The Old Grey Whistle Test

Average customer rating:

Tedious, self centred, inane commentary. OTHERWISE GOOD!

Neatly highlights the differences between pre- and post-punk

Best of three

The best so far

Where Oh Where

The Old Grey Whistle Test - Vol. 3 [1971]
Starring: David Bowie , Roger Daltry , Chris Rea , The Jam , and Simple Minds
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Concerts | Music DVDs | Categories | DVD | Video
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The Old Grey Whistle Test 2 [1971]

The Old Grey Whistle Test -- Two Disc Set [1971]

The Tube - Series 1 (2 Disc Set) [1983]

Later With Jools Holland - Later - Giants [1992]

Later With Jools Holland - Hootenanny [1992]

ASIN: B000198ACA
Release Date: 2004-02-16

Amazon.co.uk Review

Playing all 31 tracks on The Old Grey Whistle Test Volume 3 will make some viewers believe the producers are now beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel; others will think that finally they're getting around to the good stuff. Given that the series somehow managed to take an enormous range of music on board while at the same time seeming entirely consistent (surely the secret of its success), there's evidence for both points of view. The case for the prosecution might cite Janis Ian (her melancholic self-obsession now seems indulgent to the point of prissiness), Al Stewart ("Year of the Cat" is simply a dreary song) or Orange Juice (did they ever really mean anything much to anyone?). The case for the defence, however, is pretty strong overall, with highlights such as Bowie doing "Oh You Pretty Things", Johnny Winter covering "Jumping Jack Flash" as if he was its rightful owner, and Kings BB and Freddie bringing it all back home with two excellent performances.

There's something for everyone along the way. Proggers get Discipline-era King Crimson, which saw Adrian Belew saving the band from disappearing up its own fundament; folkies get an unplugged Fairport Convention; punks get John Cooper Clarke and the Jam; somebody or other gets the Bangles. However, if there's one track that justifies the existence of this disc all by itself, it has to be "In a Hole" from the Jesus and Mary Chain, whose glorious nihilism made the Pistols seem like a folk group.

On the DVD: The Old Grey Whistle Test Volume 3 DVD is presented in old-telly 4:3 ratio and offers numerous extras, including contributor profiles and links, a commentary and an artists' gallery. --Roger Thomas

Customer Reviews:

Tedious, self centred, inane commentary. OTHERWISE GOOD!.......2005-07-30

The only bad thing about the grey whistle tests are the pronounced opinions by the nonentity commentary team - they constantly tell us what "good" music is (which seems to be West Coast American singer-songwriters. Good music? Roll over Beethoven, and tell Shostakovich the news!) Apart from concentrating on personal anecdotes such as "in 1968 I was living in a dump in London when I heard Janis Ian" - topics about as interesting as an accountant's tea-total picnic - they then decide to make fun of REAL MUSIC with commentary over:
Supertramp < (where they feebly mock the most musically intelligent, melodic and structurally interesting act in the whole disc - "DREAMER" a sort of Beach Boys-at-their-best composition but with the power of ROCK dynamics - while heaping praise on trite, banal, effete "poetic" tuneless ramblings by the West Coast American singer/songwriters on the DVD - "the grass is always greener?")
King Crimson

Neatly highlights the differences between pre- and post-punk.......2004-10-03

Under Bob Harris and Mile Appleton, the OGWT wasn't too dissimilar to 'Unplugged'. Your best chance of getting on the show came if you played an acoustic guitar and sang. Hence Richard and Linda Thompson, John Martyn (brilliant here with Danny Thompson on acoustic bass), Fairport Convention, Janis Ian (fantastic voice) and Lindisfarne. If you were basically acoustic but had expanded to a band, that was OK -- hence Al Stewart and Stealers Wheel. If you played grand piano, well the BBC workmen could be persuaded to wheel one into the tiny OGWT studio, and this enabled Jackson Browne to play a great version of 'Jamaica Say You Will' and Daivd Bowie to pretend to play to 'Oh You Pretty Things'.

If you were irrevocably electric, such as Steppenwolf or Robin Trower, your chances of getting on the OGWT seemed less good, but here both bands put in great performances.

But perhaps the highlight of the whole DVD is the exception: Humble Pie's soul-laden 'Black Coffee'. As other reviewers have commented, Steve Marriott had a good claim to be Britain's greatest white soul singer.

The best interviews are given by Rick Wakeman and Roger Daltrey. As Neil Young has also pointed out, Daltrey suggests that the CD took away some of our enjoyment of albums: the sound wasn't as good as vinyl, and cover art seemed to be destroyed at a stroke.

I was less taken by some of the post-CD performances, such as that of the Bangles. If this is the best girl band the OGWT ever filmed, I'll eat my hat. (Didn't the 70s OGWT once show Joan Jett and the Runaways?) The King Crimson song is interesting -- I'd never seen the 80s line-up before -- but it's a shame that drummer Bill Bruford was so poorly illuminated.

Will there be a DVD 4 of the OGWT? I notice that only DVD 1 has been released in the USA. We'll just have to hope that the BBC respond to the fans' demand for some of the animated videos that the OGWT production team used -- such as for Steve Miller's 'Swingtown', Led Zep's 'Trampled Underfoot' and Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells'.

Best of three.......2004-07-01

Having been somewhat disappointed with vols. 1 & 2 it was a case of having to get number three just to complete the set but I'm glad that I did.
It is always going to be difficult trying to please everybody and the previous OGWT DVD outings seemed to try too hard to cater for far too many differing tastes (though it must be said that my memories of the programme tells me that they always managed this successfully in the past). This meant that they became on the whole, extremely mediocre affairs and I found myself constantly skipping from track to track and only occassionally stopping to enjoy the far too intermittent classic performances or novel obscurities of yesteryear.
However I can sit and watch volume 3 from start to finish and apart from the occassional hiccup, enjoy the bulk of it.
The trouble is, when you've got so much good stuff it's difficult to detirmine the highlights but personal favourites include Lindisfarne, Roger Daltry, David Bowie, Faiport Convention etc etc. the list goes on and on but top of the list has to be Janis Ian's "At Seventeen". To see and hear the lady sing it live still brings a tear to the eye now as it did when I caught the original broadcast all those years ago.
As for the verbal interludes, a special mention has to go out to Rick Wakeman. He and his anecdotes have always been very entertaining and he doesn't fail to have you warm to him here. Why he hasn't been snapped up to present his own show (Live at Jongluers excepted) I will never know.
I think I read somewhere that this was to be the last of the DVD's to come from the OGWT stables which will be a shame as I think they've managed to get it just right on the third attempt and it would be interesting to see what they could achieve here on.

The best so far.......2004-05-25

Arguably the best of the three OGWT compilations so far, and rumoured to be the last for a while, there is plenty here to keep music fans happy until next time. Look out for great performances from Al Stewart and Fairport Convention; R 'n' B fans will love the two Kings (Benny and BB); while tracks from The Jam, David Bowie, Steppenwolf and the Jesus and Mary Chain remind us that the show's strength was in its diversity and the courage of the producers to give us something new and different. As usual, the anecdotes and commentary are both informative and amusing, ensuring that this collection will keep Whistle Test fans amused and entertained for years to come.

Where Oh Where.......2004-05-03

is Jim Croce's item? And the fantastic animations that accompanied some music rather than the live footage of bands (especially Led Zep IIRC)?
I'd love to see some of those included in future releases.

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