Articles-Features
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THE COUNTDOWN SPECTACULAR – HIGH VOLTAGE
ROCK AND ROLL |
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In the
‘70s and early ‘80s, virtually every music lover in the
country, young and old, could be found in front of the TV
set at 6pm, tuned to the ABC’s Countdown. The show
might be long gone, but fans and musicians alike proved that
it’s far from forgotten, judging by the success of The
Countdown Spectacular. The show started in Newcastle on
30 August 2006 and came to a memorable close at the Brisbane
Entertainment Centre on 17 September, 2006.
As the
evening gets underway, there’s a sense of anticipation in
the crowd as we count back from ten, then Molly Meldrum’s
face appears in front of us on a giant screen. “What is
Countdown?” someone asks him. Says Molly: “Countdown
is the most exciting visual presentation of the top 40 hits
that you will ever see on colour television”. And with that,
the show begins.
The first
live act is John Paul Young, who gears up the crowd
for the performances to follow. The man known as “JPY” and
“Squeak” cheekily introduces Molly as “the Fairy Godmother of
Australian music”, a theme that is carried throughout the
night, much to the crowd’s enjoyment.
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John Paul
Young |
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Mt
Tamborine resident John 'Swanee' gives a fine
performance next, followed by Kids in the Kitchen’s
Scott Carne with an admirable set. Then it’s the
ladies' turn with Cheetah, still looking as glamorous
as they did in the ’70s. Choirboys are next, and the
crowd go wild when they perform their
great Aussie rock anthem, Run To Paradise.
We’re
sent further back in time with the performance of Ol’ 55’s
Frankie J Holden and Wilbur Wilde, who get the
women hot and steamy with their sexy bum-wiggle act. An
in-form Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & The Rocketts) is
next, followed by the mischievous Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men).
Next up is Paul Norton, bass player from The
Runners, and Joe Camelleri (Jo Jo Jep)
who performs another classic, Shape I’m In.
Seasoned
Aussie television personality Red Symons presents a
light-hearted yet moving tribute to former Skyhooks’ singer
Shirley Strachan: “I would have loved to have played
in this Countdown Concert but unfortunately Skyhooks are
currently a little short staffed! You can’t replace a
singer; the human voice is where the band makes contact with
the outside world…I often look at my fellow band members,
Fred, Greg, Bonga and thought, why couldn’t it have been one
of you instead!”
More
tributes follow, this time to Ted Mulry (Ted Mulry
Gang), Marc Hunter (Dragon),
Steve Gilpin (Mi-Sex), Michael
Hutchinson (INXS) and last but definitely not
least, the rock legend of Australian music, ACDC’s
original vocalist Bon Scott. Red highlights, “There
does seem to be life after death–because of music video and
shows like Countdown, legends like Bon Scott live on
forever, and they don’t age like the rest of us, b*stards!" |
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Next
it’s rewind to 1982, when Australia fell in love with
Moving Pictures, and Alex Smith performs the
powerful What About Me (which recently made it back
into the charts thanks to Shannon Noll). David Sterry
(Real Life) was next, followed by Stephen
Cummings (Sports), then from one of
Australia’s favourite bands from the ‘80s, Eurogliders,
Grace Knight and Bernie Lynch. At the end of
their performance an energetic Grace dives into the audience
and is caught by the cheering crowd.
Molly
Meldrum is responsible for producing many hits
including a gold album and many hit singles for The Ferrets.
Billy Miller (The Ferrets) is next and performs one of those
hits, Don’t Fall In Love. It’s then back to
more comedy with proud one-hit-wonder Joe Dolce
performing Shaddup You Face with some word
variations to suit tonight’s tone. Molly enthusiastically
assists on the accordion. |
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Molly as an accordion
player (above) |
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Hush literally fire onto the stage, with special fire
techniques from their guitars. The band’s energetic music
get the crowd involved in their brand of Aussie rock. The
talented Shane Howard from Goanna follows,
then adopted pom Leo Sayer –one of the highlights of
the show–is next. Leo found he was in for a special treat on
the last night with John Paul Young joining him on
stage, posing as a woman.
Models’ James Freud and
Sean Kelly follow, then Chantoozies.
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Leo Sayer
(below) |
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Leo and someone that looks
like John Paul Young's sister! (below and right) |
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Goanna's Shane
Howard and support (above) |
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Molly's infamous Humdrum
(below) |
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We’re treated to Countdown’s
infamous Humdrum section,
performed in the usual Molly style. We learn that Molly had
a crush on Madonna and he admits that he would even have
“turned” for her. Interestingly, we find out that The
Countdown Spectacular organiser Michael Gudinski
was responsible for scoring Kylie Minogue a record
deal with Mushroom for her first single, Locomotion.
The amazing Jon English
performs next, and is followed by Pseudo Echo’s
Brain Canham performing Funky Town. More talent
follows with Mondo Rock, Renee Geyer and
Australian Crawl’s James Reyne, performing
classics including Reckless and Boys
Light Up to a delighted crowd.
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Jon English |
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Renee Geyer |
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Throughout the night the crowd
is treated to performances by a troupe of entertaining
dancers, doing routines to favourites such as Thriller,
Greased Lightning, Nutbush City Limits, Oh What A Feeling,
FAME, Footloose, YMCA, and Mickey, which saw
Molly join in, dressed as a cheerleader. |
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Molly looking "so fine" (above) |
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The final act is definitely worth waiting for, as the
fabulous Sherbet rock the stage, performing hits such
as Summer Love, Cassandra, Rock Me Gentle,
A Matter Of Time and Howzat.
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Sherbet performing (directly
above) and taking their bow (above far right) |
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Near the
end, organiser Michael Gudinski takes the stage and
announces the success of The Countdown Spectacular.
The night finished memorably, with all the evening’s artists
on stage performing songs including Living In The 70’s,
Never Tear Us Apart, April Sun, It’s A Long
Way To The Top and High Voltage.
The
Countdown Spectacular proved to be a huge,
well-organised and very entertaining show. Wonderful
artists, talented dancers, fond memories, moving tributes,
and special hellos from artists such as Madonna and Boy
George made the night special. Bring on the next
Countdown tour!
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Michael Gudinski (The Frontier Touring Company) made his
dream a reality. |
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Many talented
Australian performers and one pom at the end of the show. |
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Article and photos by Chrissy Layton, AusNotebook Music & Creative
30/9/06
Dedicated to my cool and groovy brother, Rob Layton, aka
'Harry the Hippy'
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Click here for
song
list of the show
The Countdown Spectacular
favourite charity is
Support
Act, an organisation that support artists
who have fallen into hardship.
UPDATE
The
COUNTDOWN Spectacular CD
and The COUNTDOWN Spectacular DVD
are now on sale on Liberation Music / ABC Music thru
Warner Music Australia
Click
here
for more details
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ASSOCIATED ARTICLES:-
Sherbet_Garth Porter |
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