The Old Grey Whistle Test Bob Marley and the Wailers as well as then little-known acts of whom any early footage is now considered precious, such as Billy Joel, Judas Priest (with a long-haired Rob Halford), Wishbone Ash, Judee Sill, Heart, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. "Whistle Test" was also the British television debut of the American glam punk band New York Dolls. Although host Bob Harris derided the group as "mock rock," comparing them unfavourably to The Rolling Stones, their performance influenced the following punk rock scene such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash as well as alternative bands like R.E.M. and The Smiths and
The Old Grey Whistle Test listeners to guess. In 2006, the BBC released three DVDs. The first concentrated on the early and mid-1970s. The second DVD completed the timeline, as it dealt with the late 1970s and 1980s. The third DVD, however, covered the entire history. The DVDs also featured spoken intros by the presenters introducing the songs. Billy Joel included his 1978 performance on the show as part of "The Stranger 30th Anniversary Edition DVD". Out of an original total of 445 episodes, 16 episodes are missing, a further 54 are incomplete and one exists on a format inferior to the original. From 2018,