The Old Grey Whistle Test
1 9 7 1 - 1 9 8 6 (UK)
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.
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, recognizing 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 Maneuvers
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.
TRIVIA NOTES
"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.
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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