old grey whistle test

[kingofbedsit]

where does the name come from for the tv music show

[andy hughes]

The story goes - I don't know how true it is - that the main entrance at the BBC were staffed by a number of elderly door staff, known as 'the old greys'. A standard rule to see if a new song was going to be a hit, was to listen and hear if the gentlemen on the door were whistling the tune - in which case, the song concerned passed 'the old grey whistle test'. That's the story. don't know if it's true or not.

[Octavius]

Great story though, true or not

[soul58uk]

Yeah I heard that story from the mouth of Whispering Bob Harris or John Peel, (not sure which) in an interview on the radio. So I think its pretty accurate

[Steve F]

It goes back further than the BBC. The Old Greys worked as doormen, janitors etc at record companies in the USA (New York, I think). There were teams of songwriters who churned out song after song. When they played new songs to the Old Greys, the "test" was to see if the song was catchy enough for the Old Greys to remember it, and then whistle it. If it was, it had passed the test and would get recorded. This was in 1920s and 1930s, just a vinyl records were taking off.