The Old Grey Whistle Test "Stone Fox Chase" by a Nashville band, Area Code 615. The first host was Richard Williams, features editor of "Melody Maker", the music weekly. From 1972, the programme was presented by disc jockey Bob Harris (nicknamed "Whispering Bob Harris", because of his quiet voice and "laid back" style). He later became notorious among the younger generation for distancing himself on air from Roxy Music's first performance on the show and calling the New York Dolls "mock rock" and left "OGWT" in 1978. After Harris's departure, Anne Nightingale took over as host. In December 1980, Nightingale presented the show in the
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,