The Old Grey Whistle Test, Vol. 3

My Suggestion: Don't Waste Your Money

Unless you happen to be nostalgic for the self aggrandized commentary by former hosts and guests, I would suggest looking elsewhere. As a fan of Volume One of this series (although not without its own faults) Volume 3 (and 2) are complete let downs that seem to bask in the embarrassment of lip synced performances - which unfortunately dominate this DVD. The most obvious being Steppenwolf who clearly are using the original LP cut of "Born to be Wild" as a backing track. Why do you want to pay money for a pretty tame and all around lame line-up that don't even play live? As the DVD progresses chronologically, the format of the show gets more slick and even more unwatchable. August 23, 2007

Another botched DVD!!!!

Unbelievable! They did it again! As they did with volume 2 of this series the US version of this DVD has many artists REMOVED from the disc.

Last time around it was Be Bop Deluxe and Stanley Clarke they removed.

Now, as I predicted, they removed the great ROBIN TROWER!

What were they thinking?!!! Robin Trower was hugely succesful here and many of his fans would love to see his OGWT performances. I have his performance from the PAL disc and it is nothing less than stunning, it's the BEST performance on the disc!

Also omitted are David Bowie, Sade, Brinsley Schwarz, and Al Stewart.

WHY AREN'T WE GETTING THE FULL DISC THE SAME AS THE BRITS GET?!!!

The people who put out these discs are IDIOTS!

Meanwhile they left on performances, I won't name which, which have NO meaning to Americans and are not that great.

My suggestion is DON'T buy this disc and go to Amazon UK and buy the PAL version of this disc, the COMPLETE disc and see if your DVD player will play PAL DVD's of which some will.

This is ANOTHER botched DVD like Volume 2, as are The Allman Brothers-Great Woods, and Black Sabbath's-Last Supper with constant talking over the music.

BOOOOO!!!! SHAME!!!! You guys screwed up yet ANOTHER DVD which could have been great.

IDIOTS!!!

I won't give this ANY stars because they botched this so bad!

September 15, 2006

A step up

Volume 3 of the BBC's "Old Grey Whistle Test" archival highlight series is a bit of an improvement over the previous installment (see my review of Vol. 2 on this site). I realize the choice of performance clips in any given collection provides an endless catalyst for subjective argument-but let's just say that there are fewer "turkeys" in this outing! I still have some overall issues with these "dumbed down" U.S. versions, but until I'm ready to stop whingeing and spend a small fortune on the original British PAL releases, I guess this is what I (and my fellow hapless American consumers) are stuck with. As before, the breadth of the show's run is represented well, from early 70's to late 80's. Fans of British folk get a real treat this time out, with fine performances from Lindisfarne, Fairport Convention, Richard & Linda Thompson and John Martyn. One of the highlights for this reviewer is the clip of Johnny Winter really tearing up the house with his classic cover of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (I find the sight of a leaping, caped albino guitar virtuoso oddly reassuring). One very positive improvement over the previous volumes is on the technical side-someone at the BBC finally "got" it and gave us an a la carte option to select and play specific performances (should have been a no-brainer from day one!) By the way, I know the gentleman from Germantown was trying to be helpful, but his track listing is incorrect. Bowie, Brinsley Schwarz, Robin Trower, Al Stewart and Sade are NOT on this compilation. August 31, 2006

Song Listing

I saw this on another web page and thought I would pass it along...

Meet Me On The Corner - Lindisfarne
Jamaica Say You Will - Jackson Browne
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
I Get By - Stealers Wheel
Giving It All Away - Roger Daltrey
Black Coffee - Humble Pie
Brilliancy Medley - Fairport Convention
Boogie Funk - Freddie King
Dreamer - Supertramp
Jumping Jack Flash - Johnny Winter
A Heart Needs A Home - Richard and Linda Thompson
At Seventeen - Janis Ian
Couldn't Love You More - John Martyn & Danny Thompson
Fires Of Spring - Chris Rea
'A' Bomb In Wardour Street - The Jam
When It All Comes Down/Hold On - BB King
Sunday Papers - Joe Jackson
Chelsea Girl - Simple Minds
Frame By Frame - King Crimson
Are Friends are Electric - Tubeaway Army
Careering - PIL
Ghosts - Japan
Rip It Up - Orange Juice
No-One Is To Blame - Howard Jones
In A Hole - The Jesus & Mary Chain
Sweet, Sweet Baby (I'm Falling) - Lone Justice
All I Want For Xmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit - Half Man Half iscuit
Walk Like An Egyptian - Bangles
August 16, 2006

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