Lost video tapes of Top of the Pops come to light 50 years after they were binned by the BBC including performances from Elvis Presley and Status Quo
- A man from Wales used a Sony CV-2000 to record performances between 1971 and 1976
- Omega Auctions in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, are selling the collection
- Auction will take place on September 8 and is expected to fetch £5,000-£8,000
Lost video tapes of Top of the Pops including performances by Elvis Presley and Status Quo have resurfaced 50 years after they were binned by the BBC.
Stars such as Elton John, Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart and Status Quo all feature among the 150 show performances in the footage which dates back to the early 1970s.
The BBC used to have a policy of recording over old film to save money which resulted in most of the 1976 episodes of the show being wiped.
Lost video tapes of Top of the Pops including performances by Elvis and Status Quo have resurfaced 50 years after they were binned by the BBC
The BBC used to have a policy of recording over old film to save money which resulted in most of the 1976 episodes of the show being wiped but a fan of the show in Wales recorded the show every week using one of the first video cassette recorders
It was feared that the videos that have now come to light had also been lost forever.
However, a fan of the show in Wales recorded the show every week using one of the first video cassette recorders, a Sony CV-2000 tape recorder.
He was able to compile a complete set of performances across 34 tapes which even the BBC doesn’t have and they were purchased a few years ago by a company specialising in the transfer of old recordings.
Omega Auctions in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, are set to auction the collection and expect to fetch between £5,000 and £8,000.
A spokesman for Omega Auctions said: ‘The tapes are now owed by an archive which specialises in the transfer and restoration of old recordings both visual and audio.
Stars such as Elton John, Elvis Presley (pictured), Rod Stewart and Status Quo all feature among the 150 show performances in the footage which dates back to the early 1970s
Status Quo are another famous musical act that appears in the homemade video recordings (Pictured: Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi of Statues Quo)
‘They acquired the tapes and have gone to great lengths to transfer them to digital.
‘The winning bidder will receive the tapes plus a digital DVD backup of the tapes.
‘There is a big market for TOTP recordings as it was such an important programme in its day.
‘There are also collectors of specific artists that would have appeared on the show such as Slade and TRex.’
The auction, which will take place on September 8, will also include a DVD back up version of the original footage.
Other acts included in the tapes include TRex, Slade, Sweet, 10cc, Roxy Music and Mungo Jerry.
The tapes are being sold without copyright so they will not be able to reproduce them.
A performance by Elton John on the show was also recorded by the man from Wales using a Sony CV-2000 tape recorder
Top of the Pops welcomed performances from many influential musical acts, including The Beatles (pictured on the show in 1966)