The Old Grey Whistle Test Pan Alley phrase from years before. When they got the first pressing of a record they would play it to people they called the old greys – doormen in grey suits. Any song they could remember and whistle, having heard it just once or twice, had passed the old grey whistle test. On 23 February 2018, a one-off three hour special of The Old Grey Whistle Test was broadcast on BBC Four, hosted by Bob Harris to mark 30 years since the final episode aired. The show's focus on "serious" rock music, rather than chart hits covered on BBC1 by
American Girl (Tom Petty song) the song on the BBC2 television show "The Old Grey Whistle Test" in 1978. The song has been featured in several Hollywood films and television shows, most notably "FM" (1978), "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982), "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), The Sopranos (1999), Scrubs (TV series) (2001), "Chasing Liberty" (2004), Parks and Recreation (2009), "Ricki and the Flash" (2015) and "The Handmaid's Tale" (2017). Its use in "The Silence of the Lambs" made the list of Top 11 Uses of Classic Rock in Cinema at UGO. According to Tom Petty, The Strokes have admitted to taking the riff