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ALBUMS. MUSICIANS. MEMORABILIA. PLAYLISTS

Classic Countdown! Music Map

Amphlett Street Canberra named after Chrissy Amphlett.

CLASSIC COUNTDOWN! MUSIC MAP

 

The Countdown Map
The Countdown Map

An interactive Australian music map, inspired by the old Classic Countdown map, is an ongoing story at AMMP where we add new map pins every month.

NEW SOUTH WALES

Aunty Jack – Wollongong. The entire town. The Aunty Jack album ‘Aunty Jack Sings Wollongong’ features a young Norman Gunston with his Gunstonettes singing ‘Wollongong the Brave.’ Aunty Jack was at the inauguration of colour television in Australia on 1 March 1975. The special beat ABC’s commercial rivals by beginning 3 minutes early, at 11:57 pm 28 March 1975 in black and white and then wiping to colour at midnight.

YouTube Farewell Aunty Jack (song)

SYDNEY

The Marble Bar at The Hilton Hotel on George Street, Sydney is where Cold Chisel were photographed for their album Breakfast at Sweethearts. Sweethearts in Kings Cross no longer exists but a brass plaque in the pavement marks its location.

Cold Chisel made Sydney their own.
Cold Chisel made Sydney their own.

THE EASYBEATS/AC/DC FAMILY HOME

This before/after shot (Twitter, Pinterest) shows the Young family at 4 Burleigh Street, Burwood.

 

4 Burleigh Street, Burwood (Twitter).
4 Burleigh Street, Burwood (Twitter).

 

THE CIVIC HOTEL, PITT STREET 
Mental as Anything featuring Greedy Smith (below, in a portrait by Paul Worstead) made The Civic Hotel on Pitt Street in the centre of Sydney their own. The old Phantom Records shop was steps away.

The Paul Worstead portrait of Greedy Smith, Mental as Anything.
The Paul Worstead portrait of Greedy Smith, Mental as Anything.

THE HOODOO GURUS
The Hoodoo Gurus are a Sydney band not identified with any one venue, but as Le Hoodoo Gurus, they played The Mosman Hotel, Mosman.

Hoodoo Gurus poster from the brilliant website 1980schild.blogspot.com.au
Hoodoo Gurus poster from the brilliant website 1980schild.blogspot.com.au
MELBOURNE
Skyhooks poster 1970s
Skyhooks poster 1970s

SKYHOOKS
Skyhooks created songs about whole suburbs in Melbourne. Carlton and Balwyn are just two of those namechecked.

HUNTERS AND COLLECTORS
Westgate after the song by Mark Seymour – but also Ormond College, University of Melbourne where John Archer, Doug Falconer and Mark Seymour first met on the way to forming Hunters and Collectors.

ST. KILDA
From St Kilda to Kings Cross by Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls  is just part of the St. Kilda story. So many bands are associated with the area and still play there – like Cold Chisel’s Don Walker – that it has a permanent pin on the Countdown Map.

Time Out

Festival Hall needs no introduction, thanks to Sherbet, Daddy Cool and unknown third support act AC/DC.

ACDC support Sherbet
THE COUNTDOWN STUDIOS, RIPPONLEA
This is where Classic Countdown was filmed and there is a fascinating story on the closure of the old ABC-TV Dream Factory here. Devoted fans including The Countdown Sisters used to make the pilgrimage. Follow them here. (Images: ABC Archives, Twitter, Instagram).

classic coutndown dsisters utndwon club

Ian Meldrum filming Countdown. ABC Archives.
Ian Meldrum filming Countdown. ABC Archives.

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Arnhem Land – Yothu Yindi
Aboriginal members of Yothu Yindi came from Yolngu homelands near Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsula in Northern Territory’s Arnhem Land.

ACT

D.A.A.S. – Canberra
You could use up a lot of pins on Google Maps just trying to follow all the busking spots where the Doug Anthony Allstars put their guitar cases down. D.A.A.S. began performing as buskers on the streets of Canberra in 1984, while they were attending university.

NEW! Chrissy Amphlett Street
Melbourne has Amphlett Lane. Canberra now has Amphlett Street. Divinyls fans, start your engines. (Photograph: Twitter @AmphlettLane)

Amphlett Street Canberra named after Chrissy Amphlett.
Amphlett Street Canberra named after Chrissy Amphlett.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA

AC/DC – Largs Pier hotel, Adelaide
During the 70s and 80s Largs hosted Jimmy Barnes with Cold Chisel, AC/DC, The Little River Band and The Angels. Bon Scott, who later became the lead singer of AC/DC, met his wife at the Largs Pier Hotel after a gig in 1971.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Dave Warner From The Suburbs – The Victoria Hotel, Perth
Watch ‘Half Time at the Football’ on YouTube – Dave Warner – “Half-time at the Football” (1981)

Backstage Passes - Greg Phillips
Backstage Passes – Greg Phillips

INXS – Davidson High School, Perth. Imagine this. After recess, Andrew Farriss convincing his fellow Davidson High School classmate, Michael Hutchence, to join his band, Doctor Dolphin.The rest is history. If not actually a band called Doctor Dolphin.

TASMANIA

The Innocents with singer Charlie Tauber put Hobart on the Countdown map when they appeared on the show. Sooner or Later is a power pop classic.

QUEENSLAND

The Saints – Corinda High School.
Author and journalist Clinton Walker:  “I first became aware of the Saints in 1974, while living in Brisbane. I had transferred to a new school, Corinda High. There, in art class, I met a gaggle of antisocial young long hairs that revolved around an embryonic band called the Saints. Perhaps the strongest common bond I had initially with the guys in art was that we all hated hippies. I fell in with them, and it wasn’t long before I fell in the Saints’ thrall too.”
Read more: Raven Records – The Saints – Wild About You 1976-1978

 

RAM Magazine anniversary editions, photographed by owner Michael Witheford
RAM Magazine anniversary editions, photographed by owner Michael Witheford

 

The Go Between Bridge – The Go Betweens
The Go Between Bridge, formerly known as the Hale Street Link, is a toll bridge for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists over the Brisbane River in inner-city Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Countdown GPO Box Melbourne
Countdown GPO Box Melbourne

 

THE COUNTDOWN MAP ON TWITTER
Follow @ammptv on Twitter and send us your map suggestions.

Classic Countdown! From Twitter @ABCTV
Classic Countdown! From Twitter @ABCTV
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