Original subtitles

Um, we're starting off Countdown for '79.

And, this is the way we're going to begin it

and this is the way we'll end it. Isn't that true?

That's right. One! Two...

Rascal.

♪ Countdown, Countdown

♪ Countdown, Countdown

NARRATOR: Welcome to Classic Countdown 1979.

♪ Countdown! ♪

The '70s were almost over.

It was time to get dressed up

and to party like it was 1979.

When Skylab crashed into the desert in Western Australia,

it seemed like the future had landed right in our own backyard.

NEWS ANCHOR: Skylab's re-entry will be awesome.

79 tonnes, boring its way into the atmosphere like a shooting star.

There was an expectation that the '80s might bring great changes.

They no longer costs millions of dollars

and they are very easy to operate.

It also seemed that things might just stay the same.

(APPLAUSE)

Good evening.

And now for something completely different,

welcome to Countdown.

♪ And I don't want to walk and talk like

♪ Everybody else ♪ Like everybody else

♪ And I don't gotta walk through life like

♪ Everybody else ♪ Like everybody else

♪ And I'm not gonna grin a grin like everybody else

♪ 'Cause I'm not like everybody else. ♪

In '79, disco and rock music had been having their own tug of war,

and it was hard to tell which side was winning.

Disco was so infectious.

I mean, it brought people out to dance.

I mean, while I was in Miami,

it was like I'd never actually seen people dance

like they were dancing down there.

It was like... I thought, "Wow."

I mean, this isn't pussyfooting around.

Well, I think that once people got down to the formula

and found out what would work,

they tended to get... they tended to take it too far

and just, they could put out anything

to a beat and it would work.

And I think that's over now.

You have to have a good song, as well,

that happens to be in a disco beat

to make it now, I think, in disco.

Other styles of music were also staking their claim.

We describe our music as...

a road to consciousness, you know?

It was time to evaluate the past decade

and to anticipate what might lie ahead.

And, I think people now are much more interested

in becoming a projected image on television.

Like, a lot of people are starting to act

and use their hands and fight back.

And a lot of lyrics are just talking about stuff

that was never taught before, which is very good.

♪ I'm bored

♪ I'm the chairman of the bored

♪ I'm a Lincoln monologue

♪ I'm living like a dog

♪ I'm bored

♪ I bore myself to sleep at night

♪ I bore myself in broad daylight

♪ 'Cause I'm bored

♪ Just another slimy bore

♪ I'm free to bore my well-bought friends

♪ And spend my cash until the end

♪ 'Cause I'm bored!

♪ I'm bored

♪ I'm the chairman of the bored

♪ I'm sick

♪ I'm sick of all my kicks

♪ I'm sick of all the stiffs

♪ I'm sick of all the dips

♪ I'm bored

♪ I bore myself to sleep at night

♪ I bore myself in broad daylight

♪ 'Cause I'm bored

♪ I'm bored!

♪ Just another dirty bore!

♪ Alright, doll-face, come on and bore me!

♪ I am sick

♪ I am sick of all my kicks

♪ I am sick of all the stiffs

♪ I'm sick of all the dips

♪ I'm sick!

♪ I'm sick when I go to sleep at night

♪ I'm still sick in the broad daylight

♪ 'Cause I'm bored!

♪ I'm bored

♪ I'm the chairman of the..

♪ ..Bored! ♪

♪ I feel so good about us

♪ I found a shining star

♪ And when I look into your eyes

♪ It's magic

♪ Well, I just know this can't be a dream

♪ I'm so happy, must be real

♪ In every way it's getting stronger

♪ Now you know it, let me show it!

♪ Instant replay. ♪

As musical styles danced around each other,

discussion raged about image and corporate interference.

And basically, before we had any commercial success,

we had been working for like, two or three years.

So, I think that, you know,

commercialism is really behind the art form.

If you were gonna take somebody from the '70s, you know,

and put 'em, like, in a...

as like, in a time capsule or something,

you would put Rod Stewart in there

because other bands look at that as saying,

"Well, that is the ultimate rock star."

He has every element.

Your punk bands have got the right idea with the image,

but they're missing out on the other... on rehearsing 20 hours a day

and getting the sound down, and getting the music down.

Whereas, a lot of your bands, other bands,

are great musicians and think nothing about image.

Record companies have... began to see it like as,

"This is a package deal and this will work."

"You do this and you do that and you got that."

Unfortunately, um...

the most permanent thing in life is change.

Hello, I'm Mike McDonald and this is Pat Simmons,

and when the rest of the boys are here,

we are the Doobie Brothers.

♪ I did not know what you were about

♪ Something called love made me want to find out

♪ Did not think you could ever care

♪ But I'm outta control 'cause you're taking me there

♪ I couldn't believe our love would last

♪ It's coming on stronger

♪ Coming on so much faster

♪ Get used to it. ♪

Although the decade was about to turn,

some acts seemed set on prolonging the '70s.

Some acts tried to nail down the future.

♪ By those boys and those girls at the hop

♪ Tell me what do you say

♪ Tell me what do you say

♪ Tell me what do you say

♪ Life begins at the hop

♪ Boys and girls. ♪

Some acts were content to sit back and watch it all happen.

TOM WAITS: It always seems to be a little bit behind, you know.

It's like any kind of a scene seems to die,

or begin dying at its conception, you know?

And then, by the time you end up in a window of Bloomingdales

with a guy in a skinny tie and small lapels and pointed shoes,

you know, you can pretty well pack it in.

♪ Ooh, my little pretty one, my pretty one

♪ When you gonna give me some time, Sharona

♪ Ooh, you make my motor run, my motor run

♪ Got it coming off o' the line, Sharona

♪ Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind

♪ I always get it up, for the touch of the younger kind

♪ My, my, my, aye-aye, whoo!

♪ M-m-m-my Sharona

♪ Come a little closer, huh, a-will ya, huh

♪ Close enough to look in my eyes, Sharona

♪ Keeping it a mystery, it gets to me

♪ Running down the length of my thigh, Sharona

♪ Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind

♪ I always get it up, for the touch of the younger kind

♪ My, my, my, aye-aye, whoo!

♪ M-m-m-my Sharona

♪ M-m-m-my Sharona

(GIRLS SCREAM)

♪ When you gonna give to me, a gift to me?

♪ Is it just a matter of time, Sharona?

♪ Is it d-d-destiny, d-destiny

♪ Or is it just a game in my mind, Sharona

♪ Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind

♪ I always get it up, for the touch of the younger kind

♪ My, my, my, aye-aye, whoo!

♪ M-m-m-m-m-m-m-my

♪ My, my, aye-aye, whoo!

♪ M-m-m-my Sharona

♪ M-m-m-my Sharona

♪ M-m-m-my Sharona

♪ M-m-m-my Sharona. ♪

Hi, this is Rickie Lee Jones on Countdown,

rolling into the '80s.

I'll meet you there.

Can I wear your hat?

Yeah. Oh, great.

Want me to fix your hair?

If you wouldn't mind. (LAUGHS)

Countdown embraced the diversity and sophistication of the time

and several world class acts performed on the show in '79.

Hello, Molly.

Thank you. Hello, Dolly.

First of all, I've got to...

They're sort of rather wilted at the moment.

Welcome to Countdown, for a start.

Well, thank you. This is a great audience.

Hey, what about this lady?

She's marvellous. Whoo!

(CHEERING) (LAUGHS)

All I can say is... They don't know what about her.

All I can say is that, Western Australia,

you may have bits of Skylab hanging all around your state,

but I've got Dolly Parton.

And I've got Molly.

♪ Who never learned to read or write so well. ♪

Elton John was back

with a rocking version of Johnny B. Goode.

♪ Go, go

♪ Go, Johnny, go, go, go

♪ Go, Johnny, go, go, go

♪ Go, Johnny, go, go, go

♪ Go, Johnny, go, go, go

♪ Go, go, Johnny B. Goode. ♪

♪ My love, my love

♪ She don't need diamonds

♪ My love...

Fellow piano player Chris Rea tickled the ivories.

♪ ..She don't need diamonds, don't need diamonds. ♪

♪ Doctor, doctor, give me the news

♪ I've got a bad case of loving you. ♪

Robert Palmer performed his breakthrough cover.

♪ Bad case of loving you. ♪

There was just no telling who the kids might introduce next.

And now, your host, Bob Welch!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

♪ Well, have you seen that girl in the corner

♪ I'd like to take her out of her chains

♪ Cause if I have my way with you, baby

♪ I would be changing your life today

♪ Your eyes got me dreaming

♪ Your eyes got me blind

♪ Your eyes got me hoping

♪ That I'll be holding you close tonight

♪ Your eyes got me dreaming

♪ Your eyes got me blind

♪ Your eyes got me hoping

♪ That I'll be holding you close tonight

♪ She was the same as a hundred ladies

♪ But when my eyes looked at her I learned

♪ That she was keeping a secret fire

♪ And if I got real close I'd burn

♪ So it looked like I had to move slowly

♪ Like a cat at night in the trees

♪ Cause I was waiting for her to show me

♪ The way that she liked her love to feel

♪ Your eyes got me dreaming

♪ Your eyes got me blind

♪ Your eyes got me hoping

♪ That I'll be holding you close tonight

♪ Your eyes got me dreaming

♪ Your eyes got me blind

♪ Your eyes got me hoping

♪ That I'll be holding you close tonight

♪ Ebony eyes

♪ Ebony eyes

♪ Ebony eyes

♪ Ebony eyes

♪ Your eyes got me dreaming

♪ Your eyes got me blind

♪ Your eyes got me hoping

♪ That I'll be holding you close tonight

♪ Your eyes got me dreaming

♪ Your eyes got me blind

♪ Your eyes got me hoping

♪ That I'll be holding you close tonight

♪ Your eyes got me dreaming

♪ Your eyes got me blind. ♪

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

♪ Countdown! ♪

This is Davie Bowie for Countdown,

we shall be talking very shortly,

in a matter of hours, days, or weeks,

about the 17th century

and Pachelbel's influence on 1970s gardening.

And, here's Pachelbel's garden.

It's not really. It's Kew Gardens.

And we'll be talking about music, actually, in the '70s.

So, I suppose I've gotta be in it.

♪ You've gotta keep a putting, a booting, a running, a hiding

♪ Cause it's gonna get you

♪ You've gotta keep a one step, a two step, a quick step, a thick step

♪ Cause it's gonna get you. ♪

As well as the internationals,

Countdown continued to support a raft of local acts,

most of them trying to stay afloat

in a rapidly changing industry.

JPY was plugging away.

Molly! Molly! And, here's this, here's this.

And here's this, lovely.

Now, be very careful with the razor, we don't...

Marc Hunter had gone solo...

♪ Island nights You're blinded by the lights

♪ Can't shake those island nights. ♪

Which meant Dragon had a new singer.

♪ Oh, love's not enough for you

♪ Love's not enough for you. ♪

Skyhooks also signed on a new front man.

♪ Get my wheels on the rails

♪ Over the border

♪ Down to New South Wales. ♪

And Sherbet, with exactly the same line-up,

were now called Highway.

♪ Smiling like she knew me

♪ Her eyes were shining bright The girl had threw me

♪ I never knew it

♪ Got hooked into it

♪ I was ready for love

♪ Ready for your love. ♪

The musical times were a-changing,

and it was hard to stay ahead of the game.

Some Australian bands

took the edginess of the punk movement on board.

♪ Goodbye, Billy Joe

♪ You were a real punk

♪ Oh, no! ♪

♪ Don't worry

♪ It's alright

♪ I'll be coming home to see you tonight

Aussie rock music became harder and more urgent.

♪ I'll be coming home to see you tonight. ♪

(CHEERING)

Out in the beer barns,

new songs were fast becoming Oz rock anthems.

♪ Went down to Santa Fe

♪ Where Renoir paints the walls

♪ Described you clearly

♪ But the sky began to fall

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Trams, cars and taxis

♪ Like little waxworks on the move

♪ Carry young girls past me

♪ But none of them are you

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Without you near me

♪ I got no place to go

♪ Wait at the bar

♪ Maybe you might show

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ I've got to stop these tears

♪ That's falling from my eye

♪ Go walk out in the rain

♪ So no one sees me cry

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Can't stop the memory

♪ That goes climbing through my brain

♪ I get no answers

♪ So the questions still remains

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again?

♪ Am I ever gonna see your face again? ♪

Hi. You know, without my make-up and snake,

you probably don't recognise me.

But if you watch Countdown,

I'll be with you, taking you into the '80s.

This is Alice Cooper.

♪ Countdown! ♪

♪ Girls talk

♪ And they want to know how

♪ Girls talk

♪ And they say it's not allowed

♪ Girls talk

♪ And they think they know how

♪ Girls talk

♪ If they say that it's so

♪ Don't they think that I'd know by now. ♪

As so-called New Wave acts performed on Countdown,

the debate raged on about the effects of punk.

But was the Sex Pistols a gimmick?

It never started out as one.

It started out as a piss-take.

A mockery of.

Went sour, so I left.

Um, but initially, I mean, like,

when you had your music

and you seemed to be deprived, at that stage,

of ever really getting it played

because of all the corporations, like EMI and A&M,

dropping... dropping you before it was released.

Surely, Never Mind the Bollocks,

you must have been proud of and happy with...

at the time?

It was fine for then, but so what?

Times move on.

You cannot live in the past.

Only a fool looks back to last year or the year before.

Well, so, how do you see music...?

What's wrong with looking forward?

Right, so, how do you see music in the '80s?

Hopefully, getting better.

In what way, though?

In that many attitudes will be accepted, not just one way.

Punk became, like, fascist.

It has to be this way or else.

But didn't you dictate that, to some extent?

No, I did not.

I've always said, music should be many attitudes.

All are tolerable.

It becomes intolerable when one particular form takes over

and obliterates the rest.

That is wrong.

Didn't you feel some achievement

of overthrowing the establishment

and making them open the doors to young groups?

No. The pathetic conclusion of that movement

was one load of assholes were replaced with another load.

Nothing was achieved.

So, that was...

Yeah, mate? Excuse me, mate.

How 'bout a bit more Kiss music for Kiss fans? In Melbourne.

Alright, then. Do you wanna see them in concert?

Yeah, I'd love to, mate. OK, we'll try.

There's not enough of it out here. What's your name?

Michael Marrisay. Where are you from?

Moonee Ponds.

And you really like KISS? Yeah.

Alright, we'll try to do that for you.

OK, so there you are, Countdown in Concert.

Right, now, we've got a group that we're really, really proud of.

In '78, they were one of the finds for '78.

They've crept up the charts with a couple of singles

and then the critics started really raving.

They won an award, a King of Pop, and deservedly so.

This year, they're going to really hit big.

And it's Sports,

and they've got a great new album out called Don't Throw Stones.

And you should hear the new version

of Who Listens to the Radio.

Wow, is that something else.

But anyhow, on Wednesday, they're leaving for England

and they're going to tour with Graham Parker,

so we're going to lose them for a while.

But meanwhile, we've got a single to bide us time.

And here it is, Don't Throw Stones.

First time on television, Sports!

(CHEERING)

The Sports were given a New Wave label,

but we just felt like we were doing our own thing.

♪ I was lying in bed

♪ Was almost fast asleep

♪ About to drift off in

♪ To the deep

♪ Wasn't the telephone ringin'

♪ Wasn't the doorbell

♪ Wasn't a dream as far as

♪ I could tell

♪ Tap tap window

♪ Someone's throwing stones

♪ Into somebody else's home

♪ I jumped out of bed

♪ I stood on a cat

♪ I looked out the window at the

♪ Laundromat

♪ You were standing naked in your uniform

♪ The bundles of washing all

♪ Dirty and torn

♪ Tap tap window

♪ Someone's throwing stones

♪ Into somebody else's home

♪ Don't throw stones, don't throw stones

♪ Yeah, everybody went out

♪ Yeah, everybody went out

♪ My window

♪ My window

♪ My window

♪ I'm on my way to work

♪ I stopped into your shop

♪ I gave your mother my weekly

♪ Laundry job

♪ Always asking exactly when it'll be ready

♪ Or if you're married or just

♪ Going steady

♪ Tap tap window

♪ Someone's throwing stones

♪ Into somebody else's home

♪ Don't throw stones, don't throw stones

♪ Yeah, everybody went out

♪ Yeah, everybody went out

♪ My window

♪ My window

♪ My window

♪ My, my, oh, oh

♪ My, my, oh, oh

♪ Tap tap whoa-oh

♪ Don't throw stones

♪ Into other people's homes

♪ Tap tap whoa-oh

♪ Don't throw stones

♪ Well, I'm not blind

♪ So I don't read braille

♪ I see your laundromat is

♪ Up for sale

♪ Soon you'll be moving to some new address

♪ My heart'll be broken, my

♪ Clothes a mess

♪ Tap tap window

♪ Someone's throwing stones

♪ Into somebody else's home

♪ Don't throw stones, don't throw stones

♪ Yeah everybody went out

♪ Yeah everybody went out

♪ My window

♪ My window My window

♪ My, my, oh, oh

♪ My, my, oh, oh

♪ Tap tap whoa-oh

♪ Don't throw stones

♪ Into other people's homes

♪ Tap tap whoa-oh

♪ Don't throw stones

♪ Into other people's homes

♪ Tap tap whoa-oh

♪ Don't throw stones

♪ Into other people's homes ♪

♪ Tap tap whoa-oh

♪ Don't throw stones

♪ Into other people's homes. ♪

(SCREAMING)

Pump it out!

Pump out the power, Australia!

Coast to coast, from Townsville to Albany!

We can do it, Australia!

There are other ways of powering the nation

and rock and roll is one of them!

♪ Countdown! ♪

♪ On the inside, the sun still shines

♪ And the rain falls down. ♪

Of course, hits could still come from anywhere.

From the theme to a TV show.

♪ Midnight rendezvous ♪

From a TV hostess.

♪ Secretly meeting you

♪ Midnight rendezvous

♪ I can't wait to see you. ♪

♪ If it's love you want

♪ Love you need

And from a future Simon Townsend's Wonder World presenter.

♪ I'll be here night and day

♪ Anyway. ♪

But the strangest novelty of 1979,

and you wouldn't get away with it now,

was this one by a radio DJ from Newcastle, and his band.

♪ I met her on a Friday

♪ Helping out an old mate

♪ Waiting at the corner

♪ She was dressed in black

♪ There was I expecting a really tasty bird

♪ He said she was good looking

♪ Why should I doubt his word?

♪ When I saw her there she was a real disgrace, I thought

♪ Nice legs, shame about the face

♪ I had to take her dancing

♪ I couldn't let her down

♪ So we caught a bus to the other side of town

♪ Out upon the dance floor

♪ I wasn't getting far

♪ So I had a drink with me friends up at the bar

♪ I asked them what they thought

♪ As they fell about the place, they said

♪ Nice legs, shame about her face

♪ She said, could we go bowling?

♪ I said that would be fine

♪ But when I bought the tickets

♪ She'd already changed her mind

♪ She was turning out to be a real hard case

♪ Nice legs, shame about the boat race

♪ Well

♪ She started getting bold

♪ And tapped me on the shoulder

♪ Whispered in my ear, it's getting kind of late

♪ When I took her home, we hardly said a thing

♪ I walked her to the door

♪ Expecting to go in

♪ She looked me up and down

♪ And she put me in me place she said

♪ Nice legs, shame about your face

♪ Nice legs, shame about your face. ♪

Hi, I'm Officer Bob D'Angelo and this is Danny Warbuck.

We're on duty in New York and it's a great town.

And if we weren't on duty, I know what I like to be doing,

and that's watching you on Countdown.

♪ She was tall

♪ She was lost

♪ She could smile

♪ And her words got crossed

♪ Just another woman

♪ In my life

♪ Just another woman

♪ Lost in the night

♪ Just another woman

♪ Keeping in touch with a man. ♪

By the end of the decade,

even for our own breakthrough acts, like Air Supply,

Australia had become a regular stop on the world circuit.

First of all, can you just tell us, Andy,

a little bit about the group itself?

Uh, well, there's four of us.

Oh, no. There's one missing.

There's three and we've been together just over two years now.

We are having most of our success in England at the moment.

But we've had success in America

and we're working here on tour now to try and consolidate.

Was Roxanne initially structured as a single

or was it just a track off the album?

Initially structured as just a song

and then, we didn't actually realise its potential

until our manager came and heard it and freaked out.

And we were so puzzled by his sort of enthusiasm.

And then, the more we listened, the more we thought,

"God, this is good."

We didn't know.

On any episode of Countdown,

debuting locals could find themselves competing

with the world's biggest rock and roll touring acts.

♪ The dream police

♪ They live inside of my head

♪ The dream police

♪ They come to me in my bed

♪ The dream police

♪ They're coming to arrest me

♪ Oh, no

♪ You know that talk is cheap

♪ And those rumours ain't nice

♪ And when I fall asleep

♪ I don't think I'll survive

♪ The night, the night

♪ 'Cause they're waiting for me

♪ They're looking for me

♪ Every single night

♪ They're driving me insane

♪ Those men inside my brain

♪ The dream police

♪ They live inside of my head

♪ The dream police

♪ They come to me in my bed

♪ The dream police

♪ They're coming to arrest me

♪ Oh, no

♪ Well, I can't tell lies

♪ 'Cause they're listening to me

♪ And when I fall asleep

♪ Bet they're spying on me tonight

♪ Tonight

♪ 'Cause they're waiting for me

♪ They're looking for me

♪ Every single night

♪ They're driving me insane

♪ Those men inside my brain

♪ I try to sleep, they're wide awake, they won't let me alone

♪ They don't get paid to take vacations

♪ Or let me alone

♪ They spy on me, I try to hide, they won't let me alone

♪ They persecute me

♪ They're the judge and jury all in one

♪ 'Cause they're waiting for me

♪ They're looking for me

♪ Every single night

♪ They're driving me insane

♪ Those men inside my brain

♪ The dream police

♪ They live inside of my head

♪ The dream police, they come to me in my bed

♪ The dream police

♪ They're coming to arrest me. ♪

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen,

the following program is dedicated

to every international airline and airport throughout the world.

Believe it or not, he's back in one piece.

That first class rock and roller...

(CHUCKLES) ..with the economy class mouth,

it's Molly!

Ah! G'day, viewers.

I tell you what, I am so glad to be home.

Now, listen, have I missed the golf?

I have? Far out.

I tell you what, isn't that boring?

And now, you're with the Countdown

and you're with the Elton John Show now.

I'd like to introduce you to Richard Clapton.

How do you... oh, it's Elton!

I thought it was Richie Clapton.

No, I had terrible hell these last few months, darling,

trying to conceal all this under my hat.

(LAUGHS)

And they said the hair transplant wasn't a success

and look at it! It's... I'm actually worried.

I'm thinking of having it all shaved off, actually.

(LAUGHS) Now, listen, we've gotta get serious.

Yeah, alright. Are you going to put your hat on?

In a minute. When I...

No, no, no. Oh, No, no, no. Well, I've...

You've spoilt the surprise.

I'm not the dresser.

Alright. OK.

You should be in that outfit.

(BOTH LAUGH)

(STAMMERS) Th-th-the toma... the toma...

(SCREAMS)

Oh, no!

(LAUGHS)

Bring on the harem girls, quickly!

One album. Hiya, dog face!

(CHUCKLES) Iggy, how are you, mate?

G'day! G'day! Listen, welcome to the show.

Um, the first time I saw you was in Detroit

a couple of years ago,

um, live in concert.

What's wrong? Don't you send me up!

(LAUGHS) You behave yourself.

Now, listen, we've got to ask you some sensible questions.

Alright. The first time,

was a couple of weeks... er, a couple of years ago.

Hi! Was with...

Iggy, will you concentrate on the questions?

Uh. Um, was with David Bowie.

Yeah. Very good friend?

No, you mean, he played piano with my band.

Yeah, um, he played a very low...

He was with me. Right.

Now, you've worked together sort of record-wise, haven't you?

Yeah, yeah.

And on the sly, too. I know. I know.

Now, listen, with David Bowie... Yeah.

He's had a lot of influence on you, I gather.

Yeah. Yeah.

In what re... Can you answer these questions properly?

He taught me how to compromise.

Um, what I'm trying to sort of say is, Blondie,

I mean Debra, um... I'm sorry.

DEBBIE: Oh, just, could you wait just a second?

Just a minute? Yep. That's alright.

As you can see, this interview is getting absolutely nowhere.

Has anyone had an influence on the music in the '70s,

in your mind?

Ah, I'm trying to think of all the people

that we've just spoken to recently that said

that we were pretty good. (LAUGHS)

(PHONE RINGS)

Excuse me. This could change everything again.

Um...(LAUGHS) (LAUGHS)

If it's my mother, tell her I'm not home.

And if it's John Lennon, tell him I want my book back.

♪ Countdown! ♪

♪ You've gotta be cruel to be kind

♪ In the right measure

♪ Cruel to be kind

♪ It's a very good sign

♪ Cruel to be kind

♪ Means that I love you, baby

♪ You gotta be cruel to be kind. ♪

Pop standards were high in 1979.

Australian songwriters needed to become as sophisticated

as their old world counterparts.

Unfortunately, it's so hard.

There's so much talent, and I really mean this.

In Australia and New Zealand,

there is as much good talent as there is in England

or anywhere else in the world.

It's just, it's so difficult, geographically,

to go and make a gamble, financially,

to make it big time to LA, or to London, or to Europe.

The recordings over here are up to scratch

to anything you'll hear anywhere else.

♪ Campbell lane

♪ And through the window, curtain rain

♪ Long night gone, yellow day

♪ The speed shivers melt away

♪ At six o'clock I'm goin' down

♪ The coffee's hot and the toast is round

♪ Hey, street sweeper, clear my way

♪ Sweethearts breakfast is the best in town

♪ Oh o-o-oh

♪ Breakfast at Sweethearts

♪ Oh o-o-oh

♪ Breakfast at Sweethearts

♪ Hey, Anne-Maria

♪ It's always good to see her

♪ She don't smile or flirt

♪ She just wears that mini-skirt

♪ Drunks come in

♪ A paper bag of Brandivino

♪ Dreams fly away

♪ As she pulls another

♪ Cappuccino

♪ Six o'clock, I'm goin' down

♪ The coffee's hot and the toast is round

♪ Hey, street sweeper, clear my way

♪ Sweethearts breakfast is the best in town

♪ Oh o-o-oh

♪ Breakfast at Sweethearts

♪ Oh o-o-oh

♪ Breakfast at Sweethearts

♪ Yeah

♪ At six o'clock I'm goin' down

♪ The coffee's hot and the toast is round

♪ Hey, street sweeper, clear my way

♪ Sweethearts breakfast is the best in town

♪ At six o'clock I'm goin' down

♪ The coffee's hot and the toast is round

♪ Hey, street sweeper, clear my way

♪ Sweethearts breakfast is the best in town. ♪

Hi, this is Lindsay from Fleetwood Mac,

going into the '80s with Countdown.

That was weak.

The musical decade was about to end

and it seemed everyone had an opinion.

♪ I said beautiful people

♪ They've got a Robert Palmer t-shirt in their travel bag

♪ Beautiful people

♪ They've got a price upon their head. ♪

MOLLY: What are your opinions of...

of how music has been in the '70s?

The middle half of the '70s were very, very dire, I felt.

Um... Right. Care to explain?

Yeah, very much so.

But with the rise of the new wave, from about '76 onwards,

it's been quite an exciting time.

Can you see the future for music within the '80s,

say, in the first two years?

Well, like I mentioned before,

the new wave things are just only starting to happen.

And I think they'll have a big influence

on the first couple of years, definitely.

Disco music will continue, I think.

I think that, possibly, it'll be broken into different trends,

like rock disco, and then there's disco for dancing,

and all kinds of disco music.

MOLLY: If you really have to finger anyone

and put it down to of who may have had an influence on the '70s,

who would you say?

Just looking at different...

Stevie Wonder.

Yeah? Some say David Bowie.

What is your opinion of David Bowie?

Yeah, I like him.

Not his music? Good lad.

Oh, his... as a musician?

Oh, I still like him. Yeah?

Yeah. What about, sort of like,

you had your David Bowies and your Elton Johns

that sold a massive amount of records.

Why do you think that perhaps they didn't have the influence

that say, songwriters like yourself had in the '60s

and carried over to the '70s?

Well, tell you the truth, I don't know if they haven't.

I don't know, you know.

And, looking at it from another viewpoint...

like the younger kids' viewpoint, I don't know.

If you ask them, I think they might say

they have had as big an influence, for them.

I think for us, us old cronies,

I don't think it's had as much of an influence like, say, as Elvis,

because there's not been anyone that big for us.

But I suppose for them, like, for a lot of the kids,

the Sex Pistols was a big thing.

And they were a really good group.

I suppose we'll continue to...

stretch ourselves to bring out interesting sounds

within basic...

you know, instruments.

Right. I mean,

other people prefer to...

use the 1980's machine,

but we'd rather... create something else.

Something that's supposedly redundant.

MOLLY: And the music for the '80s?

The first part of the '80s, how do you see it?

Ooh, I think it's gonna be very sci-fi.

♪ I fidget with the digit dots and cry an anxious tear

♪ As the XU-1 connects the spot

♪ But the matrix grid don't care

♪ Get a message to my mother

♪ What number would she be

♪ There's a million angry citizens

♪ Looking down their tubes at me

♪ Com-pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu computer games!

♪ Com-pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu computer games!

♪ There's safety in numbers, they say

♪ 'Cause the figures never lie

♪ No perfect person's ever noticed one computer die

♪ I'm programmed to a schedule

♪ What will the answer be?

♪ Is it suicide run till the work gets done?

♪ 'Cause the matrix grid don't say

♪ Com-pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu computer games!

♪ Com-pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu computer games!

♪ Jammed up tight by red traffic lights

♪ Advance one level on green

♪ These opportune commuters

♪ They're blasting on their hooters

♪ I fidget with the digit dots

♪ Frustration rules out there

♪ As the XU-1 connects the spot

♪ But the matrix grid don't care

♪ Com-pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu computer games!

♪ Com-pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu computer games!

♪ Com-pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu pu-pu-pu computer games! ♪

♪ Countdown! ♪

♪ Looking for some hot stuff

♪ Baby, this evening

Disco songs still hit the top spot in '79.

♪ I want some hot stuff

♪ Baby, this evening

♪ Gotta have some hot stuff

♪ Gotta have some love tonight. ♪

It was so much fun to stay at the YMCA.

The Village People enjoyed an extended stay at number one.

♪ It's fun to stay at the

♪ Y-M-C-A

♪ It's fun to stay at the

♪ Y-M-C-A

♪ They have everything

♪ For young men to enjoy

♪ You can hang out with all the boys. ♪

Along with Maggie May,

Australia had begun a love affair with Rod Stewart in 1970,

and we'd still find him sexy in '79.

MOLLY: One of the praises you've got with the critics was the, um...

Critics hate me. What are you talking about? They hate me.

In Perth, was the fact that you do almost two hours,

non-stop, of entertainment and you've got so much energy.

It's like my sex life.

Yeah, so, talking about your sex life,

who is it this week?

Racey had two hits,

Some Girls and Lay Your Love On Me.

Boy, oh, boy!

Two Aussie songs made it to the top of the charts, both about sport.

One, the cricket anthem, Come on, Aussie, Come On.

And the other, a song about Australian rules footy.

♪ Get out and clear your mind

♪ Me, I like football

♪ And there's a lot of things around

♪ But when you line 'em up together

♪ The footy wins hands down

♪ Up there Cazaly

♪ In there and fight

♪ Out there and at 'em

♪ Show 'em your might

♪ Up there Cazaly

♪ Don't let 'em in

♪ Fly like an angel

♪ You're out there to win

♪ Now there's a lot more things to football

♪ Than really meets the eye

♪ There are days when you could give it up

♪ There are days when you could fly

♪ Now, you either love or hate it

♪ Depending on the score

♪ But when your team run out or they kick a goal

♪ How's the mighty roar

Hooray! Hooray!

♪ Up there Cazaly

♪ In there and fight

♪ Out there and at 'em

♪ Show 'em your might

♪ Up there Cazaly

♪ Don't let 'em in

♪ Fly like an angel

♪ You're out there to win

♪ Up there Cazaly

♪ You're out there to win

♪ In there and at 'em

♪ Don't let 'em in

♪ Up there Cazaly

♪ Show 'em you're high

♪ Fight like the devil

♪ The crowd's on your side

♪ Ahh...

♪ Up there Cazaly

♪ In there and fight

♪ Out there and at 'em

♪ Show 'em your might

♪ Up there Cazaly

♪ Show 'em you're high

♪ Fight like the devil

♪ The crowd's on your side. ♪

I hope that it's a great decade

and I hope it's a great decade for all of you. And me too.

And I'm taking you into the '80s, along with Molly

and all the people at Countdown.

See ya.

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