Countdown performances III

One of the best elements of the TV series Countdown was the wacky performances that happened on the show, so much so that a while back, its official website (which no longer exists) commissioned a competition for 250 of these performances to air on VH1 Australia which they published the list here. In honour of the achievements this show made, I'll be featuring every song on this list with a quick commentary of how well the song did here in Australia back in the day.

This was another song that was performed on the final episode of the series, I'm guessing this somewhat benefitted from being performed on the show given how it rose in the upper echelons of the charts once the series came to an end.

This was a massive hit here in Australia upon its initial release, it's difficult to say if it was due to Leo Sayer's performance of it on the show as episodes from this season are currently lost media, however its performance has survived in ABC's archives suggesting it played a big part in its success.

This is the only other appearance that Eurogliders had on this list, it was their second biggest hit which goes to show that VH1 went for the two performances that resulted in their mainstream success rather than the countless others which failed to resonate with audiences outside the shows fanbase.

This is another performance that's difficult to come by on the internet due to Duran Duran's label constantly taking down their live performances online, this also comes from an episode that's since become lost media due to ABC's failure to store it, which is a shame because it no doubt let to the song's success here.

This was already a massive hit here in Australia when Laura Branigan performed it on the show, it was such a compelling performance from her that it allowed the song to linger on our charts for quite some time even after it had already topped our charts prior to her performance.

It seemed inevitable that the show would get their hands of Bob Geldof and company at the start of the 80's given how they exited the 70's with one of the biggest hits of all time here in Australia, the band decided to promote their third single from their breakthrough album rather than perform their biggest hit.

This was one of the first songs to be performed on the series, suffice to say that it was such a memorable one that it helped Stevie Wright gain a second solo hit following the massive success he achieved with "Evie" several months prior to his appearance on the show.

This was the other song that the Go-go's performed on their episode, it was the lead single to their second album which was a massive hit in their native America but not so much here despite making a good case for the song with us Aussies on the show.

This was a song that was performed twice on the show, the first time was upon its initial release whilst the second was for the Christmas episode of 1983 which decided to bring back several of the biggest names in Australian music of that year to round out what a great year it was for our local music scene.

This is another song that seems way too low for this list given how well loved Little river band remains to this day on oldies stations, this was one of the band's bigger hits in America as they had officially become more popular on the Billboard charts than they were locally by this point in their career.

I guess I can finally feature a song from Grace Jones' breakthrough album on this site as she tried to make a case for it by appearing on the show to perform this second single from it, it didn't do her any favours here, however she had better reception in NZ where her album was a huge hit with the kiwis.

The Boys were an Australian band so obscure that chances are you'll come across one of the many other bands they share their name with while trying to google them, I guess they were a fan favourite of the show back in the day given how this managed to make the list for VH1.

Geisha was another band that the show tried to make a thing in our Australian music scene but failed in doing so, here they are with their second appearance on this list which also went over well with fans of the show back in the day who voted for its appearance on this list.

We have the final appearance from Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons on this list, this time it's with one of their earlier songs in their catalogue which put them on the map due to how much of a case they made for it with their performance despite it failing to catch on in our mainstream.

This is one of two appearances that Leif Garret will be making on this list, this comes from his first appearance on the show where he performed this and "Surfing USA" due to the popularity he achieved with the latter here in Australia. I guess this was better received by audiences hence why it's on this list over that track.

From what I can gather, this was the only appearance that Dr Hook had on the show despite being one of the most popular bands of the 70's here in Australia, this was the last hit they achieved anywhere in the world and was likely as such on our charts due to their charismatic performance they gave on the show.

It's a huge disappointment to see these guys so low on this list, at least it finally gives me an opportunity to feature a song from their Making movies album as no doubt it was due to their performance of this song on the show that helped the album become a best seller down under.

Here's the other appearance from Kim Wilde on this list, this comes from her second appearance on the show which was five years after her first from earlier on this list. This was performed on the show just before it became one of the biggest hits of the 80's, meaning the show definitely helped out in making it a success here.

This is the final appearance from Icehouse on this list, again VH1 overlooked the fact they were the same band as Flowers when constructing this list which is why they have the most entries out of anyone on here. This was their debut single, so naturally they made a great first impression on the show when they performed it.

You can still hear these guys on oldies stations to this day even though they never achieved much success on our charts back in the day, they certainly made a good case for their debut single which is why it was a minor hit back in the day thanks to how stellar their performance was.

This is the second of three appearances from Elton John on this list, this was originally shot with footage of Dame Edna's performance from earlier on this list before transitioning to his performance of the song. It was so compelling that he decided to make it the official music video shortly after its release.

You'd think these guys would've been repeat international guests on the show given what we've seen so far on this list, alas they appeared on the same night as Kim Wilde's previous entry likely in the hopes of this becoming a massive hit here in Australia like her song wound up being.

We have our final appearance from Mondo Rock on this list, this one comes to us from their debut album from the late 70's which goes to show that even from the very beginning, they were well received by audiences of the show even if that admiration didn't extent to the general public at first.

We're seeing quite a few failed attempts at making Aussie legends on this list, aren't we? (This is why I wanted to make this list for the record.) Here we have the Riptides who scored a minor hit with this track largely due to them making a good case for it at the start of the 80's.

We have another failed Aussie group making our list, this time it's the duo the Globos who did give us a wonderfully campy performance with their signature track back in the day which did help it become a minor hit upon its initial release.

Somehow the show managed to get their hands on Dolly Parton the year prior to when she made her Hollywood debut with 9 to 5, even though she didn't have a hit here in Australia until that film made her an acting juggernaut, she did make a good case for her music with us Aussies with this and one other entry still to come on this list.

It looks like there was an earnest attempt at making UB40 a big success here in Australia like they were in NZ and their native UK that the show made when they acquired these guys at the start of the 80's, this may have been a flop here, but at least it was memorable enough to be well remembered long after the show ended.

Well, I did say earlier on this list that Gary Glitter was a special guest on the show in 1982, so here we are with the song he performed on his episode which went over really well to the point where VH1 was willing to overlook his fall from grace since 1997 to include it on their list.

The Saints were another Australian band from the punk scene to not have much success back in the day in our mainstream, in fact it was only with this track from years after the punk scene had ended that they managed to make an appearance on this list due to how well remembered their performance remains to this day.

It doesn't escape my notice that there were a ton of teen idols from the 70's that scrapped in the lower half of this list, this is Mark Holden's only appearance which coincidentally is the only song of his anyone remembers these days that I've yet to feature on this site.

I'm as surprised as you are to see how low Spandau Ballet appeared on this list given how they were one of the biggest bands of the 80's, I guess VH1 felt their two performances they gave on their episode (stay tuned for the second one) weren't that impressive when they compiled this list.

This is the final appearance from Elton John on this list, this was another song of his that became a hit down under thanks to his appearance on the show as his performance was what was shown during their Countdown top ten segment during its popularity.

LRB join the ranks of Elton John and AC/DC by having three entries appear on this list, this was their second single which goes to show even early on how well they connected with us fellow Aussies back in the day given how ABC managed to preserve this performance in their archives.

We have a second appearance from Iron Maiden on this list, this time it's from their second appearance on the show three years after their first from earlier on this list where they once again made a bid to find an audience here in Australia with their heavier brand of metal.

This is another success story from the final season of the show, suggesting that there was still potential in having local artists (or those from NZ in this case) appear on the show where they can translate that to a hit which admittedly had become much rarer during the midpoint of the 80's.

This is a song that's all but been erased from the internet likely due to this coming out around the same time that the original from Pat Benatar did, I guess this being well received by the shows audiences is the only proof of its existence as it's one of those tacky covers of a popular song of the moment Aussie artists used to make.

Given how huge "What I like about you" was here in Australia at the start of the 80's, it makes sense that the show would get their hands on the Romantics even if the band made the strange decision to promote their second single without performing their big hit on the show.

For the uninitiated, Helen Terry is the female vocalist who sang backup vocals on most of Culture Club's biggest hits, given how the show already got a hold of her thanks to her involvement with the band, it only made sense they gave her the spotlight to promote her solo single which sadly flopped worldwide.

Debbie Byrne was a member of young talent time back in the day, as she was among the older members of the group, it made sense that she would branch out into a solo career which had some assistance from Countdown thanks to a good case she made for it on the show.

(I had to use this cover art as "Boogie man" was the B-side to this track)

This is the other entry that Billy Field has on this list, not his second biggest hit as that failed to appear on this list, but rather the lead single to his second and to date final album which was so much less successful than his debut.

This was another song that was performed twice as Dynamic Hepnotics performed it upon its initial release and at the 1984 Countdown awards, this it curious as they didn't perform their big hit "Soul kind of feeling" which is why that isn't appearing on here.

This is the other appearance that Leif Garret has on this list, I think he's the only international artist to appear on the show twice in the same year as he came back prior to his second album's release to promote it which resulted in this becoming a massive hit here in Australia.

This is another case of a popular Australian band making an appearance on this list with a song I've yet to feature on this site, I guess there were plenty of options to choose from with I'm talking given that they did perform their three biggest hits on the show back in the day.

This is the other song that Foreigner performed on their episode; it was the third single from the album which was also a flop here in Australia likely due to us Aussies passing up both of their entries on this list in favour of the album itself.

I guess Tina Turner opened her episode of 1982 with her earlier entry on this list in order to drive up hype for her (then) latest single which was a huge flop worldwide despite how well it was received on the show. For what it's worth, she's another international artist who appeared on the show multiple times.

This is the other song that Spandau Ballet performed on their episode promoting their album Parade, in a strange choice, they decided to perform one of the non singles from the album which meant there was no way of it becoming a hit like every other entry on this list.

(This entry is "Revenge for love" due to me obviously not having an appropriate image for the song.)

I guess the show managed to have one of the Jacksons perform their songs during its run-on TV, this one comes to us from the eldest brother who had far more success in his native America than he did anywhere in the world despite him making a good case for his solo career with his performance.

Koo De Tah are another band that had several appearances on the show, I guess VH1 went for their second single given how "Too young for promises" is the only song people remember them for these days. For what it's worth, each of their performances were well received back in the day.

This is the last song to become a success on this list due to its exposure on the show, it's a bit surprising how few entries there are on this list from the disco genre as I would've thought the show would've gotten their hands on a ton of disco artists back in the day.

This is our final entry overall on this list, it's the second appearance from Dolly Parton which was well received back in the day as was her other entry on this list despite both songs failing to become a hit even in her native America.