Concept and creative process
Iconic music show titles which created its own icon, the Starkicker, here with the original music by Area Code 617, Stone Fox Chase, revamped after over a decade. Apocryphally the programme derived its name OGWT from a legendary Tin Pan Alley phrase. When music moguls got the first cut of a record they would play it first to the doormen who wore grey suits and were known colloquially as the old greys. Any song they could remember and whistle, after having heard it once or twice, passed the old grey whistle test and was destined to become a popular hit. In spite of its late-night slot, the show acquired a cult following, running from 1971 to 1987 and became a TV legend in its own right, as did its main front man 'Whispering' Bob Harris. This version is the title sequence which launched the rebranded strand in 1983 when it moved from its late-night ghetto to a mid-evening slot, an acknowledgement of the show's cult status and following that had grown since its launch in 1971.