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“Classic Countdown” to screen at 6pm Sundays on ABC

Classic footage repackaged, narrated by pop stars, with Gavin Wood returning.

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Now this is clever programming….

ABC is to play old Countdown footage in itsoriginal timeslot of 6pm Sundays, narrated by an artist who performed in that episode, with Gavin Wood reprising his role as announcer.

To be billed as Classic Countdown, each episode will encompass one year and screen as one-hour episodes over 13 weeks from Sunday 17 September.

Narrators  will include John Paul Young, Kate Ceberano, Steve Kilbey, Richard Clapton and more.

Countdown was a cultural phenomenon that ran from 1974-1987, becoming the soundtrack to an entire generation of Australians.

Taking a year per episode, Classic Countdown pays tribute to the iconic artists, the incredible songs and Molly!

The original episodes have been lovingly and meticulously restored and the archives carefully searched to uncover performances not seen for decades. Unashamedly nostalgic and playful, Classic Countdown will celebrate the explosion in youth culture and Aussie music that was the driving force of the show’s success.

Classic Countdown will feature the very best music from the day, presented in the classic Countdown way… the artists performing their songs to a live studio audience.

The show will also feature the very best of Molly, his unique interview style and his incredible access to the likes of Elton John, Tina Turner, Abba, David Bowie, Kate Bush – not to mention the giants of Aussie Rock. The series will mirror the Countdown run-down with highlights of Humdrum plus a selection of the songs that were performed on the show that also made it to #1 each year.

Joining the tribute, ABC Music are proud to present Classic Countdown (out September 15), a massive 4CD collection and digital album featuring the biggest and most influential hits from the iconic original series including classic tracks from ABBA, Skyhooks, Iggy Pop, Hall & Oates, Cyndi Lauper, John Farnham plus many more.

Follow Classic Countdown online at abc.net.au/classiccountdown and via socials #ClassicCountdown

18 Responses

  2. “13 weeks”… “ran from 1974-1987″… Yep, it should have been 14 weeks, but the good ol’ ABC taped over 1974! If only they had removed that little plastic tab.

    1. from memory there were only a few eps in 1974; the first colour ones are probably the starting point for them in 1975; hence 13 episodes. But there are gaps, so who knows.

  3. Interesting because I suggested something like this a few years ago to the ABC, plus show rage on Wednesday nights with all OLD clips, like Gordon Lightfoot, and all those classic Country Road shows they must have thousands of hours, plus the folky type Australiana type of shows they screened

  4. I’ll definitely be watching this. Such a shame though that the last show ever to be filmed in the old Countdown Studio at Ripponlea (Studio 31) will happen the week before this goes to air 🙁

  5. Better get out the old B&W portable TV like when I was a kid – Dad wouldn’t let us watch it on the big colour TV because he would be watching the News.

  6. Now all I need is 3XY and 2UE (not sure what the other states had back then) going back to their old format when Countdown was on, get the old Top 40 Music Survey happening, bring back Rocktober and Juke magazine. Look forward to the Classic Countdown Stage Shows that are bound to happen, though Ross Wilson may have to pull triple duty with Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock and as he did with RocKwiz front Skyhooks with all the other original members (he did produce them and Daddy Cool released Saturday Night before Skyhooks did).

    Oh and one of the commercials how about bringing back The Wonderful World Of Disney at 6:30pm, was always the competition to Countdown.

    1. Ah yes – and why not bring back those old AM breakfast announcers & their racist, sexist, & classist “comedy” songs. Hey, why not rewind TV a bit further & bring back classics like The Black & White Minstrel Show?

      But if all you want is to hear the great hits of the Countdown era again, try your local “classic hits” AM station. It’s where music goes after it ages out of rotation from TripleM FM’s “lunchtime classics” hour and their “Greatest Hits” DAB station…

      (To be honest, I’ll be happy as long as someone stops Ross Wilson from re-animating, torturing, and re-murdering “Eagle Rock” yet another time…)

      1. Yeah that was my point, I really have to start using a sarcasm tag on here I think seems to happen a lot lately, or maybe mention South Park and Memberberries and their shot at how bad nostalgia can be last season (or put not at the end of posts).

        As for Ross Wilson absolutley on that, I remember at the Reclink Community Cup a couple of years ago a real murder of Eagle Rock, tragic.

  9. Great news!!
    This will be popular amongst all us Countdown tragics out there who, up till now, only had Rage retro month each January to look forward to.
    The narrators in the form of Steve Kilbey, etc, are an added bonus.

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