Old Grey Whistle Test - was it really that good ?
Discussion
I know it is Sacrilege a to some to suggest it but was it really that good.
As a lad growing up in the 70s and interested in rock music I use to stay up to watch it - was it Tuesday/ Wednesday or Thursday nights -n can't recall ?
I can remember some parts of interest but not that much
Now parts of it pop up on BBC 4 music shows such as british rock that was on last night. Whilst that's another programme you could be led to believe that acts like Nick Lowe/ Dave someone(Lowes mate) and obscure bands were very influential and ground breaking. They just seemed dull as ditchwater
It just seems whenever they show some OGWT clips they seem so achingly dull flat and well a bit crap really.
As a lad growing up in the 70s and interested in rock music I use to stay up to watch it - was it Tuesday/ Wednesday or Thursday nights -n can't recall ?
I can remember some parts of interest but not that much
Now parts of it pop up on BBC 4 music shows such as british rock that was on last night. Whilst that's another programme you could be led to believe that acts like Nick Lowe/ Dave someone(Lowes mate) and obscure bands were very influential and ground breaking. They just seemed dull as ditchwater
It just seems whenever they show some OGWT clips they seem so achingly dull flat and well a bit crap really.
I'd have to agree with that second paragraph. Its merit was the chance to see and hear live performances by performers who had never made it to TOTP and whose records weren't being aired. Like pearls in oysters, some of them were terrific and memorable. Alas, most were not. I bought a CD of collected bits of OGWT; I've only played it once.
driverrob said:
I'd have to agree with that second paragraph. Its merit was the chance to see and hear live performances by performers who had never made it to TOTP and whose records weren't being aired. Like pearls in oysters, some of them were terrific and memorable. Alas, most were not. I bought a CD of collected bits of OGWT; I've only played it once.
Do you remember the cartoon videos they showed like really old black and white ones. My mate says I am imagining that part but I'm sure they did use them.From what I vaguely remember (and I was only a little kid at the time) it was not unlike Monty Python. 90% stuff that's just rubbish, but worth sticking out for the 10% that's amazingly good. I find that Later with Joolz Holland is kinda similar in this respect.
The thing that always stands out for me now though is the video quality, it almost looks HD despite the 1970s camera and video recording technology.
The thing that always stands out for me now though is the video quality, it almost looks HD despite the 1970s camera and video recording technology.
techiedave said:
Do you remember the cartoon videos they showed like really old black and white ones. My mate says I am imagining that part but I'm sure they did use them.
Certainly did. I remember too. Clapton's Willie and the Hand Jive was one.On the original question seminal or crap?
I'm going seminal. We were lucky it was there at all. There was nowhere else on TV where anything un-pop was played. Think of it as Top of the Pops for rock (and other stuff too) and without the over-enthusiastic audience. Any audience,
regards,
Jet
I also vaguely rememeber it going very poppy in the mid 80s. And it being on around Coronation Street Time on a Tuesday evening. I am 95% sure that it is where I first saw Whams Last Christmas video and it was presented by a bloke with glasses and a more serious looking guy. Possibly called Hepinstall or something. My mate totally refuters this and says I was watching a thing called The Roxy with David Jensen but I am sure it was OGWT.
I seem to recall originally it was whispering Rob Harris then Annie Nightingale.
I do have VERY fond memories of the Friday Rock show with Tommy Vance. I remember when I lived in caravan actually getting an aerial so I got better reception and listening to a totally live Dark Side Of The Moon as well as lots of Live performances including a great Whitesnake one.
I seem to recall originally it was whispering Rob Harris then Annie Nightingale.
I do have VERY fond memories of the Friday Rock show with Tommy Vance. I remember when I lived in caravan actually getting an aerial so I got better reception and listening to a totally live Dark Side Of The Moon as well as lots of Live performances including a great Whitesnake one.
techiedave said:
I also vaguely rememeber it going very poppy in the mid 80s. And it being on around Coronation Street Time on a Tuesday evening.
Could you possibly be confusing it with ORS (Oxford Roadshow)? That was on early evenings midweek.I've got the OGWT DVD, got some great performances on it.
Amused2death said:
Could you possibly be confusing it with ORS (Oxford Roadshow)? That was on early evenings midweek.
I've got the OGWT DVD, got some great performances on it.
No The guy above you nails it with his postI've got the OGWT DVD, got some great performances on it.
I do remember the oxford Roadshow - cant say I was a big fan
The Tube however for around a year was stunningly good. I lost interest when another female presenter came on it
techiedave said:
No The guy above you nails it with his post
I do remember the oxford Roadshow - cant say I was a big fan
The Tube however for around a year was stunningly good. I lost interest when another female presenter came on it
I'd forgotten the rebranding. Couldn't have worked very well. Things had moved on, we even had four (count them) telly channels.I do remember the oxford Roadshow - cant say I was a big fan
The Tube however for around a year was stunningly good. I lost interest when another female presenter came on it
The Tube took music TV into the '80s. Marvellous format. Had an audience but avoided the TOTP forced joviality. And was cool, very cool,
regards,
Jet
It really was that good in the early-mid '70's, but lost it's way a little with the advent of punk/new wave (IMO).
Some absolutely stand-out moments mapped my music taste to this day. SAHB performing tracks from Next, ELP and Brain Salad Surgery, Ry Cooder and Vigilante Man to name just three.
And the B&W cartoons. As someone else mentioned, Zep's Trampled Underfoot was unforgettable. It was uncanny (at the time) how all of the clips chosen synched perfectly with the music.
I'm also pretty sure they used to broadcast a special on New Years Eve, a little like Jools' Hootenanny. If it was OGWT, then Stillwater doing a live number was, IIRC, like Lynyrd Sknyrd's Freebird but turned up to 11 and then given a shot of nitrous.
Some absolutely stand-out moments mapped my music taste to this day. SAHB performing tracks from Next, ELP and Brain Salad Surgery, Ry Cooder and Vigilante Man to name just three.
And the B&W cartoons. As someone else mentioned, Zep's Trampled Underfoot was unforgettable. It was uncanny (at the time) how all of the clips chosen synched perfectly with the music.
I'm also pretty sure they used to broadcast a special on New Years Eve, a little like Jools' Hootenanny. If it was OGWT, then Stillwater doing a live number was, IIRC, like Lynyrd Sknyrd's Freebird but turned up to 11 and then given a shot of nitrous.
techiedave said:
I do have VERY fond memories of the Friday Rock show with Tommy Vance.
One year I got one of those 40 in 1 electronic kits as a Christmas present .There was an AM crystal radio circuit you could build - imagine that - you could dangle a long wire out of your bedroom window and hear radio with no batteries required! (Kids of today eh?
)That's when I discovered Tommy Vance. I think he also had a Thursday night show which I remember enjoying more.
Alan Beswick on Red Rose Radio was another stalwart listen with his phone ins.
As for the OGWT - I have mixed memories, and I've watched a few reruns recently, I guess it was a bit like The Tube, great if you liked the band, painful if you didn't.
It's kind of amazing that [url]Captain Beefheart|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq6fCOGyVJg[url] was doing this in 1974 - I think we got our first colour TV in 1976 - it was a Radio Rentals jobby.
Amazing that you can now watch stuff like this on a phone you carry in your hand.
TheExcession said:
yes:
One year I got one of those 40 in 1 electronic kits as a Christmas present .There was an AM crystal radio circuit you could build - imagine that - you could dangle a long wire out of your bedroom window and hear radio with no batteries required! (Kids of today eh? )
That's when I discovered Tommy Vance. I think he also had a Thursday night show which I remember enjoying more.
Alan Beswick on Red Rose Radio was another stalwart listen with his phone ins.
As for the OGWT - I have mixed memories, and I've watched a few reruns recently, I guess it was a bit like The Tube, great if you liked the band, painful if you didn't.
It's kind of amazing that [url]Captain Beefheart|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq6fCOGyVJg[url] was doing this in 1974 - I think we got our first colour TV in 1976 - it was a Radio Rentals jobby.
Amazing that you can now watch stuff like this on a phone you carry in your hand.
Weird, I just watched that vid and 1 of the Captain from a couple of years earlier and you just wouldn't rrcognise him as the same guy (apart from the voice) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tit5gHtVElsOne year I got one of those 40 in 1 electronic kits as a Christmas present .There was an AM crystal radio circuit you could build - imagine that - you could dangle a long wire out of your bedroom window and hear radio with no batteries required! (Kids of today eh?
)That's when I discovered Tommy Vance. I think he also had a Thursday night show which I remember enjoying more.
Alan Beswick on Red Rose Radio was another stalwart listen with his phone ins.
As for the OGWT - I have mixed memories, and I've watched a few reruns recently, I guess it was a bit like The Tube, great if you liked the band, painful if you didn't.
It's kind of amazing that [url]Captain Beefheart|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq6fCOGyVJg[url] was doing this in 1974 - I think we got our first colour TV in 1976 - it was a Radio Rentals jobby.
Amazing that you can now watch stuff like this on a phone you carry in your hand.
Flip Martian said:
Weird, I just watched that vid and 1 of the Captain from a couple of years earlier and you just wouldn't rrcognise him as the same guy (apart from the voice) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tit5gHtVEls
He's very Marmite - but I do really like his stuff, but then I also like the Arctic Monkeys, and The Levellers and The Pixies and Ian Anderson, and Toya and Nina Hagen and The Jesus Lizard and Big Black and Uncle Tupelo and The Vapors and The Stanglers .Don't like Led Zep though
Rarely watched it at the time as it seemed to mostly pander to the bands I felt were everything wrong with the music 'establishment'.
Now and then I'll see a clip of someone good and I'll realise I was a little general in my damnation, but equally there's a lot of the long haired, self-indulgence that I recall...
The Tube was good as was that series (name escapes me at the moment) with Peter Cook on a big screen introducing the bands (cruelly dismissively usually
), which was on late on a Saturday night.
M.
Now and then I'll see a clip of someone good and I'll realise I was a little general in my damnation, but equally there's a lot of the long haired, self-indulgence that I recall...
The Tube was good as was that series (name escapes me at the moment) with Peter Cook on a big screen introducing the bands (cruelly dismissively usually
), which was on late on a Saturday night.M.
Edited by marcosgt on Tuesday 31st May 16:47
techiedave said:
I do have VERY fond memories of the Friday Rock show with Tommy Vance.
https://youtu.be/lBnUVHMF8-g
techiedave said:
Whilst that's another programme you could be led to believe that acts like Nick Lowe/ Dave someone(Lowes mate) and obscure bands were very influential and ground breaking. They just seemed dull as ditchwater
Dave Edmunds - not [especially / at all] groundbreaking but also not dull as ditchwater - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT0cwGYwUzAThere were some awesome performances between the average stuff.
But then it was like it's Jools Holland of its day - I rarely get excited by that. Not quite a live performance and sometimes managing to worry about people looking good.
Back to OGWT, I bet some acts didn't get long to set up and get comfortable.
My favourites I can think of at the moment and seem good to me:
Wishbone Ash - particularly "Vas Dis" which I would have liked to see live
Lynnyrd Skynyrd - I think there's a "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Freebird" which was classic
Focus - completely barking, but loveable
Of course, citing just three may be proving they were just needles in the haystack?
But then it was like it's Jools Holland of its day - I rarely get excited by that. Not quite a live performance and sometimes managing to worry about people looking good.
Back to OGWT, I bet some acts didn't get long to set up and get comfortable.
My favourites I can think of at the moment and seem good to me:
Wishbone Ash - particularly "Vas Dis" which I would have liked to see live
Lynnyrd Skynyrd - I think there's a "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Freebird" which was classic
Focus - completely barking, but loveable
Of course, citing just three may be proving they were just needles in the haystack?
TheExcession said:
yes:
One year I got one of those 40 in 1 electronic kits as a Christmas present .There was an AM crystal radio circuit you could build - imagine that - you could dangle a long wire out of your bedroom window and hear radio with no batteries required! (Kids of today eh? )
That's when I discovered Tommy Vance. I think he also had a Thursday night show which I remember enjoying more.
Alan Beswick on Red Rose Radio was another stalwart listen with his phone ins.
As for the OGWT - I have mixed memories, and I've watched a few reruns recently, I guess it was a bit like The Tube, great if you liked the band, painful if you didn't.
It's kind of amazing that [url]Captain Beefheart|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq6fCOGyVJg[url] was doing this in 1974 - I think we got our first colour TV in 1976 - it was a Radio Rentals jobby.
Amazing that you can now watch stuff like this on a phone you carry in your hand.
Uncanny about Beswick I used to listen to him actually remember his pre talk show show. And my parents rented from Radio Rentals too !One year I got one of those 40 in 1 electronic kits as a Christmas present .There was an AM crystal radio circuit you could build - imagine that - you could dangle a long wire out of your bedroom window and hear radio with no batteries required! (Kids of today eh?
)That's when I discovered Tommy Vance. I think he also had a Thursday night show which I remember enjoying more.
Alan Beswick on Red Rose Radio was another stalwart listen with his phone ins.
As for the OGWT - I have mixed memories, and I've watched a few reruns recently, I guess it was a bit like The Tube, great if you liked the band, painful if you didn't.
It's kind of amazing that [url]Captain Beefheart|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq6fCOGyVJg[url] was doing this in 1974 - I think we got our first colour TV in 1976 - it was a Radio Rentals jobby.
Amazing that you can now watch stuff like this on a phone you carry in your hand.
TheExcession said:
yes:
One year I got one of those 40 in 1 electronic kits as a Christmas present .There was an AM crystal radio circuit you could build - imagine that - you could dangle a long wire out of your bedroom window and hear radio with no batteries required! (Kids of today eh? )
That's when I discovered Tommy Vance. I think he also had a Thursday night show which I remember enjoying more.
Going back a little further. (first colour TV in '69) I have good memories of the precursor of TOGWT namely Disco 2 very early 1970 with Tommy Vance and occasionally MIke Harding especially the programme with Rory Gallagher and Taste. Theme music was the intro riff of Moby Dick by Led Zep; Virtually nothing exists today of the original recordings but I found one of the Faces:One year I got one of those 40 in 1 electronic kits as a Christmas present .There was an AM crystal radio circuit you could build - imagine that - you could dangle a long wire out of your bedroom window and hear radio with no batteries required! (Kids of today eh?
)That's when I discovered Tommy Vance. I think he also had a Thursday night show which I remember enjoying more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BylhJ3qeSlE
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