Was it just me or was this ep slightly edited. I was watching this with the stereo on. When they mentioned John Lennon during the Top Ten, Gavin seemed to be cut off and the song seemed to go from mono to stereo, as if what Gavin was saying had been dubbed over. Anyone else notice this??

Yes I certainly noticed this.

The episode lasted 49 minutes - about 4 or 5 mins shorter than usual. Not sure what the cut was but must have been Beatles related.

I also noticed the 16/8/81 Ignatius Jones episode was edited as well - Molly's Humdrum was shortened as originaly it opened with him talking about the Mel Gibson film Gallipoli. Badly cut it was too - Rage even used an old 1979 Humdrum opening as if we wouldn't notice!

I'm getting really fed up with Rage editing Countdowns. Whilst I can understand why due to Beatles copyright, they way they've cut things has been very noticeable and distracting.

I think Rage have edited at least 1 ep per week this Retro season - at last count I think 5 Countdowns met with the editor's scissors unfortunately.

Yep - you are quite right - there is some more editing going on. Seems even old film reviews have some sort of copyright embargo now - or exorbitant licensing fee. Same as that Kiss movie segment edited out during a previous Countdown.

Strange that they can play a complete John Lennon special with a pile of clips yet still have to edit him out of the Countdown episode that followed.

Gurubob could probably help with what exactly was taken out of last nights shows. I am yet to sit down and watch them thoroughly.

I haven't looked through them all either yet but I have the timecoded complete copies of both the 1980 and 1981 shows so I definitely could compare to see what was missing.

Item: 78

Date of Transmission..: 07-Dec-1980
13-Dec-1980
Program Title.........: COUNTDOWN;NO 269
Summary...............: POPULAR MUSIC SERIES FEATURING LOCAL AND OVERSEAS
ARTISTS INCLUDING TOP TEN ITEMS,CHARTBUSTERS AND MOLLY
WITH MUSIC NEWS IN HUMDRUM. THE PROGRAM IS HOSTED BY
ELTON JOHN AND THERE IS AN INTERVIEW WITH IRENE CARA
WHO STARS IN FILM 'FAME'
LIVE STUDIO ITEMS: ELTON JOHN 'SARTORIAL ELOQUENCE' AND
'DEAR GOD'
LOCAL ARTISTS VIDEO CLIPS:
SPLIT ENZ 'ONE STEP AHEAD'
RUSSELL MORRIS & THE RUBES 'HUSH'
TREVOR WHITE 'IT'S ONLY LOVE'
OVERSEAS ARTISTS VIDEO CLIPS:
DIRE STRAITS 'TUNNEL OF LOVE'
IAN DURY 'I WANNA BE STRAIGHT'
BRUCE SPRINGSTEIN 'THE RIVER'
CHARTBUSTERS:
BLONDIE 'THE TIDE IS HIGH'
KELLIE MARIE 'FEELS LIKE I'M IN LOVE'
ROD STEWART 'PASSION'
TOP TEN ITEMS:
KELLIE MARIE 'FEELS LIKE I'M IN LOVE'
POINTER SISTERS 'HE'S SO SHY'
AC/DC 'YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG'
DONNA SUMMER 'THE WANDERER'
CLIFF RICHARD 'DREAMIN'
JOHN LENNON 'STARTIN' OVER'
QUEEN 'ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST'
POLICE 'DON'T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME'
STEVIE WONDER 'MASTER BLASTER'
BARBARA STREISAND 'WOMAN IN LOVE'
JO DOLCE 'SHUDDAP YOU FACE'
Shotlist..............: NONE
Personalities.........: MOLLY MELDRUM,IAN MELDRUM,ABC HOST
ELTON JOHN,GUEST PRESENTER,ENTERTAINER

I thought something was up with the 1981 Humdrum!

I was thinking why is it so short and so abrupt!!!!!!

And was it just me or was No.8 missing from the Top 10 of the 1983 episode? Presumably this may have been Beatles related - was it 'Say say say' involving Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson?

Initially I thought the cuts that were made were due to severe tape damage as that episode seemed to me as if it was a little more worn than a few others of that period shown recently - but with more cuts and some quite noticeable I thought nah, it can't be that.

This was a boring episode - not like the other ones Elton did in later years. How about this Elton one from '86? Maybe for next year?...and yes, a live studio audience!

Year: 1986
Date: 2/11/1986
Show no: 533
Summary: THIS SHOW IS HOSTED BY ELTON JOHN IN FRONT OF A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE. MOLLY INTERVIEWS ELTON RE AUSTRALIAN TOUR AND NEW ALBUM INC EXCERPT CLIP OF ORCHESTRA REHEARSING LIVE STUDIO PERFORMANCES:
GEISHA 'A GIRL LIKE YOU'
MANIKINS 'WHAT ARE YOU ON'
CROWDED HOUSE 'NOW WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE'
JOHN JUSTIN AND THUNDERWINGS 'JUSTICE'
CHARTBUSTERS (EXCERPTS):
ROSE TATTOO 'CALLING'
KINGS OF THE SUN 'BOTTOM OF MY HEAT'
JOE COCKER 'YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR HAT ON'
VIDEO CLIPS:
PAUL KELLY & THE COLOURED GIRLS 'DARLING IT HURTS'
BIG PIG 'HUNGRY TOWN'
BELINDA CARLISLE 'FEEL THE MAGIC'
PAUL YOUNG 'WONDERLAND'
NIK KERSHAW 'NOBODY KNOWS'
RIC OCASEK 'EMOTION IN MOTION'
BANANARAMA 'MORE THAN PHYSICAL'
NATIONAL TOP TEN:
RUN DMC 'WALK THIS WAY'
MADONNA 'TRUE BLUE'
CHRIS DE BURGH 'LADY IN RED'
BILLY JOEL 'A MATTER OF TRUST'
BERLIN 'TAKE MY BREATH AWAY'
BANANARAMA 'VENUS'
HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS 'STUCK WITH YOU'
COMMUNARDS 'DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY'
PAUL SIMON 'YOU CAN CALL ME AL'
JOHN FARNHAM 'YOU'RE THE VOICE'

Sounds great - ANY 1986 ep would be better than the 1980 Elton one on the weekend.

Rage seemed quite obsessed with 1980 and 85 shows this year. The 85 ones were fantastic of course but almost all of the 1980 ones were dull in the extreme.

I'll definately support any non-1980 eps anyone wants to see - apologies to fans of the 1980 era but I've seen very few shows from that year that's convinced me it was a great year.

I'd also love to see the 17/5/81 Ignatius Jones episode - I worked out that Rage have shown an episode hosted by him last year and now this year, so if we can get another one done by him for next year that'd make a perfect trifecta!

Ok Kyron, these are the ones I know for sure were edited:

27/10/84 - 10th Anniversary Show. EDIT: The Beatles 'Birthday' replaced with Altered Images' 'Happy Birthday'.

25/11/79 - Marc Hunter hosts. EDIT: KISS Meets the Phantom 4 mini promo cut.

7/7/81 - Molly from Mt. Bulla. EDIT: George Harrison's single for 'All Those Years Ago' cut completely.

16/8/81 - Ignatius Jones hosts. EDIT: Molly's Humdrum where he talks about the Mel Gibson film 'Gallipoli'.

7/12/80 - Elton John co-hosts. EDIT: Not sure but the episode only runs for 49 mins and most eps from this era last for about 53/54 mins....so either a cut was made or the ep ran under-time.

Anyone else know of any other cuts?

Countdown 14th December 1980 was shown way back in 1998 and that episode was 49:54 then. My guess is that in 1980 Countdown was a 6.30pm to 7.20pm show with a newsbreak at 7.20pm running 10 minutes. I can remember when the ABC used to have 5 minute newsbreaks on a sunday night at 7.25pm which would explain the 52 to 54 minute running times on some episodes.

I am sure Stephen is right on this, Countdown was always at 6pm Sunday nights and the news was always at 7pm. If Countdown ran a 90 minute show such as End Of The Decade or 10th Anniversary it would start at 5:30. I cannot recall that ever being any different but I am open to ideas if it may have occurred - let me know what year and I will check. The replay may have changed times but was usually 5pm the following Saturday.

6pm to 6.55pm sounds right to me as well.

As wxjl said - depends on which state you are in I think. In Melbourne it was always 6.00 to 6.55 on Sunday nights - at least from part way through 1975.

Thanks Pat for that info, it's much appreciated.

I have just had a look through my timecoded copy of Countdown 7/12/1980 and it runs for 53:23.

The version shown runs for about 49 min and Frankster states this was also the case in 1998 although I haven't checked that but certainly don't doubt it.

What they actually cut out was a segment advertising the Countdown 80 book which was between Dire Straits and Russell Morris (11:32 to 16:09 in the episode) so they cut 4:37min out of the episode.

I trust that is what Jase, Patrick, Brett and Kyron were wanting to know.

Yes, that's the info I wanted to know - thanks Guru.

Still, why would Rage cut that out? They've shown the ad for the Countdown 80 book on several other Countdowns over the years - why suddenly now?

Very odd thing to cut out as I doubt there would have been anything much relating to copyright in the ad.

I remember the Bette Midler episode from late 1980 was shown a couple of years back on rage and this episode only went for 48 mins. I wonder what was cut out of this one?