It's getting to that time of year when it may pay to make suggestions towards Countdown episodes we would like to see on Rage Retro next January. The programmers at Rage have taken many of our ideas on board when we made requests in the past.

Countdown will have started 40 years ago (1974-2014) by the time next season's Retro goes to air so I hope quite a few episodes come under consideration to celebrate that occurrence.

The following are episodes known to exist in the ABC archives and which are probably in broadcast quality. These have never been shown by Rage and have not been aired since their original transmission dates. It consists of 187 episodes, comprising of 174 regular shows, 7 summer specials, 3 Countdown Fridays, 2 standby shows and 1 special.

Ep Date Hosted By

226 Feb 10 1980 Ted Mulry (Ted Mulry Gang)
228 Feb 24 1980 Darryl Cotton
230 March 9 1980 Ellen Foley
231 March 16 1980 Steve Gilpin (Mi-Sex)
236 April 20 1980 Harry Casey (KC & The Sunshine Band)
237 April 27 1980 Gil Tucker (Cop Shop actor)
238 May 4 1980 Jon English
239 May 11 1980 Bob Geldof (Boomtown Rats)
243 June 8 1980 Darryl Cotton
245 June 22 1980 James Reyne (Australian Crawl)
247 July 6 1980 Patrick and Rockpile (Ol’ 55)
250 July 27 1980 John St Peeters
252 August 10 1980 Kim Hart
253 August 17 1980 Radio DJ’s in lead up to Xanadu
254 August 24 1980 Xanadu Dance (1998)
256 Sept 7 1980 Steve Gilpin (Mi Sex) + live bands
259 Sept 28 1980 no host (individual bands intro songs)
261 October 12 1980 Daryl Hall & John Oates
264 November 2 1980 Wilbur Wilde and Red Symons
267 Nov 23 1980 Ross Wilson (Mondo Rock)

272 Feb 15 1981 Dennis and Ray (Dr Hook)
273 February 22 1981 Little Nell (Rocky Horror Show)
275 March 8 1981 Molly (insert show due staging assistants strike)
276 March 15 1981 Jermaine Jackson
282 April 26 1981 Steve Kilby (The Church)
283 May 3 1981 Greedy Smith (Mental As Anything)
285 May 17 1981 Ignatius and Joylene (Jimmy & The Boys)
286 May 24 1981 James Reyne (Australian Crawl)
288 June 7 1981 Broderick Smith
289 June 14 1981 Marc Hunter
290 June 21 1981 Jon English
291 June 28 1981 Daryl Cotton
296 August 9 1981 Craig Johnston (Mother Goose)
298 August 23 1981 Paul Northam (MEO 245)
301 Sept 13 1981 Chris Atkins (Blue Lagoon actor)
- Sept 29 1981 Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & The Rocketts) (standby program)
304 October 4 1981 Swanee
305 October 11 1981 Daryl Somers & Ossie Ostrich
307 October 25 1981 Sharon O’Neill
308 November 1 1981 Renee Geyer
309 November 8 1981 Russell Hitchcock (Air Supply)
314 Dec 13 1981 James Reyne (Australian Crawl)

- January 3 1982 Molly (Summer Special #3 New Zealand Invasion)
- January 10 1982 Molly (Summer Special #4 Export bands)
316 Feb 21 1982 Alex Smith (Moving Pictures)
317 Feb 28 1982 Molly interviews Cliff Richard, Bill Wyman and Elton John
319 March 14 1982 Shakin’ Stevens
320 March 21 1982 Molly interviews Duran Duran
322 April 4 1982 Jon English
323 April 11 1982 Ross O’Donovan & Jo Kennedy (Starstruck)
325 April 25 1982 Split Enz
327 May 9 1982 Martha Davis (The Motels)
330 May 30 1982 Ray and Dennis (Dr Hook)
336 July 11 1982 James Reyne (Australian Crawl)
338 July 25 1982 John Paul Young
341 August 15 1982 Greedy and Peter (Mental As Anything)
343 August 29 1982 Annalise Morrow (The Numbers)
344 Sept 5 1982 Billy Miller (The Great Blokes/ex Ferrets)
345 Sept 12 1982 John Farnham and Derek Pellicci (Little River Band)
346 Sept 19 1982 Globos
- Sept 24 1982 Countdown Friday #10 with John Peters
351 Oct 31 1982 no host (Advance Australia theme)
352 Nov 7 1982 Errol Brown (Hot Chocolate)
354 Nov 21 1982 Joe Camilleri (Jo Jo Zep) and Jane Clifton
355 Nov 28 1982 Tim Finn
356 Dec 5 1982 Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & The Rocketts)
- Dec 10 1982 Countdown Friday #19 with John Peters
- Dec 17 1982 Countdown Friday #20 with John Peters
358 Dec 19 1982 Mental As Anything

361 March 6 1983 Sharon O’Neill
364 March 27 1983 Molly with Dire Straits
365 April 3 1983 Dave Mason (The Reels)
366 April 10 1983 Mark (aka comedian Bob Downe) and Wendy (Globos)
371 May 22 1983 no host
373 June 5 1983 Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & The Rocketts)
374 June 12 1983 Tim Finn
376 June 26 1983 Greedy Smith (Mental As Anything)
377 July 3 1983 David Sterry and Richard Zatorski (Real Life)
378 July 10 1983 John Hood (EONFM) and Keith Neill (Muir?) (7HT)
380 July 24 1983 Ian Grace (2SM) and Gary Shannon (6PM)
385 August 28 1983 Joan Armatrading
386 Sept 4 1983 John Paul Young
388 Sept 18 1983 James Reyne and Brad Robinson (Australian Crawl)
389 Sept 25 1983 Pat Wilson
390 October 2 1983 Marc Hunter (Dragon)
391 October 9 1983 David Sterry/Real Life
392 Oct 16 1983 Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men)
394 October 30 1983 Lynda Nutter (Dugites)
398 Nov 27 1983 James Reyne (Australian Crawl)
399 December 4 1983 Ross Wilson (Mondo Rock)
- December 5 1983 standby program of Molly’s favourite bands/videos

404 February 19 1984 David Sterry and Richard Zatorski (Real Life)
405 February 26 1984 Alex Smith (Moving Pictures)
413 April 22 1984 Limahl
415 May 6 1984 Molly
416 May 13 1984 Molly interviews Rod Stewart
417 May 20 1984 Marc Hunter (Dragon)
419 June 3 1984 Bernie Lynch and Grace Knight (Eurogliders)
- June 26 1984 Special “Who’s A Tart” – Culture Club episode
425 July 15 1984 State Heats Beatstreet competition
428 August 5 1984 Rodney Rude
430 August 19 1984 David Reyne (Takeaways)
431 August 26 1984 Molly (live from Sydney)
438 October 14 1984 Los Trios Ringbarkus
442 Nov 11 1984 Austen Tayshus
447 Dec 16 1984 Tina Turner

449 Feb 10 1985 Kate Ceberano and Ian Cox (I’m Talking)
450 Feb 17 1985 Richard (No Nonsense) and Eric (Mondo Rock)
451 Feb 24 1985 Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men)
452 March 3 1985 Marc Hunter (Dragon)
457 April 7 1985 Molly interviews Phil Collins
459 April 21 1985 Queen
460 April 28 1985 Ben (teenager)
463 May 26 1985 Meatloaf
464 June 2 1985 Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men)
465 June 9 1985 Paul Young
466 June 16 1985 Molly (interviews Eurythmics)
467 June 23 1985 Sting
468 June 30 1985 Molly interviews David Lee Roth
469 July 7 1985 Angry Anderson
470 July 14 1985 Molly (a few hours after Oz For Africa telethon)
471 July 21 1985 Dave and Brad (Hoodoo Gurus)
472 July 28 1985 Molly (interviewing AC/DC)
474 August 11 1985 Howard Jones
476 August 25 1985 Vince Sorrenti, James Reyne and Martha Davis
478 Sept 8 1985 Richard Bruce (No Nonsense)
480 Sept 22 1985 no host
481 Sept 29 1985 Greedy Smith (Mental As Anything)
482 October 6 1985 Molly (from Rockhampton)
483 October 13 1985 Lyn Buckfield (Electric Pandas)
485 October 27 1985 Kids In The Kitchen
486 Nov 3 1985 Bob Geldof
487 Nov 10 1985 Koo De Tah
489 Nov 24 1985 Brian Canham (Pseudo Echo)
- Dec 29 1985 Summer Show No 1

- Jan 5 1986 Summer Show No 2
- Jan 12 1986 Summer Show No 3
- Jan 19 1986 Summer Show No 4
- Jan 26 1986 Summer Show No 5
496 Feb 16 1986 Martin Plaza (Mental As Anything)
497 Feb 23 1986 Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)
498 March 2 1986 Marc and Nadja (Jump Incorporated)
499 March 9 1986 Molly (interviews Stevie Nicks)
500 March 16 1986 Tim Finn
501 March 23 1986 Bernie Lynch and Grace Knight (Eurogliders)
502 March 30 1986 Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men)
503 April 6 1986 Rik and Tim (Venetians)
504 April 13 1986 Spencer and Billy (The Johnnys)
505 April 20 1986 Live program prior to Countdown Awards
506 April 27 1986 Robert Blackwood (Molly chose him at a Sting concert)
508 May 11 1986 Molly (interviews Lloyd Cole & The Commotions)
510 May 25 1986 Video Story Board Competition
511 June 1 1986 Martin Plaza (Mental As Anything)
512 June 8 1986 Steve Williams and Paul Gray (Wa Wa Nee)
513 June 15 1986 Brian Canham (Pseudo Echo)
514 June 22 1986 Replacement program - Oz For Africa highlights
516 July 6 1986 Molly (interviews in London)
521 August 10 1986 Molly (interviews Elton John re. Tour)
522 August 17 1986 Molly (interviews Elton John re. marriage)
523 August 24 1986 Molly (interviews Bananarama)
524 August 31 1986 Molly (interviews Neil Finn and Paul Hester)
525 Sept 7 1986 Molly (interviews Red Symons)
527 Sept 21 1986 Gavin Wood (live Uncanny X-Men, Dragon, Hoodoo Gurus, Reels)
528 Sept 28 1986 Stephen Cummings (insert show)
530 October 12 1986 Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill (Simple Minds)
531 October 19 1986 Angry Anderson and Joe Cocker
532 October 26 1986 Molly (from Adelaide Grand Prix)
534 Nov 9 1986 Molly (interviews David Sylvian)
536 Nov 23 1986 Molly (Australian Made Tour)
537 Nov 30 1986 Kate Ceberano and Zan (I’m Talking)
538 Dec 7 1986 Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men)
539 Dec 14 1986 Live show

542 Feb 22 1987 David Reyne
543 March 1 1987 Dave Stewart (Eurythmics)
547 March 29 1987 Mondo Rock
548 April 5 1987 Paul Young
549 April 12 1987 Peter O’Brien (actor Flying Doctors)
550 April 19 1987 Molly (from Underground disco)
551 April 26 1987 Hoodoo Gurus, Suzi Quatro and Dave Dobbyn
552 May 3 1987 Molly (Georgia Satellites interview)
553 May 10 1987 Jason Donovan
556 May 31 1987 Painters & Dockers
557 June 7 1987 Molly (live bands intro next segment)
558 June 14 1987 Warwick Capper (Sydney Swans footballer)
559 June 21 1987 Greedy Smith and Red Symons
560 June 28 1987 Dave Dobbyn
561 July 5 1987 Jenny Morris

Here's my suggestions for next year:
- Sept 29 1981 Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & The Rocketts) (standby program)
- January 3 1982 Molly (Summer Special #3 New Zealand Invasion)
- January 10 1982 Molly (Summer Special #4 Export bands)
528 Sept 28 1986 Stephen Cummings (insert show)
And also, I've been waiting for Troy from Lost 70s Countdown website to update some of the Countdown episodes that been first rescreened on Rage in 2012 and 2013 so I contacted him about put him to update it and when I got a reply from him, he told me that he haven't updated his Countdown site for 2 yearsand he will have to start adding the new entries while he focus these days has been on my vintage video gear site.

Guru, thanks for doing this. I have been waiting eagerly for you to take the lead on this again. Here are my suggestions:

330 May 30 1982 Ray and Dennis (Dr Hook)
356 Dec 5 1982 Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & The Rocketts)
431 August 26 1984 Molly (live from Sydney)
549 April 12 1987 Peter O’Brien (actor Flying Doctors)

Dr Hook episode - a couple of times the Countdown Peformance of 'Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk' has been shown on rage, time we got the full episode.

Peter O'Brien episode - features 'Hold On' by the Models studio performance. Rage have shown it a couple of times, time for the full episode to get an airing.

Wendy Stapleton episode - just because it has Australian Crawl doing the studio performance of 'Runaway Girls'. This would be the last outstanding peformance of Australian Crawl peformances on Countdown.

Live from Sydney episode - just think it looks interesting.

In summary, I think we stand a good chance of the Dr.Hook & Peter O'Brien episodes because rage have already taken excerpts from these episodes, which means they have cleaned it up and it would take them hardly any labour to play them in full. .

Over and out.

Also, I put it out there - what do you think is more important, the host of the show or the content?

If content, then we need to choose episodes that are distant from others that have already been shown. It can get a bit much when you see the same handful of clips showing on other episodes. This of course excludes studio peformances of a song vs the clip.

Great work Guru, that's a huge help! Much thanks! :-)

I am going to make my list this week, have to look at what episodes left that I MUST have!

I have nearly finished my list, it's quite long but what the heck. The more suggestions of shows with more RARE material in them the better!

I agree, definitely the content. A good host is a bonus! I think the best hosts were: James Reyne, Marc Hunter, JPY & Greedy Smith. Hosting just came very natural to them. All great talents.

Less favouritism towards Sherbet and The Reels,no repeats and no episodes from the same month of a particular year played back to back

I think the summer programs of January 1986 have some good content and rare videos. Probably very little or no studio peformances, but I prefer rare videos to studio performances.

You should cut & paste to Rage so they have reference as to what Countdown shows they still have yet to play.

I have informed an ABC archivist who assists with helping them to compile the January programming of which episodes have yet to be shown (the list above) so they are aware of it. Hopefully by having the list there won't be any repeated episodes as there are still about 170 that Rage have never shown.

I'm not sure posting on their site achieves all that much anymore as forums are on the way out and don't get used as much any more. It has just taken Rage 15 days to update their Messageboard and last week they didn't even post the Playlist. It's all moving to Facebook and it wouldn't be practical to post lists like this on there.

With Rage reaching 40 years since inception next year - 1974-2014 - I would hope we get a good run of episodes in January.

Totally agree Guru. It took 2 weeks to get my post put up on the message board. All I did was respond to a Countdown episode request in a few sentences.

I noticed too that there was no playlist last week. Poor Josh Pyke's programming and probably no-one watching his videos because there was no playlist and the website isn't as active as it used to be.

I just hope we do get a good run in January and seeing that we all went down differnt paths on our Countdown requests this time, it will be interesting to see what they play. There is probably little point making any further requests now, as I'm guessing the episodes have all been selected and are in the stages of getting cleaned up for transmission.

Also, are there 4 or 5 Saturday's in January 2014?