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
Big Country at the BBC Footage from "Top of the Pops" (including two separate performances of both "Fields of Fire" and "In a Big Country" from their 1983 chart run), "The Old Grey Whistle Test" and "In Concert" is featured on the DVD. Its centrepiece is Big Country’s Hogmanay performance from Edinburgh Playhouse, originally screened live as part of the BBC’s New Year celebrations in 1984/1985. Billy Sloan, who fronted the broadcast for "Whistle Test", is quoted in the sleeve notes and recalls that, as 1985 arrived, he had nothing stronger than "Scotland’s other national drink" Irn-Bru to toast the band with. Big Country’s Bruce