The very first episode was show at 6:36pm on New Years Day in 1964. The pilot episode was titled, "The Teen & Twenty Record Club". Shot in an old church in Didsbury in Manchester no recordings were made.
The first Top Of The Pops had the following acts miming live in the studio: Dusty Springfield ('I Only Want To Be With You'); the Rolling Stones ('I Wanna Be Your Man'); the Dave Clark Five ('Glad All Over'); the Hollies ('Stay') and the Swinging Blue Jeans ('Hippy Hippy Shake'). On film, Cliff Richard and the Shadows performed 'Don't Talk To Him'; Freddie & the Dreamers ('You Were Made For Me'). The studio audience were shown dancing to The Beatles 'She Loves You' and Gene Pitney's '24 Hours From Tulsa'.