TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

Produced by Mike Mansfield who was also responsible for two other shows broadcast on the 31st July, Roller Coaster (with The Bay City Rollers) and a Hollies special.

Superpop '76 was intended to be a summer replacement for Supersonic, but it probably led to pop overload that year with many of Mansfield's other projects shown by London Weekend, including specials with Marc Bolan, Sailor, The New Seekers, among others.

Intended as a twelve week series it was due to begin Saturday 12th June, but didn't actually debut until the end of July. Shot at the Wimbledon Theatre it was the familiar mix of established stars together with lots of new talent with little or no chance of success. The shows were not free to the public, with a £1 charge at the door, with a season ticket alternative available for £6.

Five hour-long shows were broadcast on Saturday mornings from 31st July to 28th August, with another three acquired for showing when slots became available in the schedules, or (according to a Billboard magazine report) co-inside with concert appearances in London by the artists involved, but in the end were not broadcast. The Kinks were expected to have their own show, probably plugging their Schoolboys In Disgrace LP.

Frankie Miller, speaking to Melody Maker in respect to another TV show of the time So It Goes, said "The other week we did a show with Mike Mansfield (Superpop) and I was told not to talk to the audience."

Broadcast from 11.30 am on Saturday the shows would be hosted by Capital Radio DJs, in the same way the Top Of The Pops was at the time hosted by Radio One DJs. It wasn't shown across the ITV network, but might have been shown by Grampian.

A letter to Melody Maker in September 1976 suggested that record companies were paying £5000 for an act to appear in the show. According to a January 1977 report in Music Week magazine London Weekend would no longer screen the show saying that the remaining shows were not suitable for company needs. The report also claims the show was produced with financial assistance from record companies. London's Time Out magazine published an article, Mike Mansfield - The Profits of Superpop, for which Mansfield issued a writ for libel.

SUPERPOP ’76

LWT

31st July 1976 - 28th August 1976