| Part 3 - Presenting Pans People!
For the first three years, the show was presented by four DJs - Jimmy Savile, Alan Freeman, Pete Murray and David Jacobs. Every show was a live transmission from the BBC's Manchester studio. The chart format, however, presented an obvious problem: What happens when the artist is not available?
Enter the Top of the Pops dancers. The first troupe was called The Go-Jos, but it was Pan's People - masterminded by Flick Colby - who really defined the role. They made their debut dancing to Tommy James & The Shondells' 'Mony Mony' in 1968, and stayed with the show for nearly ten years.
Pan's People were briefly replaced by Ruby Flipper in 1978 before Colby came up with Legs & Co. and, in 1980, Zoo. The dance troupes, however, were one tradition which didn't survive the video age: by the mid-Eighties the choreographed dance routines had been largely consigned to the nostalgia department, much to the disappointment of dads across the UK.
The show stayed in Manchester until mid-1967, by which time the logistics of getting bands and artists to the city for a weekly live transmission were becoming a nightmare. Top of the Pops moved south, to the BBC's studios at Lime Grove in London. New faces were also introduced to present the show. Making their Top of the Pops debuts in 1967 were Stuart Henry, Emperor Roscoe, Simon Dee and Kenny Everett, all taken from their day jobs at the newly-formed Radio 1.
Next: The '80s, '90s and fond farewell...
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