A monumental new book will bring the full story of Australia’s most loved music television program, Countdown, to life. COUNTDOWN – A Complete Episode Guide, a lavish 460-page hardcover coffee table book, will be released in the first week of December 2025, paying tribute to the show that shaped a generation and forever changed Australian pop culture.
Created by executive producer Michael Shrimpton, producer/director Robbie Weekes and music journalist Ian “Molly” Meldrum, Countdown first aired on the ABC on 8 November 1974, just months before colour television arrived in Australia. What began as a half-hour Friday night experiment became the must-watch Sunday night event for millions of viewers. Over its 13-year run, the show delivered 563 episodes, countless unforgettable performances, and a cultural footprint unmatched in Australian television history.
The new book, COUNTDOWN – A Complete Episode Guide, honours that extraordinary legacy. It chronicles every episode in detail, celebrates the show’s groundbreaking influence, and salutes the creative team who brought it to life – including Molly Meldrum, producer/directors Grant Rule and Paul Drane, and the voice of Countdown himself, Gavin Wood.
A public launch will take place on Sunday 30 November 2025, from 2pm to 4pm, at The Wicker’s Club, Elsternwick Bowls Club, 170 Glenhuntly Road, Brighton. Fans will be able to meet the authors, Gavin Wood, and members of the original production team.
The 2.5kg tome will retail for $99.95 plus postage, with pre-orders opening in November.
Purchases can be collected at the launch (with payment received by Thursday 27 November) or from Wednesday 3 December in Oakleigh South, Stawell, or Castlemaine.
When Countdown hit Australian screens, it quickly became the centrepiece of national youth culture. Its combination of local live performances and international video clips set the standard for music television, long before MTV existed. The program gave Australian artists a powerful new platform and the results were revolutionary.
Acts such as AC/DC, Skyhooks, Sherbet, Hush, John Paul Young, TMG, Cold Chisel, INXS, Pseudo Echo, Men At Work, Little River Band, and John Farnham all found their way into the national spotlight through Countdown. International superstars – ABBA, Elton John, Madonna, Devo, Dolly Parton, Adam And The Ants, and Culture Club – became household names in Australia thanks to the show’s enthusiastic embrace of music videos and exclusive interviews.
Molly Meldrum’s “Humdrum” segment, beginning in 1975, added an unmistakably Australian voice to the program. His sometimes chaotic but always passionate interviews and music news became legendary, helping to define his role as Australia’s most recognisable music commentator.
By the mid-1970s, Australian music on the charts had reached an all-time low, but Countdown helped reverse that trend. Its prime Sunday evening timeslot – repeated each Saturday – gave artists unprecedented exposure. The show’s early adoption of colour television and its openness to music videos made it not just a national phenomenon but an international tastemaker.
Madonna’s first Australian hit “Holiday” gained traction after its video aired on Countdown. Similarly, acts like Blondie, Boz Scaggs, Cyndi Lauper, and John Mellencamp all broke through locally before conquering America and Europe.
For homegrown acts, Countdown was career-defining. Artists such as Olivia Newton-John, Dragon, Kylie Minogue, Australian Crawl, Icehouse, Mental As Anything, and Mondo Rock used the platform to cement their place in Australian pop history.
Although its momentum began to wane in the late 1980s, Countdown remains the most influential music program in Australian television history. Its final episode aired on 19 July 1987, marking the end of an era that had helped launch hundreds of careers and create a shared national soundtrack.
The Countdown story has continued through Foxtel’s revival of archived performances, ABC’s Rage retrospectives, and Channel 7’s acclaimed 2016 mini-series Molly, starring Samuel Johnson. Both the show and Ian Meldrum were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2014 – the first time a non-performing artist received the honour.
Now, nearly four decades after its final broadcast, COUNTDOWN – A Complete Episode Guide gives fans the ultimate keepsake, a meticulously compiled tribute to the show that made Sunday nights in Australia rock.
To order the book contact: Brett Leslie email: [email protected]
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