Original subtitles

(TELEPHONE RINGS)

Hello?

MAN: Hello.

This is Daryl Braithwaite from Sherbet.

Listen, I just want to remind you that next Sunday, the 7th of March,

is the start of a brand-new Countdown series.

Oh, terrific!

And there'll be such people as John Paul Young, Ted Mulry,

AC/DC, and a lot of other good people.

And it's a show that you won't want to miss

'cause it's a start of a brand-new year.

It's gonna be fantastic.

Next Sunday, 7th of March, Countdown.

I'll be watching.

Yeah, OK. Bye.

♪ Do the hustle! ♪

♪ Countdown, Countdown

♪ Countdown ♪

NARRATOR: Welcome to Classic Countdown, 1976.

♪ Countdown! ♪

(CHEERING)

♪ There's times when I'm out, and times when I'm down

♪ Times when I'm loose

♪ And times when I'm bound

♪ It don't bother me 'cause I let it be

♪ And just keep on smiling

♪ Keep on smiling

♪ There's times when I will

♪ And times when I won't. ♪

WILBUR: After the upheavals of 1975,

the new year seemed to usher in a period of stability in Australia.

We knew who and what we liked, and we would now stick with them,

thank you very much.

ALL: We want ABBA!

We want ABBA!

MOLLY: So, you're a little bit older than some of the other people

in the queue here.

Yes, I'm a grandmother. That's quite right.

I'm waiting for my granddaughters.

(CHEERING, YELLING)

BOY: Hey, ABBA, you beauty!

MOLLY: Well, what happens once your granddaughters arrive?

Are you going to see them to the gate and then go home?

Certainly not. I'm going to see ABBA.

(CHEERING)

WILBUR: ABBA notched up five top-20 hits.

The local charts were still home to trusty favourites,

Sherbet, Skyhooks, JPY and Marcia Hines.

Here is a platinum record as well.

So, you'll be able to wear them as earrings, Marcia.

(APPLAUSE)

In politics, after the challenging Whitlam years,

the electorate returned a coalition government.

The US elected an avuncular Southerner as president,

and the Olympic Games in Montreal

predicted a convincing picture of world unity.

On the small screen, the public was glued to comfortable soaps

like The Sullivans and The Young Doctors.

If you switched on the TV, everything seemed light and breezy.

♪ You have the tango

♪ Skip the fandango

♪ Waltz 'round the floor

♪ They get the folita

♪ The Spanish monita

♪ In old Mexico

♪ They let themselves go

♪ The continental

♪ Was ever so gentle

♪ The rumba was cool

♪ When you kept to the rule

♪ In came the conga

♪ The line just got longer

♪ Hiya, conga

♪ Hiya, conga

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Ah

♪ Ooh ja ja ja

♪ I want the boogie

♪ The shadow shoo-doogie

♪ Rock and roll jive

♪ Kept us alive

♪ Rock it

♪ You taught me how to

♪ Ooh, ya, ya

♪ Then you told me how

♪ With your ooh ja ja

♪ Ooh ja ja ja ja

♪ Ooh ja ja ja ja

♪ Ooh ja ja ja ja

♪ Ooh ja ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja

♪ Do the ooh ja ja ja. ♪

(CHEERING)

♪ Countdown! ♪

Hi, this is Angus from AC/DC,

reminding you that you're on the top rock show in Australia,

Countdown.

♪ Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap

♪ Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap

♪ Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap

♪ Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap

♪ Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap. ♪

WILBUR: Australia developed its own unique style of hard rock,

best expressed by one band, AC/DC.

♪ Alright

♪ TNT

♪ Oi, oi, oi

♪ TNT, oi! ♪

The ABC championed AC/DC from the beginning.

With each performance on Countdown,

the band fuelled the fire of its growing reputation.

Oh, hello.

This is Bon from AC/DC,

and although we're over the seas at the moment

and dining with the queen, of course, you know,

we haven't forgotten about you, our Countdown fans.

And here to prove it is our brand-new single, "Jailbreak."

And don't forget, you see it first on Countdown.

In '76 for AC/DC,

Countdown produced one of its most famous film clips.

♪ There was a friend of mine on murder

♪ And the judge's gavel fell

♪ Jury found him guilty

♪ Gave him sixteen years in hell

♪ He said, I ain't spending my life here

♪ I ain't living alone

♪ Ain't breaking no rocks on the chain gang

♪ I'm breakin' out and headin' home

♪ I'm gonna make a jailbreak

♪ And I'm lookin' towards the sky

♪ I'm gonna make a jailbreak

♪ Oh, how I wish that I could fly

(EXPLOSION)

♪ All in the name of liberty

♪ All in the name of liberty

♪ Got to be free

♪ Jailbreak

♪ Let me out of here

♪ Jailbreak

♪ Sixteen years

♪ Jailbreak

♪ Had more than I can take

♪ Jailbreak

♪ Yeah

♪ He said he'd seen his lady being fooled with

♪ By another man

♪ She was down and he was up

♪ He had a gun in his hand

♪ Bullets started flying everywhere

♪ And people started to scream

♪ Big man lying on the ground

♪ With a hole in his body

♪ Where his life had been

♪ But it was all in the name of liberty

♪ All in the name of liberty

♪ Oh, I got to be free

♪ Jailbreak (EXPLOSION)

♪ Jailbreak

♪ I got to break out

♪ Out of here

(GUITAR SOLO)

(GUITAR SOLO CONTINUES)

(EXPLOSION)

♪ Heartbeats

♪ They were racin'

♪ Freedom

♪ He was chasin'

♪ Spotlights

♪ Sirens

♪ Rifles firing

♪ But he made it out

(GUNSHOTS)

♪ With a bullet in his back

(GUNSHOTS) ♪ Jailbreak

♪ Jailbreak

♪ Jailbreak

♪ Jailbreak

♪ Jailbreak

♪ Jailbreak. ♪

Hi, this is Leo Sayer.

I'm (SPEAKS GIBBERISH).

We won't use that. Edit, edit, edit.

(SPEAKS GIBBERISH)

Hello, this is Leo Sayer.

Pleased to meet you all again.

I'm on Countdown this week on ABC.

Make sure you watch it.

I'll be there.

See you then.

(CHEERING)

♪ Countdown! ♪

♪ You go to the fields on week days... ♪

WILBUR: In '76, the Australian charts rewarded traditional rock and pop,

but there was no denying

that dance music was enjoying a huge surge in popularity in the US,

with disco about to explode.

♪ Whoa, Nutbush

♪ They call it Nutbush city limits. ♪

It's a clue to the future, really,

because I've just started working on this new album

and the first things that we've done

is we've cut a couple of old Motown songs,

would you believe it?

"Reflections" and the "Tears of a Clown."

You know, I mean, we're kind of moving away.

I've been working with a lot of the black musicians.

Ray Parker, he used to play with Stevie Wonder,

Willie Weeks, a black bass player.

And we've been putting down things that sound so black.

I mean, they could've been put down by, I don't know,

Tom Dowd or somebody.

♪ You've got a cute way of talking

♪ You got the better of me

♪ Just snap your fingers and I'm walking

♪ Like a dog hanging on your lead

♪ I'm in a spin, you know

♪ Shaking on a string, you know

♪ You make me feel like dancing

♪ I'm gonna dance the night away

♪ You make me feel like dancing

♪ I'm gonna dance the night away

♪ You make feel like dancing

♪ I feel like dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Dance the night away

♪ Yeah, I feel like dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Dancing, ah

♪ Quarter to four in the morning

♪ I ain't feeling tired, no, no, no, no, no

♪ Just hold me tight and leave on the light

♪ 'Cause I don't want to go home

♪ You put a spell on me

♪ I'm right where you want me to be

♪ You make me feel like dancing

♪ I'm gonna dance the night away

♪ You make me feel like dancing,

♪ I'm gonna dance the night away

♪ You make feel like dancing

♪ I feel like dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Dance the night away

♪ Yeah, I feel like dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Dance the night away

♪ I feel like dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Dance the night away

♪ Yeah, I feel like dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Dancing ♪ Whoo

♪ Oh

♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo

♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo

♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo

♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo

♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo

♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo

♪ And if you'll let me stay

♪ We'll dance our lives away

♪ You make me feel like dancing

♪ I want to dance my life away

♪ You make me feel like dancing

♪ I want to dance my life away. ♪

(TELEPHONE RINGS)

Hello.

MAN: Hello, it's me again, John Paul Young.

I just thought I'd ring you and remind you just one more time

that we'll be on Countdown tomorrow night.

We meaning me, John Paul Young, Sherbet, AC/DC,

Ted Mulry, Hush,

and they all say,

"Look, Small, is she going to be watching tomorrow night?"

Yeah, for sure. Unreal.

OK, bye.

WILBUR: Molly was settling into his job as a roving reporter.

Well, here we are.

Welcome to Countdown in London.

Sent around the world to get the big interviews.

Soul music, I guess that kind of associates me with soul music.

And soul music is a natural type feeling.

It's something that's not taught.

So anyone, any person in the world

that sits down to a musical instrument, to a canvas,

to a letter, whatever they're doing and whatever their thing is,

and they create it naturally without have been taught

by books and other things, that's soul.

And I think that's what I am.

I'm just a...

I'm a natural.

"Piano Man," I think,

might have typecast me as some as some people were concerned.

"Oh, 'Piano Man'".

"Well, it's a story song,

and so that's the kind of songs the guy does".

When, in fact, the rest of the album,

there isn't another song like that.

They're all different.

And "Street Life," which came after "Piano Man,"

was kind of a rebellion against being typecast.

It was a whole change up in form.

And likewise, Turnstiles, is like the title of the album,

Turnstiles. I mean, there's...

eight different tracks and eight different styles of music

'cause we all like to play different kinds of music.

Some people in the music business might have wanted me

to do is like, "Why don't you put out 'Piano Man Two'"?

You know?

And then "Piano Man Three," and so forth and so on,

and I don't want to do that

'cause once you start imitating yourself, you're dead.

Hey, what are you lot doing in the pool room

at six o'clock on a Sunday?

You should be home watching Countdown.

♪ Ooh, baby, stop me

♪ You say that you love me. ♪

Put me up.

(CHEERING)

WILBUR: In '75, the Bay City Rollers

had dropped in for a promotional appearance.

(FANS CHEERING)

In 1976, the Tartan Terrors were one of the first

in a long line of international acts

to realise the value of performing live in Studio 31.

♪ I don't know what it is that makes me love you so

♪ I only know I never want to let you go

♪ 'Cause you started something

♪ Can't you see?

♪ And ever since we met, you've had a hold on me

♪ It happens to be true

♪ I only want to be with you

♪ It doesn't matter where you go or what you do

♪ I want to spend each moment of the day with you

♪ Look what has happened with just one kiss

♪ I never knew that I could be in love like this

♪ It's crazy, but it's true

♪ I only want to be with you

♪ You stopped and smiled at me

♪ And asked me if I cared to dance

♪ I fell into your open arms

♪ I didn't stand a chance

♪ Now, listen, honey

♪ I just want to be beside you everywhere

♪ As long as we're together, honey, I don't care

♪ 'Cause you started something

♪ Can't you see?

♪ And ever since we met, you've had a hold on me

♪ No matter what you do

♪ I only want to be with you

♪ You stopped and smiled at me

♪ And asked me if I cared to dance

♪ I fell into your open arms

♪ I didn't stand a chance

♪ Now, listen, honey

♪ I just want to be beside you everywhere

♪ And as long as we're together, honey, I don't care

♪ 'Cause I started something

♪ Can't you see?

♪ And ever since we met, you've had a hold on me

♪ No matter what you do

♪ I only want to be with you

♪ No matter, no matter what you do

♪ I only want to be with you

♪ Whoo

♪ No matter, no matter what you do

♪ I only want to be with you

♪ Oh, oh, oh

♪ Oh, oh

♪ Oh, oh, oh. ♪

(CROWD CHEERS)

ANNOUNCER: Throughout the network of ABC Television

on 146 stations across Australia, this is...

CROWD: Countdown!

WILBUR: The successful Rollers tour

ensured that glam rock remained strong here.

Its stomping beats appearing in local hits, too.

♪ I hate the music

♪ 'Cause every time I hear that melody

♪ It just reminds me of

♪ The things we did together

♪ The way we used to be

♪ The way that life was better. ♪

There's no doubt that glam did take some unexpected twists

and turns, raising more than a few eyebrows.

♪ Johnny is a guy who can't make up his mind

♪ He says "I like it both ways"

♪ Johnny's world is inside out

♪ His daddy thinks he's insane

♪ He goes out on the town

♪ Flashes around

♪ Is his mind deranged?

♪ Couples walk by

♪ He watches them all

♪ To him, they're all the same

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

♪ When Johnny's with Julie

♪ He tells her she's his girl

♪ Says "I'll love you always"

♪ She got to love to find

♪ Within his schizophrenic mind

♪ Because he likes it both ways

♪ One day, it's a rose

♪ Another day, a thorn

♪ He just can't make the choice

♪ Like when he seems so hard to find

♪ He can't make up his mind

♪ Between a high or low-pitched voice

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

(TELEPHONE RINGS)

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

(TELEPHONE RINGS) ♪ I like it both ways

♪ Johnny is a guy

♪ Who can't make up his mind

♪ He says, "I like it both ways"

♪ Johnny's world is inside out

♪ His daddy thinks he's insane

♪ Insane ♪ Insane

♪ Insane ♪ Insane

♪ Insane ♪ Insane

♪ Insane ♪ Insane

♪ Oh, insane

(GUITAR SOLO)

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways

♪ I like it both ways. ♪

Hey, this is Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy,

and you're looking at Countdown right across Australia.

WILBUR: Musical nostalgia proved a force in 1976.

♪ Has anybody seen Old Sid around?

♪ Maybe he's curled up on the ground

♪ In a park or by the sea

♪ Has anybody seen Old Sid?

♪ Has anybody seen Old Sid?

♪ Has anybody seen Old Sid around? ♪

♪ Tomorrow night ♪

♪ At the Darktown Strutter's Ball. ♪

Even old dance hall tunes were successfully repackaged

and sold as pop.

(SCREAMING)

With TV show Happy Days a global phenomenon,

audiences looked back with fondness to the music of the '50s.

♪ At daydream junior high school

♪ We used to harmonise

♪ Me and Frankie and Jimmy

♪ And some Italian guy

♪ We were singing oldies

♪ But they were newies then

♪ And today when I play my old 45's

♪ I remember when

♪ We practised in a subway

♪ In a lobby or a hall

♪ Crowded in a doorway

♪ Singing doo-wops to the wall

♪ And if we went to a party

♪ And they wouldn't let us sing

♪ We'd lock ourselves in the bathroom

♪ And nobody could get in

♪ 'Cause we were looking for an echo

♪ An answer to our sound

♪ A place to be in harmony

♪ A place we almost found

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

♪ And the girls would gather 'round us

♪ And our heads would really swell

♪ We'd sing songs by The Moonglows

♪ The Harptones and The Dells

♪ And when we sang sincerely

♪ We really sang it high

♪ Even though it was falsetto

♪ We almost reached the sky

♪ We've sung a lot of changes since 1955

♪ Had a lot of bad arrangements

♪ We've tried to harmonise

♪ Now we've turned into oldies

♪ But they were newies then

♪ And today when I play my old 45's

♪ I remember when

♪ We were looking for an echo

♪ An answer to our sound

♪ A place to be in harmony

♪ A place we almost found

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh

♪ We were looking for an echo

♪ An answer to our sound

♪ A place to be in harmony

♪ A place we almost found

♪ Ooh, ooh

♪ Found. ♪

WILBUR: Nice jacket on the saxophone player.

(CROWD CHEERS)

Even the youngest stars of the day seemed content to continue

the bloodline of old time rock and roll.

I was very, very influenced by the music of the early '60s.

I like Phil Spector and The Beatles and The Beach Boys,

and I think that shows in my writing.

And I, by rights, probably should've been influenced

by Elton John and David Bowie and the artists of the '70s,

which I was, but the '60s and the early, real pop records

were the biggest influence on me of all.

ANNOUNCER: Shaun Cassidy!

♪ Everybody

♪ Get down and get with it

♪ Come on, everybody

♪ Get down and get with it

♪ Come on, everybody, get down

♪ That's rock n' roll

♪ It's when smokin' and the heat

♪ Have got your heart pounding right with the beat

♪ Don't try to fight it, just get excited

♪ That's rock 'n' roll

♪ Now don't you worry 'bout being a star

♪ It doesn't matter who or what you are

♪ Just get the rhythm and let it fill you

♪ That's rock 'n' roll

♪ Well, come on, everybody

♪ Get down and get with it

♪ Come on, everybody

♪ Get down and get with it

♪ Come on, everybody

♪ Get down

♪ That's rock 'n' roll

(FANS SCREAM, CHEER)

♪ Well, come on, everybody

♪ Get down and get with it

♪ Come on, everybody

♪ Get down and get with it

♪ Come on, everybody

♪ Get down

♪ That's rock 'n' roll

♪ And if you feel it, clap your hands

♪ Let's see some sweat for the boys in the band

♪ Now lemme hear ya

♪ Lemme hear ya

♪ That's rock 'n' roll

♪ Everybody get down and get with it

♪ Come on, everybody

♪ Get down and get with it

♪ Come on, everybody

♪ Get down

♪ That's rock 'n' roll

You, all of you!

♪ Well, come on, everybody

♪ Get down and get with it

♪ Come on, everybody

♪ Get down

♪ Get with it

♪ Come on, everybody

♪ Get down

♪ That's rock 'n' roll. ♪

♪ Countdown! ♪

You must be sort of the most wanted artist

we've had for a long, long time,

and we've finally got you in Australia.

What's it feel like, not to be in Australia,

but to come such a long way with so many hit records behind you

and have to perform to such a reputation?

Well, I'd rather talk about what it's like

being here in Australia, and it's been fantastic.

We came into Brisbane and did three shows.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful people.

And the last three shows in Sydney.

And now, to open up the Moomba Festival

is a whole other tremendous excitement for all of us

and it's part of an adventure, you know, for all of us.

So, I'm pleased to be here and we want to do the best show

that we can, and that's basically why we're here.

We're here for music. Do you enjoy still...

Despite what you gentlemen think.

But do you enjoy still performing live on stage?

I love it. It's my favourite thing.

It's fantastic.

There is nothing more to say

because Neil Diamond's music speaks for Australia.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

I'll see you again.

OK, gang.

Yes? OK.

Yes, yeah.

(SCREAMING)

WILBUR: The public found solace in safe, traditional entertainers,

but pop music would also rely on old-fashioned teenage lust.

♪ Gonna sit down and talk to myself

♪ I won't let nobody get me off my shelf

♪ This time I understand

♪ Gonna make it to the promised land and

♪ This time

♪ This time

♪ This time, gonna head in the right direction

♪ In the right direction. ♪

Marc Hunter got pulses racing,

but Countdown also enjoyed plenty of success

with Shirl 'The Curl.'

♪ Hey

♪ Come back to me

♪ Darling, you see

♪ I can give you all the things

♪ That you've wanted before

♪ If you will stay with me

♪ Yeah. ♪

♪ Baby, if your

And, of course, Marcia.

♪ New love ever turns you down

♪ Come back

♪ I will be around

♪ Just waiting for you

♪ I don't know what else to do. ♪

And speaking of old fashioned teenage lust...

(CHEERING, SCREAMING)

♪ If you've ever been lonely

♪ Then you'll understand

♪ Why I treasure every smile you show me

♪ And every touch of your ha-and

♪ Well, I've been waiting a long time

♪ For a girl like you

♪ Oh, and maybe this will be the right time

♪ For all my dreams to come true

♪ I wanna make you my lady

♪ Make you my lady

♪ Love is so hard to find, girl

♪ I wanna make you my lady

♪ Take you, my lady

♪ Then you'll be forever mine, girl

♪ Do you think I'm pretending?

♪ Do you think I'd lie, lady?

♪ Oh, it could be never-ending

♪ If you'll give it a try

♪ I wanna make you my lady

♪ Make you my lady

♪ Love is so hard to find, girl

♪ I wanna make you my lady

♪ Take you, my lady

♪ Then you'll be forever mine, girl

♪ Gonna fly over a rainbow

♪ Gonna find a heaven on earth we can share

♪ Paradise is not far away, so

♪ Just show me you care

♪ And I'll take you there

♪ I wanna make you my lady

♪ Take you my lady

♪ Love is so hard to find, girl

♪ I wanna make you my lady

♪ Take you my lady

♪ I'm gonna make you my lady

♪ Take you my lady

♪ Love is so hard to find, girl

♪ I wanna make you my lady

♪ Take you my lady

♪ Then you'll be forever mine. ♪

(SCREAMING, CHEERING)

(TELEPHONE RINGS)

Hello?

MAN: Hello. (BEEPS)

Oh, sorry, I'm...

Daryl Braithwaite from Sherbet?

Now coming to you live from Perth.

Listen, tonight is the night

'cause Countdown starts back on the airwaves again, television waves.

Yeah, I watched it all last year.

It's a great show with ourselves, because we're on it.

We've got John Paul Young, Ted Mulry, AC/DC,

and a host of other good people who worked with me last year.

About a year it was, and you're gonna help make this year great.

What are you doing after tonight?

Switch the old channels (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)...

Unreal. Yeah, I will.

OK, bye.

WILBUR: In the US, West Coast rock was reaching its zenith.

In '76, Hotel California won the Grammy for album of the year.

Back home, Jon English had a big hit with a very different song

about a hotel in California.

♪ She came in one night from Omaha

♪ Worn out

♪ 'Cause she never could sleep on trains

♪ She took the bus to Hollywood

♪ Lookin' for a room in the pouring rain

♪ With her hair so blonde and her eyes so brown

♪ She thought she'd take this town

♪ And turn it upside down

♪ But I was living in a hotel just off Sunset

♪ She moved in across the hall

♪ And she said she'd be a movie star

♪ And waited every morning for a call

♪ So I asked her in to share a drink

♪ But she hardly had the time

♪ A call might come tomorrow

♪ She had to learn her lines

♪ On Hollywood Seven, rooms to rent

♪ 'Til your name goes up in lights

♪ Whoa, Hollywood Seven

♪ You can dream your dream

♪ For seven bucks a night

♪ Well, the months went by without a job

♪ The money that she saved was nearly spent

♪ So she started bringing strangers home

♪ Trying to find a way to pay the rent

♪ Well, she'd sit down and drink my coffee

♪ With nothin' much to say

♪ Just busy rehearsing in her mind

♪ The scene she'd never play

♪ On Hollywood Seven, rooms to rent

♪ 'Til your name goes up in lights

♪ Oh, Hollywood Seven

♪ You can dream your dreams

♪ For seven bucks a night

♪ Well, I found her there one morning

♪ When she didn't come for coffee when I called

♪ She'd gone and brought the wrong one home this time

♪ There were crazy lipstick marks all over the wall

♪ Now she's goin' back to Omaha

♪ But not the way she'd planned

♪ There'll be no crowd to cheer her on

♪ No welcome home, no band

♪ On Hollywood Seven

♪ Rooms to rent

♪ 'Til your name goes up in lights

♪ Oh, Hollywood Seven

♪ You can dream your dreams

♪ For seven bucks a night

♪ On Hollywood Seven

♪ Dreams to rent

♪ 'Til your name goes up in lights

♪ Oh, Hollywood Seven

♪ You can pay your dues

♪ For seven bucks a night. ♪

(CHEERING)

Of course, some narrative songs have pathos and tragedy.

Others are just songs about cars and girls.

♪ Jump in my car

♪ I want to take you home

♪ Mm, jump in my car

♪ It's too far to walk on your own

♪ No, thank you, sir

♪ Ah, come on, I'm a trustworthy guy

♪ No, thank you, sir

♪ Oh, little girl, I wouldn't tell you no lie

♪ I know your game

♪ How can you say that? We only just met

♪ You're all the same

♪ Ooh, she's got me there, but I'll get her yet

♪ I got you there

♪ No, you didn't, I was catching my breath

♪ And look, it's starting to rain

♪ And baby, you'll catch your death

♪ Well, I don't know

♪ Ah, come on, it costs nothing to try

♪ And you'll arrive home nice and dry

♪ Mm-mm

♪ Jump in my car

♪ I want to take you home

♪ Come on, jump in my car

♪ It's too far to walk on your own

(GUITAR SOLO)

♪ Mm-mm, jump in my car

♪ I want to take you home

♪ Come on, jump in my car

♪ It's too far to walk on your ow-own

♪ Well, maybe I will

♪ Ah, that's better Now you're talking sense

♪ Jeepers, keep still

♪ Well, if you like, I'll just put up a fence

♪ No need to get smart

♪ Well, alright, we'll soon be on our way

♪ We better start

♪ What for?

♪ Because it's such a long way

♪ Well, why, where do you live?

♪ I live down south

♪ It's roughly 84 miles

♪ Hey, slow down

♪ You must be joking there behind that cute smile

♪ Oh, no, I'm not

♪ Well, if you're not, there's only one thing to say

♪ And what's that?

♪ Get out the car

♪ Get on your way

♪ Get out of my car

♪ But you just said that you'd take me home

♪ Well, if it's not too far

♪ But there's no way that I can get there alone

♪ I couldn't care less

♪ Well, maybe I could see you next week

♪ But you look a mess

♪ Well, look who's talking You got no right to speak

♪ Get out of my car

♪ You told me that you were a really nice guy

♪ Well, I ain't

♪ Well, yeah, get out of my car, yeah

♪ Get out, get out of my car. ♪

(CHEERING)

♪ Countdown! ♪

Uh, the Bay City Rollers have had a lot of caning

over the last two years,

and a lot of people are spreading it around

that they don't play their own instruments.

Wrong, they do.

They write a lot of their own songs.

Now, they're very young musicians.

They aren't in the class, of course, like Supertramp or ELO

or Led Zeppelin or any of the groups like that,

but they are very young and they've got a long way to go.

But I tell you what,

with the song writing ability of both Woody and Eric,

I think they're going to prove a lot of people wrong

over the next couple of years, alright?

OK, now, just tell us again

what you think of "Yesterday's Hero" by the Bay City Rollers.

I think it's quite...

it's quite good, but it could've been better.

OK.

'Cause they've done better things.

Well, this is a prediction for us, at the moment.

Alright. Alright.

We all know what your taste is. (CHUCKLES)

When can we expect...

I know with this album selling and selling and selling,

why bother writing music?

When are you going to do a new one?

We're doing a new one in January and February, Molly.

It'll be out about the 1st of April.

It'll be called Cruisin' for a Bruisin'.

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'? Yeah,

and that's what you'll be, too, if you don't play it.

Oh, yes, OK.

I'll hit you so hard in the head,

you'll have to open your fly to see where you're going.

Now, Squeak. Yes.

Are you gonna behave yourself today?

No way.

I see, alright. We'll just look forward to that.

No way. Now, number 15 of the... the...

Oh!

See how they can do that?

That's ridiculous, isn't it?

I mean, look,

I live in terror what they're liable to do to me next week.

(EXPLOSION)

(GASPS)

Heavens forbid!

And the number one...

What's... what's that?

Well, this is a present for you from the staff at the ABC.

Thanks. They're getting desperate.

There's a very nice note on there for you.

I bet, yes. It's a nice note.

These were used before.

They weren't.

They were.

Look, some poor nun has gone blind making them.

I can see Mark Holden's sweat on there!

(CHUCKLES) Good heavens.

Have you... read the note, mate. Come on.

I'm gonna read the note.

"Return to props after use". (CHUCKLES)

A little bit of Hush, please, sweetheart.

Nice one, huh? Great.

I know!

♪ What's your dilemma?

♪ Won't you please tell me, Emma?

♪ I don't wanna lay you down

♪ Sometimes it's hard to bend

♪ Turn around, you better start all over again

♪ Please tell me, Emma

♪ Please tell me, Emma

♪ Don't get excited

♪ You'll be invited. ♪

WILBUR: As Aussie bands became regular fixtures in the charts,

we cheered for their overseas success as well.

You arrive in London,

and in America, the album sold number 73 on the chart.

Well, America's where we're confident.

I don't know about here because you know what England's like.

They either like you or they don't like you.

When are you back in Australia? December?

DEREK: Christmas. Early December.

Yeah. Christmas time.

I found some diamonds, dear. They're beautiful.

See you soon. Say goodbye.

Bye-bye, Cathy. Bye-bye.

I'm gonna go now.

Sweet little girl...

And when a local act did succeed

in breaking the tyranny of distance...

Yes.

We felt like we'd all succeeded.

Yeah.

This is Air Supply with a song

that's taken a long time to get up there,

but it's "Love And Other Bruises."

Fantastic. (CHEERING)

♪ As the time slips through your fingers

♪ 'Til it's almost time to go

♪ And the morning breaks between us

♪ And the ice melts into snow

♪ I'm alright loving you

♪ I'm alright loving you

♪ Love and other bruises

♪ Didn't have to choose us

♪ But it did and I'm alive

♪ And I'm trying to survive

♪ Love and other bruises

♪ Makes us all good losers

♪ I can't help it, talking loud

♪ It's because I'm on a cloud

♪ Won't you please take me home?

♪ Won't you please, please take me home?

♪ I'm so mixed up over you

♪ I don't want to be alone

♪ I'm alright loving you

♪ I'm alright loving you...

♪ Love and other bruises

♪ Didn't have to choose us

♪ But it did and I'm alive

♪ And I'm trying to survive

♪ Love and other bruises

♪ Makes us all good losers

♪ I can't help it, talking loud

♪ It's because I'm on a cloud

♪ Love and other bruises

♪ Makes us all good losers

♪ I can't help it, talking loud

♪ It's because I'm on a cloud

♪ Love and other bruises

♪ Makes us all good losers

♪ I can't help it, talking loud

♪ It's because... ♪

♪ I want to end it

♪ Mama

♪ Open up

♪ I'm coming back in

♪ I don't like it out here no more

♪ Mama, open up

♪ I'm coming back in

♪ I don't like it out here no more. ♪

By the end of '76, there were more rumblings in the music industry.

Another explosion was about to happen, this one in the UK.

Australian musicians would become trailblazers in new genres,

such as punk and new wave.

Rather than looking to the past,

it looked like the year ahead would be one for ringing the changes.

(PHONE RINGS)

Hello?

MAN: Oh, hello.

This is John Paul Young.

I just thought I'd ring you to let you know

that Countdown's gonna be on next Sunday, the 7th of March,

and it's gonna be compering the show with Sherbet.

We'll have Sherbet on the show, AC/DC, Ted Mulry, Hush,

and lots of other people.

So, why don't you watch on the 7th of March?

Countdown on the ABC.

Unreal. Yeah, I'll be watching.

OK, bye.

♪ Countdown! ♪

♪ She's too hot

♪ Too hot to touch

♪ Ooh

♪ Too hot to love. ♪

WILBUR: Although the singles of local acts got close,

1976 was pretty much a two horse race.

At the start of the year,

"Bohemian Rhapsody" had the public entranced.

MOLLY: It was "Bohemian Rhapsody," and A Night at the Opera.

I mean, that was the absolute breaker.

It got us to a very different area.

I mean, the cross section of the public then were so different.

I mean, we were... then suddenly...

we suddenly realised we were playing to mums and dads.

And then there was that ABBA song.

Oh, it's a new...

brand-new song which is called "Fernando."

And I'm singing the lead vocals together with Anna,

and Bjorn and Ben, of course.

Australian expat, Noosha Fox, had the number one "S-S-S-Single Bed,"

for three weeks.

MOLLY: When did you really first know about the fact

that "Single Bed" was, in fact, a giant hit in Australia?

Well, first of all, someone went to me,

a friend of mine went to me from Australia and said, you know,

"This record's really getting airplay there."

"People are starting to listen to it."

"We saw you on Countdown."

And then the next thing I knew, you know,

the record company telephoned me and said, "It's number one."

But the local song for which we remember 1976

is Sherbet's cricket catchphrase song,

number one for a month, "Howzat."

♪ You told me I was the one

♪ The only one who got your head undone

♪ And for a while, I believed the line that you spun

♪ But I've been looking at you

♪ Looking closely at the things you do

♪ I didn't see you the way you wanted me to

♪ How ♪ How

♪ Howzat

♪ You messed about

♪ I caught you out

♪ Howzat

♪ Now that I found where you're at

♪ It's goodbye

♪ Well, howzat?

♪ It's goodbye...

♪ You only came for a smile

♪ Even though you're really not my style

♪ I didn't think that you'd run me 'round

♪ Like you do

♪ How ♪ How

♪ Howzat

♪ You messed about

♪ I caught you out

♪ Howzat

♪ Now that I found where you're at

♪ It's goodbye

♪ Well, howzat?

♪ It's goodbye

♪ Oh, yeah

♪ Oh, yeah

(GUITAR SOLO)

♪ Well, I've been looking at you

♪ I'll tell you what I see

♪ Looking closely at the things you do

♪ No, you can't fool me

♪ I didn't see it the way you wanted me to

♪ How ♪ How

♪ Howzat

♪ You messed about

♪ I caught you out

♪ Howzat

♪ Now that I found where you're at

♪ It's goodbye...

♪ Howzat

♪ You messed about

♪ I caught you out

♪ Howzat

♪ Now that I found where you're at

♪ It's goodbye

♪ Well, howzat

♪ Goodbye

♪ Oh, yeah

♪ Ooh, yeah

♪ Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

♪ Good...

♪ Bye. ♪

(ALL LAUGH)

♪ It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll! ♪

MOLLY: This could only happen on Countdown.

Come home with me!

WILBUR: Visit the Classic Countdown website

for more pictures, interviews, and behind the scenes information.