R2OK!

littlepieces · Joined: 10 Jan 2010 Posts: 1098 Location: Lowestoft

starts next Wed with Bob.I'm gonna give this a go should be interesting and will run for four months
_________________
I found out how you can hurt an insect.It's the bees knees

ColinB · Guest

I hope they show whole programmes - and maybe they'll show some of the original ones presented by Richard Williams. They were the best IMO.

The early OGWT shows were produced in the shoebox-sized "Pres B" studio up on the 3rd or 4th floor of television centre - a studio designed really for continuity pieces, the weather and stuff like that. Never for music shows! When you saw a wide shot of a band, that's because the 3 huge cameras were right against the rear wall on wide-angle lenses.

I lost interest when the show moved into "proper" studios on the ground floor of TVC. The atmosphere wasn't the same, somehow.

Good old days, eh? Smile

nod · Joined: 24 Dec 2006 Posts: 3558

PJ in Kent · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!

Didn't the show get its name from something said by a BBC porter or similar back in the day? "Old Grey Whistle" refering to Cockney slang for a specifically-coloured suit? (whistle & flute= suit. I was born in East London Wink

)

I remember hearing the story a long time ago but can't recall any of the details...
_________________
He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy!

ColinB · Guest

It originates from Tin Pan Alley (Denmark Street) in the days when songwriters and composers worked in their publishers' buildings. The doorman would get to hear lots of lyrics and melodies throughout the day so songwriters cottoned on to the fact that if he ended up whistling a given tune that he'd heard whilst opening and closing the door for people that they probably had a memorable song - if not a hit.

The doorman was often an "old grey" (due to his age) and the song was therefore subjected to the "whistle test".

I first learned that story when it was told in one of the very first editions of the OGWT by presenter Richard Williams.

PJ in Kent · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!

Thanks, Colin.
_________________
He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy!