(The Old Grey Whistle Test - Broadcast)
7 December 1983 - Assembly Rooms - Derby, UK
Tickets for this concert were free, John Peel announced the ticket giveaway on his show. It was a very wild gig, the crowd was very energetic and constantly shouting requests. It all ended in chaos (read further). After shushing the audience, "Pretty Girls Make Graves" was introduced with "A little quirk... a little quirk friends... pretty girls make!" During "Reel Around The Fountain", Morrissey gave one of the bead necklaces he was wearing to someone in the crowd. In "What Difference Does It Make?", he changed a line to "I think i can rely on me." At some point during "Miserable Lie", Morrissey was hit in the eye by a flower, dropped his microphone to the floor and left the stage. The band finished the song mostly as an instrumental. Morrissey came back on stage on time for the ending of "I need advice, I need advice", adding at the end "and so do you!" for the rowdy audience. He remained playful despite this, but Johnny Marr later said in interview that this was his most embarrassing moment. Actually in the 1985 programme for the Meat Is Murder tour, he said this concert was his 'greatest embarrassment'. Just before "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" which came next, Morrissey shushed the audience again and shouted "No! This!" In the song Morrissey changed a few lines, like "this night has opened my eyes and I will never see again", "The dream has gone, the crying is real" and "And I'm never happy and I'm never sad." "Hand In Glove" was introduced by a high pitched shout of "Hand In Glove!!!" During that song someone made it on stage and hugged Morrissey, making him miss a few lines. After "These Things Take Time", Morrissey just shouted "Goodbye! Stay handsome... goodbye..." and the band left.
They were soon welcomed back by a big collective cheer. They launched into "You've Got Everything Now" but it wasn't long before the stage became crowded with fans. Band members disappeared from view and Morrissey could barely sing his lines. He tried as best he could but made strangling noises as he was pulled left and right and tried not to get drowned in a sea of dancing fans. The stage got filled with as many fans as was physically possible. It was one of the Smiths' first major stage invasions (including a small child!). The gig might have taken place on 6th of December instead of the 7th, or it might have been planned for the 6th but pushed back one day. "Back To The Old House" was also on the setlist but it seems like it was not played ."These Things Take Time" was originally scheduled to be performed at the very end, but it seems to have been brought up the setlist. This concert was recorded for The Old Grey Whistle Test and first broadcast the following Friday and Saturday. Some later rebroadcasts were shortened to seven songs, leaving out amongst others, the near-instrumental "Miserable Lie".
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The Old Grey Whistle Test first went on air in September 1971 and became one of the most influential music shows for a generation. Sally Taylor has been meeting some of the figures from the South who were instrumental in its sucess. Despite it's low budget the show was a great success. Bands soon found their album sales would soar after an appearance. When the Old Grey Whistle Test went on air in 1971 it was unique. In a world accustomed to Top of the Pops, here was a show on which the bands performed album tracks and were interviewed after they had played. This was before the days of miming. The music was live and, since the idea was to air new sounds, many of the bands were making their first television appearance. Presenter Bob Harris recalls how the show's name was inspired by the doormen (in grey suits) who worked at the music publishing houses in London's Denmark Street, known as 'tin pan alley'. Bob Harris on the show "It was a 'tin pan alley' phrase from years ago. When they got the first pressing of a record they would play it to people they called the old greys. The ones they could remember and could whistle having heard it just once or twice had passed the old grey whistle test". The programme went out on BBC2, last thing on a Friday night, from a tiny studio on the fourth floor of Television centre. In the days before 24 hour television the station would close down at the end of the evening. This gave the last programme of the day some flexibility. If things were going well for the Old Grey Whistle Test they could stay on air. Some shows ended after 25 minutes while particularly good ones sometimes extended to an hour and a half. They had a budget of £500 per show, which was very low even in those days. In addition to the technical costs the artists themselves had to be paid. David Bowie, for example, played three songs and was paid £50. John Lennon refused to accept his fee in cash, insisting that he should be rewarded instead with chocolate Bath Oliver biscuits! The Starkicker The titles sequence featured an animation of a man kicking a star. He was to become affectionately known as The Starkicker. The show's title music, with it's distinctive harmonica, was a track called Stone Fox Chase by a Nashville band, Area code 615. When bands were performing the sound was often so loud that the camera crew could not hear what the director was saying in their headphones. The programme makers continually broke new ground. The first ever 'simulcast' of radio and television , the first live transatlantic broadcast of a rock concert and the television coverage of Live Aid were all achieved by the Whistle Test team. Sadly, the programme is no more, having ended it's run in 1987, but it passed the musical baton to it's successors. A succession of programmes such as 'Later with Jools Holland', 'The Tube' and 'The White Room' have all drawn inspiration from Whispering Bob Harris's Old Grey Whistle Test.
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01 - Handsome Devil
02 - Still Ill
03 - This Charming Man
04 - Pretty Girls Make Graves
05 - Reel Around The Fountain
06 - What Difference Does It Make?
07 - Miserable Lie
08 - This Night Has Opened My Eyes
09 - You've Got Everything Now
10 - These Things Take Time
11 - Hand In Glove
Credit HERE, HERE And HERE
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