BBC four are currently providing a very rich tapestry of programming on the subject, and I've watched with absolute fascination a half hour of Juke Box Jury, a 1968 edition of Top of the Pops, The Old Grey Whistle test, The Tube, Ready Steady Go, two hour long programmes featuring two classic albums - A day at the Races and Rumours, and a really interesting and educational analysis of how pop songs are made and how they work, explained by composers, writers, arrangers, and musicians alike. 

So much has been covered in so little time, from Hip Hop to the Beatles, from Rianna to Queen, the beat still continuing even now as I write, with a very rare screening of the 1997 pop film "Mojo".

Totally absorbing, nostalgic, amazing, enchanting and in many ways priceless, as seldom does anybody take the subject so seriously, and in such a well presented - and extremely fun kind of way.

What has become clear so far having watched nine hours of programming, is that sometimes even the musicians themselves look back on their work in awe, almost overwhelmed by what they have created - a special time and a very special place somehow contributing to a musical masterpiece that is somehow greater than the sum of all its parts and of all its contributors - just as the memories evoked in me are when ever I hear a particular song. One thing is definite. Fleetwood Mac, Queen and the Beatles will live a lot longer than I will.

Just finally, (I have to get back to my TV)  - Although I might be the only person in the world watching these programmes every evening (According to statistics we're all spending much more time on our computers), may I be so selfish as to ask BBC Four to keep on doing what they've done so very well, and 'til at least the end of January. It's such a gloomy month but in doing this you would really help to make it just that much brighter.

Thanks

Humbly Yours

A Pop Picker