On the COMING UP section it seems that there will be a Guest Programmer on NYE as the calendar works out that
way.

I have requested that they can at least have their Guest Programmer on NYE and then at least play a few episodes of Countdown, Rock Arena, Revolution or whatever after the programmer at about 3am till 6:30 am as it's technically 1st January then and it's supposed to be Retro month!

I saw your comment on Rage first and left a response there. I have only just seen this message but this is what I wrote on Rage:

"That (NYE Retro) may still occur as the Rage Fifty will be on December 24 this year, and that is usually the last program before Retro as it was shown Dec 25 last year and Dec 26 in 2009.

The fact that 2 artists are listed in the coming up section doesn't mean they will be straight up. Remember that Two Door Cinema Club were in the coming up section in January this year and didn't air until the end of June.

I am quietly hopeful that we shall get 5 weeks of Retro this year. As it is clearly the most anticipated part of Rage's annual programming I think it should deserve 5 weeks every year regardless of what the calendar says. A better chance to play all the different items from all the different eras that get requested each year.

We probably deserve a 5th week as there was no Wildcard this year.

I am glass half full on this."

AH, okay Guru. Will have to wait and see...

If I remember correctly, one year (can't remember which) they had an extra/5th week of retro on the first weekend in February. If NYE isn't a retro night, maybe they can do that?

Yes, I remember that to. It was around the first few years on the 00s and I remember being so SHOCKED that rage did a weekend on the first weekend of February. From memory it was 2003...

Yes - I do remember it - may have even been 2001. I think one of the reasons was the outcry over running the BDO special one week in January (thank god they have done away with that utter crap in January now) and the 277, 161,897th screening of a Madonna special. We are just about due for another are we not? It has only been 3 years since the last.

well, she has got a new single due any day now!

Just had a look at the old playlists on the rage site and they showed the last weekend of retro on '10 February, 2001' Geez, I didn't think the rage crew would let it go that far into Feb?... 2003, the last retro weekend was 1st February.

Anyone read if the mod on rage has made any comments about 'Recovery' being shown on Saturday mornings in January? Hope it happens, so we just get the real retro (although hoping for just Countdown and a few eps of Rock Arena) stuff on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings.

YES Brett, thank goodness that BDO S H I T C R A P is over with on rage. Gawd I used to HATE how they used to have one less weekend of Countdown for that Alternative rubbish!

I remember they played BDO in 2001 and I was one of the ones to contribute to the outcry. I have nothing against BDO and actually liked some of the acts but didn't want it in January.

Most of Feb/Mar was BDO GPs, which I thought was more appropriate, and I pleaded with them to transfer it to then. In 2002 they had some BDO acts after the retro shows but in 03 and 04 they again put it in the middle of Retro and that's when I first started posting a lot on their old forum. We did get Feb 1 03 Retro but I let them know how disappointed I was in 2004. Fortunately we haven't had it since.

Funny you should mention a Madonna Special. I just found a video of Rage August 10 1991 and they had a Madonna/Prince Special that night. The Rage Top 60 followed Prince but because the special was so long I only have songs 60 to 45 before the tape runs out. The worst Madonna special was the one they threw into Retro one year and wasted 3 hours.

That Madonna special was shown in 2007 during January - which was awful. I don't mind Madonna but something like that should be shown out of January season. I don't really think another special is called for anyway just yet - wait a few more years for that one.

Hope Rage put in some good stuff - I think the best January season they did in recent years was in 2008 with the mix of Countdown Revolution, Countdown, Beat Box, The Factory, etc - that worked really well. Hope that happens again next time - minus any Recovery thanks!

From what I remember, I think they showed the Madonna special before or after the Dec '85 Countdown, that featured an interview with Madonna. Hey, at least rage tied it in well.

The Madonna special during retro month in 2007 was ridiculous. It used to make me laugh how they seemed to feature a Madonna special nearly every year, yet shied away from other 'pop' artists' specials throughout most of the 90's and the first half of the 00's. The Big Day Out specials were also a joke, as they used to feature that sort of stuff throughout most of the rest of the year.

It might not be a popular opinion, but I'm really tired of all 4 weeks each November being devoted to Oz Music Month, too. It's my birthday month, and it's probably the worst month of the year for Rage playlists IMO.

Absolutely agree - especially the garbage dished up for this year. The only truly memorable November was 2009 when we got the 1st week devoted to Australian 70's (guest programmed by Ross Wilson and one of the best Rages of all time for a devotee like me!!), then the 80's the following week, and so on.

Agree. I haven't recorded even 1 song on rage so far this 'AUSMUSIC' month. It's a joke. Looking forward to December's programming and then the biggie - JANUARY.....COUNTDOWN, COUNTDOWN, COUNTDOWN, COUNTDOWN, ROCK ARENA, COUNTDOWN, COUNTDOWN