Hey guys, after reading what the great Gurubob wrote on the Rage message board requesting an episode of Countdown which i have been requesting for a long time now, i thought it would be good to see what episodes people REALLY WANT.

It is always great when they play episodes that us fans have been requesting for long periods of time, none more so than that Christmas '83 ep featuring alot of live performances, is truly a great! and Rage finally aired it last year.

The first week this year was also great, and they certaintly got things off to a great start, the second week was also pretty cool, unfortunatly though the next week they played a few ep's that alot of us already have as timecodes [which isn't their fault off course], but that 70's ep would have certaintly pleased alot of the 70's fans.

With myself, i pretty much have all the ones i REALLY WANT [except one episode], that said, i will always be on the lookout and tape episodes i don't have, so it's not a matter of, Oh they have played the ones i really want, i'm not interested anymore...far from it.

Anyway, which episodes would be like gold to you & why, perhaps we could all goto bat for each other on the Rage site and help each other out with our requests, if there are more voices heard, more REALLY passionate Countdown fans voices, perhaps things might go our way a bit more, for me, the one i want is:

Dec 1, 1985 Hosted by Midge Ure [formarly from Ultravox], it features a rare Real Life clip that i really want...thats it, just the one, i am fortunate to get alot of awesome episodes especialy from the likes of Guru & Michael....so i pretty much have every episode i really want, except that one.

Which ones would be like gold for you?

For me...

The Carol Pope Hosted Episode from 1982!!!!!!!!!!!!!


AND ALLLLLLLLLLLL 1982 Episodes PERIOD!

1984 Episode with George and Marilyn interviewed at the back of Virgin offices in the UK...

1985 Spandau Ballet Hosting
1985 Time Bandits

And u, there are MANY more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes,all the 1982 episodes!!!!!

I must admit to having a very serious and deep infatuation for 1982/83 Countdowns.

The ones I'd love to see - and those I've asked for many times are:

26/9/82 - Billy Field

24/10/82 - Carol Pope (featuring a snippet of Tears of Emotion by Vertical Hold - a great song)

8/5/83 - Eurogliders - this is hands down the No. 1 show I definately want to see.

22/5/83 - no host but features a brilliant selection of clips including Change by Tears For Fears.

19/6/83 - Bonnie Tyler - a MUST!

24/3/85 - Spandau Ballet - surely this should be played this Retro season??

And the other Eurogliders hosted Countdowns would be good as well.

There are probably others I could mention, but those ones are the ones I'm super keen on seeing.

1982 is without doubt my FAVOURITE period of Countdown and Music in general!

Simply "Anything" from the years 1979-early 1983 inclusive!

Of course in 'a perfect world' without tape wiping I'd say 'something' from 1974-1978, but as The Rolling Stones put it thus: "You can't allways get what you want"

Since I have copies of all the surviving 70's episodes I would be happy with any unrepeated 80's shows that Rage are willing to air.
The following from each year from 1980 - 87 would be standouts with multiple performances or clips of interest that are rare:

1980 - no standouts but the Ellen Foley (March 9), James Reyne (June 22 incl Janis Ian live and clips from Judie Tzuke, Sparks, Brothers Johnson, Christopher Cross and Gary Numan) and Dugites (August 3) episodes look OK

1981 - again no standouts but the Dave Mason (April 12), Sheena Easton (May 10) and Marc Hunter (June 14) episodes look good.

1982 - I have 41 of the 52 episodes but of the 11 I don't have August 1 (Eurogliders), Sept 19 (Globos), Sept 26 (Billy Field) and Oct 24 (Carol Pope) look to be the pick of those.

1983 - March 20 (Ignatius Jones), May 8 (Eurogliders), July 24 (Radio DJ's), May 22 (no host), Dec 4 (Ross Wilson), Nov 20 (Split Enz) and June 19 (Bonnie Tyler) are the pick of the unrepeated 1983 episodes.

1984 - March 4 (Elton John with Dear Enemy and Sandii & The Sunsetz live), June 3 (Eurogliders live + Mi-Sex video 5 o'Clock), Aug 19 (David Reyne/Takeaways), Aug 26 (QED and Dropbears live), Dec 2 (Models, Electric Pandas, Non Stop Dancers and Ganggajang live + Duran Duran, Sade and Alison Moyet interviews)

1985 - March 17 (Time Bandits hosting), March 24 (Spandau Ballet + Uncanny X-Men live), April 7 (Cats Under Pressure live and 8 rare clips), Sept 8 (Goanna, Hoodoo Gurus, No Nonsense and Models live + good clips), Dec 1 (rare Real Life clip and other good videos)

1986 - July 20 (Wa Wa Nee, Crowded House, Icehouse and John Justin live and Russell Mulcahy interview), Sept 7 (Boom Crash Opera, Geisha and Pseudo Echo with Try live and some rarer clips), Aug 10 (I'm Talking, Dragon, Geisha and Venetians live + Jean Beauvoir clip)

1987 - no great episodes but the Paul Young hosted April 5 episode has rarer clips or the Warwick Capper hosted June 20 episode - not for Warwick's undoubted talent but as it had 5 live acts.

Now that I have seen, and loved, the Dec 18 1984 Rock Arena I might have to make up a new list of Rock Arena's I'd like to see.

My request is twenty-five episodes from 1980 that haven't been rescreened on Rage before when the information was not in correct order according to a website about looking for long lost episodes of Countdown and there were:
10th February 1980 (226)
17th February 1980 (227)
2nd March 1980 (229)
9th March 1980 (230)
16th March 1980 (231)
30th March 1980 (233)
27th April 1980 (237)
4th May 1980 (238)
11th May 1980 (239)
8th June 1980 (243)
22nd June 1980 (245)
6th July 1980 (247)
27th July 1980 (250)
3rd August 1980 (251)
10th August 1980 (252)
17th August 1980 (253)
23rd August 1980 (Standby Show)
7th September 1980 (256)
21st September 1980 (258)
28th September 1980 (259)
5th October 1980 (260)
12th October 1980 (261)
2nd November 1980 (264)
23rd November 1980 (267)
7th December 1980 (269)
I wonder if someone would like to write a correct order of half of the episodes of the same year if one or two will rescreen on Rage in January next year.

What was the reason for the Standby Show of 23rd August 1980 I wonder?

The Standby Show of 23rd August 1980 was hosted by James Reyne and it was featuring the footages of some of the live perfromances from Countdown.

Due to regular industrial disputes the ABC made several standby shows in case it would be unable to make an official show for a particular week.

The James Reyne hosted episode featured Oz acts from mainly the Countdown era. I don't know if there were any Countdown performances or just clips as I have never seen it. I don't think this episode was actually ever screened as it wasn't required.

In 1979 Shirley Strachan hosted a standby program which screened on March 23 1979 and Rage showed this in 2004.

Episode 262 on October 19 1980 was not made either and they showed the End Of The Decade episode 224 December 16 1979 again.

On March 8 1981 Molly hosted an insert show due to a staging assistants strike.

On September 29 1981 Wendy Stapleton hosted a standby program based on the evolution of the music video.

In 1983 2 standby programs were made being August 22 (which was just a repeat of ep 91) and December 5 (featuring Molly's favourite bands) but I don't think either of these were shown.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Now if only they had some 'standby blank tapes' in 1982....

There's still a couple of late 70's episodes I don't have,but my main year of interest from the 70's is definitely 1979.
As for the 80's-definitely 1980-1982 and while 1987 divides a lot of Countdown fans,its a year of great importance to me and to see more episodes from that year would mean a lot.

In a couple of months it will probably be good timing to start making suggestions for next Retro so hopefully everyone has thought of some items they wish to see next year. The combined suggestions that we put forward last year proved fairly successful as we got 6 episodes shown. For me either of the 1982 or 1983 Eurogliders hosted Countdowns would be nice.

My most wanted Countdown list for next year's Rage retro season in January next year were:
- September 29 1981 Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & The Rocketts) (standby program)
- January 3 1982 Molly (Summer Special #3 New Zealand Invasion)
- January 10 1982 Molly (Summer Special #4 Export bands)

The 9 episodes below are the ones I would LOVE to see in January 2013. Selections from 1983, 1982 and 1981 :-)


Date:10/04/1983

THE SHOW IS HOSTED BY MARK AND WENDY FROM THE GLOBOS. BLANCMANGE TALKS ABOUT THE MAKING OF THEIR CLIP 'LIVING ON THE CEILING' RUNNERS PLAY LIVE IN STUDIO AND MALCOLM MCLAREN INTRODUCES HIS CLIP 'BUFFALO GALS'. MOLLY PRESENTS MUSIC NEWS IN HUMDRUM INCL MINI DOCUMENTARY ON THE FAIRLIGHT COMPUTER. LOCAL ARTISTS:
GLOBO'S 'THE BEAT GOES ON'
EXPRESSION 'WITH CLOSED EYES'
MENTAL AS ANYTHING 'SPIRIT GOT LOST'
SPLIT ENZ 'NEXT EXIT'
OVERSEAS ARTISTS:
DAVID BOWIE 'LET'S DANCE'
MONTE VIDEO 'SHOOP SHOOP DIDDY WOP'
BLANCMANGE 'LIVING ON THE CEILING'
MALCOLM MCCLAREN ‘BUFFALO GALS’
FALCO 'DER KOMMISSAR'
HUMDRUM:
DURAN DURAN INTRODUCE THEIR NEW ALBUM. GORDON FRANKLIN & WILDERNESS 'LET THE FRANKLIN FLOW' MARS LAZAR DEMONSTRATES FAIRLIGHT COMPUTER.


Date:22/05/1983
THIS EDITION OF COUNTDOWN FEATURED NO HOST OR STUDIO PERFORMANCES AND HUMDRUM WAS TAPED AT THE MIGHTY MUSIC MACHINE SHOP WHERE MOLLY IV'D OWNER RE HOW ALTERNATIVE, DANCE AND DISCO CHARTS ARE COMPILED. SHOW ENDED WITH MICHAEL JACKSON'S 'BEAT IT' VIDEO.
VIDEO CLIPS:
VENETIANS 'SOUND ON SOUND'
REAL LIFE 'SEND ME AN ANGEL'
ELTON JOHN 'I'M STILL STANDING'
PRINCE 'LITTLE RED CORVETTE'
TEARS FOR FEARS 'CHANGE'
JOAN ARMATRADING 'DROP THE PILOT' INCLUDES IV WITH ARMATRADING RE VIDEO CLIP.
ECHO & BUNNYMEN 'THE CUTTER'
THOMAS DOLBY 'SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE' INCLUDES IV WITH DOLBY RE VIDEO CLIP.
SPANDAU BALLET 'COMMUNICATION'
GREG KIHN 'JEOPARDY'
PINK FLOYD EXCERPTS FROM 'GUNNER'S DREAM', 'NOT NOW JOHN' AND 'FLETCHER MEMORIAL HOME'


Date:09/06/1983

SHOW HOSTED BY BONNIE TYLER AND INCL MOLLY INTERVIEWING TYLER AS WELL AS REGULAR HUMDRUM MUSIC NEWS
STUDIO PERFORMANCES:
MACHINATIONS 'PRESSURE SWAY'
ANGELS 'LIVE LADY LIVE'
BONNIE TYLER 'TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART'
BONNIE TYLER 'HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE RAIN'
VIDEO CLIPS:
CULTURE CLUB 'CHURCH OF THE POISON MIND'
FORREST 'ROCK THE BOAT'
THOMSPON TWINS 'LOVE ON OUR SIDE'
THE CURE 'LET'S GO TO BED'
MEATLOAF 'RAZOR'S EDGE'
THE CALL 'WALLS CAME DOWN'
HAYSI FANTAYZEE 'SHINY SHINY'
MICHAEL SEMBELLO 'MANIAC'



Date:28/02/1982

THIS SHOW IS HOSTED BY MOLLY, BILL WYMAN, CLIFF RICHARD AND ON VT ELTON JOHN FROM SYDNEY. MOLLY IV CLIFF RICHARD RE SUCCESS, AUSTRALIAN TALENTS, CHRISTIAN BELIEF AND TOUR. BILL WYMAN FROM ROLLING STONES IS IV RE ROLLING STONES TOUR, SOLO CAREER, ALBUM AND HIS FAVORITE STONES SINGLE. ELTON JOHN SPOKE ABOUT REHEARSAL IN AUSTRALIA, TOUR, FITNESS AND AUSTRALIA.
LIVE STUDIO PERFORMANCES:
INXS 'NIGHT OF REBELLION'
KEVIN BORICH EXPRESS 'GETTING SO EXCITED'
JO KENNEDY 'BODY & SOUL'
VIDEO CLIPS:
HEAVEN 17 'PENTHOUSE & PAVEMENT'
BILL WYMAN 'COME BACK SUZANNE'
LOVERBOY 'WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND'
QUATERFLASH 'HARDEN MY HEART'
CLIFF RICHARD 'DADDY'S HOME'
CHARTBUSTERS:
COLLEEN HEWETT 'GIGOLO'
HALL & OATES 'I CAN'T GO FOR THAT'
SHAKIN STEVENS 'OH JULIE'
EARTH WIND & FIRE 'LET'S GROOVE'
PETE SHELLEY 'HOMOSAPIEN'
MICHAEL JACKSON 'ONE DAY IN MY LIFE'
MOVING PICTURES 'WHAT ABOUT ME'
HUMDRUM:
TOM TOM CLUB 'GENESIS OF LOVE'
POLICE 'SPIRITS IN A MATERIAL WORLD'



I have a timer code copy of the next one BUT would love the Duran interview on it without a timer code on it :-)

Date:21/03/1982
THIS SHOW IS HOSTED BY MOLLY WHO IV MEMBERS FROM DURAN DURAN RE SINGLE, SUCCESS, IMAGE, FASHION, ALBUM, EXPECTATIONS FOR 1982, RUSSEL MULCAHY AND TOUR. THIS IV IS INTERRUPTED BY EXCERPTS OF DURAN DURAN CLIP 'GIRLS ON FILM'.
VIDEO CLIPS:
SPLIT ENZ 'DIRTY CREATURES'
INXS 'NIGHT OF REBELLION'
THE ORPHANS 'HOP, SKIP, JUMP'
SHARON O'NEILL 'ALL THE TEA IN CHINA'
TURNAROUND 'LET'S DO IT'
THE CHURCH 'ALMOST WITH YOU'
THE JAM 'A TOWN LIKE MALICE'
TIGHT FIT 'THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT'
FUN BOY THREE 'THE LUNATICS'
MADNESS 'IT MUST BE LOVE'
CHARTBUSTERS:
DEPECHE MODE 'JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH' (EXCERPT)
BILL WYMAN 'COME BACK SUZANNE' (EXCERPT)
HALL & OATES 'I CAN'T GO FOR THAT'
HUMDRUM:
SPANDAU BALLET 'SHE LOVED LIKE DIAMOND'
BOOMTOWN RATS 'NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS'
PRINCE 'CONTROVERSY'
HEATHER FAVELL 'HOLIDAY'
HUMAN LEAGUE 'OPEN YOUR HEART'



Date:11/07/1982

THIS SHOW IS HOSTED BY JAMES REYNE FROM AUSTRALIAN CRAWL AND MOLLY WHO IV JAMES RE ALBUM, PRODUCER MIKE CHAPMAN, TV MINI SERIES, TOUR AND MONDO ROCK ALBUM. MOLLY IV BRYAN FERRY OVER THE PHONE RE ALBUM, SUCCESS IN UK, TOUR AND IMAGE.
VIDEO CLIPS:
SERIOUS YOUNG INSECTS 'BE PATIENT'
DADDY COOL 'EAGLE ROCK'
HUNTERS & COLLECTORS 'TALKING TO A STRANGER'
GARY GLITTER 'DEDICATED MAN'
WAITRESSES 'I KNOW WHAT BOYS LIKE'
CHEAP TRICK 'IF YOU WANT MY LOVE'
BRYAN FERRY 'MORE THAN THIS'
THE MEMBERS 'RADIO'
AUSTRALIAN CRAWL 'SHUTDOWN' (ENDS SHOW)
CHARTBUSTERS:
MONDO ROCK 'NO TIME'
DR HOOK 'BABY MAKES HER BLUE JEANS TALK' (EXCERPT)
ABC 'POISON ARROW' (EXCERPT)
HUMDRUM (EXCERPTS):
MADNESS 'HOUSE ON FIRE'
STEVE MILLER 'ABRACADABRA'
NO FIXED ADDRESS 'FROM MY EYES'
SWINGERS 'PUNCH & JUDY'



Date:17/05/1981
THIS SHOW IS HOSTED BY IGNATIUS AND JOYLENE FROM JIMMY & THE BOYS, WHO ARE IV BY MOLLY RE SINGLE AND ALBUM. THE MEMBERS OF DEVO ARE IV RE SONGWRITING, GROUP FOUNDATION AND IMAGE.
VIDEO CLIPS:
JIMMY & THE BOYS 'GIRLFRIEND'
POP MECHANIX 'JUMPING OUT OF WINDOWS'
RUSSELL MORRIS & THE RUBES 'SO TOUGH'
MEN OF HARLECH 'CHARLIE'S GETTING MARRIED'
DEVO 'FREEDOM OF CHOICE', 'WHIP IT' (EXCERPTS)
BOOMTOWN RATS 'ELEPHANTS GRAVEYARD'
COAST TO COAST 'HUCKLEBUCK'
SPANDAU BALLET 'TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT'
STYX 'TIME ON MY HANDS'
CHARTBUSTERS:
SHAKIN' STEVENS 'THIS OLE HOUSE' (EXCERPT)
THE LOOK 'I AM THE BEAT'
HUMDRUM:
BIRTHDAY PARTY 'NICK THE STRIPPER'
BOB MARLEY 'IS THIS LOVE'
THE BUREAU 'ONLY FOR SHEEP'
HAZEL O'CONNOR 'GIVE AN INCH'
YARBROUGH & PEOPLES 'DON'T STOP THE MUSIC'


Date:21/06/1981

GUEST PRESENTER IS JON ENGLISH AND THERE IS AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID BYRNE FROM TALKING HEADS.
LIVE STUDIO ITEMS:
WENDY & THE ROCKETS 'REPUTATION'
CHETT REYNOLDS 'I STILL BELIEVE IN MARY'
JON ENGLISH & BAND 'STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART'
NOLANS 'GOTTA PULL MYSELF TOGETHER'
OVERSEAS ARTISTS VIDEO CLIPS:
CHAS & DAVE 'RABBIT'
SHOCK 'ANGEL FACE'
ELTON JOHN 'NOBODY WINS'
RICK SPRINGFIELD 'JESSIE'S GIRL'
TALKING HEADS 'ONCE IN A LIFETIME'
GRAHAM BONNET 'NIGHT GAMES'
LINX 'INTUITION'
CHARTBUSTERS:
STARS ON 45 'STARS ON 45'
BUCKS FIZZ 'MAKING YOUR MIND UP'
SPORTS 'HOW COME'
MI-SEX 'FALLING IN AND OUT'
MEN AT WORK 'WHO CAN IT BE NOW'
HUMDRUM ITEMS:
ORIGINAL MIRRORS 'DANCIN WITH THE REBELS'
RAY PARKER 'WOMAN NEEDS LOVE'
CURE 'PRIMARY'
PHIL SEYMOUR 'PRECIOUS TO ME'


Date:02/09/1981

THIS SHOW HOSTED BY NO-ONE IN PARTICULAR. IN LIEU OF CHARTBUSTERS THERE WAS AN AUSTRALIAN PACKAGE OF UP & COMING GROUPS LIVE ITEMS:
SHARON O'NEIL 'WAITING FOR YOU'
THE CHURCH 'SHE NEVER SAID'
SWANEE 'IF I WERE A CARPENTER'
LOCAL ARTISTS CLIPS:
RENEE GEYER & BAND 'SAY I LOVE YOU'
STOCKINGS 'SHE'S A DEVIL'
SUNNY BOYS 'HAPPY MAN'
MEO245 'OTHER PLACES'
SPORTS 'WHEN WE GO OUT TONIGHT'
MARC HUNTER 'BIG CITY TALK'
OVERSEAS ARTISTS CLIPS:
MOODY BLUES 'GEMINI DREAMS'
HOT SHOT 'FIRE IN THE NIGHT'
THE CURE 'PRIMARY'
GET WET 'JUST SO LONELY'
LENA LOVICH 'NEW TOY'
CLASSIX NOUVEAU 'GUILTY'
JIM STEINMAN 'ROCK & ROLL DREAMS COME THROUGH'