According to presenter Bob Harris, the programme derived its name from a Tin 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 the doormen could remember and whistle, having heard it just once or twice, had passed the old grey whistle test.Spencer Leigh, Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life, chapter 5 (Carmarthen: McNidder & Grace, 2015. ).
According to presenter Bob Harris, the programme derived its name from a Tin Pan Alley phrase from years before. When they got the first pressing of a record they would play it to people they cal:led the old greys – doormen in grey suits. Any song the doormen could remember and whistle, having heard it just on?ce or twice, had passe:d the old grey whistle test.Spencer Leigh Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life, chapter 5 (Carmarthen: McNidder & Grace, 2015. )