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12/04/1981

I am SO glad that I requested this episode and that rage have actually played it tonight :-)

It's FAB, gawd I ACHE for 1981 ...

May I also add that Linda George with "Telephone Line" was just SUPERB as was Kiki Dee with "Star"... SO utterly CAMP! Speaking of which CHEETAH rock!


Seeing Ultravox reviewed in Humdrum was just SUPREME indeed. So sad that The Reels "Shout & Deliver" was not a Countdown performance as indicated in the archives :-(

A GREAT episode BUT to bad my DVD Recorder DIGITAL keeps stuffing up with pix elation during this episode :-( LUCKY I have the IQ recording as well as a back up!

Re: 12/04/1981

It was a good episode, not great but good. Certainly amongst the best that hadn't been shown yet.

I had suggested 3 1981 episodes but as we have already seen one I doubt we will get more.

The episode from 1981 I want to see the most was hosted by Sheena Easton on May 10 1981. With Christie Allen, Mi-Sex, Street Angel and Sports all live plus a clip for Misplaced Love from Rupert Hine which I liked back then.

The following week was hosted by Ignatius Jones and Joylene from Jimmy & The Boys so it too should have been entertaining. Molly seemed a little interested in Joylene.

Brett also suggested the same 2 episodes so you probably have more clout than us CJ in getting your late suggestion through.

The other episode I suggested was one of the summer specials from 1981 which was titled Australian Made and thought that might be appropriate for the Australia Day weekend, whichever one they choose as it falls on a Wednesday this year.

The only other one suggested from 1981 was your suggestion of the Mt Buller 12/7/81 show.

Re: 12/04/1981

NT the Mt Buller one so BAD from 1981 for Dugites "Waiting" video, my FAV Dugites track.

I actually preferred my 1981 request last night to the 1985.

I found the 1985 episode full of US garbage BUT loved the intro of course in more FULL and EON FM sticker with Molly d.jing....

Re: 12/04/1981

Is the Dugites clip on 12/7/81 different to the one they showed on 31/5/81? The one on May 31 is supposed to be live but looks more like a studio clip the way it is done, maybe it is just categorised wrong in their archive lists - as per The Reels being live last night. It is one of the great Aussie songs of '81.

UK music was slightly more appealing than US in the 80's as they had gone through the New Wave revolution while the US had stayed with a lot of MOR sound. Apart from Blondie, The Cars, Berlin, Missing Persons, Animotion etc there weren't as many US bands that really dabbled in new wave or synth. I used to listen to the Australian Top 40 on Saturday nights on Fox FM in the mid 80's and then on the Sunday night they would play the American Top 40 with Casey Kasem and I did often turn it off due to the amount of crap in their charts. Then again I have seen a lot of rubbish that got shown on Top Of The Pops in the 80's.

As a fan of Oz music I am really only interested in our own bands and I think we probably had the best charts as we just picked the cream of the UK and US and mixed it with all the Australian talent. We do live in the best country - although at the moment in the wrong era.

Re: 12/04/1981

In the archives it says "VIDEO CLIP" so I am willing to take the chance!

The one played a few years ago was certainly in the Countdown studio.

I still think the UK had THE best charts in the 80s.

I ADORE OZ 80s BUT as we know a lot of the really FABULOUS OZ 80s didn't make to many chart impressions in this country

And many of the OZ 80s synth bands we love owe a lot to the UK as if it wasn't for the British New Romantic movement many things wouldn't have changed in this country!

I mean it was Chisel, Angels and all that crap then a few years later we had Real Life, Pseudo Echo, Severed Heads, Venetians e.t.c...

UK and OZ 80s is my TOTAL fav 80s bunch.

I do like US Funk and European Italo DIsco as well.

But for Pop and Synth, UK and OZ FOREVER!

Re: 12/04/1981

Totally agree with both Guru and Jason.

The UK music scene in the early to mid 80s was fantastic - much more creative and innovative than the American scene that's for sure.

It was a very exciting time to be a music fan back then and I'm eternally grateful I was around then to appreciate it.

That sort of why it bugs me when I see some Countdown episodes and hear Molly ask a local singer/band "when are you going to America?"

I know this topic has been mentioned here before but Molly sure did have an obsession with artists breaking into the U.S. The UK scene was MUCH better than America and more memorable.

That isn't to say there weren't many good U.S. groups in that time - there were - but for my liking the greatest tunes and musical excitment came from the U.K and our local scene at that time.

Re: 12/04/1981

guru bob
Apart from Blondie, The Cars, Berlin, Missing Persons, Animotion etc there weren't as many US bands that really dabbled in new wave or synth. I used to listen to the Australian Top 40 on Saturday nights on Fox FM in the mid 80's and then on the Sunday night they would play the American Top 40 with Casey Kasem and I did often turn it off due to the amount of crap in their charts.

Well, Berlin INDEED are one of THE very BEST. i ADORE Berlin to pieces and Missing Persons OF COURSE!

I remember listening to the American Top 40 on Fox FM with Casey Kasem and I would be lucky to tape 5 tracks as it was so fricking DULL!

Re: 12/04/1981

Yes I used to listen to Mr Kasem a lot as well. I particularly remember the 81 - 83 period vividly as many of the songs I heard on Countdown would usually feature on his show.

His show was a bit daggy but it was ok for what it was and his voice was a pleasure to listen to. He also did voice-work for many animated series such as Battle of the Planets - one of my favourite shows way back in 'the good old days'.

Truly, we were very spoilt for music back then, on TV with Countdown, Sounds, Solid Gold, Trax, etc and on radio - I could go on. Why did those days have to end I wonder??

Re: 12/04/1981

I had also just assumed that the great music and the variety of shows we had on TV in the 80's would continue. If you missed one show you could watch another. There was about 25 hours a week back in the mid 80's.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If I had known what the music would turn into by the late 80's, certainly by the early 90's, I would have invested in video tapes like there was no tomorrow.

Unfortunately I just took a lot of it just for granted and at the time the music was more important than the videos. I would record 100's of cassettes. Little did I realise that years later the music would be easy to find and it would be the clips I would value. That actually happened on the first time I saw Rage Retro in 1994 (I had missed the couple of Countdowns in 1993) and as I was watching it I was thinking I should be recording this.

Re: 12/04/1981

guru bob
I had also just assumed that the great music and the variety of shows we had on TV in the 80's would continue. If you missed one show you could watch another. There was about 25 hours a week back in the mid 80's.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If I had known what the music would turn into by the late 80's, certainly by the early 90's, I would have invested in video tapes like there was no tomorrow.

Unfortunately I just took a lot of it just for granted and at the time the music was more important than the videos. I would record 100's of cassettes. Little did I realise that years later the music would be easy to find and it would be the clips I would value. That actually happened on the first time I saw Rage Retro in 1994 (I had missed the couple of Countdowns in 1993) and as I was watching it I was thinking I should be recording this.


Exactly the same thing happened to me. From the time of my first VHS recorder in 1982 (I was 21) I would religously record all those music shows. But as videotape was so expensive I would always go back and re-use the same tape and wipe over songs I did not like. By about 1985 when I was starting to earn more money and blank videotapes dropped from over $10.00 each to around $5.00 (less for cheap brands or in bulk) so I tended to keep more. I religiously taped shows like Countdown Flipside in 1983 trying to get older clips, but only kept 4 or 5 complete shows.

We were definitely spoilt in the mid-to-late 80's - in hindsight I wished I had taped EVERY Countdown episode but at the time I could see no value in current chart material - I wanted older shows and episodes from the day prior to Video Recorders - the late 70's and early 80's that is.

Shows like John Torv's "Night Shift" video program were a godsend - I filled 4 to 5 hour tapes of complete shows and still have many, many stored away somewhere. Just need to time to go through it all. I also taped bits & pieces of that horrible MTV music program with Richard Wilkins when he hosted - mainly to get the retro segments which popped up now and again - I think they were called "Closet Classics".

I even managed to miss the very last Countdown in July 1987 - luckily a friend taped the whole lot plus the awards and I copied it later to DVD - I even have the intro news segment from the ABC that came on just prior to Countdown on that fateful last night. Little did I know how much I would miss that show - although at the time there was not too much sadness - it was swallowed up by all those endless video clip shows mentioned.

Re: 12/04/1981

Tell me about it with vhs tapes being TO expensive!

We got our first vhs in 1985, I wanted one earlier BUT they were to expensive :-(

I would just keep using the same tapes and taping over which makes me SO sad now :-( I would LOVE to look back at my vhs tapes from 1985/1986!

I remember things I recorded but not all tings, I would randomly tape things obscure from SOUNDS The Noise and of course LOTS from Countdown!

I actually remember in 1985 being upset because even in 1985 I was longing to record the video clips I had seen as a little youngster from 1981 to 1984. I was SO upset I had no way of getting clips from The Human League, Culture Club, Duran, Pseudo Echo, Kim Wilde e.t.c.... SO even at that stage I was missing the music from the Early 80s at only 11 years old!

I remember getting a free 30 minute NATIONAL VHS tape with the VCR my dad bought. I was up early with the record button to go and SOUNDS started and what was the first video on that day.... It was "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina And The Waves and I was mortified on how BAD this song and video was. It took me a little while to record GEMS actually!!!

I remember the last Countdown episode like it was yesterday, I was SO upset! ... I couldn't believe COUNTDOWN was going for good!

I remember actually crying and I actually tuned on to ABC at 6pm for a following month or so after HOPING there had been some terrible mistake BUT it was NO mistake :-(

Now however I am actually glad COUNTDOWN ended in 1987 as music by 1988 declined BIG TIME!!!

Re: 12/04/1981

Countdown started to lose me from the first episode of 1987 when they introduced that Pirate TV thing or whatever it was. It had totally lost its Countdown feel and I didn't even end up watching many episodes that year. When it finished I actually thought good riddance as it had changed so much. Looking back though it was alright really, it was only that the intro was totally sh*t.

Brett, I would love to see some of those Video Music episodes with John Torv. I only have about 90 minutes left from one of the earlier episodes from around Oct 1984. There were a lot of common clips but every now and then an obscurity would appear as they did play new releases just like Sounds. My episode has a Duran Duran contest on it but I don't know the exact date. It has 2 footy games from 1985 taped over it and just the last 90 minutes remain. That was when you would record in Long Play and make a 6 hour tape out of a 3 hour tape.

Re: 12/04/1981

Vile footy taped over Music video's!

OH NO!

SHOCK, GASP and HORROR!

That is a terrible business, how I LOATH Football!

Re: 12/04/1981

I'm not a sports fan either - but we do live in the most sports mad country on earth so we'll have to grin and bear it!

As for the end of Countdown - I remember watching the last episode - it really did feel like the end of my childhood as I definately started watching it from a very early age - certainly from 1977 onwards.

It was sad seeing it go but I couldn't imagine that it would have lasted much longer - maybe until the end of 88 but not much further. No way could I imagine it continuing into the 90's - imagine if Dylan Lewis hosted Countdown - yuck!

The Pirate TV concept was a shambles I agree although watching the 1987 episodes today they aren't as bad as I remember - certainly much more entertaining than some stuff around these days.

I find it interesting that the final awards show was held in July. They were usually held in April/May so I wondered why they were done so late in the year - unless Molly knew it was the end and delayed it for the purpose of ending the show with it?

Not only do I remember the final episode I remember when I first starting watching old shows on Rage. I came on late to Retro in 1995 and the first one I saw was the 1980 Ramones one. Seeing that show and Countdown again after so long was really like welcoming back an old friend - I forgot how much I missed it and what a huge part of my life it was.

I've been glued to Retro season ever since and I'm glad I have!

Re: 12/04/1981

I also really enjoyed the 1981 "Countdown" with "Cheetah", "Linda George" and also The Reels music video clip of "Shout & Deliver" as that is quite rare as was the Kiki Dee music video although once it started coming on it did come back to me when I watched this the very first time around. Also remember the "Cheetah" performance. Was pleasant to see a number of them last night and the fact one after the other was also refreshing. I confess I didn't bother with the half hour after "Hitscene" as I found the "Recovery" footage a complete waste. Their weren't even any Aussie alternative artists of note at least that would of been a little better. That was very disppointing not to mention "Lenny Kravitz" & "Tori Amos" clips. To me those clips don't belong in this programming at all. They need us forum users programming their shows as I'm sure there would be a much bigger and pleasant change for all of us devoted retro viewers fans whatever you want to call it.

As much as I did enjoy the last "Countdown" looking back at 70s most of the clips I think we would all fairly have or would of seen over a period of time. As for the Marcia music video for "You" huge disappointment for me as I was expecting the official 1977 music video clip complete as I also had this performance from a "Countdown" dvd release a few years back. Oh well much better on the "Countdown" front overall last night though I like many here are hoping for a full night's worth and ones that are fresh shows that haven't aired since their original date in the 80s. C'mon those at "Rage" please get your act together.

Re: 12/04/1981

In a final summation of this episode it was disappointing that both The Reels and Sports were film clips when the Countdown archives listed them as live, especially when both those bands have released Best Of videos.

The 4 live performances were good and Dave surprised by being a fairly cheerful host which was my biggest unexpected bonus, although he still decided to bag Kim Wilde at the end.

Re: 12/04/1981

Though I think Dave Mason is talented and I literally DIE for The Reels I didn't see the need in bagging Kim :-(

To be perfectly honest I have NEVER thought of Blondie whilst listening to "Kids In America"?

I don't think it sounds remotely AT ALL like Blondie!

Kim's voice is TOTALLY different and Kim had so much more of a synth sound than Blondie... Go figure?!

Guru, did you notice every time Dave Mason hosts he ALWAYS scratches his right side of his scalp?

He did it on the 1981 episode with Pel Mel as well. I thought it may have been because his hair was slicked back BUT he did it on the 1981 episode again last night!

Just some FUNNY trivia

Re: 12/04/1981

Jason "The Moderator"
To be perfectly honest I have NEVER thought of Blondie whilst listening to "Kids In America"?

I don't think it sounds remotely AT ALL like Blondie!

Kim's voice is TOTALLY different and Kim had so much more of a synth sound than Blondie... Go figure?!




Although Kids in America doesn't sound much like Blondie I always thought "Chequered Love" was very "Blondiesque", especially when Kim sings all the "Ooh ooh" bits ...similar to the Ooh oohs in "Heart Of Glass", I always thought.

When I first saw Kim performing,the thought did cross my mind that she was trying to emulate Debbie Harry...
Both absolutely stunning blonde girls with that "ice queen" quality about them....

Re: 12/04/1981

I have never confused Blondie with Kim Wilde. Heart Of Glass, Call Me and Atomic would be about as close as Blondie went to a more keyboard/synth sound, they tended to be more of a guitar driven band. I suppose some people would make the generalisation based on the fact they both had blonde hair. I thought it was a poor call from Dave, and a cheap shot for no reason. I love both and they were both stunning girls as Christina mentioned.

I hadn't noticed Dave and the rubbing of the forehead but now that you mention it you may be onto something. Some people are naturals in front of the camera and some have certain habits they fall in to, probably due to nerves. I know whenever Stephen Cummings was interviewed he would be sweating he was so nervous.

Re: 12/04/1981

I could be wrong though I thought "Music Video" was hosted by John Torv in the early 80s as I watched it nearly every weekend back at the time and from about 1985-1986 later years Basia Bonkowski til it finished late 1986 and then "Nightshift" began with a host David White well that's what I have listed in a mid year tv week mag for 1987. Like you and others here we were really spoiled for choice with shows on all channels from late 1970s into mid 1980s with "Countdown"(1974 - 1987)(2),"All About Music"(1974)(2),"Sit Yourself Down, Take A Look Around"(1974)(2), "Radio With Pictures"(1975)(2), "Nightmoves"(1976- 1982)(7), "Bandstand 76"(1976-1977)(9), "Flashez"(1976-1977)(2), "Right On"(late 70s)(10), "Cappriccio"(1978-1980)(2)(more celebrity driven),"Thank God It's Friday At The Zoo")(1978)(10)(Live rather than clip format) "Nightshift"(, "Sounds Unlimited"( / "Sounds"(1973 - 1987)(7),"Farnham & Byrne"(1980)(2)(Variety rather than clip format), "Video Disc"(1981-1982)(2), "After Dark"(1982)(7)(Late night Sounds),"Rock Arena"(1982-1989)(2), "Rock Around The World"(1982 - 1984)(SBS), "Wrok"(1982)(10), "Music Video"(1983-1987)(10), "Countdown Flipside"(1983)(2), "Take 5/Take V(1983-1984)(2), "Continental Drift"(1984)(SBS), "Sweet & Sour"(1984)(2)(Fictional series and one we all want to see again),"Country Road"(1977-1978)(2)(Country Countdown version), "The Meldrum Tapes"(1984-1985)(2), "Antenna"(1984-1985)(2), "Wavelength"(1984)(2), "Freeze Frame"(1984)(SBS), "Beatbox"(1985 - 1988)(2), "Rockit"(1985)(9),"Kulture Shock"(1985)(SBS), "Beat Club" retitled "The Noise"(1986-1992)(SBS), "Video Hits"(1986- ).

During 1987 a resurgence happened with 4 music video clip shows "Rage"(1987 - )(2), "Nightshift"(1987-1989)(10), "MTV" (Aussie version)(1987 - 1992)(9) and "The Factory"(1987-1989)(2) all began life together during 1987. "Satuday Morning Live"(1988-1989)(7),"Video Smash Hits"(1990-1996)(7),"Countdown Revolution"(1989-1990)(2) "Spin"(1989-1990)(10) + short lived 90's music clip based shows like "Racket"(1991)(2),"MC Tee Vee"(Early - mid 90's?)(SBS),"Nomad"(1994)(2), "Coca-Cola Take 40 Tv"(1993-1994)(10), "The Drum"(1993/2002)(V), "Top 40 Australia"(1994-1995?)(10)(short lived half hour weekday show from memory), "Recovery" (1996-2000)(2), "Pop-Up Video"(1998)(10), "Alchemy TV"(1998-2000), "Ground Zero"(1998-1999)(10), "The 10.30-Slot"(1999-2000)(2), "Studio 22"(1999-2003)(2), "AMV" (Australian Music Video)(2002-2002)(7), "The House Of Hits"(2000)(10), "Pepsi Chart Show"(2002)(10), "So Fresh TV"(2002-2006)(9), "John Safran's Music"(2003)(ABC), "Jamboree"(2003)(SBS), "Eclipse Music TV"(2005- )(9), "JTV"(2006- )(2), "The Music Jungle"(2007-2008)(9) Wasn't there also an SBS music show "Eat Carpet" with Annette Shun Wah("The Noise") from memory.

Okay I have gotten carried away tonight with this info. Hope it's a good music resource for anybody that needs to know predominantly music clip shows from the past 30 years on Australian tv. "Im sure there a handfull we still need to track down still.

Re: 12/04/1981

Silly me "Eat Carpet" was directed at the genre of movies. My brain is working overtime LOL. "Wavelength" also was broadcast on channel Nine from 5pm half hour weekday afternoons as I would watch regularly. With Pay Tv nowdays why can't they replay most of these shows. I just don't get tv programmers today.

Re: 12/04/1981

I too listened to Take 40 Australia on Fox FM on Saturday night, and Casey Kasem's American Top 40 (can hear the jingle in my head as I type) on Sunday night. I started in 1988 though - due to being born in the late 70s, I got into music a bit later than some of you here. Interested in the charts, I used to write down the top 40 every week. Then I discovered that it was a week behind Rage, and that Rage aired the top 50.

I didn't start recording music videos until early 1989. The first video I recorded was Enya's 'Orinoco Flow' at #12 on Rage , followed by the top 5 for that week (Mental As Anything, The Proclaimers, Womack & Womack, Kylie & Jason, The Beach Boys). Although I watched Rage, Saturday Morning Live & Video Hits from early 1988, for some reason I didn't think to record the videos I liked until watching some videos my cousin had recorded when visiting just after Christmas '88. I wish I had thought of it earlier. I too used to re-use VHS tapes for the first year and a bit. I kept the first VHS tape that I filled up, but regrettably taped over the 2nd and third . I can remember most of the clips I taped over, but haven't been able to track many of them down since, as I tended to like the lower-charting singles/stuff that didn't make the top 50 more than the bigger hits

The UK charts from that era were definitely my favourite. The Oz charts were good, but a lot of tracks I liked didn't make it, despite charting high in the UK. It was obvious immediately that the American Top 40 had more crap in it/stuff I didn't like, but for some reason I still listened regardless.

I too hated Molly's infatuation with Australian bands/artists 'making it in the US' as if it was the pinnacle of achievement. I guess Australia had an inferiority complex/need to dominate the US at the time - with the America's Cup etc.

Re: 12/04/1981

Scott
I had a look through TV Week once and Video Music with John Torv started in Melbourne about July or August 1984. I think John was from Sydney so maybe it was shown elsewhere earlier.

Certainly South Australia seemed to be a mecca for great little music shows that unfortunately never showed anywhere else.

I think Countdown had to die at the time it did due to the change in music and the way it was being presented. If it had continued it would no doubt morphed into a Countdown Revolution style show and that would have been sad. Better to end it while it still had value. Live bands were being seen as too costly when you can just play clip after clip.

As you mention with the rise of longer video shows which were starting out in 1987 with MTV (which sort of replaced Video Music), Night Shift and later that year with Rage, Countdown couldn't compete with those.

I'm not sure who all the hosts were on Night Shift, one of the clips I uploaded from there to YouTube was introduced by a girl but I have no idea who it is. Check it out, maybe you know:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCDC41ng1Ps

Wavelength wasn't a bad show but if you were trying to get the clips you wouldn't get them from there. Jono & Dano used to superimpose themselves onto the clips doing little jokes - such as on Nik Kershaws video Wouldn't It Be Good where he has that white suit, Jono would walk onto the clip advertising washing powders to make your cloths whiter, or The Twins - Not The Loving Kind where they ran the clip like it was an advert for selling cloths with prices flashing up on the screen.

Re: 12/04/1981

The earliest video's I recorded from memory were:

Dead Or Alive - Lover Come Back To me

I'm Talking - Lead The Way

Machinations - My Hearts On Fire

King - Love And Pride

Madonna - Into the Groove



BACK TO KIM: I think the reason why they compared Kim to Debbie is because back in 1981 FEMALES weren't as recognized as male bands. And unfortunately Kim may have been compared to Debbie.

I STILL don't see ANY resemblance in looks or SOUND what so ever!... I am a HUGE Kim Wilde fan and I seriously don't get the comparison at all except they are both females with bleached hair!

Even on Kids In America, Kim is not overly glamorously done up say what Debbie was like on their first video "In The Flesh".

And once again, Kim Wilde was so much more SYNTHY!

Look at Cambodia, View From A Bridge and Child Come Away... They are straight Synth pop bordering on the New Romantic feel.

And Chequered Love still sounds like Kim Wilde to me and not Blondie...

If you want to compare a female artist who has ripped off another, try THE poor man's Kate Bush being Tori Amos!

Re: 12/04/1981

Music Video in Sydney was hosted by John Torv in the begining. But later it was hosted by Basia Bonkowski of 'Rock Around The World'. My first video recorder was a Sanyo Beta( OUCH!), I didn't change to VHS till 1990. I use to tape so much music clips from 1980 onwards, most of them were UK and European bands. In time i ended up taping over them, as i thought that they would always be played again in the furure, i was wrong ( Bigger OUCH!).

Re: 12/04/1981

Yeah Jason, you're definitely right about Debbie being a lot more sophisticatedly glam than Kim, especially in clips like "In the Flesh".
Like Bob, I love them both but I always thought the divine Miss Harry had that little extra "WOW" factor.
She really was the ultimate rock goddess.

I remember being absolutely transfixed when I first saw this clip so I can imagine how it moved all the teenage boys out there at the time! Deb was just so decandently glamourous and sexy with her tousled bleached hair wisping out of her black French beret,in that little black cocktail dress...very "Bridget Bardot."

Other girls clearly influenced by Deb Harry's look were Terry Nunn of Berlin and Annalisse from the Numbers.
They didn't sound a lot like her but had the hair thing going on - "In Modern Song" I think Annalisse was definitely channelling her...


And yes, Jason, Tori Amos is "the poor man's Kate" for sure but Kate had more talent in her little finger than Ms Amos...

Re: 12/04/1981

> If you want to compare a female artist who has
> ripped off another, try THE poor man's Kate Bush
> being Tori Amos!

Oh dear... I used to be a huge Tori fan until she went all (relatively for her) MOR. I'm also a fan of Kate. Although there are some similarities (moreso on Tori's first solo album than any later ones), they really are quite different.

Kate:
- the 'innovator'/more other-worldly
- better producer than Tori
- weird in a less contrived way
- better multi-instrumentalist than Tori
- more experimental
- more 'theatrical'
- more introverted
- live performances heavily planned/rehearsed
- never tours
- writes about characters/external things rather than herself
- fame/stardom shy
- her songs are more 'cerebral'/thought about
- brilliant dancer


Tori:
- much better piano 'chops'/composes more complex piano pieces than Kate
- much more prolific than Kate
- more extroverted
- tours constantly
- more 'natural' a live performer/improvises rather than planned
- writes about her own experiences (before she went all 'political'/concepts)
- fame/stardom hungry
- her songs are more 'visceral'/from her 'gut'
- crap dancer


I think Tori & Kate are most similar with their vocals; but I don't think it's Tori deliberately ripping her off. If you listen to Tori's early recordings in the late 70s/early 80s, she sounds like Kate Bush vocally even then. Kate didn't 'break' America until the mid 80s. Tori said that people used to come up to her after shows she played in piano bars in the early 80s and tell her she sounded like Kate Bush. She claims that she hadn't heard of Kate, but was compelled to go and buy her albums after so many people made the comparison. She said she was in awe of the albums, but stopped listening to them because she didn't want to rip Kate off.


Having said all of this, Kate Bush's 'The Dreaming' is my favourite album by anyone, ever.


> And yes, Jason, Tori Amos is "the poor man's Kate"
> for sure but Kate had more talent in her little
> finger than Ms Amos...

Tori could whip Kate's ar$e on the piano with one arm tied behind her back. They're both mega-talented in their own way.

Re: 12/04/1981

Yes I thought it was poor of Dave Mason to bag Ms Wilde.

She always seemed to be an easy target for some reason - I don't know why as she worked hard for her success and is an amazing singer. To compare her to Debbie does no favours to either women who have both cemented their place in music history in their own individual way.

Dave Mason seemed a bit more happy hosting this ep though - he even cracked a reluctant smile now and again too !

@Guru - yes Adelaide indeed was a music mecca back in the late 70's/80s - everywhere you looked there was a music show to watch. I know this has been discussed before but it really was a great time to be a music fan and to have a wide choice in music TV shows back then was brilliant.

I do try and keep an eye out for old tapes here in case some old Music Express shows are on them or Countdown, etc. I have very fond memories of watching both and made my Sunday night viewing that more enjoyable.

Re: 12/04/1981

ohnoitisnathan
> Tori could whip Kate's ar$e on the piano with one arm tied behind her back. They're both mega-talented in their own way.


On refelection, I was probably being a little harsh on Tori,nathan.
I do like a few of her songs, especially "Cornflake Girl" and "Strange Little Girl",as well as "Winter's Carol", which has a truly beautiful accompanying clip.
But at times I find her just too contrived and trying just a little too hard to be weird and "out there".

Kate was just effortlessly different and "other wordly" and such a striking looking lady.
The clip for Wuthering Heights where she's all in red is a truly inspiring masterpiece...

Re: 12/04/1981

Yeah, I though Dave was wrong on that one.

I loved Kim Wilde, like most music fans did back then, she was great looking and her music was fantastic also.

Re: 12/04/1981

ohnoitisnathan
I too listened to Take 40 Australia on Fox FM on Saturday night, and Casey Kasem's American Top 40 (can hear the jingle in my head as I type) on Sunday night. I started in 1988 though - due to being born in the late 70s, I got into music a bit later than some of you here. Interested in the charts, I used to write down the top 40 every week. Then I discovered that it was a week behind Rage, and that Rage aired the top 50.

I didn't start recording music videos until early 1989. The first video I recorded was Enya's 'Orinoco Flow' at #12 on Rage , followed by the top 5 for that week (Mental As Anything, The Proclaimers, Womack & Womack, Kylie & Jason, The Beach Boys). Although I watched Rage, Saturday Morning Live & Video Hits from early 1988, for some reason I didn't think to record the videos I liked until watching some videos my cousin had recorded when visiting just after Christmas '88. I wish I had thought of it earlier. I too used to re-use VHS tapes for the first year and a bit. I kept the first VHS tape that I filled up, but regrettably taped over the 2nd and third . I can remember most of the clips I taped over, but haven't been able to track many of them down since, as I tended to like the lower-charting singles/stuff that didn't make the top 50 more than the bigger hits

The UK charts from that era were definitely my favourite. The Oz charts were good, but a lot of tracks I liked didn't make it, despite charting high in the UK. It was obvious immediately that the American Top 40 had more crap in it/stuff I didn't like, but for some reason I still listened regardless.

I too hated Molly's infatuation with Australian bands/artists 'making it in the US' as if it was the pinnacle of achievement. I guess Australia had an inferiority complex/need to dominate the US at the time - with the America's Cup etc.


I switched on the radio the other day, to still hear Take40 Australia being played and hosted by Barry Bissell. How old would he be now. I remember discovering this radio chart show back in 82/83. 2CC in Canberra used to play it.

Re: 12/04/1981

Patrick
Yes I thought it was poor of Dave Mason to bag Ms Wilde.


Dave Mason used to bag everybody. In one episode after an REO Speedwagon clip he actually said "Yuk!". He definitely had a chip on his shoulder and an attitude. His father was a politician who briefly led the NSW opposition so I guess that explains a lot.

Re: 12/04/1981

Jason "The Moderator"
The earliest video's I recorded from memory were:

Dead Or Alive - Lover Come Back To me

I'm Talking - Lead The Way

Machinations - My Hearts On Fire

King - Love And Pride

Madonna - Into the Groove



The first clip I recorded was Let's Go Crazy by Prince from the Trax NYE special in 1984. I still have my old tapes but a few of them were recorded on LP with cheap tapes so are a bit worse for wear now. Pity.

Re: 12/04/1981

John,

I MUST say that I would say yuk after Reo Speedwagon as well! Ha Ha

John, how did you put your icon picture near your name on here??????

Re: 12/04/1981

> But at times I find her just too contrived and
> trying just a little too hard to be weird and "out
> there".


I didn't mean to be snarky towards you in my reply... I surprised myself actually, defending Tori still despite thinking her output for the last decade as being rather sub-par... But then I don't like Kate's 'Aerial' either, other than 'King of the Mountain'.

I agree on Tori's weirdness being too contrived. When she started out, she was kooky, but what she said still made sense. Then towards the end of the 90s, her interviews became more and more obtuse, and it she started to annoy me. Plus I don't like the obvious plastic surgery she's had - it seems to go against everything she (appeared to) stand for initially. Oh well. If the music was still as good, it wouldn't matter so much, but it isn't IMO.

Tori's single releases from 1999 onwards I thought have been on the whole quite poor. The record company always seems to pick the most bland/MOR stuff with little/virtually no piano in it. So, if you only know the singles, they're not really the best representation of her work IMO.

Re: 12/04/1981

This is getting completely off the original topic but anyway...

I do remember one of the first things I recorded onto video was a Countdown and some eps of Sons and Daughters - one of my favourite soapies of the 80s!

My family didn't get a video until fairly late - 1986 - and that was only because my father wanted to record his appearance on an Adelaide morning show called A Touch of Elegance - a truly appallling chat show that went on for decades. He appeared in a play and was interviewed about it.

We actually do still have that first tape but alas not much of any others.

Re: Tori Amos. I think Max Sharam was our local version of her and Kate Bush put together. I don't mind any of those ladies - at least they were interesting to see and listen to - which can't be said for most of today's bland commercial singers.

Re: 12/04/1981

Patrick
This is getting completely off the original topic but anyway...

I agree Patrick! ... It happens A LOT on here for some reason!

And Patrick, I really liked Max Sharam, she was FABULOUS!... But neither of them come close to Kate Bush. Kate is THE most unique female artist ever! A true imaginative artist :-)

Re: 12/04/1981

Jason "The Moderator"
John,

I MUST say that I would say yuk after Reo Speedwagon as well! Ha Ha

John, how did you put your icon picture near your name on here??????


I simply uploaded the pic to TinyPic in avatar size, then put the URL in the Avatar URL space. I'm surprised as moderator you don't know about this.

Re: 12/04/1981

@John

I am NOT good with all the avatar stuff!

Re: 12/04/1981

guru bob
Countdown started to lose me from the first episode of 1987 when they introduced that Pirate TV thing or whatever it was. It had totally lost its Countdown feel and I didn't even end up watching many episodes that year. When it finished I actually thought good riddance as it had changed so much. Looking back though it was alright really, it was only that the intro was totally sh*t.

Brett, I would love to see some of those Video Music episodes with John Torv. I only have about 90 minutes left from one of the earlier episodes from around Oct 1984. There were a lot of common clips but every now and then an obscurity would appear as they did play new releases just like Sounds. My episode has a Duran Duran contest on it but I don't know the exact date. It has 2 footy games from 1985 taped over it and just the last 90 minutes remain. That was when you would record in Long Play and make a 6 hour tape out of a 3 hour tape.



Hi Guru – will be getting those tapes organised very soon – will be in contact soon. There are at least a dozen or so. I used to just leave a 4 or 5-hour VHS video running all night for Night Shift and then go back and watch it next day. There was usually something which made me justify keeping the whole show (or most of it) but some I did wipe over parts and add other shows. My early bad habits of the 80’s just kept on going. My next job is to locate these tapes so I will stay in touch for sure. Most shows would have been taped in 1986 and 1987 and the show was re-named John Torvs Night Shift video to just Night Shift during this time. I will know more as soon as I view the tapes.

Re: 12/04/1981

John Moulis
Jason "The Moderator"
John,

I MUST say that I would say yuk after Reo Speedwagon as well! Ha Ha

John, how did you put your icon picture near your name on here??????


I simply uploaded the pic to TinyPic in avatar size, then put the URL in the Avatar URL space. I'm surprised as moderator you don't know about this.


I'm going to give it a go myself John.

Re: 12/04/1981

If we had underlying quotes like some forum's here, I'd probably paraphrase George Michael and add: 'Read without Prejudice.'

As you can tell I like to keep some things to myself.

Re: 12/04/1981

There were two music video shows hosted by Glenn Ridge in Regional Victoria in the 1980s before he become as the second host of Sale Of The Century and there were Breezin'[1980 or '81-84] from BCV-8 in Bendigo and Off The Record[1987?-89?] from BTV-6 in Ballarat.

Re: 12/04/1981

I know this is an old post, but I have just read it from start to finish.

You guys in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide were indeed very spoilt with all the music shows on offer in the 80s. Canberra only had one commercial station right up until early '89 (which I have mentioned before in a previous post) and programs from all the commercial stations 7, 9, 10 were squashed into the one station - Capital 7 TV. So I guess I didn't miss what I didn't have, but thank god we still got all the gems from the ABC!

A few of you have pointed out Casey Kasem's American Top 40. If interested, 2CA (AM radio - but went digital about 9 months ago and better than FM radio) in Canberra play the original recordings every Sunday evening at 4pm. No edits/best of's, the show in it's entirity. Most of what I've tuned into have been 70's. However, a few weeks back, they played the Top 40 from early Feb 1979. Still waiting for a 1980's show - will tune in tomorrow evening to find out.