Countdown (Australia)- National Top 10- October 11, 1981

The Countdown National Top 10 for October 11, 1981, announced by Countdown announcer Gavin Wood. The Songs, in order:
10. Rick Springfield- Jessie's Girl
9. Rolling Stones- Start Me Up
8. Swanee- If I Were A Carpenter
7. Adam & The Ants- Prince Charming
6. Kim Wilde- Chequered Love
5. Jona Lewie- Louise
=4. Electric Light Orchestra- Hold On Tight
=4. Ph.D.- I Won't Let You Down
3. Shakin' Stevens- You Drive Me Crazy
2. Lionel Richie & Diana Ross- Endless Love
1. Billy Field- You Weren't In Love With Me

Note: Announcer Gavin Wood was great at inserting artist-specific puns in his top 10 countdowns- take particular note of his announcements of Rick Springfield, Rolling Stones, Swanee, Kim Wilde, Jona Lewie, Electric Light Orchestra, Ph.D, and Shakin' Stevens.

Molly Meldrum ends the segment and the episode with his co-hosts for the episode, ‘Hey Hey It’s Saturday’ hosts Daryl Somers and Ossie Ostrich. They then cross to Australian singer Billy Field from Launceston, Tasmania, who leads into that week’s number 1 song, Field’s single ‘You Weren’t In Love With Me’.


Vaxfacts: 'Hey Hey It's Saturday' (also known as ‘Hey Hey’), was hosted by Daryl Somers from 1971-1999 (from 1971-1984 it aired on Saturday mornings as a children’s show, and from 1984-1999 on Saturday nights as a family variety show), and later from 2009-2010, with Ossie Ostrich (controlled by puppeteer and ‘Hey Hey’ co-producer Ernie Carroll) as his sidekick from 1971-1994. Their guest appearance on Molly Meldrum’s show would be reciprocated by Molly on Hey Hey a few years later (June 13, 1987- which Molly discusses in the following ‘Humdrum’ segment:    • Countdown (Australia)- Humdrum- June ...   ), and would eventually become permanent. After Countdown's axing, starting from 1988, and right up until Hey Hey's axing in 1999, Molly would become one of the regular cast members on Hey Hey, where he would present a weekly segment called 'Molly's Melodrama', which was in effect the continuation of the 'Humdrum' segment. He would also continue to conduct many interviews with the world's music stars, with his many interviews airing on Hey Hey.