THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED

This week marks the end of a British television tradition as Top of the Pops shuffles off BBC-1 like an old horse being put out to pasture. But they are not being kind enough to actually put the thing out of its misery, oh no. Instead of a mercy killing, Top of the Pops heads for BBC-2 in a "revamp" that incorporates the worst of all worlds.

It was barely a year ago that Top of the Pops had a high profile "revamp for the 21st century" under the guidance of incoming producer Andi Peters (who allegedly earned a cool million for his "finger on the pulse" efforts). Such was the power of his revamp that it even got that all-important phrase "All new" stuck onto the title for a handful of episodes.

The basic trouble here is, by all accounts, that the television audience no longer exists for pop music. This is why MTV was such a flash in the pan that only people of a certain age can remember, I guess.

On the day the music died we can safely assume that Andi Peters was brought in for questioning.