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.
Now doubt it was when Crowded house performed this song in the first episode of the shows final season that it managed to become a hit here in Australia and eventually throughout the rest of the world, it's one of the last songs to become a hit thanks to an artist performing their song on the show.
We have another song from the final season of the series to make it big thanks to the band in question performing it on the show, this time it's the Wiggles long before they reinvented themselves as a children's band with their one and only hit as a pop rock band from the 80's.
This was one of the biggest hits of the 80's here in Australia, it was also one of the first performances of the decade which means that Split Enz came in strong right out of the gate with this chart topper they had. Quite an impressive feat considering that these guys struggled for mainstream relevancy prior to this big hit of theirs.
We have another chart topper to benefit from the band appearing on Countdown, this had two performances as the Swingers performed it again at the 1980 Countdown awards as well as when the song was originally released as a single both here and in their native NZ.
This is the first song on this list to not appear on one of my other lists on this site, this is due to the song curiously flopping on our charts upon its initial release despite it being among the first songs to be performed on the show. I guess we Aussies passed this up for "Horror movie" and the album this was named after.
This took a back seat to our charts due to the album already being a bestseller here in Australia by the time it was released as a single, however it was such a fan favourite likely due to the performance Crowded house gave on the show that it was a hit in NZ and on Billboard.
The album this was named after did spawn two of AC/DC's biggest hits of the 70's, so you can understand why this iconic track wasn't a hit back in the day even though it remains one of their most instantly recognisable tracks in their catalogue likely due to their explosive performance they gave on the show.
This was already climbing up the charts here in Australia when the band gave their memorable performance of this track on the show, they also performed their other hit "Private Idaho" on the same night even though audiences weren't as impressed with this performance as it won't be appearing on this list.
They may have struggled to find success throughout the 70's, however it wasn't through a lack of trying as Split Enz gave a memorable performance of this track that remains one of their more memorable hits in their catalogue. I guess their fellow kiwis passed up their singles from the 70's in favour of their albums which did much better over there.
This is arguably the first song to greatly benefit from Countdown as it was among the earliest songs to be performed on the show in addition to it becoming a massive chart topper for Skyhooks. It allowed the album to also be a massive success due to how much of a dud their earlier entry was back in the day.
These guys were invited on the show just as their international popularity was exploding, as such you can likely thank their performance of their iconic hit on the show for why it took off so massively here in Australia for A-ha. They had two other performances on the show which we'll look at later on this list.
As a rule of thumb, VH1 put a three-artist limit on the list to avoid certain bands and artists from dominating this list, even so, there was only one other song Crowded house performed on Countdown as they were one of the last bands to benefit from the show before it was cancelled.
In the early days of Countdown, there would often be outdoor concerts that were sponsored by the show which were considered as performances as well as the music videos for the song in question. This is one of those occasions as Ted Mulry Gang scored a massive hit here in Australia as a result of this experiment.
Although they scored a second hit here in Australia with "Catch me I'm falling," this was the only memorable performance that Real life gave on the show which resulted not only in its success here in Australia, but also in the band's international appeal due to them scoring a surprise chart topper in NZ with this track.
This came at the tail end of 1982 when Joan Jett was finally able to make an appearance on the show, it was performed at the end of her episode to cap off what an amazing year she had not just here in Australia but throughout the entire world.
This is Split Enz's final entry on this list, no doubt they would've dominated this list given how many memorable performances they gave on the show during their time together. Other highlights include their other big hits such as "One step ahead," "History never repeats" and "Dirty creature."
Devo was a bit difficult to get a hold of given how this was performed a year after its initial release here in Australia, I'm guessing they opened up with this performance to drive up hype for their (then) latest album even though their other performances don't appear on this list.
Although they never had much mainstream success, The church was a critical darling back in the day largely thanks to their striking appearance whenever they were on the show. This performance in particular had striking visuals of a church interior which connected with audiences who watched it.
This is the final appearance from Skyhooks on this list, again they no doubt would've dominated this list had there not been a three artist limit that VH1 imposed when compiling this list. It was the third song they performed on the show as well as the second which became a hit as a result of them performing it.
This was performed on the show just as it began falling out of our charts, indeed the band were here to promote their second album which was largely overshadowed by how memorable the performance they gave for their huge chart topper was that night.
This is the only appearance from Boom crash opera on this list, likely because this was the only time their appearance on the show resulted in them scoring a big hit due to the other songs form their debut album flopping even though they went back on the show each time they released a new single.
It's possible this became a hit here in Australia due to the performance the Police gave on the show due to them appearing just as this was released as a single here, I can't say for sure this was the case given how inescapably popular it was internationally, but it's a possibility, nonetheless.
This performance was actually a live recording the band gave on their 1986 world tour, meaning that it sounds very different to the original version from 1973 as there's a much heavier emphasis on 80's bombast than there was on the 70's glam metal scene.
This was the band's debut single, so naturally they made a strong first impression with their appearance on Countdown which helped it become a huge sleeper hit for the band just as the 70's was coming to an end. This would help them become one of the biggest names in Australian music throughout the 80's.
We have another appearance from AC/DC with a song that failed to become a hit here in Australia back in the day, this time it was the title track from their third album which was passed up in favour of "Jailbreak" becoming a huge hit for the band down under.
This performance of Cyndi's signature track was given at the end of her episode when it was crowned the biggest song of that week, this was a surprisingly common phenomenon where the show would successfully book an artist to appear on it right as their song became a chart topper here.
The angels were another well-loved band who would've easily dominated this list were it not for the three-artist rule imposed by VH1, this was the lead single to their biggest album Face to face which helped the album become one of the biggest hits of the 70's despite it failing to crack our top ten.
This is another song that was performed on the show long after it dropped off our charts, I'm guessing it was to hype up us Aussies with the band's (then) latest album which succeeded due to a creative set design as was the case for just about every performance on this list.
It's worth noting that many performances from the 70's are currently lost media, as such, there were no doubt tons of performances that Jon English gave throughout the decade even if this is the only notable performance that has survived over the years and thus, the only one that will be appearing on this list.
Well, there's no ninjas or paedophilic undertones here like there is in the video, so this is perhaps the best way to enjoy this song with visuals as Bonnie Tyler gives a truly compelling performance of her biggest worldwide hit here. Evidently, she did perform "It's a heartache" as well, however that performance is currently lost media.
It's possible that Cheap trick wouldn't have had much success here in Australia were it not for the memorable performance they have for the title track to their breakthrough album, indeed it was due to this performance that the song was able to take off here given how much later it did so compared to the rest of the world.
I'm sure the Bay city rollers gave a ton of memorable performances back in the day given how they dominated our mainstream media during the midpoint of the 70's, however this cover of the Dusty Springfield classic is the only performance that isn't currently lost media which is why it's the only one to appear on this list.
This is another song that was performed twice on Countdown, the second time being at the 1980 Countdown awards whilst the first was upon its initial release. Australian Crawl never had that much success with their singles despite their multiple appearances on the show, likely due to their success coming from their albums instead.
Of the three entries that the Angels will be making on this list, this is the only one which became a hit single as a result of their appearance on the show given how compelling their performance of it was upon the song's initial release. Their other big hit "We gotta get outta this place" became a success despite a rather lacklustre appearance the band gave on the show with it.
They were touted as the next (American) Beatles, they certainly lived up to that moniker with their performance of their one and only hit on the show which likely boosted the popularity of the song in our mainstream as it was a huge chart topper here like it was in their native America.
This will be Mi-sex's only appearance on this list despite being a rather quirky band who were known for their live shows, I guess VH1 didn't see the appeal of their other performances like they did for their biggest hit likely due to the absence of the arcade scenery in those performances that this one has.
Men at work is another band you'd think would've reached the three-artist limit on this list, alas only their two Billboard chart toppers made the cut starting with their biggest hit which helped it become as such due to it successfully capturing the goofiness the band is well known for.
This wasn't even the band's biggest hit here in Australia and yet this was their only appearance on the Countdown VH1 made back in the day, their performance of "Bony maronie" isn't even lost media, meaning that the program didn't find much appeal in that performance that they found in this one.
Shaky performed three of his biggest hits on his episode of the series, however only this one managed to make its mark even though it was by far the oldest of the three singles and thus, was already considered yesterday's news by the time he made it on the show.
This is widely considered to be the band's signature track, as such its absence may have surprised you given how time has thoroughly erased the existence of their actual big hit "50 years" which of course won't be appearance on this list.
This was likely one of the biggest hits of the 80's specifically thanks to the band's appearance on the show, as such it makes sense that A: it would appear on this list and B: it would be considered one of the best Australian songs of the decade to the point where Shannon Noll decided to cover it in 2004.
This is AC/DC's final appearance on this list, this time we have their debut single from their debut album which you guessed it, was a massive flop back in the day in favour of the album's moderate success.
This was the debut single from the Divinyls, there wasn't any guarantee that it would be a huge hit given how most Australian bands needed several appearances on the show before they made it big, however this performance was so compelling that it became an immediate success for the band.
From what I can gather, "Forever now" wasn't performed on the show, meaning that this was the biggest hit that Cold chisel had by appearing on the show back in the day. It's easy to see why as it's a perfect display on how awesome they were as a live band during their prime.
Given how Midnight oil refused to appear on the show (for reason's I won't get into) this leads Goanna to being the most political Australian band to appear on the show which includes their debut single about how we needed to do better for aboriginal rights. Naturally this performance was a shoe in for this list given how it continues to resonate to this day.
This is another one of those outdoor concerts that also serves as the song's official music video, this was the case for many songs from Australian artists throughout the 70's with this being considered to be one of the most iconic. Despite all of his performances surviving to this day, he will only have one other appearance on this list.
This was the rare hit that Australian crawl had here in Australia, I'm guessing its popularity was specifically due to their performance on the show which is why it was included on this list over the likes of "Errol" and "Downhearted."
Tina Turner was always a welcomed guest on the show during its run, this was performed in 1982 when she finalised her divorce with Ike and was the earliest signs of her making this her own song rather than a duet with her ex-husband.
Given how John Farnham was the lead vocalist for the Little river band throughout most of the 80's as well as sitting out most of the 70's altogether, this meant that his comeback single from Whispering jack was a shoe in for this list due to the lack of competition there was for his other performances.
I'm guessing this performance was what made Sherbet an international household name given how it's usually shown whenever international media brings it up, it was certainly what made it their biggest hit thanks to how charismatic Daryl Braithwaite was during its runtime.
I'm not sure if Leo Sayer performed this song upon its initial release due to how scarce information on the 70's episodes were, what I do know is that he did perform it a year after it became a international hit as a lookback on how well he did throughout 1977.
This was one of the last songs that INXS performed on the show before leaving it behind in favour of international stardom, it's curiously their first big hit given how it only failed to reach our top ten due to stiff competition it faced during the Christmas period of 1982.
This was performed at the 1983 Countdown music awards where Billy injected his signature brand of sexual imagery into the show, it's the song he performed before he gave his infamous remark about how much sex he had whilst he was in Australia which has gone down in Countdown infamy.
This was already dropping out of the charts by the time Tears for fears performed it on the show, admittedly this was likely performed in order to drive up hype for their third single from their album which we'll be looking at a little further down this list.
As this was the new single that Human league released when they were booked on the show, it was performed during the closing credits of the show which helped it become a huge hit in Australia even though their album was already a massive hit by the time it was released as a single here.
This was one of the last performances that was given in the 70's, as such it made it the perfect hit for Cold chisel to have going into the 80's which is perhaps why it qualified for this list over several of their other tracks. It being one of their bigger hits during their prime also likely played into its eligibility on this list.
Even though INXS had stopped appearing on the show to promote their material by this point in time, they weren't too good for the show to appear at the 1984 Countdown awards where they gave a truly memorable performance for their third single from their international breakthrough album the Swing.
This is the only other appearance that JPY will have on this list, this is despite the fact that many of his performances on the show are readily available on YouTube with those songs being massive hits for him back in the day. I guess this song had to make the cut given how it was his big international hit likely due to its performance on the show.
Although Billy Field did perform "Bad habits" on the show, its success seemed guaranteed regardless as few if anyone has much nostalgia for it. The same isn't the case for his second single which not only heavily benefitted from the show but is also among the more well received performances from a crooner during the show's run.
This is one of the last songs to become a hit thanks to its performance on the show, it remains Hoodoo gurus biggest hit here likely because of their performance which is impressive given how memorable the music video is to this day. Who knows how much bigger their later material would've been had the show kept going.
These guys managed to appear on the show multiple times throughout its run, although it was only their initial appearance where they performed their Eurovision winning track that proved to be memorable enough to appear on this countdown VH1 made back in the day.
This is another song that was performed when it was revealed it was the biggest song of the week, true to the video, this performance was more of a cheerleader routine than a traditional pop performance which is perhaps why it's been fondly remembered over the years even though the song remains divisive.
The Hooters were one of the most popular bands of 1985 here in Australia, as such they were the special guests of the final episode of that season where they performed their biggest hit here as the show opener. They performed a second single that night which sadly bombed on our charts.
This was more popular here in Australia than anywhere else in the world, as such there was little issues with booking the Vapors onto the show during the height of the song's popularity which resulted in this memorable performance from the band.
I guess Dave Dobbyn was another artist who could've potentially saw massive success here in Australia had Countdown gone on for a little while longer given how his solo debut single proved to be one of the biggest hits of the 80's over here like it was in his native NZ due to his appearance on the show.
This was the other song that Cheap trick performed on the show following their earlier appearance on this list, it wasn't a huge hit here likely due to being fairly old by the time we Aussies knew of its existence with this performance; however, it remains a staple from their catalogue to this day.
I have no idea why this song was a flop back in the day given how it continues to find its way into every commercial even to this day, at least the band gave a memorable performance for the song back in the day which VH1 recognised as one of the best the show had to offer.
This was performed on the show right before it was released as a single here in Australia, you'd think this would mean the song would be even more popular here than it was internationally but alas, it wasn't likely due to the album sales eating up its success down under.
Although it's hard to come by on the internet, this performance at the 1984 Countdown awards from Mental as anything was now doubt what allowed this to be their biggest hit here in Australia and over in NZ during the midpoint of the 80s. This of course meant that the song would eventually be chosen as the theme song to the first Crocodile Dundee flick later in the decade.
Madness was the perfect choice for being a host on this show back in the day, as such they were able to perform both of their biggest hits here in Australia with this being the second song from their set on their episode following their other appearance on this list which we'll get to in a bit.
This is another song that was performed twice during the show's run, the first time was at the 1984 Countdown awards as a teaser to the band's upcoming album and the second was when it was finally released as a single later in the year which allowed it to be modest success for them.
This was the initial impression that Men at work made for their fellow Aussies as this was naturally first seen on the show before they released the music video for it, no doubt that it was due to how great this first impression was that this was able to become a massive hit here and eventually worldwide.
This was a solo performance from Olivia Newton John given how the show was never able to have ELO appear as a guest (at least there's no surviving footage of this happening.) This was performed at the conclusion of the Xanadu contest which was one of several dance competitions the show had throughout its run.
It's tempting to say that this became a hit here in Australia due to it being a throwaway performance on the show that surprisingly caught on with the youth of the day, however Slim Dusty actually came on the show following the surprise success the song had which no doubt boosted its popularity at the start of 1981.
This is the final appearance from Australian Crawl on this list, it was with their debut single which was a flop despite how well received it was both critically and by fans of the show given how memorable the performance remains to this day.
As this was the Models biggest hit here in Australia, it makes sense that their performance on the show they gave was well received and likely the reason for why it connected with us Aussies back in the day. It was such a huge hit that it crossed over to NZ and even sparked interest from the American market.
We have another entry on this list that might've been a flop as a single back in the day but was so despite it being well received by both critics and audiences of the show alike, at least the album it was named after was a huge success, suggesting audiences merely passed this up in favour of the album instead.
It's hard to tell if this was a hit for John Cougar prior to him performing this on the show or if it was a hit because of his performance given how the episode this took place in is now lost media, however it was such a phenomenon that the performance itself managed to survive over the years.
Evidently the guys were discovered by Molly Meldrum while he was tracking down an interview with Bette Midler, he convinced them to appear on the show at the start of the 80's which resulted in their debut single becoming a massive hit here and in NZ due to how compelling their performance was.
This is one of the very few songs that has a different version performed on the show compared to what ended up on record, this was a demo of Pseudo echo's debut single which sounds very different to the final product that was released half a year after they gained exposure from the show.
This seemed like a perfect choice for a song to be performed on the show upon its initial release, however it was only performed two years after it became a hit here likely due to how tricky it was for the show to get a hold of Ian Dury given, he was from the punk scene.
Mondo Rock were another band to have three entries on this list with none of them being any of their biggest hits, this was the third single from their album Chemistry which was likely only a flop due to the album itself being a massive success by the time it was released as a single.
This was the first song that Madness performed on their episode largely due to it being their (then) big hit of the moment, they followed it up with their earlier entry on this list and concluded with "Driving in my car" which sadly won't be appearing on this list.
This is the final entry from the Angels to appear on this list, this comes from their third album which wasn't as big as their second album despite this being among their more memorable performances from the show. Their memorable moments are too numerous to count, hence their lack of further entries.
As this was one of the last songs to be released during the shows run, it was inevitable that it would greatly benefit from it being performed on there even if the second single from Man of colours proved to be the big hit from the album. Who knows if Icehouse would've benefitted from Countdown had it lasted into the 90's.
Proof that the show would occasionally appeal to the more casual music lovers of the day, we have this novelty track that was a pseudo music video for the duo Haysi fantayzee that went over so well that it single handedly made it a hit as we Aussies were prepared to right this off as a flop upon its initial release.
We have another band exceeding the three artists limit that VH1 imposed on this list, this time it's the second single from their album Cats and dogs which was among their bigger hits of their career thanks to how well they impressed audience with their performance.
Although it failed to appear on the Australian side of my site, this was indeed a minor success here in Australia likely due to how well received the performance Hot chocolate gave for this song on their episode. It was far better received than their performance of "Girl crazy" which won't be appearing on this list.
This was a little late to the party on the show likely due to Rose tattoo being considered as yesterday's news by the time it was released as a single, however they performed it on the first episode of 1983 which allowed it to become a minor hit, proving audiences still loved the band this far into the 80's.
I have no idea why XTC never had much success here in Australia, this was very well received on the show thanks to the set design the band went with when they performed it, and it continues to be a staple on oldies stations to this day despite it being a flop for the band here.
This is the only other appearance from John Farnham on this list, here we have his cover of the Beatles classic which was so well received on the show that it became a genuine hit here in Australia at the start of the 80's despite him being considered as yesterday's news long before the show ever began six years prior.
This was a little late to the party when Howard Jones finally performed it on the show, so much so that the song had already been out for almost a full year by the time he appeared on the show which meant that his performance did the song no favours on our charts. This was likely meant to allow his other song he performed on his episode "Like to get to know you well" to become a hit here which it wasn't.
This is the only other appearance from the Church that made the cut for the VH1 list, it's one of their more memorable singles in their catalogue likely due to how much of a case they made for it on the show back in the day. If nothing else, this performance did allow the album it came from to be a success here.
This was performed at the 1983 Countdown awards right before Billy Idol's set from earlier on this list, this went over so well that not only did people remember it after Billy's shenanigans, but it became a huge hit for them not just in Australia but over in NZ where it was their first big hit with the kiwis.
Although these guys had been active since the start of the 80's, this was the first song they performed on the show which went over so well that the album this came from became a massive success here in Australia and over in NZ for some reason. This is another band where I'm confident would've done better had Countdown extended into the 90's.
They're often considered as one of the greatest punk bands of all time, despite how well received their performance of this classic was at the start of the 80's, this didn't translate to the band having any mainstream success here in Australia likely due to us Aussies being averted from the punk scene.
Plenty of performances from Marcia Hines have survived over the years, yet this is only one of two entries from the American born Australian singer for some reason. It was an irresistible performance which no doubt led to the song becoming her biggest hit back in the day.
Although "Girls talk" was the bigger hit out of the two members of Rockpile when they both appeared on Countdown (on the same night no less) this was far better received which explains why it appears slightly higher on this list than the Dave Edmunds track.
As this was the third single from a highly successful album, it makes sense that it wasn't a hit here in Australia due to the album sales eating up its own success. That doesn't mean the song didn't have its fans given how well received the performance the band gave with it was back in the day.
This was part of the Village people medley the band gave to promote their dire film Can't stop the music; VH1 sort of cheated with these guys as there will be another song from the medley to appear much later on this list instead of simply combining these two songs into one entry as the medley.
