Countdown (Australian TV series)
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- For other meanings of the term countdown, see Countdown (disambiguation).
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Countdown was a long-running popular weekly Australian music television show broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from late 1974 until 19 July 1987. It was created by Executive Producer Michael Shrimpton, producer/director Robbie Weekes and record producer and music journalist Ian Meldrum.
Countdown was the most popular music program in Australian TV history. It was broadcast nationwide on Australia's government-owned broadcaster, the ABC and commanded a huge and loyal audience. It soon exerted a strong influence on radio programmers because of its audience and the amount of Australian content it featured. For most of the time it was on air, it also gained double exposure throughout the country by screening a new episode each Sunday evening, and then repeating it the following Saturday evening. The majority of performances on the show were Lip Synched.
The program's talent co-ordinator Ian "Molly" Meldrum began appearing on-air in 1975, presenting the Humdrum music news segment and conducting interviews. He soon became the face of Countdown. He appeared regularly on-air until 1986.
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[edit] Cultural influence
Teen-oriented pop music still enjoyed strong popularity during the 1970s, although much of it was sourced from overseas, and the proportion of Australian acts in the charts had hit an all-time low by 1973. That trend began to change around 1975, and many credit that largely to the advent of Countdown. Much of the show's influence derived from its timeslot (Sundays at 6pm) and the fact that each week's show was repeated the following Saturday at 5pm; the series also undoubtedly benefitted hugely from the long-delayed introduction of colour television in Australia, which was introduced four months after Countdown premiered. Because of this, Countdown was also one of the first Australian TV series to be made entirely in colour, although most of the master videotapes from the first twelve months of the series were later erased and recycled during an ill-advised "economy drive" at the ABC.
Although it is not widely recognised, Countdown also had a strong international influence, because it was one of the first TV shows in the world to promote the regular use of the music video as a major part of its programming. Because of its receptivity to music videos (something of a necessity because of the comparative rarity of tours by overseas acts) Countdown proved to be instrumental in the worldwide success of a number of important overseas acts of the period. Madonna achieved her first hit single in April 1983 when "Holiday" was screened on Countdown. Subsequently "Burning Up" reached the top twenty following repeated showings of the video clip on the show; this second song was not a hit in other countries. Other international artists including Blondie, ABBA, John Mellencamp, Meat Loaf, Boz Scaggs and Cyndi Lauper achieved their first hits in Australia, thanks to their video clips being aired on Countdown, and this in turn led to their records being picked up and becoming hits in America and/or Europe.
Many international acts who would otherwise have gone largely unheard on Australian commercial radio, gained important exposure in Australia on Countdown through their music videos; the list includes many UK "New Wave" acts, such as XTC, The Beat, Elvis Costello, The Specials, Lene Lovich, Joe Jackson, and The Cure, and US acts such as The Ramones and The Cars.
Above all, Countdown was crucial to the success of many leading Australian acts, including AC/DC, John Paul Young, Sherbet, Skyhooks, Marcia Hines, The Angels, INXS, Mondo Rock, Men at Work, Icehouse, Little River Band, Renée Geyer, Wa Wa Nee and Jon English.
The program dominated Australian popular music well into the 1980s, although some critics felt[citation needed] that in later years it tended to concentrate on pop-oriented major-label acts and that it failed to reflect much of the exciting independent scene of the time.
ABC TV's rage music program has re-broadcast selected entire episodes of Countdown in January each year since the early 2000's.
In March 2007, pay television channel Foxtel, and its regional affiliate Austar, began screening 100's of studio performances from the Countdown era. Themed Countdown specials have become very popular and lost performances by John Farnham, drag queen Divine, a-ha, Pseudo Echo and the Countdown Dancers performing the Flashdance medley highlight the great music of the period.
[edit] Countdown Revolution era
From late 1989 to late 1990, Countdown returned in the guise of Countdown Revolution. Without Molly Meldrum, who had since gone on to Hey Hey It's Saturday, it featured a group of young hosts including Andrew Daddo, Tania Lacy and Mark Little. The series was notoriously canned by the ABC[citation needed] after an unauthorised on-air protest by the Lacy and Little on June 22, 1990 against the policy of not allowing acts to perform live and insisting they mime to backup tracks.[1]
[edit] Countdown Spectacular
In 2006, a national tour, appealing to fan nostalgia, was conducted across Australia with many local acts who featured on the original series.
Due to the success of the 2006 tour, in August and September 2007 there will be a national tour called Countdown Spectacular 2.[1][2]
[edit] See also
- List of Australian music television shows
- List of Australian television series
- List of Australian Broadcasting Corporation programs
[edit] References
- ^ Frontier Touring Company - Countdown Spectacular 2
- ^ Countdown to corniness from The Sunday Telegraph website 1 May 2007
