The Old Grey Whistle Test 1973, the show changed to an entirely live format. On 23 February 2018, the BBC broadcast a special programme, hosted by Bob Harris, to mark the 30 years since the legendary series was last broadcast. This live studio show featured music, special guests and rare archive footage. It featured performances from Peter Frampton, Richard Thompson, Albert Lee and others. Bob Harris chatted to Whistle Test alumni, including Dave Stewart, Joan Armatrading, Ian Anderson, Chris Difford and Kiki Dee, as well as fan Danny Baker. The programme hosted many seminal acts of the era, including the first British TV performance of
The Rubinoos Be Your Boyfriend," which had been released in 1978 and received heavy airplay in England and Europe. In support of this album, the Rubinoos appeared on "Rock Goes To College", "The Old Grey Whistle Test", "Top Pop" and opened 56 shows for Elvis Costello on the U.S. portion of his 1979 Armed Funk tour. In 1980 Royse Ader was replaced by Al Chan. The Rubinoos then recorded the demos for a third album which never came to fruition. These demos, released in the 1990s as "Basement Tapes", engineered by well known audio guru, Dan Alexander, is still thought to be