For a brief period they had a slot for albums, with 2 or 3 tracks getting an airing. uncertain how long it ran, but I definitely recall, with pleasure, Full House/Fairport Convention and the Groundhogs doing Split and Cherry Red. Tony T.S. McPhee, eh. Still gigging....

...read about this in Record Collector once, apparently hardly any of that brief slot survives anymore, save for performances of The Faces and Badfinger.

I remember the Britpop days probably the most vividly as I watched TOTP weekly at that point.

I also watch the re-runs of TOTP2 now and again- The Sweet's high-camp run-through of 'Blockbuster' was one of the most fun performances I saw from the show.

As for worst, there was some awful 80s novelty hit with two blokes doing a rap version of Madonna's 'Holiday' which has probably scarred me for life. What about that 'comedy' version of 'You're The One That I Want?' That was abysmal too. Also, wasn't it All About Eve who had the backing track mishap?

Top of the Pops + Chris Eubank = comedy. The classic moment itself is one minute in to the clip:

Might as well enjoy "Maggie May" with John Peel again:

Rob Davis wasn't Mud's bass player; he was the guitar player. The band with the bass player with the lipstick and flouncy frock was the Sweet. (These things are important. Let's try to get them right, hmm?)

Regardless of bass or rhythm..... (I'm not going to gild his lily as lead guitar - I remember the wibbly wobbly solos)

The Best

Best
I have fond memories of my Dad singing 'Grandad,Grandad you're ugly" gleefully mimicking Clive Dunn ,so that is defo on the best.

Yoko knitting wearing a blindfold while John sings "Instant Karma"

Robert Wyatt wheelchairing through "I'm a Believer"

John Peel's bashful mandolin miming on Maggie May.

Marmalade going all druggy with "Reflections" and "My Little One"

Mott doing "All The Young Dudes"

Thunderclap Newman's magical "Something in The Air"

Peter Green's vocals on "Man Of The World"

Four Tops and those amazing dance routines

Dave and Ansell Collins

hey it was all good.

I think you'll find that the Rollers with the, er, unusually youthful tastes were Derek and their manager Tam Paton, not Gid Auld Woody (who was the bass player, I think).

The Arthur Mullard/Hylda Baker clip introduced on "GET IT TOGETHER" by Basil Brush's Mate Roy North.
Didn't GET IT TOGETHER take over from LIFT OFF with AYSHEA ?

Before Thick As A Brick and the prog road to ridicule, Jethro Tull appeared on TOTP a couple of times and seemed to me to be dangerous, clever and musically superior. Check out The Witch's Promise:

Favourite things

Pan's People - in general but specifically for their often over-literal interpretation of song lyrics in their routine. Their performance to Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Get Down" was memorable - dogs were involved I think. Also, they "punked up" for their routine to a Pistols single - hilarious.

Alice Cooper - his "Schools Out" performance on TOTP (all in black with drippy black makeup and waving a sword about) made a deep and disturbing impression on this young boy. Not sure if this is a favourite thing or a most hated thing - still scares me a bit.

Worst Things

Has to be that bloke (Rupert Holmes maybe) who performed the horrible "Pina Colada Song" on TOTP with his nasty (tidy) beard and big glasses and air guitaring. Unpleasant.

...and wishing to avoid further assaults from pedants I have edited my original post for slanderous mistakes...

Pan's People stripping down from air hostess outfits to their bikinis while dancing to the black-and-white-minstrel sounds of "Barbados" by Typically Tropical.

At the time I thought it was ace (I was only 8!); in retrospect it must have been cringe-inducing...