On 12 December, the band recorded a session for the BBC's The Old Grey Whistle Test, including "Sylvia" segueing into the yodeling of "Hocus Pocus".

It had the long winded title "I Thought I Could Do Everything On My Own, I Was Always Stripping The Town Alone" but when he played the song for Sylvia, "she didn't like it at all," so it went "on the shelf."

[10][2] The programme's presenter, Bob Harris, is quoted as saying that the band's appearance was so well received by the audience that the pressing plant for the single was overwhelmed and only produced copies of "Sylvia" for the following week to cater for the demand.

[6] Dave Thompson, writing for AllMusic, said that aside from the studio recording, the band's best version of the song was the one included on the 1973 At the Rainbow live album.

[6] He compared the relatively short song to the band's longer compositions, describing Akkerman's playing as an "exercise in economics".