Old Australian pop show 'Countdown'

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by redfloatboat, Dec 1, 2017.

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  1. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    Imagine Daryl Whitebait & his hairy mates playing that on Countdown. They would have had a million complaints...or faded it out after 2 minutes 40.
     
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  2. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Because the ABC was a government owned station they weren't supposed to be selling anything (especially records) so the idea of the show was to 'reflect' the charts. That lasted about two weeks and they basically set radio playlists and controlled what charted and what didn't for the next 13 years.
     
  3. cmcintyre

    cmcintyre Forum Resident

    It must have been either very late 1975 or early 1976, Countdown played the full eight minute clip of Bob Dylan's Hurricane. A heavyweight among the lightweights.

    The great thing was that, once one found out there was something really good on the Sunday screening, you could watch it the following Saturday on repeat. I recall Molly mentioning that special permission had to be gained for the Dylan clip due to the repeat.
     
  4. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Strangely, Sherbet were so big and demand for product so high that Countdown twice had them miming rough mixes of future singles.
     
  5. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    That was a live clip from some award show. Molly promised it about three weeks in advance. I'm not sure they actually showed it on the repeat episode.
     
  6. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    I'ts very dubious that the charts accurately reflected the actual sales figures what they did reflect were radio playlists which is almost a totally different thing again.

    Countdown was popular for international touring bands (& their management) because it was nationally televised which is something that was rare in the USA.
     
  7. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Remember when Molly promised the exclusive first showing of the Thriller clip and the censors slapped an Adults Only rating on the clip so they had to drastically edit it? It was even worse for Alice Cooper. After promising the first showing of No More Love at Your Convenience the censor banned the entire clip so they were forced to play You and Me instead even though it was slipping down the cart.
     
  8. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Our local record shop was a 'chart shop' and the owner would only submit records he liked. I bought a Chantoozies single and he wrote down I bought Say Goodbye by Hunters & Collectors.
     
  9. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    Well here's the first 8 minutes of our 1 hour total package of quality Countdown...52 minutes still to find.
     
  10. cmcintyre

    cmcintyre Forum Resident

    It was shown on the repeat - that's when I watched it for the second time. It may have been this clip, though I can't be certain - too long ago and not seen in the interim. I do recall the violinist.



    Re Camberwell Market & Pipe Imported Records - it's not Daniel at the market - so it must be the other one - which stall are you referring to?

    Also Gaslight Malvern - just like Port Phillip Arcade & Dr. Generosity - combination of cutouts and full price. Bought my Rauschenberg Talking Heads at Gaslight.

    Pet Sounds Malvern - that's a bit harsh - I thought they were influential in the industry as they didn't just sell chart records, they broke new acts to influential customers. Innovatively they arranged the pop/rock sections into lots of subsections, which certainly assisting learning about new artists working in a similar vein.
     
  11. marcob1963

    marcob1963 Forum Resident

    That German fellow was called Daniel if I recall correctly.
     
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  12. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    Bobs audience appears to be a bit older than the usual Countdown crowd
     
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  13. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Jeremy is the guy at Camberwell. He used to run Musicland who were the big indie distributor before Shock Records.

    Every record I bought at Pet Sounds was mainstream commercial except Pacific Ocean Blue by Dennis Wilson.
     
  14. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    Didn't know that. I always went to my bedroom and listened to records when mum put 'Hinch' on :)
    I'm surprised actually, wiki says the song made #8 here. I remember it as a big hit. Interestingly wiki also says..
    "Divine performed the song "You Think You're a Man" as the featured musical guest on the Australian TV program Countdown on October 7, 1984. Divine also performed on the UK TV program Top of the Pops on July 19, 1984, which resulted in a barrage of complaints.[11]"
    So maybe Molly had the precedence of that in his mind too...actually now I remember it, I can kinda recall the shock jocks being up in arms over Divine and using the infamous 'eat ****' thing to stir it up?
     
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  15. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Bert Newton had a clip of Divine on his tonight show and both Molly and Hinch, who were regulars on the show, told Bert Divine was a filthy pervert who shouldn't be on any television show. Bert thought it was a bit of fun so brought him out to appear on the show. Somehow he also did Countdown which, at the time, seemed to be a big backflip by Molly.
     
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  16. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    Nothing like an on screen dust up to generate a bit of marketing interest. Darren Hinch & Molly now there's a solid foundation for some quality intellectual discussion on serious music.
     
  17. cmcintyre

    cmcintyre Forum Resident

    Thanks re Jeremy.

    Pet Sounds - mainstream commercial - sure they stocked those, but they also took lots of risks - perhaps not so much edgy like, say, Greville, but try the McGarrigle's, The Roches, Michael Franks and so forth. They pushed the envelope in different directions than the 'punk' shops, and if you visited both, it was possible to get a broader view of music than what commercial stations played.
     
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  18. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Didn't they put the Bowie, Lou Reed and Roxy Music albums in a section called 'Esoteric'?
     
  19. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    Wow. Geez Molly...
     
  20. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    This thread is as good a place as any to ask a question I've never found an answer too.
    Someone told me that before the Countdown days, there was a music show on the ABC called 'Radio With Pictures'. Does anyone remember it? Did it exist?
     
  21. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    Ahh, he was very sweet to me, and had a lot of patience, knowing I never had enough money to afford any of the bootlegs :)
     
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  22. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Countdown totally celebrates Iggy doing I'm Bored but in reality it scared them witless to the point they cancelled the Boys Next Door's appearance on the very next show.
     
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  23. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    Oh. Yeah I remember seeing the Iggy episode back in the day. It wasn't as funny then as it is now. I was just rocking out to the song back then. I wasn't 'mature' enough to get the incongrousness of it all. The Boys Next Door and Countdown, that would have been something else :D
     
  24. Chooke

    Chooke Forum Resident

    Location:
    Perth, Australia
    I can't recall Radio With Pictures but I remember the "Happening..." music shows, eg Happening 71 (I can still visualise the Melanie clip...) not sure if that was ABC.
     
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  25. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    It's confusing as Molly was as open minded as they come and it's not like the likes of Elton and Rod were choir boys. Hinch I can understand having that opinion.
     
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