A set of rare Top of the Pops recordings of some of the biggest stars from the glam rock era have been uncovered.

The BBC did not keep the majority of episodes from the early days of the TV chart show, which launched in 1964.

There are only four episodes left from the 1960s and it was not until 1977 that the BBC began to keep the show in its archives - meaning there is very little evidence of Top of the Pops from its colourful heyday.

Now eight audio cassette tapes from 1974, featuring the likes of Slade and the Bay City Rollers, have been found thanks to a fan who contacted the new TOTP2 website.

Click here to listen to the clips

Although they were recorded by the rather crude method of placing a tape recorder in front of the television, as was common in the days before video recorders, the quality is surprisingly clear.

The tapes also feature DJs from the time introducing the acts including Sir Jimmy Savile and Tony Blackburn.

Six clips from the show can be downloaded from the website, including performances from Bryan Ferry, Wizard and Suzi Quatro.

The site's content producer Edward Russell is excited about the find.

"It is sad that we don't have any recordings from the early days of Top of the Pops, but at the time people didn't place so much value on nostalgia and the tapes were expensive to reuse.

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"I'm sure there are lots of people out there that have similar recordings, who perhaps don't know that the BBC wiped its tapes, and we would love to hear from them.

"There were also a few video recorders around, although they were very expensive, so there may even be visual recordings around somewhere."

Mr Russell also believes there could be television stations outside the UK that have copies of episodes that were broadcast at the time.

Top of the Pops 2 is a sister show to the main chart rundown and trawls the archives to play both popular and long-forgotten performances.