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.
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. 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.
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
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.
OGWT had some great performances on there, Bruce Johnson doing Disney Girls springs to mind add to the fact video footage of music was in short supply back then unlike today with sites like Youtube.
Yes the programme did start taking a turn for the worse when punk/new wave came along and went downhill from there.Someone made a point of the American influence on there which to me was the best draw of the show as us bikers all loved the Eagles,Joe Walsh, Doobie's etc.
Who remembers the Geordie Scene with lots of Lindisfarne and the early days of the future LV in AC/DC? Or the camp bloke fronting a show called Supersonic?
Yes the programme did start taking a turn for the worse when punk/new wave came along and went downhill from there.Someone made a point of the American influence on there which to me was the best draw of the show as us bikers all loved the Eagles,Joe Walsh, Doobie's etc.
Who remembers the Geordie Scene with lots of Lindisfarne and the early days of the future LV in AC/DC? Or the camp bloke fronting a show called Supersonic?
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