Countdown (Australia)- National Top 10- June 19, 1983

The Countdown National Top 10 for June 19, 1983, announced by Countdown announcer Gavin Wood. The Songs, in order:
10. Joan Armatrading- Drop The Pilot
9. Elton John- I'm Still Standing
8. Eurythmics- Sweet Dreams
7. Naked Eyes- Always Something There To Remind Me
6. Michael Jackson- Billie Jean
5. Laura Branigan- Solitaire
4. Renee & Renato- Save Your Love
3. Redgum- I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk In The Light Green)
2. Michael Jackson- Beat It
1. Bonnie Tyler- Total Eclipse Of The Heart

Note: Announcer Gavin Wood was great at inserting artist-specific puns in his top 10 countdowns- take particular note of his announcements of Joan Armatrading, Elton John, Renee & Renato, and Michael Jackson.

Molly Meldrum concludes the segment, and the episode, talking with the guest host for the episode, Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. Molly and Bonnie lead into the last song of the night, Michael Sembello's Maniac, from the Flashdance soundtrack. As the clip plays, the ticker at the bottom of the screen lists the 'official' Flashdance radio stations, from where to receive information regarding entering the contests.


Vaxfacts: It is worth noting that the radio stations that are listed were all AM radio stations, with the exception of the Melbourne station, EON-FM (now 3MMM, Triple M Melbourne). In Australia, AM radio stations are designated by a number followed by only TWO call- sign letters- the number denotes the state (2- New South Wales/ACT, 3-Victoria, 4-Queensland, 5-South Australia, 6-Western Australia, 7-Tasmania). For FM stations, the number is followed by THREE call-sign letters (EON-FM was 3EON in 1983). In 1983, much of Top 40 radio was still on the AM band, as the first commercial FM radio station in Australia (EON-FM) didn't begin transmission until July 1980. Commercial FM radio came to Australia later than most other countries due to the fact that much of the radio FM transmission band frequencies were occupied by television transmission band frequencies. Thus while Melbourne's main Top 40 station was EON-FM, Sydney's was still the AM station 2SM.