The Old Grey Whistle Test

guitars4you

stufisher said:

... and this poignant one, given today's sad, sad news

Shows what great songs you kind of forget about that a) you can add to your play list and b) would be great to cover for many bands

euan

I’m mostly too young for the original showing but I remember watching the repeats years later on BBC2 with my Dad. 

The SAHB, Talking Heads and Dr Feelgood ones are always a stand out for me 

CaseOfAce

Billy Joel / 1978 - killer band, killer tunes and unbelievable talent and charisma from Joel at his absolute peak.

Billy Joel - Live in London (March 13, 1978) - Complete Show - YouTube

jonnyburgo

PiL doing careering was terrifying for a young jonnyburgo

freakboy1610

I first witnessed my hero Robyn Hitchcock on Whistle Test in 1985. Changed my life and I still go and see him at every opportunity 37 years later.

Vintage65

Litterick said:

Top performance.

Vintage65

It's on the list, but they definitely caught lightening in a bottle here..

boogieman

idiotwindow said:

There is an Old Grey Whistle Test "special" from 1977 featuring a full live set by Emmylou Harris and her Hot Band which is arguably one of her best performances. Filmed around the time of the Luxury Liner album it has IMO the definitive band line-up and her voice is at its strongest during this period. The performances of Pancho & Lefty and Tulsa Queen are essentially perfect.

There was a decent, vaguely DVD-ish quality, copy on Youtube at one time but I think it has been taken down and there is only a very subpar video of the performance available at the moment.

@idiotwindow ;That was shown on BBC4 fairly recently so it might be still on iplayer? 

No Focus? I always thought their performance was one of the seminal OGWT performances, it broke them in the U.K. and they sold thousands of copies of Moving Waves on the back of it. Legend has it the record company had to get the record pressing plant running 24/7 just on that one album for a week to keep up with demand. 

Also where is Edgar Winter doing Frankenstein? It’s a phenomenal performance. 

TTony

stufisher said:

 just wondered what tFB would regard as the best (most entertaining/favourite/unusual/  10 performances on TOGWT

All of the above, and a lot more besides.

I've got the 3 OGWT DVDs (yes, old school hard copy media!) and there's not really a filler track on any of them.

boogieman

TTony said:

stufisher said:

 just wondered what tFB would regard as the best (most entertaining/favourite/unusual/  10 performances on TOGWT

All of the above, and a lot more besides.

I've got the 3 OGWT DVDs (yes, old school hard copy media!) and there's not really a filler track on any of them.

I’ve got it too. Some great moments on there. My favourite is Whispering Bob smirking at the camera and pronouncing The New York Dolls “mock rock”. 

Grangousier

freakboy1610 said:

I first witnessed my hero Robyn Hitchcock on Whistle Test in 1985. 

Me too! When I watched that this morning I said "...And DISINTEGRATES!" out loud. Luckily, there was no one around.

There's more Whistle Test extant than the BBC would like us to think - someone uploaded a lot of complete episodes (including the pre-show count-down clock) a couple of years ago. Mostly from the early seventies, so it featured a huge quantity of now-forgotten solo albums from the likes of John Entwistle and Chris Squire. And other people who aren't bass players. But the BBC only broadcast a couple of hours'-worth of clips. Either a rights thing or an incredibly-lazy-researcher thing. 

(Remember that special they did of Rock's Greatest Riffs or something like that, where it was clear that whoever was in charge had no idea what a riff is, and seemed to think it was just any old guitar twiddly bit.)

Lodious

Meatloafs appearence was pretty iconic. I'm not sure the UK knew what to make of it.

Grangousier

And I've just stumbled across this - Adam and the Ants doing Ants Invasion and Killer in the Home from the Kings of the Wild Frontier album. With a Youngish Annie Nightingale intro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyzNWovliXk

idiotwindow

boogieman said:

idiotwindow said:

There is an Old Grey Whistle Test "special" from 1977 featuring a full live set by Emmylou Harris and her Hot Band which is arguably one of her best performances. Filmed around the time of the Luxury Liner album it has IMO the definitive band line-up and her voice is at its strongest during this period. The performances of Pancho & Lefty and Tulsa Queen are essentially perfect.

There was a decent, vaguely DVD-ish quality, copy on Youtube at one time but I think it has been taken down and there is only a very subpar video of the performance available at the moment.

@idiotwindow ;;That was shown on BBC4 fairly recently so it might be still on iplayer? 

Thanks. Sadly not on iPlayer. Must be a rights thing. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000vsgf

Philly_Q

I'm not saying it's necessarily the best performance ever on OGWT, but it's the first one which sprang to mind and it's great.

Litterick

Nitefly

Not the least of its charms was the theme tune on harmonica - "Stone Fox Chase" possibly?  Can't remember who did it.

scrumhalf

Nitefly said:

Not the least of its charms was the theme tune on harmonica - "Stone Fox Chase" possibly?  Can't remember who did it.

Area Code 615.

Nine Below Zero did a storming version of it when they were on OGWT. 

TTony

boogieman said:

TTony said:

stufisher said:

 just wondered what tFB would regard as the best (most entertaining/favourite/unusual/  10 performances on TOGWT

All of the above, and a lot more besides.

I've got the 3 OGWT DVDs (yes, old school hard copy media!) and there's not really a filler track on any of them.

I’ve got it too. Some great moments on there. My favourite is Whispering Bob smirking at the camera and pronouncing The New York Dolls “mock rock”. 

There are 3 separate DVDs @boogieman - if you've only got the one, hunt out the other two for some more great performances.

stufisher

Been watching a variety of TOGWT clips and vids and found this one (which I'd forgotten about) ... a veritable masterclass of how to get a huge range of sounds out of a guitar without using effects.

A salient reminder that I need to practice differently  .... and keep dreaming obviously