CD REVIEW: MOLLY – DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR TV Soundtrack

Shane | 17 March 2016 | Reply

CD REVIEW: MOLLY – DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR TV Soundtrack
Liberation/Mushroom
27 November, 2015
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9/10

To those of my generation Countdown was an Australian institution – Sunday’s family outings and entertainment were always organised with 6 o’clock in mind. Parties and games were dropped cold. Dinnertime was rushed or left on the plate. 6 o’clock was Countdown time on the ABC, and we all crowded around the flickering idiot box to be entertained by a procession of pop and rock music which ranged so insanely in quality from the great to the appalling that that was, indeed, part of the appeal of the show.

Starring Samuel Johnson as compere Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, the mini series is a treat, taking us through the ‘70s and ‘80s at breakneck pace as Meldrum and Countdown becomes the iconic force it was, before video clips and indulgence brought it all crashing down.

The first two discs here are dedicated to the best from the Countdown era, it’s all killer no filler as we run through classics from the likes of Cold Chisel, Stevie Wright, Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Blondie, Duran Duran, Australian Crawl and – of course – Skyhooks and Sherbert, who between them made up a huge amount of content on the early Countdown shows.

The third disc is selected personally by Molly himself and ironically it is the patchiest of the three – for rock fans, at least, with a heavier lean towards the pop of The Village People, Kylie Minogue, Wham and Elton John. Nevertheless, there’s still much to enjoy with The Easybeats, Boomtown Rats, Hush, the Pretenders and Men At Work all on show.