Get Our Extension
Select Wikiz in another Language
DeutschEspañolFrançaisItalianoNederlands
Settings
A
A
Text Highlights
Notes/Citations
Edit on Wikipedia

Share This Article

About Wikiz About Us Cookies Policy Terms & Services Privacy Policy Contact Contact us Enjoying Wikipedia Content? DONATE TO WIKIPEDIA
Enjoying Wikipedia Content? DONATE TO WIKIPEDIA

The Old Grey Whistle Test

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
The Old Grey Whistle Test
The Old Grey Whistle Test title card 1970s black sky variant.png
One of 1970s opening titles
Also known asWhistle Test (1983–88)
Created byRowan Ayers
Mike Appleton
Presented byRichard Williams
Ian Whitcomb
Bob Harris
Annie Nightingale
Andy Kershaw
David Hepworth
Mark Ellen
Richard Skinner
Ro Newton
Opening themeStone Fox Chase - Area Code 615 (1971-83)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerMike Appleton
Running time40–60 minutes
Production companyBBC Television
Release
Original networkBBC2 (1971–88)
BBC Four (One-off special, 2018)
Picture format576i (PAL)
Audio formatMono
Original release21 September 1971 (1971-09-21) –
23 February 2018 (2018-02-23)

The Old Grey Whistle Test (sometimes abbreviated to Whistle Test or OGWT) is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough[1] and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. It took over the BBC2 late-night slot from Disco 2, which ran between September 1970 and July 1971, while continuing to feature non-chart music. The original producer, involved in an executive capacity throughout[2] the show's entire history, was Michael Appleton.

According to presenter Bob Harris, the programme derived its name from a Tin Pan Alley phrase from years before. When they got the first pressing of a record they would play it to people they called the old greys – doormen in grey suits. Any song the doormen could remember and whistle, having heard it just once or twice, had passed the old grey whistle test.[3]

On 23 February 2018, a one-off live three-hour special of The Old Grey Whistle Test was broadcast on BBC Four, hosted by Harris to mark 30 years since the final episode aired.[4]

Discover more about The Old Grey Whistle Test related topics

Rowan Ayers

Rowan Ayers

Rowan Ayers was a British television producer and executive. He was best known as producer of BBC's Line-Up and Late Night Line-Up in the 1960s. He was the originator of BBCs influential late night rock music show The Old Grey Whistle Test and the long-running Points of View. He was also responsible for the BBC's Open Door. Born in Essex and educated at Dulwich College, Ayers served in the Royal Navy in the Second World War, reaching the rank of lieutenant and serving in the Battle of the Atlantic, and began his career as a journalist on Fleet Street as the television editor for Radio Times before moving to television. After several years with the BBC, where he had served as assistant head of presentation and run the BBC community programmes unit, in 1974 he moved to Australia where he joined the national Channel 9 network.

David Attenborough

David Attenborough

Sir David Frederick Attenborough is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural history documentary series forming the Life collection, a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth.

BBC Two

BBC Two

BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One.

Disco 2 (TV series)

Disco 2 (TV series)

Disco 2 was a BBC2 television music show that ran between January 1970 and July 1971. It was the successor to Colour Me Pop and the precursor of The Old Grey Whistle Test. The earliest programmes were billed as Line Up's Disco 2, the programme – like Colour Me Pop before it – originally being a spin-off of Late Night Line-Up.

Mike Appleton

Mike Appleton

Michael John Wilmot Appleton was a British television producer, best remembered as the producer of the BBC TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Bob Harris (radio presenter)

Bob Harris (radio presenter)

Robert Brinley Joseph Harris, popularly known as "Whispering Bob" Harris, is an English music presenter known for being a host of the BBC2 music programme The Old Grey Whistle Test, and as a co-founder of the listings magazine Time Out. He currently presents Bob Harris Country on Thursdays on BBC Radio 2 at 9 pm.

Tin Pan Alley

Tin Pan Alley

Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the Flower District of Manhattan; a plaque on the sidewalk on 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth commemorates it.

BBC Four

BBC Four

BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 and shows a wide variety of programmes including arts, documentaries, music, international film and drama, and current affairs. It is required by its licence to air at least 100 hours of new arts and music programmes, 110 hours of new factual programmes, and to premiere twenty foreign films each year. The channel broadcasts daily from 7:00 pm to 4:00 am, timesharing with CBeebies.

History

Launched on BBC2, the show focused on albums, rather than chart hits covered on BBC1 by Top of the Pops. It was originally produced in a studio at BBC Television Centre in west London known as "Pres B", which had been originally designed for shooting weather forecasts and in-vision continuity.[5][6] The studio was only 32 by 22 feet (10 m × 7 m).[5] Due to the lack of technology that accommodated live performances, bands mimed to tracks in early episodes.[6]

The original opening credits were played over a naked woman, painted in green, dancing to Santana's "Jingo". When Richard Williams was replaced by 'Whispering' Bob Harris, the series' opening titles theme was changed to the now more famous animation of a male figure made up of stars (known as the 'Star Kicker') dancing. The programme's title music, with its harmonica theme, was a track called "Stone Fox Chase" by a Nashville band, Area Code 615.

The first host was Richard Williams, features editor of Melody Maker, the music weekly. From 1972, the programme was presented by disc jockey Bob Harris (nicknamed "Whispering Bob Harris" because of his quiet voice and laid-back style). He later became notorious among the younger generation for distancing himself on air from Roxy Music's first performance on the show and calling the New York Dolls "mock rock"[7][8] and left OGWT in 1978.

In the programme's early days, before the advent of the music video, tracks which could not be performed live by musicians were accompanied by old film footage, edited especially for the programme, by film collection and archivist Philip Jenkinson.

After Harris's departure, Annie Nightingale took over as host. In December 1980, Nightingale presented the show in the immediate aftermath of the shooting of John Lennon (who had appeared on the show in 1975 also including two songs from A Band Called O). This particular episode consisted almost entirely of interviews with various people about Lennon's life and career.

Following the departure of Nightingale in 1982, Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Richard Skinner also took turns as presenters. In 1983, the programme was moved to a live mid-evening slot. The title was abridged to Whistle Test and the title credits and music were changed. Andy Kershaw joined the series as a presenter in 1984.[9] The same four presenters co-presented the BBC's television coverage of Live Aid in 1985.

The series was cancelled in early 1987 by Janet Street-Porter, who had been appointed head of Youth Programmes at the BBC.[10] The series ended with a live New Year's Eve special, hosted by Bob Harris, broadcast through to the early hours of New Year's Day 1988: material included "Hotel California" by The Eagles, live from 1977, and "Bat Out of Hell" by Meat Loaf.

Owing to technical issues during the show's early years, and the need to ensure performances were controlled, the bands often recorded the instrumental tracks the day before. The vocals were then performed live, "99 percent" of the time. After 1973, the show changed to an entirely live format.[11]

30th anniversary

On 23 February 2018 the BBC broadcast a special programme, hosted by Bob Harris, to mark the 30 years since the legendary series was last broadcast. This live studio show featured music, special guests and rare archive footage. It featured live performances from Kiki Dee, Peter Frampton, Wildwood Kin, Richard Thompson, Albert Lee and Robert Vincent.[12]

Harris chatted to Whistle Test alumni, including Gary Numan, Dave Stewart, Joan Armatrading, Ian Anderson, Toyah Willcox, Dennis Locorriere, Chris Difford and Kiki Dee, as well as fan Danny Baker.[12]

Discover more about History related topics

BBC Two

BBC Two

BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One.

BBC One

BBC One

BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship channel and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, primetime drama and entertainment, and live BBC Sport events.

London

London

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which since 1965 has largely comprised Greater London, which is governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.

Continuity (broadcasting)

Continuity (broadcasting)

In broadcasting, continuity or presentation is announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of the programme immediately following and trailers or descriptions of forthcoming programmes. Continuity can be spoken by an announcer or displayed in text over graphics. On television continuity generally coincides with a display of the broadcaster's logo or ident. Advertisements are generally not considered part of continuity because they are advertising another company.

Miming in instrumental performance

Miming in instrumental performance

Miming in instrumental performance or finger-synching is the act of musicians pretending to play their instruments in a live show, audiovisual recording or broadcast. Miming instrument playing is the musical instrument equivalent of lip-syncing in singing performances, the action of pretending to sing while a prerecorded track of the singing is sounding over a PA system or on a TV broadcast or in a movie. In some cases, instrumentalists will mime playing their instruments, but the singing will be live. In some cases, the instrumentalists are miming playing their instruments and the singers are lip-synching while a backing track plays. As with lip-synching, miming instrument playing has been criticized by some music industry professionals and it is a controversial practice.

Harmonica

Harmonica

The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and bass versions. A harmonica is played by using the mouth to direct air into or out of one holes along a mouthpiece. Behind each hole is a chamber containing at least one reed. The most common is the diatonic Richter-tuned with ten air passages and twenty reeds, often called the blues harp. A harmonica reed is a flat, elongated spring typically made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, which is secured at one end over a slot that serves as an airway. When the free end is made to vibrate by the player's air, it alternately blocks and unblocks the airway to produce sound.

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the state capital of and most populous city in Tennessee, and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the fourth most populous city in the southeastern U.S. Located on the Cumberland River, the city is the center of the Nashville metropolitan area, which is one of the fastest growing in the nation.

Area Code 615 (band)

Area Code 615 (band)

Area Code 615 was an American country rock band from Nashville, active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, taking their name from the telephone area code, which at the time covered all of Central and Eastern Tennessee. The band was made up of session musicians, recording only two albums before resuming normal session work. Several of the members were backing musicians for Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and Nashville Skyline albums plus recordings by Billy Swan and The Monkees.

Melody Maker

Melody Maker

Melody Maker was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born composer, publisher Lawrence Wright; the first editor was Edgar Jackson. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.

Bob Harris (radio presenter)

Bob Harris (radio presenter)

Robert Brinley Joseph Harris, popularly known as "Whispering Bob" Harris, is an English music presenter known for being a host of the BBC2 music programme The Old Grey Whistle Test, and as a co-founder of the listings magazine Time Out. He currently presents Bob Harris Country on Thursdays on BBC Radio 2 at 9 pm.

Music video

Music video

A music video, sometimes abbreviated to M/V, is a video of variable duration that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. These videos are typically shown on music television and on streaming video sites like YouTube, or more rarely shown theatrically. They can be commercially issued on home video, either as video albums or video singles.

Annie Nightingale

Annie Nightingale

Annie Avril Nightingale is an English radio and television broadcaster. She was the first female presenter on BBC Radio 1 in 1970, and is its longest-serving presenter.

Source: "The Old Grey Whistle Test", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, December 19th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Grey_Whistle_Test.

Enjoying Wikiz?

Enjoying Wikiz?

Get our FREE extension now!

Download Extension

Further Reading

BBC Radio 1

The Tube (TV series)

Andy Kershaw

Liz Kershaw

Bob Harris (radio presenter)

Live at the BBC (Richard & Linda Thompson album)

A Night at the Odeon – Hammersmith 1975
See also
  • Top Gear, a 1964–1975 BBC radio programme that focused on progressive music.
  • The Midnight Special, a 1972–1981 US television series of a similar format from the same time period.
  • Sounds of the 70s, a 1970s late night BBC radio programme which concentrated on albums rather than singles, and rock rather than pop.
  • Top of the Pops, a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006.
  • Later... with Jools Holland, a more recent BBC television series with a similar format.
References
  1. ^ "Sir David Attenborough: 'This awful summer? We've only ourselves to blame...'". The Independent. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  2. ^ Credits of the programme
  3. ^ Spencer Leigh, Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life, chapter 5 (Carmarthen: McNidder & Grace, 2015. ISBN 9780857160867).
  4. ^ UTTON, DOMINIC (22 February 2018). "Witness the revival of The Old Grey Whistle Test". Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b "TV Studio History". "TV Studio History". Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  6. ^ a b Hepworth, David (2016). Never a Dull Moment: 1971 - The Year That Rock Exploded. New York: Henry Holt and Company. pp. 207–208. ISBN 9781627793995.
  7. ^ Stevie Chick (13 June 2011). "The New York Dolls play 'mock rock' on British TV". The Guardian.
  8. ^ "Simon Price: There's no going back to the Old Grey Twilight Zone". The Independent. 21 August 2011. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  9. ^ Duerden, Nick (29 September 2012). "Andy Kershaw: The DJ who came back from the wars". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  10. ^ Kershaw, Andy (2012). No Off Switch. Virgin. p. 213. ISBN 978-0415892131.
  11. ^ a b "For One Night Only, The Old Grey Whistle Test - BBC Four". BBC. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
External links
Categories

The content of this page is based on the Wikipedia article written by contributors..
The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence & the media files are available under their respective licenses; additional terms may apply.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use & Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization & is not affiliated to WikiZ.com.