Posted: 12 February 2011 at 6:20pm | IP Logged

Quite a good programme on Radio 4 on Sat. morning - a retrospective on "The Old Grey Whistle Test". You can listen again for 7 days :-)

Posted: 13 February 2011 at 10:29am | IP Logged

BBC4 have been showing quite a few programs on The Old Grey Whistle Test, and I keep checking to see if ATF are on. Even have the Rock Goes To College on. They had a whole load last night, one was even from 1979, but no ATF .

Posted: 13 February 2011 at 6:17pm | IP Logged

Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) made the comment that Whistle Test was a kind of antidote for the sanitised single-orientated world of Top of the Pops, with Pans People.

Apparently it was very low budget, low technology, basic studio with very few facilities. Bob Harris said he had a telephone next to him, in case the producer wanted to tell him something during the programme :-)

What I really wanted to say was: sorry for the attrocious spelling in the title!

Posted: 14 February 2011 at 10:49am | IP Logged

As I recall ATF were introduced by Anne Nightingale and played Laser Love followed by Life in the City. Verve aplenty and exciting to watch. Also the late John Martyn was the other live act on the show backed on drums by a hirsute Phil Collins.

Remember asking AP about it and was there much rehearsal etc. None apparently, following her introduction they just started hammering away in their inimitable fashion.

Hope this helps

Posted: 14 February 2011 at 11:09am | IP Logged

Thank you, Rod.  Wow, someone else with a good Memory!!

Posted: 14 February 2011 at 4:40pm | IP Logged

The Specials were brilliant on Rock Goes To College on Friday bbc4.

I must admit I thought it was just a radio broadcast series not a tv series.Was the ATF one filmed as well?

Mark