Top 10 Times Artists Were DRUNK on Top of the Pops

#10: “We Have a Dream”

The Scottish World Cup Squad In 1982, Scotland advanced to the group stage of the World Cup for the third tournament in a row. But would the third time be the charm? Would the Scots finally make it out of the group stages and be in with a chance of winning the entire competition? To try and embolden the Tartan Army, a novelty single was released starring the players themselves, getting all the way to number 5 in the charts and earning an appearance on “Top of the Pops”. Out to prove some stereotypes true, the footballers at the back were supposedly so drunk that they were barely able to stand. Thank god the song already called for them to sway listlessly from side-to-side.

#9: “Maggie May”

Rod Stewart & The Faces He’s appeared many times on “Top of the Pops”, but in this performance of his classic hit “Maggie May”, Rod Stewart was joined not only by Faces as his long-suffering backing band, but also DJ and known wrong’un John Peel miming on the mandolin. Over the years, Faces would begin to resent being seen only as Stewart’s backing band, a confusion that came about because of Stewart’s ongoing solo career. As early as this clip from 1971, people think you can see the tensions, and that the Faces members behind him are bored and resentful. People think that this led them to drinking during the show. We don’t know for sure, but wouldn’t be surprised. The group broke up four years later.

#8: “Reward”

The Teardrop Explodes In 1981, “Reward” made it all the way to number 6 in the charts, but frontman Julian Cope later revealed something nobody had guessed: that he’d dropped psychedelics before appearing on stage. He said in his autobiography in 1994, years after the band had split and Cope had gone solo, that he was high on stage. To be fair, he looks like he’s having more fun than most other acts who have appeared on “Top of the Pops”, so perhaps that was the reason why. But still, watching now and even knowing what Cope wrote, you can’t tell that anything is amiss.

#7: “I Am a Cider Drinker”

The Wurzels To be fair, if the Wurzels WEREN’T drunk while performing this song, what was the point of it? It was claimed in a 2007 book about the history of “Top of the Pops” that the band brought five gallons of cider to line their stomachs before this performance of the novelty classic. Supposedly, they were also sharing the cider around, and some people got so drunk after the show that someone was picked up by the fuzz and left in the cells overnight to dry out. But definitely don’t get drunk and try to operate a combine harvester, no matter how much fun the Wurzels make it sound.

#6: “Hey You”

The Quireboys Another group who look to be having far too much fun to be on “Top of the Pops” was the Quireboys, appearing on this 1990 edition to play “Hey You” and swaying all over the place. They kicked off the show and Spike did a spectacular job, but he quite clearly isn’t stone-cold sober, and though he starts off involved, by the end of the song he’s looking a bit out of it. Still, it’s far from a bad performance, covered in pyrotechnics – even though the BBC, in classic fashion, cut them off before they were quite finished, such are the perils of miming.

#5: “Bother”

Stone Sour Back in 2003, Stone Sour was in the charts but famous frontman Corey Taylor got a bad case of stage fright before going on to perform the single “Bother” on “Top of the Pops”. Years later, and he’s talked about this in an interview with Kerrang!, one of the UK’s top music magazines. He said that before going on, he needed some Dutch courage and so had to, quote, “slam Jack and Cokes”. Apparently it was something about being on TV; we can imagine how it’s nerve-wracking to have to perform without a huge group like Slipknot behind him, and just the string section.

#4: “Roll With It”

Oasis We’re sure that none of the members of Oasis were EVER sober during pretty much any performance they’ve ever done, but we know for a fact that they’d been boozing before this iconic “Top of the Pops” moment. “Roll With It” was in the charts and, though it eventually lost the Battle of Britpop, it was still a massive hit and they appeared to play it on the BBC. Liam and Noel famously switched places to see if anybody in the studio would notice, which they didn’t, so Noel got to play the frontman wearing a pair of sunglasses and crooning into the microphone with Liam’s trademark tambourine.

#3: The Whole 1990s

Robbie Williams Did you remember that the original link to Oasis’s 1995 “Roll With It” performance was done by Robbie Williams? And did you know that on top of that, he’d been hanging out with the band and drinking with them, following them to the “Top of the Pops” studio and gatecrashing the recording? This is just one of many times Williams was certainly under the influence during a performance, since he’s spoken extensively about how substance misuse almost killed him. Throughout the 90s and early 2000s he was struggling with these issues because of the strain of being in Take That. He eventually left the group in 1995.

#2: “Marguerita Time”

Status Quo They’ve appeared on “Top of the Pops” more times than any other group, which is hardly surprising given their longevity. But one Status Quo performance stands out: “Marguerita Time” in 1984. Memorably, guitarist Rick Pariftt collapsed onto the drum kit at the end of the song. He later confessed that the entire thing was staged – well, partly. While it was planned that he’d fall onto the drums, perhaps because miming on “Top of the Pops” was so mind-numbing, he also admitted that he was drunk as well, even if he wasn’t so drunk it was a genuine fall. Apparently, the whole band was regularly drunk on “Top of the Pops”.

#1: “Fairytale of New York”

The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl The most legendary drunken “Top of the Pops” performance of all time is, undoubtedly, the Pogues showing up to perform this Christmas classic in 1987. Thank god Shane MacGowan wasn’t actually singing, because he wouldn’t have been able to get any of the words out; he could barely even mime. Considering the point of the song is that he’s a down-and-out drunk, though, it was very fitting to have the performance go this way, and it certainly didn’t hurt the Pogues’ image or the outrageous popularity of the song. No wonder it’s now a staple in December; it wouldn’t be Christmas without it. Let us know in the comments which drunken moments we missed!