Every week we take a look in the RTÉ Guide archives to check out the stories from years gone by. Once upon a time, the John Player Tops of the Town - aka the John Player Tops - was an unlikely staple of Irish life. For over thirty years, businesses and community groups all over Ireland competed to put on a massive variety show, featuring skits, songs and dance routines - and the final was broadcast every summer on RTÉ Television.
On this week 45 years ago, two finalists, Limerick Insurances and St Joseph's Youth Club in Strabane, made the cover of the RTÉ Guide and inside the magazine, writer Brendan Martin explained the phenomenon. "Tops of the Town was a clever idea that somebody in Players came up with in the early sixties," he wrote. "Having been invited to sponsor a local Tops of the Town-style competition in Waterford, Players decided to expand on the idea and launch a countrywide search for the best amateur show put on by the employees of business firms. However, the scope of the contest was soon expanded to take in youth clubs, small parish groups and other groups. In 1969, Players decided to have a national final to find the best show of its kind in the land. Semi-and quarter-finals were added to the contest in 1976 which is also the same year that RTE sat up and took notice. (Actually. they had been watching all the time, but only now decided to step in.)"
"Since then RTE viewers have enjoyed the final of the John Player Tops of the Town round about the end of May each year," Martin went on. "This year some 84 groups took part in the Tops of the Town competition which was held in 14 centres throughout the country. It is estimated that almost 10, 000 people were involved with the event. Proceeds from the entire competition are expected to exceed IR€50,000, all of which will go to charity. Reason enough to hold such a competition."
Martin pointed out that the whole endeavour might help worker-employee relations. "Players hoped that by sponsoring Tops of the Town they would be promoting social intercourse between the various business organisations and local groups. It was an attempt to break down the social barriers that can exist in an industrial situation. I suppose they thought a manager been playing the hind end of a donkey would become more approachable to wage-rise seeking employees and that employees singing a chorus of 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles' would become more amenable to an employer seeking a little extra goodwill."
The broadcasting of the competition benefited both it and RTÉ, Martin said. "Not only does the Tops of the Town supply RTE with a very popular show but RTE's involvement with the programme has done much to attract the public's attention to the competition. Nowadays when the regional heats are held in such places as Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford the venues are unable to cope with the demand for tickets. Gay Byrne introduces the final on Sunday which comes live from the Gaiety. Battling it out for the winning place will be two polished teams — one from Limerick Insurances and the other from St.Joseph's Youth Club, Strabane. Who will win? Nobody knows. But you can be sure they ll be watching in from Wicklow to Westport and from Dunmanway to Donegal..."
The John Player Tops ended in 1997, when Player pulled out as a sponsor after regulations around cigarette advertising changed.
