The Old Grey Whistle Test
Late Night Line-Up's coverage of progressive rock
outfits, alongside the expected jazz and classical ensembles, had
proved so popular that a spin-off appeared in 1968: Colour Me
Pop, giving bands such as Frank Zappa and The Mothers of
Invention, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and The Small Faces the
chance to play full live sets.
This was followed in 1970 by Disco 2, similar in
approach but this time based around a magazine format, featuring
reports on and performances by several bands.
Finally came The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1971. The
new show was essentially a compilation of performances by several
bands with the odd feature thrown in for good measure. Most of the
artists performed live in the studio, but some overseas-based or
otherwise unavailable acts were represented either by promotional
films or collections of archive clips compiled by Philip Jenkinson,
which for some reason tended to feature a disturbingly high
concentration of animated mice driving cars!
Early shows were broadcast from a continuity studio designed
not to hold musical icons-in-the-making but one man and a desk.
The original budget for the show was a miserly £500.
"The old grey whistle test" was originally a phrase
coined by New York songwriters, and was basically their litmus
test when composing. The songwriters would play new songs to the
doorman of their building, and if the doorman could whistle the
tune, the song had passed the test.
In 1976 something happened that could easily have put paid to
the program's credibility for good - punk rock. Instead, the show
moved with the times admirably, recognising that it was the
perfect vehicle for the energetic, undisciplined live performances
of the likes of The Ramones, XTC and The Damned.
It later embraced reggae, ska, post-punk and early indie, and
continued to present the same unexpected combinations of acts (one
early 1980s show saw Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark appear
alongside ZZ Top) right through to 1986, by which time its name
had been truncated to Whistle Test.
The show encompassed many styles that often seemed
diametrically opposed, but from a historical perspective stands as
a great collection of non-mainstream sounds from an unfairly
neglected decade or so in music.
As if to underline this, the program's longstanding theme tune
- the harmonica-driven blues Stone Fox Chase by Area Code
615 - seemed to fit perfectly alongside whatever music it chose to
champion. To this day, The Old Grey Whistle Test is
semi-fondly remembered as a show that was never more than five
minutes away from a very hairy man playing a very lengthy guitar
solo.
Coincidentally, it was actually "Whispering Bob"
Harris's policeman dad who arrested PJ Proby when he split his
trousers onstage at the Northampton ABC.
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