although captain beefheart never played down under, the people in that part of the world have the luck he regularly can be seen there on television these days. after the broadcast of an american saturday night live show from 1980, there's going to be another old appearance. but this time it's not as interesting, as it is a repeat of his performance from the period in which he had chosen the wrong artistic direction, as he would admit later. in the summer of that year, 1974, he and his 'tragic band' performed the track UPON THE MY-O-MY from his album unconditionally guaranteed for the english pop program THE OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST.

in fact, the broadcast to come is a repeat of volume 1 (of four) of the SOUNDS OF THE SEVENTIES, which originally was shown by the english bbc teevee on an unknown date in 1992, and done again on 30 september 1994. it is a compilation of music from the mentioned, now defunct program and the still running 'top of the pops' series, mixed with short outtakes from other nostalgic tv entertainment (like 'monty python's flying circus'). the credit titles have a picture from beefheart's 'clear spot' era...

BUT...
the day after the broadcast mark symonds emailed me:

Subject: tv show disappointment

Dear Electricity,
You may have already heard that the proposed clip on SBS tv did not include the Captain! They showed all the others but not that one...

[080400]

'upon the my-o-my' was the song that had been lifted from the entirely disappointing album as the main side of a few singles. so it was quite predictable the program makers chose that particular track to be broadcast. hey, they chose?... so there was something to choose? yes, sure. for it was common use that the bands appearing in the shows to come played a second song, just in case of whatever might go wrong. thus it happened that captain beefheart and his tragic troop also performed THIS IS THE DAY.

of course, it's just as bad as the first choice, and no tv watcher would ever have been tortured with it, if the complete rights to 'the old grey whistle test' hadn't been licensed to the usa retro station vh-1. beside repeats of the original 'old grey whistle test' instalments, that company once (or more often?) also presented some of the obscure leftovers. they even dared to put it on a compilation video with similar rejected stuff....

• various artists * the BEST OF THE 'OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST' volume one mono
• 1974 THIS IS THE DAY 3:58 unconditionally guaranteed 1974
• usa 199? ntsc video bbc / vh-1 [cat. no. unknown] time 90 minutes 18(?) acts released by tv station vh-1 choice of bands or songs different to genuine bbc versions

• various artists * the OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST mono
• 1974 UPON THE MY-O-MY 3:18 unconditionally guaranteed 1974
• [no subtitle] england 199? pal video bbc worldwide ltd [cat. no. unknown] time 163 minutes 24 acts 3 interviews re-issued on veedee
• [no subtitle] usa 199? ntsc video bbc video / warner home video [cat. no. unknown] time 163 minutes 24 acts 3 interviews re-issued on veedee (unconfirmed)
• the BEST OF england 2001 pal 2video bbc worldwide ltd [cat. no. unknown] time 292 minutes 45 acts 6 interviews in keep case?
• the BEST OF usa 2001 ntsc 2video bbc video / warner home video [cat. no. unknown] time 292 minutes 45 acts 6 interviews in keep case

• various artists * SOUNDS OF THE 70'S tv series 'sounds of the 70's' live uk television performances
• 1974 UPON THE MY-O-MY 'the old grey whistle test' program 3:18 unconditionally guaranteed 1974
• england 2003 pal video [label and cat. no. unknown] time 120 minutes

• various artists * the OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST mono
• 1974 UPON THE MY-O-MY 3:18 unconditionally guaranteed 1974
• see full details in scattered works on VIDEO DISCS by other artists

• various artists * SOUNDS OF THE 70'S tv series 'sounds of the 70's' live uk television performances
• 1974 UPON THE MY-O-MY 'the old grey whistle test' programce 3:18 unconditionally guaranteed 1974
• see full details in scattered works on VIDEO DISCS by other artist