Top of the Pops had the real X factor | Miranda Sawyer
The cursory coverage of the Mercurys on TV left me pining for a new weekly pop programmeAfter spending my summer in rural France, where popular music is provided by cover bands called Lithium playing in village squares for eight hours straight (audience favourites? Muse and oom-pah), it was strange to return to the in-yer-face, hyperactive, now-now-now world of UK pop. I've had an exceptionally musical week: Radio 2's Radcliffe and Maconie on Monday, the Mercury awards on Tuesday and a "whither ...
Guardian Music — The cursory coverage of the Mercurys on TV left me pining for a new weekly pop programmeAfter spending my summer in rural France, where popular music is provided by cover... more info