5:01 AM and waiting for Countdown ...

This is serious H E L L .... rage is running late. Just finished a nap during 10:30 Slot.

Not long to go till 1984 arrives, thank goodness ***

Me 2. Wow plenty of Olivia this retro month on Rage. Remember this "Countdown" really well with Elton. So much hooha over the time of his wedding to Renata in Sydney. Will never forget it. "Kiss The Bride" was and still is a great song. Go Elton. Other highlights "Sandi & The Sunsetz", Queen, Dear Enemy & Olivia etc. The whole show overall was great and well worth the wait again.

I thought the 1984 ep was great - very well staged particularly during the Dear Enemy set.

The whole show ran smoothly and Elton is always good for a laugh - a pity only 2 Countdowns were shown though!

The Studio 31 was a good one too - I noticed that Johnny Cougar and Shaun Cassidy seemed to be the only ones who actually sang 'live', the rest seemed mimed to me, although I could be wrong.

I've noticed about the 1982 Summer specials that very little from the 1975 - 77 shows were aired - would I assume that most of these had been wiped by this stage?

The rest of the night was take it or leave it with me - the GTK segment on cannibis was amusing in a 'reefer madness' kind of way and the bit on Melbourne nightlife was great - although it made me wonder whether clubs are more conservative now than they were then.

Generally I think this year's retro season has been a wasted opportunity. Don't get me wrong - I loved all of the Countdowns and Flashez, but mostly everything else like Recovery, 10.30 Slot, Nick Cave etc was dull.

Next year I hope Rage really go through their archives and dig up some proper retro material than showns aired only 10 years ago - a pity Countdown Revolution didn't get an airing too - would have thought the late 80's/early 90's fans would have been served as well.

Never mind - the best week of Retro this year was definatley last week with Carol Pope etc - that almost showed the potential Retro season has and hopefully it'll return to what it was in 08/09 with a mix of great stuff and lots of Countdowns!

I agree with you about last week being the best Patrick.This(last)week of Retro Month was the worst in my view.

Both Countdowns were great,but the title of the 3rd Young Ones episode Suzanne Dowling referred to in the Do Re Mi Rock Arena special(not bad either)did a good job of summing up most of what was after that episode and before the '84 Countdown show-BORING!
More Dylan Lewis-AARRGGHH!!!!

On the positive side-I'd never heard that Olivia song before,but when you see how absolutely stunning she looks in the clip,it makes me wonder why Desperate Times didn't go gangbusters in the charts.And no episodes been edited down either.

Fingers crossed Rage will get their act together a little for next January.This Retro Month's been a frustrating one.Like last year,golden opportunities to go nuts with rarities have been missed big time,so I'm hoping Rage will lift their game in that area.Sure,there was some,but there could've been so much more.

If last night had included a few great Flashez clips it would probably have been the best one for me,especially as the 10.30 horror show didn't kick off the night and was banished to 3.30.

Showing the 1984 Countdown before the 10.30 horror show would have sealed it.

Hi John, If your looking for a Olivia Newton John Video collection, you should get this one:

http://www.gumtreemusic.com.au/music/olivia-newton-john/olivia-gold-dvd.aspx

And a good Bryan Ferry one is this CD/DVD:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Bryan-Ferry-CD-DVD/dp/B002SF9YYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1264921349&sr=8-1

Hi Brett!
I keep hearing about this Bryan Ferry CD/DVD best of,but I've not seen it anywhere.
As for an Olivia video collection on DVD,I might be sorted with her clips.Got most of my faves of hers from either Countdown or Rage,but thanks for the offer.

Me 2 would have liked to see more "Flashez" and was hoping that the Debbie Byrne show mentioned the week earlier would be the one shown though was not to be. Here's hoping it's an ep that exists and we see it in 2011. Was disappointed and I am in agreement with Patrick while the "Countdown" and "Flashez" were great, where "Recovery" & "10.30 Slot" were played in my view complete eps of "Countdown Revolution" would have suited the retro programming much better as it was the predecessor to "Countdown" and rated considerably well weeknights at 6pm back in 1989 - 1990 for the ABC.

TOTALLY !

I can't believe we are all already thinking about January 2011!

It so depresses me thinking that I have to wait a whole B L O O D Y year for retro January to come around again!

It just goes WAY too fast, how utterly vile that we have to wait this long!

The ABC NEED to get there S H I T together and repeat episode of Countdown on ABC2!

I can't see why not!. Even if rage played ONE Episode of Countdown a month or even Countdown Revolution. I would take what I can get!... Even an episode of Rock Arena at least every 2 months or so would be appreciated. I hate these STRICT rules on the ABC!

In regards to the Olivia Newton - John "(Livin' In) Desperate Times" (correct title) song it was the second final single release from the 1984 soundtrack album "Two Of A Kind" with John Travolta.


The song only charted at #81 Mar 19, 1984 on the AUSTRALIAN Charts not even making the top 40 in Australia unfortunately as it had all the ingredients to make it a worthy 80's hit for Livvy. While the music video was entertaining it did considerably much better on the US charts reaching #31. The soundtracks first single "Twist Of Fate" was a huge hit reaching #5 on the Australian charts on Dec 3, 1983 while in the US it reached #26.


Those who have followed Olivia's music career would also note it had it's premiere in early 1984 on channel Seven Australian tv special introduced by Ian Turpie (Olivia's first boyfriend) titled: John & Olivia - "Making Of Two Of A Kind".