Countdown Episodes * 70s & 80s Australian Music Programs * Music Video * Molly Trading * Collecting * Archival Information * Record/CD releases and more .........
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COUNTDOWN IS BACK THIS JANUARY, 2019 ... ON rage !!!!! Stay tuned below with regular Countdown full archival information for each Countdown episode rage shall be airing every Saturday throughout January ...
rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
4 Countdown's on rage goes retro 1 and two of the episodes are my requests !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES .. rage LOVE ME INDEED!xoxoxoxo My requests are 28/09/1980 and 24/07/1983, I can't believe they are playing
both of these, the 1980 in particular I SOOOOOOOO wanted! The other two Countdown episodes are from 1984 and and 1986, 1986 episode is horrible and 1984 is GREAT .... Also 2 Rock Arena episodes. ALL info BELOW! :-)
rage this Saturday night and starts at 11:21 pm
11:00pm
COUNTDOWN September 28th, 1980
COUNTDOWN December 14th, 1986
ROCK ARENA April 25th, 1987
COUNTDOWN July 24th, 1983
COUNTDOWN May 6th, 1984
Year:1980
Date:28/09/1980
Show no: 259
Summary:THE SHOW IS HOSTED BY THE LEAD SINGERS FROM THE BANDS WHO PERFORMED LIVE ON THE SHOW.
LIVE STUDIO ITEMS:
XTC 'GENERALS & MAJORS'
LISA BADE 'TRAVELLER IN THE NIGHT'
SWANEE 'OL ROSIE'
EDITH BLISS 'TWO SINGLE BEDS'
FLOWERS 'WE CAN GET TOGETHER'
AUSTRALIAN REVIEW:
DUGITES 'GOODBYE'
NUMBERS 'FIVE LETTER WORD'
MARK GILLESPIE 'ONLY HUMAN'
JO JO ZEP & THE FALCONS 'PUPPET ON A STRING'
MONITORS 'SINGING IN THE 80'S'
RICHARD CLAPTON 'GET BACK TO THE SHELTER'
INNOCENTS 'SOONER OR LATER'
MI-SEX 'IT ONLY HURTS WHEN I'M LAUGHING'
CHRISTIE ALLEN 'BABY GET AWAY'
AIR SUPPLY 'ALL OUT OF LOVE'
AUSTRALIAN CRAWL 'INDISPOSED'
COLD CHISEL 'STAR HOTEL'
ANGELS 'FACE THE DAY'
LISA BADE 'TRAVELLER IN THE NIGHT'
SWANEE 'OL ROSIE'
EDITH BLISS 'TWO SINGLE BEDS'
FLOWERS 'WE CAN GET TOGETHER'
OVERSEAS ARTISTS VIDO CLIPS:
RANDY VANWARMER 'WHAT EVER YOU DECIDE'
POINTER SISTERS 'HE'S SO SHY'
PRETENDERS 'TALK OF THE TOWN'
AC/DC 'YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG'
HUMDRUM ITEMS:
GARY NUMAN 'I DIE YOU DIE'
SIOUXIE & THE BANSHEES 'CHRISTIE'
ROXY MUSIC 'OH YEAH'
DAVID ESSEX 'HOT LOVE'
TOP TEN ITEMS:
KATE BUSH 'BABOOSHKA'
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN 'MAGIC'
ROLLING STONES 'EMOTIONAL RESCUE'
IRENE CARA 'FAME'
ROCKY BURNETTE 'FALLIN' IN LOVE'
DIANA ROSS 'UPSIDE DOWN'
ROMANTICS 'WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU'
LEO SAYER 'MORE THAN I CAN SAY'
OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN/ELO 'ZANADU'
GENGHIS KAHN ' MOSCOW'
Year:1986
Date: 14/12/1986
Show no: 539
Summary:POPULAR MUSIC SERIES FEATURING OVERSEAS AND LOCAL TALENT, THIS COUNTDOWN IS LIVE TO AIR, INCLUDING LIVE CROSSES TO THE SYDNEY ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE SETTING UP FOR THE ELTON JOHN CONCERT IT IS AN INSERT SHOW WITH LIVE HOSTS INCLUDING KIRK PENGILLY, ROSS WILSON, ANGRY ANDERSON AND GREEDY SMITH. MOLLY (WITH HAT) INTERVIEWS KIRK PENGILLY RE AUSTRALIAN BANDS TOURING AUSTRALIA AND
INXS' NEW ALBUM, MOLLY INTERVIEWS ANGRY ANDERSON REROSE TATTOO'S NEW ALBUM AND PUB TOUR, ANGRY ANDERSON PRESENTS MOLLY WITH KEN DONE T-SHIRT ADVERTISING ROSE TATTOO, MOLLY INTERVIEWS ROSS WILSON RE NEW ABULM ANDAUSTRALIAN BANDS TOUR AUSTRALIA, MOLLY INTERVIEWS GREEDY SMITH RE AUSTRALIAN BANDS TOUR AUSTRALIA AND NEW SONG 'PARADISE'. US TOP FIVE ARE READ ONLY, UK TOP 5
ARE READ ONLY AND NATIONAL TOP TEN ARE READ ONLY WITH CLIP OF NUMBER 2 PSEUDO ECHO 'FUNKYTOWN'
LOCAL ARTISTS:
INXS/JIMMY BARNES 'GOOD TIMES' (6.43)
ROSE TATTOO 'GET IT RIGHT' (14.43)
MONDO ROCK 'PRIMITIVE LOVE RITES' (28.15)
V SPY V SPY '(DON'T) TEAR IT DOWN' (37.48)
JOHN FARNHAM 'PRESSURE DOWN' (47.21)
PSEUDO ECHO 'FUNKYTOWN' (55.06)
OVERSEAS ARTISTS:
CYNDI LAUPER 'CHANGE OF HEART' (0.32)
NICK KAMEN 'EACH TIME YOU BREAK MY HEART' (10.10)
POLICE 'DON'T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME' (17.42)
WANG CHUNG 'EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT' (22.49)
HOWARD JONES 'YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU (DON'T YOU)'
JANET JACKSON 'CONTROL' (42.02)
NATIONAL TOP 10-1:
CUTTING CREW '(I JUST) DIED IN YOUR ARMS' (51.39)
BANGLES 'WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN' (51.46)
THE PRETENDERS 'DON'T GET ME WRONG'
STACEY Q 'TWO OF HEARTS (52.14)
COMMUNARDS 'DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY'
PAUL SIMON 'YOU CAN CALL ME AL' (52.37)
CHRIS DE BURGH 'LADY IN RED' (52.52)
BILLY IDOL 'TO BE A LOVER' (53.07)
PSEUDO ECHO 'FUNKYTOWN' (53.19)
JOHN FARNHAM 'YOU'RE THE VOICE' (53.35)
Year:1983
Date:24/07/1983
Show no: 380
Summary:SHOW HOSTED BY DJ'S IAN GRACE FROM 2SM AND GARY SHANNON FROM 6PM AND INCLUDES HUMDRUM MUSIC NEWS DURING WHICH RAP DANCER, ARTHUR TSIMBOURIS, PERFORMS AND MOLLY IV'S HIM RE HIS AGE, WHAT SCHOOL HE GOES TO AND WHAT HE WANTS TO DO WHEN HE GROWS UP. ALSO SHOWS FTG OF RAP DANCE IN STREET AND IV FAY WAYBILL FROM BAND, THE TUBES, RE WRITING SONGS TO GO WITH VIDEOS.
STUDIO PERFORMANCES:
HOODOO GURUS 'TOJO';
HAYSI FANTAYZEE 'SHINY SHINY';
VIDEO CLIPS:
RADIATORS 'YOU';
LOVERBOY 'HOT GIRLS IN LOVE';
JOAN ARMATRADING 'CALL ME NAMES';
ROBERT HAZZARD 'ESCALATOR OF LIFE';
ALTERED IMAGES 'DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT LOVE' AND IV SINGER CLARE;
SPANDAU BALLET 'TRUE';
TUBES 'SHE'S A BEAUTY';
ELTON JOHN 'CALL IT THE BLUES';
TOP TEN:
MICHAEL JACKSON 'BEAT IT';
EURYTHMICS 'SWEET DREAMS';
TIM FINN 'FRACTION TOO MUCH FRICTION';
REAL LIFE 'SEND ME AN ANGEL';
EDDY GRANT 'ELECTRIC AVENUE';
ELTON JOHN 'I'M STILL STANDING';
CULTURE CLUB 'CHURCH OF THE POISON MIND';
BONNIE TYLER 'TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART';
POLICE 'EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE';
IRENE CARA 'FLASHDANCE'
Year:1984
Date:06/05/1984
Show no: 415
Summary:THIS SHOW WAS HOSTED BY MOLLY WHO SHOWED AN EXCERPT OF A VIDEO MADE BY MEMBERS FROM FLINDERS NEW PRIMARY SCHOOL ABOUT THEIR COUNTDOWN IMITATION SHOW.
VIDEO CLIPS:
ICEHOUSE 'TAKING THE TOWN'
MONDO ROCK 'BABY WANTS TO ROCK'
KIDS IN THE KITCHEN 'BITTER DESIRE'
MI-SEX 'BLUE DAY'
THE CARS 'YOU MIGHT THINK' AND IV RE BEING ROMANTIC,
WRITING SONGS, MEANING OF GROUP NAME
THE TWINS 'NOT THE LOVING KIND'
THOMPSON TWINS 'DOCTOR DOCTOR'
INDUSTRY 'STATE OF THE NATION'
BIG COUNTRY 'IN A BIG COUNTRY' (EXCERPT) OVERLAYED BY IV RE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STUDIO AND LIVE PERFORMANCES, ALBUM RECORDING.
HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS 'I WANT A NEW DRUG (CALLED LOVE)'
BETTE MIDLER 'BEAST OF BURDEN' AND IV RE FILMING VIDEO
CLIP WITH MICK JAGGER
TOP TEN:
BILLY IDOL 'REBEL YELL'
MARYLYN 'CALLING YOUR NAME'
NIK KERSHAW 'WOULDN'T IT BE GOOD'
MADONNA 'HOLIDAY'
INXS 'I SEND A MESSAGE'
CYNDI LAUPER 'GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN'
THOMPSON TWINS 'HOLD ME NOW'
KENNY LOGGINS 'FOOTLOOSE'
NENA '99 LUFT BALLOONS'
WIERD AL JANKOVIC 'EAT IT'
July 7 - 1984
A ONE HOUR MUSIC SHOW HOSTED BY SUZANNE DOWLING WHO BRIEFLY INTRODUCES EACH ARTIST. ;PROMO 1 BY SUZANNE DOWLING (0.00); PROMO 2 BY SUZANNE DOWLING(0.37);PUBLIC IMAGE 'BAD LIFE'(1.56);ROXY MUSIC 'BOTH ENDS BURNING'(6.53);EXPLORERS 'LORELEI'(10.44);DECKCHAIRS 'WALKING IN THE DARK'(15.19) ;BRODERICK SMITH 'LEAH'(19.14) ;THE SPIKES 'SHE'S MELTING'(21.36) ;DROP BEARS 'PROUD'(24.56);POINTER SISTERS 'AUTOMATIC'(28.35);POINTER SISTERS 'JUMP'(32.32);HUNTERS AND COLLECTORS 'BETTY'S WORRY OR THE SLAB'(37.18);HUNTERS AND COLLECTORS 'TALKING TO A STRANGER'(45.17);THE CALL 'SCENE BEYOND DREAMS' (51.45);THE CALL 'THE WALLS CAME DOWN'(55.33) ;EMMYLOU HARRIS 'BORN TO RUN'(59.37)
ROCK ARENA - April 25 1987
1.08 PROMO;
1.39 BLACK;
2.00 FF#1 OPENING TITLES;
2.17 FF#2 VS CLUB NOUVEAU VIDEO CLIP "LEAN ON ME";
6.14 MLS ZI MS DOWLING;
6.53 FF#3 VS TIM FINN VIDEO CLIP "MADE MY DAY";
10.24 FF#4 VS TIM FINN VIDEO CLIP "NO THUNDER, NO FIRE, NO RAIN";
14.21 FF#3 VS TIM FINN VIDEO CLIP "YOU SAVED MY WORLD";
17.29 MS DOWLING;
17.50 FF#3 VS SPANDAU BALLET PERFORM "COMMUNICATION" LIVE ON TV PROGRAM "ROCK OF THE EIGHTIES #1";
21.17 FF#3 VS SPANDAU BALLET PERFORM "TRUE" LIVE ON TV PROGRAM "ROCK OF THE EIGHTIES #1";
27.36 FF#3 VS SPANDAU BALLET PERFORM "GOLD" LIVE ON "ROCK OF THE EIGHTIES #1";
32.26 FF#3 VS SPANDAU BALLET PERFORM "LIFELINE" LIVE ON "ROCK OF THE EIGHTIES #1";
36.29 MLS ZI MS DOWLING;
37.15 FF#5 VS FLEETWOOD MAC VIDEO CLIP "DREAMS";
41.20 FF#5 VS FLEETWOOD MAC VIDEO CLIP "DON'T STOP";
44.48 FF#6 VS LINDSAY BUCKINGHAM VIDEO CLIP "TROUBLE";
48.33 FF#6 VS FLEETWOOD MAC VIDEO CLIP "BIG LOVE";
51.56 MCU DOWLING;
52.31 FF#2 VS WARD BROTHERS VIDEO CLIP "CROSS THAT BRIDGE"
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Sounds like it will be an excellent night! Jason, do you know if any of these have been aired before on rage, as I don't have my list with me of what i have?
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Jason 'The Moderator'
4 Countdown's on rage goes retro 1 and two of the episodes are my requests !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES .. rage LOVE ME INDEED!xoxoxoxo My requests are 28/09/1980 and 24/07/1983, I can't believe they are playing both of these, the 1980 in particular I SOOOOOOOO wanted! The other two Countdown episodes are from 1984 and and 1986, 1986 episode is horrible and 1984 is GREAT .... Also 2 Rock Arena episodes. ALL info BELOW! :-)
Great work Jason.
Love the 1980, 1983 and 1984 episodes. The 1986 is a bit more average in content but as none of them have aired on Rage before I am ecstatic that they are all appearing.
There are also a couple of rare clips on the Rock Arena's. The July 7 episode was just Suzanne's 2nd as host.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Thanks Jason for the full rundown (which is not on the website!!). I am stunned - I wrote to rage in November requesting 3 Rock Arenas and 3 Countdowns - and they are playing 2 of each of my requests!! 4 episodes in total!!! I am in shock!!!! Thank you rage!
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
That was a great Retro night. I even enjoyed the 1986 Countdown more than I thought I would. If the other four Saturdays are anything like that we are in for a great summer.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
I haven't watched it all yet... but I'm wondering, was it just my reception, or did the 1983 Countdown episode in particular show a lot of artifacts? It almost looked like watching an aged VHS. I know the source material is old and subject to deterioration, but I've never seen an episode of Countdown digitised this badly before.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
ohnoitisnathan
I haven't watched it all yet... but I'm wondering, was it just my reception, or did the 1983 Countdown episode in particular show a lot of artifacts? It almost looked like watching an aged VHS. I know the source material is old and subject to deterioration, but I've never seen an episode of Countdown digitised this badly before.
The were some minor tape fault blips on the original source material due to deterioration but on the whole it looked alright to me. I didn't notice any faults that would have been linked to the digitisation of the episode.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
ohnoitisnathan
I haven't watched it all yet... but I'm wondering, was it just my reception, or did the 1983 Countdown episode in particular show a lot of artifacts? It almost looked like watching an aged VHS. I know the source material is old and subject to deterioration, but I've never seen an episode of Countdown digitised this badly before.
It wasn't too bad... I thought the quality of the 1980 episode was worse. It had digital tear lines in it throughout, possibly a timebase correction problem.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
I did notice that the 1984 run sheet was not quite right - it said the Mondo Rock and Mi-Sex songs were "video clips" but in fact they were Countdown Studio performances and Kids In The Kitchen was from the Countdown Awards.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Part of Saturday night's show should be repeated on Tuesday night (technically Wednesday morning) on ABC1, as that's when they repeat part of the Saturday night 'guest programmer' show.
Looking at the TV guide, rage airs on ABC1 this Wednesday morning from 12:02am to 2:18am, so maybe they'll repeat the first two Countdowns shown + a bit of something else?
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Guru Bob
The were some minor tape fault blips on the original source material due to deterioration but on the whole it looked alright to me. I didn't notice any faults that would have been linked to the digitisation of the episode.
That's what I meant; it looked like the source tape was in (relatively) bad shape.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
I have only watched the 1980 episode so far from last night, as my wife promised to stay up and watch one. I found thst episode to have some faults, particular down both sides of the screen. May sound like a silly question, but what exactly does "digitised" mean?
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
I did notice on the 1980 episode there were many 'tape rot' lines, but hey. 1980, was 35 years ago!. Overall, at least it is still playable. I am just ECSTATIC I have Edith Bliss, she was SUBLIME xoxoxoxo
As for the 1983 episode, it looked rather fine to me. These episodes of Countdown and Rock Arena are obviously going to have some faults, they were not recorded in the last 10 years! ... It is all part of the charm x
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Matt73
May sound like a silly question, but what exactly does "digitised" mean?
Digitised meaning they've digitally encoded the source tape, for preservation, and so it's easier to air than playing the actual original tape. I assume that's what rage do, but I could be wrong... but it would make sense, especially with 30+ year old material that is bound to degrade.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
ohnoitisnathan
Matt73
May sound like a silly question, but what exactly does "digitised" mean?
Digitised meaning they've digitally encoded the source tape, for preservation, and so it's easier to air than playing the actual original tape. I assume that's what rage do, but I could be wrong... but it would make sense, especially with 30+ year old material that is bound to degrade.
That's exactly right. The ABC has digitised a huge amount of its archival material, for both preservation and ease of broadcast reasons. rage is "live to air" meaning they play the source material directly to air in real time, they do not create the playlist off-air then broadcast the compilation. That makes it different from Countdown and Rock Arena etc. which were assembled and produced off-air as a distinct single piece of programme material which was then later broadcast.
I don't know whether the rage still racks up all the digital tapes of all the clips they are going to play, or whether they have now moved to a hard-disk broadcast system. They used to rack up all the clips in two carts which got played back under computer control, alternating between the two carts (i.e. one clip is played from the first cart while the second clip is being pre-loaded from the second cart. When the first clip ends, the second clip is instantly ready to go. The third clip is then pre-loaded from the first cart while the second clip is playing. etc.)
All the super information (rage logo and song title) is digitally referenced as well on each clip, both in terms of exactly where and when on the screen these will appear. That is why the logo and titles appear at exactly the same point in time each time the clip is played. Last century, supers used to be inserted at broadcast time manually, so they didn't always first appear at exactly 8 seconds into the clip. I remember one night during a rage INXS special, the kid doing the supers must have fallen asleep because for about 30 minutes there were none. That can't happen now unless they forget to encode the tape with this info.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
ohnoitisnathan
Matt73
May sound like a silly question, but what exactly does "digitised" mean?
Digitised meaning they've digitally encoded the source tape, for preservation, and so it's easier to air than playing the actual original tape. I assume that's what rage do, but I could be wrong... but it would make sense, especially with 30+ year old material that is bound to degrade.
Certainly do - lots of that stuff was dubbed some time ago to digibeta (digital betacam) and the 2 inch tapes chucked. The goal was to preserve them as quickly as possible while the 2 inch machines (and later 1 inch) were still working and while the tapes were still playable. Any fault appearing of course would have transferred itself to the copy tape but would not be originating from that copy tape, as we saw on the 1980 episode that would've been either some damage or the heads on the playback machine becoming a bit dirty during playback/transfer. As it happened about 20 minutes or half hour in and got a little worse as the hour went on, the choice would've been either to rewind and start the transfer again thereby risking more damage to the master, or continue with the transfer knowing how worn the master was - when tapes get to this point it's usually a 'now or never' situation, same with audio tape. Feel free to correct me if I've got it a bit wrong but that's my understanding.
Having said that I have noticed the occasional blip looking like digital breakup which I doubt would've been in the transmission chain. Anyway...
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Who requested the 86 episode? That was amazing as it offered something a little different from outside the studio. I regard this episode as one of the last great Countdowns as watching the 87 eps is like watching a loved one slowly die! The later the episodes the better for me because I discovered my love of music in 86
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Very interesting, when Rage receive a latest release clip on tape do they transfer that clip to another tape and include the supers? I wish they weren't so mysterious!, lol.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Clip Magnet
I don't know whether the rage still racks up all the digital tapes of all the clips they are going to play, or whether they have now moved to a hard-disk broadcast system. They used to rack up all the clips in two carts which got played back under computer control, alternating between the two carts (i.e. one clip is played from the first cart while the second clip is being pre-loaded from the second cart. When the first clip ends, the second clip is instantly ready to go. The third clip is then pre-loaded from the first cart while the second clip is playing. etc.)
All the super information (rage logo and song title) is digitally referenced as well on each clip, both in terms of exactly where and when on the screen these will appear. That is why the logo and titles appear at exactly the same point in time each time the clip is played. Last century, supers used to be inserted at broadcast time manually, so they didn't always first appear at exactly 8 seconds into the clip. I remember one night during a rage INXS special, the kid doing the supers must have fallen asleep because for about 30 minutes there were none. That can't happen now unless they forget to encode the tape with this info.
Thanks for this info; very interesting.
A tiny number of clips have been digitised without supers being put onto them; Housemartins' 'Caravan of Love' is one I spotted (no rage logo either).
What I find interesting these days is that sometimes they re-encode videos that have already been digitised. You can tell, as the re-encoded versions are in the less bright/less sharp/with larger font format they've been using to encode clips since some time in March 2012. I think they may have done this in response to someone commenting on the old rage message board that certain older videos had second/s cut off them at the start or end (usually the end)/fading out early, and wondering why this was the case. So I think rage have re-digitised some of these older videos. Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' is one I've spotted (although even more curiously they sometimes air the earlier digitised copy), and now has an extra second at the end. Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' is another, and more noticeable, as it has a few extra seconds at the end rather than its previous abrupt finish.
They also re-digitised all of the videos they aired during the 1987 top 20 shown last year, to commemorate the return of the chart (top 20) being broadcast on rage. I guess they had to do this to change the supers so that each clip was displayed with a chart number beside it.
But what I find puzzling is that last January they re-aired the Christmas 1986 Countdown episode in the newer digital format, when they had aired it in 2009 (and surely it would have already been digitised for that). Why would they have re-digitised a whole Countdown episode?
And if someone here is correct in that all of the Countdown episodes have been digitised, why would they digitise them again from the source tapes for the episodes that are airing now? Unless they didn't finish digitising them until after March 2012. I would love to be a fly on the wall at rage to see why they do what they do
Ah, the days of when rage manually added the supers as the video was being broadcast. Occasionally it resulted in some errors, e.g. this AB Logic 'AB Logic' video from the top 60 in 1993 that is initially shown to be Neneh Cherry's 'Man Child' (sic)
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Nathan
Who requested the 86 episode? That was amazing as it offered something a little different from outside the studio. I regard this episode as one of the last great Countdowns as watching the 87 eps is like watching a loved one slowly die! The later the episodes the better for me because I discovered my love of music in 86
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Nathan
Very interesting, when Rage receive a latest release clip on tape do they transfer that clip to another tape and include the supers? I wish they weren't so mysterious!, lol.
Hi Nathan - rage don't include the supers in the video image itself, that would be destructive and irreversible. They tag the video with special "codes" (metadata if you like) which indicates what supers to show and when, e.g. at 8 seconds fade in rage logo for 1 second, display for 3 seconds, fade out 1 second. At 15 seconds, fade in artist and song title for 1 second, display for 8 seconds, 1 second fade out. The insertion of supers is done by a separate video generator in the broadcast chain in response to the "codes".
The (x,y) position of the supers is also specified in the codes. I have noticed that on extreme widescreen clips with black bars at top and bottom, the rage logo and artist/song titles are shown much higher up than normal so that they appear on the video content not the black bars. That's to stop people removing the logos and titles by chopping off the black bars. And in 4:3 clips, the supers are moved in from the far left, where they otherwise would be for 16:9 clips. All that (x,y) info is clip-specific and coded in when they first archive the clip.
They also sometimes change the timing of when the logos and titles appear if it would clash with detail in the clip itself, such as in "Thunderbirds Are Coming Out" by TISM, which has continuous mock artist/title supers at the bottom throughout the clip, forcing rage to show its logo right at the end of the clip not the start in order to not interfere with any of the mock supers.
And if they forget to code the clip, no supers appear. This is very rare but a few years ago they showed Cheap Trick's "If You Want My Love" clip with no supers at all. And if they haven't since added the codes, same thing would happen again if they replayed it.
ABC could change the rage logo or typeface used etc. without re-encoding any videos, they would simply change what the super generator does in response to the code commands.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
ohnoitisnathan
A tiny number of clips have been digitised without supers being put onto them; Housemartins' 'Caravan of Love' is one I spotted (no rage logo either).
Yep - see my previous post. Very rare for rage to not code the details of the supers onto clips, but if they do - no supers appear when they play it.
ohnoitisnathan
What I find interesting these days is that sometimes they re-encode videos that have already been digitised. You can tell, as the re-encoded versions are in the less bright/less sharp/with larger font format they've been using to encode clips since some time in March 2012.
I've noticed this too but I don't know whether it is "re-digitisation" or something else. Re-digitisation makes no sense to me. Changing the super "metadata" does not require re-encoding the video itself.
The start/stop times of each clip are also coded, i.e. play will start on this exact frame and end on that exact frame. So every time a given clip is played on rage, it will start and finish playing on *exactly" the same video frame as before. If they prematurely cut off the end of the clip, they need to re-code the end time to fix it. I too have noticed on some clips they must have done this, as the clip is now played in full whereas previously it was not.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
The late '86 episodes are great. Like Nathan that was when I had a love of music and started watching Countdown every week, from about August '86 and seeing Madonna at No.1 with 'Papa Don't Preach'. A couple of years ago, I requested the 16/11/86 episode. I recall it didn't appeal to many, but I loved it.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Also, I just recently discovered the video for Mondo's 'Baby Wants To Rock' on YouTube. It looks like it was taken from a Rock Arena episode. Going by the quality of it, it looks like it was taken from rage. Does anyone know what episode this was and what year it was shown on rage? I have missed a few Rock Arena's over the years, as I only had a DVD Recorder with no HDD, and often timer recorded the rest of the Countdowns when I went to bed.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Thank you all for a very comprehensive explanation of "digitised". Some interesting reading there & it appeared to have kicked off some interesting conversation ☺
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Clip Magnet
I've noticed this too but I don't know whether it is "re-digitisation" or something else. Re-digitisation makes no sense to me. Changing the super "metadata" does not require re-encoding the video itself.
It looks like they have definitely re-digitised the videos, as e.g. The The's 'Slow Train To Dawn' aired in 2010 with a sharper and darker picture than when it re-aired last year, where the picture looked lighter (more transparency, I guess), and there were even some minor artifacts on the video that weren't on the 2010 airing. The one they aired last year also included the first (non-music) 20 seconds of the video that were cut off when it aired in 2010. The one they aired last year also had the post March 2012 slightly larger and less-sharp font and rage logo.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Michael
Also, I just recently discovered the video for Mondo's 'Baby Wants To Rock' on YouTube. It looks like it was taken from a Rock Arena episode. Going by the quality of it, it looks like it was taken from rage. Does anyone know what episode this was and what year it was shown on rage? I have missed a few Rock Arena's over the years, as I only had a DVD Recorder with no HDD, and often timer recorded the rest of the Countdowns when I went to bed.
...and the video for 'Baby Wants To Rock' rocks!
I was hoping that clip was going to be on the 1984 Countdown episode, but it turned out to be a studio performance. The clip you refer to was on Rock Arena on 29 May 1984, which was replayed on rage on 5 Jan 2002. Unfortunately I recorded neither. The quality of the clip on YouTube is barely passable, I would really like a "full quality" copy.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Michael
Also, I just recently discovered the video for Mondo's 'Baby Wants To Rock' on YouTube. It looks like it was taken from a Rock Arena episode. Going by the quality of it, it looks like it was taken from rage. Does anyone know what episode this was and what year it was shown on rage? I have missed a few Rock Arena's over the years, as I only had a DVD Recorder with no HDD, and often timer recorded the rest of the Countdowns when I went to bed.
...and the video for 'Baby Wants To Rock' rocks!
The Rock Arena which had the Baby Wants To Rock clip that was previously shown on Rage was the May 29 1984 episode which was shown back on January 5 2002
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Thanks so much for explaining all that. It's all very technical but I understand it. Before you explained it I was thinking what will happen when Rage is no more?(I know that's not a very nice thought but like us, nothing lasts forever) as the whole music library of what must be around 100k clips now would all have the rage logo and supers on them and would render the whole library not fit for broadcast. How did you find out about all this detailed information? I could ask you endless questions about the production aspects of Rage, lol.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Runaway Train by Kasey Chambers has an interesting fault when she last guest programmed, the Rage logo can be seen ever so slightly right from the start of the clip when of course it shouldn't be there at all.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Nathan, rage posted a tweet (I don't do twitter, but saw it reposted somewhere) circa 2012 saying they 'now have 30k videos in the library', which I thought was surprisingly low. I assume that includes stand-alone Countdown/Recovery/The Factory/Countdown Revolution/GTK etc. 'videos' they have aired, which makes it even more surprising.
Presumably that figure isn't inclusive of the entire ABC archives music content, though? They must have thrown out so much over the years.
There are a handful of 4:3 aspect ratio clips where rage have embedded the rage logo and artist/title super starting in the left 16:9 area, so some of the super is chopped off when recording in 4:3. Billy Idol's 'Eyes Without a Face', Grayson Hugh's 'Talk It Over' and Seal's 'Crazy' are 3 that I've noticed.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Interesting, I don't think the some of the staffers know what their talking about at times, lol. I recall reading on the old forum that they said they have 60k clips back in 2009 so I assumed that would have grown a lot more in the last several years. When you think about all the trash they play on Friday nights over the years and including all the Countdown clips, many which no longer appear on Rage outside of those Countdown and Rock Arena episodes, it is a surprise them saying they only have 30k. Might be worth asking on the FB page, repeatedly if necessary so we can find out for sure.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Thanks Guru and Clip Magnet for the details on the Rock Arena episode feat. 'Baby Wants To Rock'. Now I have to go through my old VHS tapes and see if I have it. Cheers.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
As most of you know that performance of 'Baby Wants To Rock' on 6/5/84 Countdown last week was a repeat performance from the 8/4/84 Countdown episode which was co-hosted by Marilyn & Molly. Now, the video for it shows excerpts of them performing in the Countdown studio, so I can only assume that the video was made in mid April or early May after the studio performance. That's different, cause usually artists make the video first before doing any promotion.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
My video tape from January 5 2002
I record and keep the full episodes rather than butcher them for individual clips. I have the full episodes of every Countdown, Rock Arena etc that Rage have shown since 1993 as I find that is a more interesting visual collectable as a whole.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Guru Bob,
Do you know exactly which episode of Rock Arena this Angel Witch - Angel Witch video aired on??: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IkOC5vYDl8
Edit: I found out it's from September 17th, 1983 - Heavy Metal II.
This SUCKS! I have this on DVD-R, but unfortunately the jackass that recorded it took out the Angel Witch video, it goes straight to the Motley Crue - Livewire video after the Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Comin' video.
That is a HUGE disappointment.
I guess there's no way I could swap with anyone for a DVD-R or high quality copy of the uncut Heavy Metal II Rock Arena program is there?
I have loads of metal DVD-R's from all over the world to offer.
Please, no .mp4 files, I'm really hoping for like a DVD-R done with a standalone DVD Recorder, or if this aired on RAGE some kind of uncompressed .MPG or .VOB file.
Rage has played some amazing metal videos over the years that I wish I could've caught.
Please email me if someone can help me: Evildeadrules99@hotmail.com
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
Eudoxis87
Guru Bob,
Do you know exactly which episode of Rock Arena this Angel Witch - Angel Witch video aired on??: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IkOC5vYDl8
Edit: I found out it's from September 17th, 1983 - Heavy Metal II.
This SUCKS! I have this on DVD-R, but unfortunately the jackass that recorded it took out the Angel Witch video, it goes straight to the Motley Crue - Livewire video after the Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Comin' video.
That is a HUGE disappointment.
I guess there's no way I could swap with anyone for a DVD-R or high quality copy of the uncut Heavy Metal II Rock Arena program is there?
I have loads of metal DVD-R's from all over the world to offer.
Please, no .mp4 files, I'm really hoping for like a DVD-R done with a standalone DVD Recorder, or if this aired on RAGE some kind of uncompressed .MPG or .VOB file.
Rage has played some amazing metal videos over the years that I wish I could've caught.
Please email me if someone can help me: Evildeadrules99@hotmail.com
Eudoxis
That episode of Heavy Metal II has never been repeated on Rage so the only people who would have a copy are those that recorded it originally off air back in 1983, of which you seem to have an edited copy.
The lists of Rock Arena episodes that I posted on the countdownmemories I got from the ABC online archives. I posted all the episodes that they had recorded runsheets for.
Heavy Metal was recorded on Sept 17 1983 and Heavy Metal II (which features Angel Witch) has a date of November 15 1983 but I don't know if it was a recording or airing date as there are two episodes with that date.
As Rage have not aired this episode of Heavy Metal II, I don't have it. I only have all the episodes of Rock Arena that Rage have aired. I don't have any original off air recordings from the 80's. If no one here is able to assist and you want to see that episode you will have to get onto the Rage website via Facebook and try and request it...after that it is in the lap of the gods as to whether the programmers end up playing it.
Your best bet would be to contact the person who uploaded that clip to YouTube as that is from that episode of Rock Arena so they should be able to assist.
Re: rage goes retro 1 * Saturday 2nd January FULL INFO on COUNTDOWN and ROCK ARENA
A few weeks back I saw in the electronic programme guide that night from 12:30am-12:40am it listed 'Mondo Rock'. Curious, I timer recorded it and the next day I watched it, it was a repeat of Sunrise music performances of Mondo Rock. They played two songs in the studio. First track 'Come Said The Boy', the second and the title that came up on the screen 'CRUEL WORLD' WTF? I had a laugh. Seriously, music researchers are f@#ked!