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Santi Paradoa
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| Posted: 15 June 2014 at 10:12am | IP Logged
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RIP Casey. He made many of us fans of the music thanks to
AT40. As he would say "keep your feet on the ground and
keep reaching for the stars."
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Santi Paradoa
Miami, Florida
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musicmanatl
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| Posted: 15 June 2014 at 1:40pm | IP Logged
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I'm probably speaking for a number of us when I say that my interest in pop music was created by American Top 40. It was so difficult to find out information about the new singers and bands back in the late 1970s, and I eagerly listened to Casey each week to hear both the newest hits and the chart moves but to also hear information about my favorite records. He was one of a kind. I'm so glad that his shows will live on via Sirius XM and iHeart Radio.
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Jody Thornton
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| Posted: 15 June 2014 at 5:36pm | IP Logged
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Yeah I'm having a very hard time with this news today. I feared this day coming for quite awhile. I already missed him on the radio, but now that he's gone; it's quite sad.
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Jody Thornton
(Richmond Hill, Ontario)
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jimct
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| Posted: 15 June 2014 at 8:22pm | IP Logged
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I just happened to have the I Heart Radio site Gene posted about earlier in
this thread (thanks for that) this morning (Sunday, 6/15). They were just
finishing up Feb 1980, and I wanted to see what 70's countdown would
follow. It was the very first one: 7/4/70. Yes! So I kept it on.
Suddenly, about an hour in, the channel's spoken inserts switched to "a
tribute to Casey Kasem." It was a very subtle word change, and not
definitive, but I thought "Oh no. Did he just die?" I'd already checked the
news first thing Sunday morning - nothing. It was weird that I was likely
listening to AT40 just as he was passing.
I spent many a Sunday listening to AT40 in the 70s, and I somehow
retained/repeated on-air countless song/artist info tidbits he'd provided
over the years, while giving him frequent credit. Musicmanatl is SO right -
factoids were very far and few between back then. Mr. Whitburn started
his books in the early 70's, but most of the background artist info didn't
start appearing there in earnest until Mr. Whitburn made, by far, the best
hire in RR history: our own Paul Haney!!!!! (whose latest RR masterpiece I
pre-ordered just last week.)
I also want to echo Jody's heartfelt sentiments. T4MOC almost never has
threads about losing our old beloved hitmakers, which I love, as both BSN
and the 'Net already cover the topic like a blanket. Whereas we're basically
a nuts-and-bolts song forum. But to many of us, Casey was special. He
belonged to us - Top 40 hit song enthusiasts.
I took great comfort in reading Kerri Kasem's Sunday statement. Reading
her words about "a body about to die neither wants nor requires food and
water, and providing either does nothing except further increase Dad's
discomfort level." Her knowledge level on the subject is impressive. I don't
know what to make of wife Jean, and I will not judge her. But I am grateful
that Kerri went to both the time and trouble to personally ensure that her
Dad's suffering was kept to a minimum. It was surely less than at that
private location in Washington state. The last place anyone with a dying
loved one wants to be is inside a courtroom. Kerri kept a level head while
her own heart was clearly breaking, and that trait is usually in very short
supply during such moments.
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Paul Haney
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| Posted: 16 June 2014 at 4:03am | IP Logged
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Here's what I posted on the BSN board earlier this morning:
I first discovered AT40 in 1974 when I was just 8 years-old. Me and my older brother would faithfully write down the Top 40 each week. After my brother lost interest, I kept on listening, never once missing a week. I even started keeping stats on peak position, weeks charted, etc. Even after I discovered that our local library carried Billboard and I could photo-copy the entire Hot 100 chart, I still listened to Casey each week. Casey helped fuel my passion for music, charts and radio. Without him, it's highly unlikely that I'd be working at Record Research today. Casey was one of Joel's very first customers and he bought nearly every book Record Research ever published. It's a shame that all of this melodrama had to play-out in public the past year. RIP to my childhood hero and thanks for all the great memories.
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Bill Cahill
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| Posted: 16 June 2014 at 4:39am | IP Logged
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When Casey's passing was announced Sunday morning, the person in charge of the iheartradio channel purposely loaded the very first show, as it seemed fitting.
Personal note: When Casey turned 75, I was programming his AC show in Richmond VA, and I decided to just send his AOL email account a "Happy 75th Birthday" message.
He actually called my cell phone to thank me for the message.
What a class act.
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crapfromthepast
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| Posted: 16 June 2014 at 7:29am | IP Logged
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Unsurprisingly, Casey was my idol when I was growing up. I'd guess that if you're around my age and you're in radio, Casey and AT40 are probably responsible in some way.
When I started "Crap From The Past" in 1992 (!), I unintentionally swiped the show structure from AT40. Right from the start, I used two-song sets with a pre-produced ID between the songs. The talk breaks always focus on the song about to be played, rather than on the previous one. This gives a forward momentum to the show, which is crucial for pacing the show properly. It turns out that the forward momentum is just good radio technique, and AT40 didn't invent it, but that's where I heard it first, and in my head, that's what I've been trying to emulate all these years.
I use Casey clips extensively on the show every week. I turned about 300 out-of-context Casey sound bites into CFTP IDs. Examples: "I'd like to take everyone who's doing evil in the world and turn them on to the positive energy of disco dancing... on Crap From The Past". "He did a pretty good job for a guy who stands about 5'7" and weighs maybe 130 pounds... on Crap From The Past". And so on - there are about 298 others, all gems.
Over the years, I've tried to keep a professional distance from Casey and the AT40 staffers. I didn't want to come across as overenthusiastic fanboy; I know from being on the air every week how such enthusiasm can be perceived. More importantly, I really didn't want to upset them with my 300 CFTP IDs, since those are such an integral part of what I do every week.
I've gotten to contribute to some of the books about AT40. I'm in Rob Durkee's book (in the acknowledgements, right before Debbie Gibson!) and Pete Battistini's '80s-era AT40 book.
The only time I reached out to Casey was a letter that I sent to him in 2009, when he stepped down from hosting the countdown shows. An AT40 staffer got in touch with me afterward. He said that Casey read it, appreciated it, and put in a folder of personal memorabilia. The call from the staffer was a very gracious way to acknowledge my letter, and I feel satisfied knowing that I got to tell him how much he and his show meant to me and so many other DJs out there.
For my show this Friday, the radio industry is expecting me to put together the Casey tribute-to-end-all-tributes. I have a whole lotta Casey material to sift through between now and Friday. If you think you have some AT40 oddity that I don't, and you'd like to share, please contact me offline - I can use all the help I can get.
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There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one Crap From The Past.
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Todd Ireland
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| Posted: 17 June 2014 at 10:54pm | IP Logged
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Some of my life's fondest memories include my family trips to visit my grandparents as a child. During those long road trips (well, the travel time was somewhere between five and six hours long, which felt like an ETERNITY to a restless, hyperactive kid like myself cooped up in the back seat next to his annoying little brother!), I always remember hearing Casey Kasem's American Top 40 countdown show come through the car radio at some point and I would always settle down and listen. I not only loved the music, but found Casey's stories captivating. His distinct delivery no doubt influenced me in my very young age to take an interest in music and dream about someday becoming a disc jockey.
Even though I would eventually become a huge fan of the Shadoe Stevens era of AT40, I always regarded Casey Kasem as the true godfather of the modern-day pop music countdown format. And no matter if I was doing a radio show in college or (in my brief stint) as a professional broadcaster, I always found myself enthusiastically relaying chart-related information and fascinating trivia about the music I was playing... just like Casey.
Sadly, the world lost one of its last remaining true radio legends this past weekend.
Edited by Todd Ireland on 17 June 2014 at 10:56pm
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mainrhythm
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| Posted: 18 June 2014 at 6:27am | IP Logged
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Here are some liners/drops and a legal ID Casey did for a station I was at in 2001. These were dubbed from two carts. I think I dubbed these off to CD initially because our CD players were pitched up 2% and when playing these off of cart going back into the show they didn't sound right with pitched up Casey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op84sL4TBCk
Edited by mainrhythm on 18 June 2014 at 6:34am
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Santi Paradoa
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| Posted: 03 October 2020 at 10:27am | IP Logged
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I recently heard the Sept. 1971 show where Casey played
a song I had never ever heard before. He played "The
First Time" by the Glass Bottle which is the b-side of
the #36 song in that week's countdown "I Ain't Got Time
Anymore." First time I heard that blunder.
Edited by Santi Paradoa on 03 October 2020 at 10:27am
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Santi Paradoa
Miami, Florida
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eriejwg
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| Posted: 03 October 2020 at 8:32pm | IP Logged
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Santi Paradoa wrote:
I recently heard the Sept. 1971
show where Casey played
a song I had never ever heard before. He played "The
First Time" by the Glass Bottle which is the b-side of
the #36 song in that week's countdown "I Ain't Got Time
Anymore." First time I heard that blunder. |
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There was talk about this on the AT40 group on Facebook.
If I recall, they played the B side 2 weeks in a row then
finally played the correct A-side and then the song
disappeared from the countdown.
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John Gallagher
John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment
Snapblast Photo Booth
Erie, PA
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Chartman
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| Posted: 04 October 2020 at 7:08am | IP Logged
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Santi Paradoa wrote:
I recently heard the Sept. 1971 show where
Casey played
a song I had never ever heard before. He played "The
First Time" by the Glass Bottle which is the b-side of
the #36 song in that week's countdown "I Ain't Got Time
Anymore." First time I heard that blunder. |
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Funny when I listen to AT40 on SiriusXM I always have the Hot 100 in
front of me so as to make sure I don’t miss a good song. This song was
one of my favorites on this countdown and of course they played the
wrong side! So I waited until two less desirable songs came up and
then went to YouTube to listen to the correct Glass Bottle song.
I always thought the the fact that AT40 and Record Research used the
billboard charts was a significant factor in increasing billboard’s
dominance in charts. What if they used Cashbox’s charts instead?
Every listener would have sought out the magazine and tremendously
increased its popularity.
PS most SiriusXM listeners (including myself) who listen to 60s on 6
thought Lou Simon’s weekly countdowns were even better than Casey.
They don’t have the nostalgia of being an actual countdown from the
time but Lou’s style and the great songs were hard to beat.
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Top 40 Music on Compact Disc : Chat Board
Topic: Another AT40 question
