''Take 40 Australia'' was Australia's first and longest-running music countdown. It counted down the official top 40 singles on the

ARIA chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

on a weekly basis. It was broadcast nationally each week to over 1.2 million listeners. Starting in 1984, the show ended after 32 years with its final broadcast on Saturday 3 September 2016.

History

''Take 40 Australia'' first hit the airwaves in 1984 and was hosted by Barry Bissell for 20 years until his retirement in 2004. Bissell was an integral part of the show's success, counting down Australia's 40 biggest songs. He also celebrated the 1000th show milestone in 2003. In November 2004, Andrew Günsberg (also known as "Andrew G") replaced Bissell as host. Günsberg hosted the show until November 2009. In November 2009, Günsberg was replaced by

Kyle Sandilands Kyle Dalton Sandilands (born 10 June 1971) is an Australian radio host and television personality. He is currently the co-host, with Jackie O, of the weekday morning radio program '' The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' on Sydney's radio station KIIS ...

and Jackie O. Sandilands remained with the show until December 2011 and Jackie hosted the show solo until 2013. Angus O'Loughlin replaced Jackie O as host. In February 2014,

Ash London Ash London is an Australian radio and television personality. Career Television In 2012, London was appointed co-host of Eleven's music video show '' The Loop'' with Scott Tweedie. She resigned in 2015 to pursue a career in radio, In 2018 ...

was announced as co-host of the show joining Angus. London left the show in December 2015 after resigning from

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio station ...

Emma Freedman Emma Freedman is an Australian television and radio presenter who grew up on the Mornington Peninsula. Freedman formerly co-hosted ''The Grill Team'' on Triple M Sydney. Prior to this, she was a weather presenter on ''Weekend Today'' and host ...

was announced as co-host replacing London. In August 2016,

announced a revamped weekend lineup for the

Hit Network The Hit Network is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 41 radio stations broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format, as well as 6 Digital radio in Australia, dig ...

and ''Take 40 Australia'' was no longer part of the lineup. The show ended after 32 years on Saturday 3 September 2016. " Closer" by

The Chainsmokers The Chainsmokers are an American electronic DJ and production duo consisting of Alexander "Alex" Pall and Andrew "Drew" Taggart. They started out by releasing remixes of songs by indie artists. The EDM- pop duo achieved a breakthrough with the ...

was the last song to be played.

Albums

During its run, ''Take 40 Australia'', in association with Australian record companies, released a number of hit music compilation albums on CD and cassette. Special mentions: * TAKE 40 #1 (1991, Festival Records) * TAKE 40 - 10 Years of No.1 Hits (1995, Festival Records) * TAKE 40 - Certified Hits Collection (2000, Sony Music) * TAKE 40 PLATINUM (2002, Warner Music) * TAKE 40 PLATINUM CD/DVD (2003, Sony Music) ''included a DVD of music videos''

References

{{Reflist

External links

Take 40 Australia
Australian radio programs Music chart shows