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My Compiled Countdown Information
There's been quite a few discussions about these Countdown Videos and I'll add my 2 cents to help try and clarify some things. Firstly as I'm sure we are all aware is that Countdown was a TV Show that ran here in Australia from 8 November 1974 – 19 July 1987. It ran weekly, in a similar style and format to shows like 'Top of the Pops' and 'Bandstand'. Obviously it was used both as entertainment and to promote local acts as well help introduce international acts here. Now, what was common practice for the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) was to simply tape over shows that had already aired as the film was very expensive and a lot of money could be saved by re-using old tapes. This would have made sense at the time for the people in charge as they never thought that there would be much interest in the future for copies etc. You also have to think of the time period this was, this was mid-70's Australia, Full transmission to Colour TV didn't happen here until 1975 and so people were still getting used to their colour TV's. Recorders were just a very rare sight and really wouldn't take off at least for another few years (remember as well the VHS hadn't been invented yet either). Another thing worth noting was that some time during the 1980's, the ABC decided that it needed a clean out of their archives. It's believed many tapes were either thrown away (or once again re-used) to make room, as the tapes that were there would have been collecting dust anyway. By the way, To the best of my knowledge, there never was a fire that destroyed any tapes. That rumor belonged with the 'Let There Be Rock' Movie, which the ABC had nothing to do with. All of this has basically led to many gaps in episodes and incomplete clips throughout the show's history, especially in it's early years. Often the clips we do have come from other sources and not directly from the ABC or the Countdown show. Often an excerpt is obtained because it was used in a promo for something else or comes from someone who did tape the broadcast etc. I'll attempt to explain some of that as well below. AC/DC first performed on Countdown in it's 4th Episode. 29th November 1974. The band performed 'Baby, Please Don't Go'. In this performance Angus is dressed as an Aviation Pioneer, in a homemade plane with an Aussie flag on it. No Footage exists form this performance. But I have one Photo:
AC/DC next performed on Countdown in it's 7th Episode.
20th December 1974.
The band performed 'Baby, Please Don't Go'.
In this appearance, Angus is dressed as Zorro and Bon is wearing red overalls and his hair is also long in this performance.
Only about 2 seconds worth of footage exists from this performance with no sound.
The very short snippet of footage originally comes from a program which was called '1975 National Music Industry Awards'. In this program they showed a Montage of clips from Countdown in 1974. In this Montage was very short clip of Bon singing from this performance.
Here is the Montage:
Here's the 2 Seconds shown of Bon:
Here are some Pictures:
AC/DC's 3rd Performance came on Countdown's 12th Episode.
23rd March 1975.
The band performed 'Baby, Please Don't Go'.
This is the Clip with Bon dressed as a school girl.
This performance would also be repeated on 6th April 1975 and 27th April 1975 which is why there is often conflicting dates for this performance.
AC/DC's 4th Performance came on Countdown's 13th Episode, a week later.
30th March 1975.
The band performed 'Love Song'
The reason this song was played was because it was the A-Side to thier first Single with Bon.
Bon dressed in Red Overalls.
No Footage Exists.
Here is a Picture I believe comes from this performance:
AC/DC's 5th Performance came on Countdown's 21st Episode.
25th May 1975.
The Band Performed:
'High Voltage'
'Baby, Please Don't Go'
'Good Morning' (Angus and Bon are seen with Ian "Molly" Meldrum during the song)
Angus dressed as Superman. Bon in a White Coat during 'High Voltage' and in White Overalls during 'Baby, Please Don't Go'
The Following Footage Exists:
The 49 Second clip of 'Baby, Please Don't Go':
The 30 Second Clip of 'Good Morning':
The Following Pictures Exist:
'High Voltage'
'Baby, Please Don't Go'
'Good Morning'
I hope all the links work etc and I hope for some of you this was a good read. Hopefully this clarifies some confusion and misconceptions as to why there aren't as many complete performances as we'd like. Also hopefully in the near future I can continue finding some more information for late 1975 and 1976.
Cheers,
- Rhece Wonderful job Rhece, this for sure comes handy for me since I am trying to get a compilation of as many of the band's promos together and will be using photos for each as well. I have other pics I will use, but was wondering if I could use some of the ones you posted here? I will credit you for the photos and info when it is done. This is certainly a time consuming project, and I am sure there will be a few mistakes I will encounter which is why I will submit a draft of dates with tracks to make sure everything is correct before finalizing this. You are very correct when you mentioned there is a lot of misconceptions out there regarding these as I am finding this out when viewing the dates and comparing the labelling of these to other info I have regarding date and place. Especially these 'Countdown' clips when it was recorded live and then aired again at a later date which is where things get confusing. Thanks again and if you have any other info on any others, please feel free to PM me or post them here if you can which will help my compilation out ;)
No worries. Glad I could help. The dates can be very confusing, especially when there are many conflicting dates being thrown around, often just a few days or weeks apart. For the record, the dates I provided are to the best of my knowledge, the dates the show was originally recorded. What would happen is that the show would be filmed on the day in ABC's Melbourne studio and then would be Broadcasted that night. This was done on the Sunday of each week. Then it would be repeated the following Saturday.
Great Job, great info. My only doubts are related to Episode 21 from 25th of May, actualy I think ACDC performed BPDG and High Voltage also Molly Meldrum - Good Morning on June the 8th - Episode 23. Than Episode 26 from 29th of June - Show Business (from Festival Hall) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J64VW0SJVdE Are you sure about the fire, I think I have read it from a pretty good source. I was aware of reusing the tapes but also that fire destroyed some of the tapes
great stuff Rhece. Even I have all the photos and videos, info about them are very precious. THANKS, vanja, belgrade, serbia
They performed High Voltage in May/June 1975? The TNT album was released in Dec 1975
Rhece or Fred, what about 'Its A Long Way To The Top' performed in December 1975 on Melbourne 'Countdown' TV? I noticed this was included on a boot titled '1975-TV Shows Compilation' I have however it was not mentioned here and is not included on AC/DC Videos.com. The track 'Its A LOng Way' was not performed or used in a promo I thought until 1976.
There is one correction I'd like to make. AC/DC's 5th Performance on Countdown was Recorded on the 31st May 1975 and Broadcasted on 8th June 1975 for Countdown's 23rd Episode. So the date for the Episode where Angus is dressed as Superman should be taken as the 32st May 1975. *Nate If you could make that correction that would be great!* Other than that correction, Everything else seems to be fine. I've only done up to Mid-1975 as there seems to be a lot of confusion around exact dates and what was the chronological order for these videos. I'd be more than happy to help continue on from Mid-1975 for the band's other performances. As for a fire, once again I have never heard of one happening in ABC's archives. I'm not saying one never did, I've just never heard of it. Like I said, the common practice of re-using tapes to save money is the main reason why there are so few videos from this period. As for 'High Voltage' being performed on the 31st May 1975, this was done to help promote the Single which was released in July 1975. So while yes, the 'TNT' Album wasn't released until December, Singles for 'High Voltage' and 'It's a Long Way' had already been released in July. This is the reason why you see the band perform these tracks so often from Mid-1975 up to Early-1976.
^ Cool info Rhece, and that would be great if you could assist me in the 1976 and on 'Countdown' episodes in which the band performed on. I find the site AC/DC Videos.com very useful and the closest one to being accurate, but made some corrections based on your info. Here is the link: http://www.acdc-videos.com/acdc-videos-promos.php If you see anything that needs to be corrected, please send me a PM or post it here so I can make the change. I hate to have wrong or mislabeled info on this compilation since it will consist of as many promos and performances I can get. Photos also are helpful, although I have many I am using for my liner notes. Thanks again Rhece ;)
Rhece, sent you a PM on some other 1975 'Countdown' dates I need verified. Thanks man ;)