related = Top of the Pops, Top Gear
website = http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/
imdb_id = 0996660
tv_com_id = 27682

"Top Gear of the Pops" was a one-off special of Top Gear, broadcast in the evening on 16 March 2007. It was shown as part of the Comic Relief 2007 appeal, mixing the usual elements of "Top Gear" with "Top of the Pops", the music chart show that was cancelled in 2006. The standard "Top Gear" opening sequence had its car footage replaced with vintage clips of "Top of the Pops", and, while The Cool Wall was mentioned at the beginning, it was not included in the broadcast.

The programme was produced for Comic Relief as a replacement for a quiz show, "A Question of Comedy", which had been recorded some months earlier but withdrawn because the involvement of Jade Goody as a contestant was felt inappropriate following the controversy surrounding her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother 2007.

Performances

Lethal Bizzle

Presenter Jeremy Clarkson cut Lethal Bizzle's song short by unplugging him mid-performance. Clarkson also dubbed Lethal Bizzle "Jizzy Tissue", and blamed his genre of rap music as being responsible for the demise of "TOTP".

Travis

Apart from McFly, Travis managed to deliver a regular and incident-free performance. They performed three times during filming to make sure everything was perfect.

upergrass

Supergrass performed with comedian Adrian Edmondson on guitar. Supergrass were made to put up with bizarre "special effects" administered by the "Top Gear" presenters: live birds in front of and on the stage, excessive dry ice artificial fog, and finally strong winds from a wind machine, which blew Edmondson off the stage. This led to a number of complaints by viewers who were concerned about the birds' welfare. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/text/summary_janmar2007.html BBC Complaints January 2007 - March 2007] ] Coincidentally, drummer Danny Goffey's father, Chris Goffey, used to present "Top Gear", a fact pointed out during the show.

McFly

During the show, boy band McFly had to write and perform a song which contained the three specific words: "sofa", "Hyundai" and "administration". The song could not include the words 'love', 'baby' or 'heart'. The band then performed the song towards the end of the show, using a basic 12 bar blues pattern. Their song "Sofa Hyundai Administration" was about their challenge and the Top Gear team.

News

* Jeremy argued that more cars should have a place where you can plug an iPod in, and later said that the iPod headphone wire always gets tangled
* Richard discussed Phil Spector's trial - in particular the fact he is accused of murdering someone called Clarkson.
* James said he couldn't understand a statement made about Coldplay
* Richard discussed festivals
* Jeremy talked about his dislike for Basement Jaxx
* The presenters took a look at Snow Patrol's new video.
* James mentioned the re-forming of Genesis and The Police. Jeremy argued with an audience member, saying that liking Phil Collins did not make her a Genesis fan.
* Richard started a list of songs that can't be played on Hospital Radio which include The Verve's "The Drugs Don't Work" and Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died in Your Arms"
* Jeremy compared different drummers, although this was not shown in the actual programme.

Chart

James begins counting down the weeks chart. Jeremy interrupts saying that only the artists care about how many records they sell. He then goes on to make his own chart based on how short a song is.

3. Kelis featuring Cee-Lo - Lil Star (3.14)

2. Mika - Grace Kelly - (3.08)

1. Cascada - Miracle - (2.46)

The Top Gear band

The "Top Gear band" consisted of the three presenters (none of whom are professional musicians, although May has a degree in music, and is a pianist and flautist) accompanied by former The Darkness front man Justin Hawkins. They performed Billy Ocean's "Red Light Spells Danger".

Top Gear band line-up

* Justin Hawkins – vocals
* James May – keyboards
* Richard Hammond – bass guitar
* Jeremy Clarkson – drums

In addition there were: a backing guitarist; keyboard player; and three backing vocalists.

Ratings

On its first showing in the UK on BBC Two as part of Comic Relief night, the programme obtained 6.1 million viewers and was the most watched show in its timeslot with a 28% audience share. [cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/mar/19/overnights2 |title=Comic Relief raises smile for BBC |work=guardian.co.uk |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |last=Deans |first=Jason |date=2007-03-19]

References

External links