PASSIONATE & PROFESSIONAL BOUTIQUE AGENCY Tattler Summer 2015 17 everyone is adverse to change, but once they found a system, routine and got comfortable it became their reality.” The success of Countdown was almost instantaneous, commanding a huge and loyal following. “It just started to click. We did a special for New Year’s Eve, highlighting artists that had featured since its commencement and Countdown was then commissioned to go to two hours on Sundays,” John says. Its influence also began to extend over radio programmers due to the audience and the amount of Australian content featured. Prior to the shows launch Australian musical acts featured on the charts had hit an all-time low by 1973, but began to increase from 1975, following Countdown’s launch. The Countdown team found the more challenging things they could dream up with the Director, the more successful the program was. They were basically let loose to create this show that would shape the Australian music industry and created many memorable and unforgettable performances along the way. “My fondest memories were the people I worked with,” John reflects. “It was a lot of hard work, but everyone was very funny. We all knew what we wanted to achieve and we knew we were creating something special and helping the Australian music industry. It was very special to be apart of something like that. It was basically the beginning of the Australian music industry and at that point everything started to flower.” One of John’s most memorable moments involved popular artist Suzi Quatro, “She was out here to do a performance and had been held up due to some issues with her Manager and a taxi, which led her to miss camera rehearsals.” John says. “We started camera rehearsals from nine in the morning and recorded from 5.30pm to 6.30pm. Robbie said we needed to continue with the camera rehearsal so Tony and I got up on the stage and did the rehearsals for Devil Gate Drive. We knew all of the words because we always bought the records in the lead up to an artist performing and by the time we did this rehearsal, it was like we had written it. When we came to the end of our ‘performance’ the camera guy was checking all of the shots and all of a sudden this leather clad lady comes up onto the rostrum. The lights come on and we look down and it is Suzi Quatro laughing. This time we do the rehearsal with her and she insists Tony and I join her on stage to perform. She just loved it and of course it went onto the Christmas tape.” Countdown had many spin off programs such as Rage. At the time of Countdown music videos did not exist and the program provided the first real television live performance for fans to ‘view’ the music. John moved on from Countdown at the end of 1975 to Darwin to assist the ABC, following Cyclone Tracey. He continued his media career with the ABC for another 20 years and continues to work in media and marketing in some capacity or form. Countdown continued on until 1987 and was instrumental to the success of many leading Australian acts, including AC/DC, Olivia Newton-John, INXS, Dragon, Hush, Kylie Minogue, I’m Talking, John Paul Young, Sherbet, Skyhooks, Marcia Hines, Mark Holden, The Angels, Mondo Rock, Men at Work, Icehouse, Australian Crawl, Mental As Anything, Little River Band, William Shakespeare, Renée Geyer, Wa Wa Nee and Jon English. John’s memories are all positive, “Countdown is something from my career that I really enjoyed and am proud of. I am still mates with all of the team, except for those that have passed,” he says. “The experience and the outstanding success made us realise that we were just as good as commercial television, not second class and could be big contributors to television and music.” Caroline Munro 0407 121 329 caroline@carolinemunro.com.au
Tattler Summer 2015
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