I was looking through some of my Football Record match programs for 1980 (I know, football is not a popular topic on this forum) but I noticed that in Molly's weekly column that year they included the Countdown Top 10 charts.

There are 2 lost Countdown episodes for 1980 - May 17 and May 24 - which fortuitously, if a lost episode can be fortuitous, fell during the football season so the charts for those 2 weeks were published. They may have also been published elsewhere but I don't recall seeing them in his other columns he wrote in TV Week or The Sun newspaper so this may be the only place they still exist.

He also reveals that Steve Gilpin of Mi-Sex hosted the May 18 episode from Brisbane and that they performed Space Race live (which was repeated on June 8 and shown in Chartbusters on June 29) so that performance survives but it is good to confirm where it came from. Gary Numan was supposed to host May 25 but couldn't make it so it was hosted by Bob Geldof again who had also hosted the May 11 episode (as mentioned in Humdrum on the June 1 1980 ep)

I will reproduce if anyone is interested.

Countdown charts and article May 17 1980






Countdown charts May 24 1980

An impressive find there. It was columns like these that added 'a little' spice to many a dreary periodical too. Brought back both the memories of hearing the charts for the first time and later acquiring the singles contained therein.

WOW Guru, can you PLEASE e mail them to me. I want to put them on the actual website under Countdown Media !!! WOW!!!!!!!!!

Fantastic find Guru, well done. Seems somewhat strange why those 2 particular episodes are missing though - as is the sole 1984 Jackson Victory Dance competition episode - seems very random. I wonder if those are just lost in the archives rather than having been wiped - I would guess so.

There aren't many episodes missing for the 80's so I would hope they do actually still exist in some form somewhere, maybe like the 1976 Sherbet episode that was listed under a misleading title that didn't refer to Countdown.

It's just good to find some information on what those missing episodes contained - we now know how the Top 10 at the end of the show went for both those episodes and who hosted them. Slowly we may piece it together.



Have sent an email

Also the Countdown episodes were dated May 18 and May 25 1980. I accidentally mentioned them as May 17 and 24 as that was the date of my Saturday editions of the VFL Football Record.

Great stuff! I had no idea Countdown talk was featured in the VFL/AFL Football Record Match mags? A few Q's...

How long did the Countdown feature last in these mags?

Did the Gary Numan tour go ahead? as it mentioned he was unable to host Countdown?

Why were there was mixed opinions about Bob Geldoff's hosting of Countdown?

What song did Oz Crawl perform on Countdown 1/6/80? I can't recall them being on this episode!

Finally, my Dad used to say 'Chewie on ya boot'

and I don't mind talk of Football on this forum, as long as it's NRL.

There will be NO talk of that EVIL sport of this forum!!!

Sports is DISGUSTING!

Molly's column only featured during 1980.

Gary Numan did tour but didn't make the May 25 episode. Molly didn't think too much of Gary's tour show in his review in the May 24 Football Record "..though I have to admit I found his concerts a little disappointing. The staging and lighting were quite breathtaking, but after 15 minutes of hearing the same constant beat, apart from the odd flash of brilliance, I felt that Numan needs another 18 months to establish any major entertaining repertoire." They explained his non appearance in hosting May 25 in the phone call segment during Humdrum in the June 1 ep.

I think Bob Geldof may not have been his cheerful best on the May 11 ep. It doesn't say what the reasons for the mixed reviews was - probably just some viewer feedback.

Australian Crawl didn't perform on the June 1 episode. They performed Downhearted on June 22. Maybe they had to delay that performance for some reason.

Molly's column showed that they made a number of late changes. Jo Jo Zep were supposed to host on April 27 but while they did perform All I Wanna Do it was actually hosted by Gil Tucker of Cop Shop for some reason.

Also the ABC have a compile tape of live recordings from Countdown which shows that they have a copy of a Mental As Anything live performance of Come Around shown on the missing May 25 episode. I don't know if it was just a repeat of their April 27 performance or they did another one as I haven't seen the footage but would suspect a repeat although a lot of bands recorded 2 live versions at this time so it may be a 2nd performance.

So I guess we now know the hosts of those 2 eps, that Space Race by Mi-Sex was live on the May 18 ep and Mental As Anything performed Come Around on May 25 and what the Top 10's were like for those shows.

Thanks very much Guru for filling in my gaps of knowledge. Cheers.

I have to disagree with Molly there.
I went to Gary's concert way back then and it was fantastic.
The laser light show was breathtaking - very cutting edge for the times and the acoustics were brilliant. Nothing like hearing the wall of synths for songs like Are Friends Electric echoing around the theatre with crystal clear clarity.

Of course Gary's performance was distant,remote and robotic and he barely spoke but that was all part of his image back then.
Just served to make him even more alluring and mysterious as he appeared backlit in brilliant blue light beams ,like some exotic alien being through the veils of smoke from the fog machine.

Speaking of Gary, a very interesting clip of Gary and his dad back in 1980...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76oM3WeBrug

Thought it really sweet that his dad was his roadie back in the early days. You can definitely see the family resemblance.

GARY RULES LIVE * He is AMAZING!!!

Well he has been diagnosed with Asperger's as an adult in 2001. It might not have all been staged then.

Well he moulded this image really nicely around his Asperger's or vice versa..

Reading back through older posts, I found this VERY interesting. My eyes lit up in the hope that the VFL Football Record may possibly fill in gaps from the 70s.

Rats! I'm currently trying to find out show information, especially hosts, from the 70s. So many gaps. I don't suppose Molly had a column anywhere else other than 'The Record'?

I didn't grow up in Melbourne, but I imagine it would have been Melbourne media where Countdown information could best be found. For example, The Melbourne Age has far more information regarding upcoming Countdown episodes in there TV guides than does The Sydney Morning Herald.