Top 40 Music on Compact Disc: American Top 40: The 70’s

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anthology123
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Posted: 08 January 2008 at 12:53pm \| IP Logged

Does anyone listen to this radio show? I know some of the tracks were
edited to fit the 3 or 4 hour time slot this show fills, but the question is:
Does this show have the original single mixes when a full cut is heard, or
has it been changed? I've been taping the show and may put it on cassette
or CD. I never heard the show until 1979, so I missed quite a few. It's a fun
listen.

Thanks for the info!

crapfromthepast
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Posted: 08 January 2008 at 1:15pm \| IP Logged

The short answer is: it varies, track-to-track.

I've seen a set of production sheets that AT40 used internally, and for each song in the countdown, it listed all the versions available, with their times. It might say 45 - 3:02, LP - 3:58, tape (for custom edits) - 3:26, and so forth. Each track would usually have two or three listed versions. I think the printed times usually accounted for the intro/outro times.

The engineer's job was to make 60 minutes of programming fit into 60 minutes, so picking the versions to use in the show often came down to picking the right song lengths.

So, you really can't tell what the single version is, based on what you hear in the show.

The other side of that, is that if you hear something you've never heard before (the promo edit of "American Pie", or the awesome 45 version of "Two Tickets To Paradise"), then it's a pretty good bet that it first existed on a vinyl 45 at some point. There were custom edits done in-house, but no complicated overhauls or custom remixes that I know of.

I agree that it's a fun listen! I started listening in 1979 when I was 11, and gave up listening to new shows in February, 2003, when Casey stepped down as host.

I'd say virtually every radio personality that's my age was influenced in one way or another by AT40. Whether it's the "Top 5 at 9" on a local station, or a tease for what's coming up later, or just a 90-second tidbit about a song, Casey's shadow looms large. He's been my single, largest influence in my own on-air work, which I'll freely admit.

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sriv94
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Posted: 08 January 2008 at 1:20pm \| IP Logged

Including playing uptempo records before segueing into a dedication about a dog dying? :)

/If you've never heard the outtake MP3 of Kasem losing his temper, it's real funny stuff.
//Hey, post #500! Whoo!

Edited by sriv94 on 08 January 2008 at 1:21pm

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crapfromthepast
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Posted: 08 January 2008 at 1:56pm \| IP Logged

I believe the *&^$%# up-tempo number was "Dare Me" by the Pointer Sisters. There's a whole chapter about the Dead Dog outtake in Rob Durkee's book about AT40.

I'm up to post #200! Woo-hoo indeed!

torcan
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Posted: 08 January 2008 at 4:23pm \| IP Logged

crapfromthepast wrote:

I agree that it's a fun listen! I started listening in 1979 when I was 11, and gave up listening to new shows in February, 2003, when Casey stepped down as host.
.

I started listening in early 1981, a few months after watching "America's Top 10" on TV. I listened almost every week up until about 1993. Music was changing, AT40 was no longer using the Hot 100 and the station I most listened to changed formats and ran the AC version instead.

I always listened to AT40 rather than Casey's top 40, even in the Shadoe years, because I preferred the Billboard countdown to R&R.

I miss the days of hearing the top 40 every weekend.

I'd love to hear these old shows...I guess I really should join the 21st century and get myself hooked-up! :)

Edited by torcan on 08 January 2008 at 4:24pm

RichM921
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Posted: 08 January 2008 at 8:16pm \| IP Logged

torcan wrote:

I always listened to AT40 rather than Casey's top 40, even in the Shadoe years, because I preferred the Billboard countdown to R&R.

Same here. I liked Casey, but anything that wasn't Billboard just wasn't real. However, it wasn't an easy thing to do... After Casey left, AT 40 affiliates were dropping like flies (at least around me.) I had 3 stations to hear AT 40 on in 1988 but by 1990 that number dropped to ZERO!

I guess it really didn't matter since the Billboard chart committed suicide in 1991. Now R&R is the real thing.

80smusicfreak
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Posted: 08 January 2008 at 11:22pm \| IP Logged

anthology123 wrote:

I've been taping the show and may put it on cassette or CD.

torcan wrote:

I'd love to hear these old shows...I guess I really should join the 21st century and get myself hooked-up! :)

For "AT40" fans looking to re-visit old shows from the '70s or '80s, and/or obtain their own copies from a specific week on CD-R, I also highly recommend contacting Shannon Lynn at CharisMusicGroup @ aol.com (no spaces). He is a dedicated collector/restorer of old "AT40" shows, and also buys/sells them on eBay (user id: charismusicgroup). He now owns almost every weekly show from the '70s and '80s, w/ just a few holes left...

When you win an original show on vinyl from him on eBay - as I did several months ago - he also includes an excellent restored copy on CD-R, for FREE. (He later told me via e-mail that he also sells the CD-R copies by themselves for a pretty reasonable set price.) Customers are also automatically added to his mailing list (seems I get an e-mail from him every couple of weeks or so), and I must say, it's truly the "inner circle" of hard-core "AT40" fans/collectors/traders, and Shannon's EXTREMELY knowledgeable on how the show worked, etc...

maciav
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Posted: 08 January 2008 at 11:59pm \| IP Logged

Welcome to the club Music Freak. AT40 is the greatest thing in the history of radio, and for those of us who have also communicated with Shannon in the past and purchased his sets, you are correct: he is very knowledgeable of these shows, and he is a great guy to boot!

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anthology123
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Posted: 09 January 2008 at 2:22pm \| IP Logged

The name Shannon Lynn is credited at the end of every syndicated
AT40:70's broadcast for the remastering of the series.

To be more specific for me, I have been taping the show (3 hours each)
on VHS tape in HI-FI stereo by sending a signal from my FM receiver into
the VCR. I can record 2 shows per tape. I have 8- hour tape in the event
they play a 4 hour show. I am not looking for any particular year, it's just
fun playing a segment and actually recognizing a song making its way up
or down the charts.
Wikipedia lists many stations that are currently playing AT40 and time
schedules. Do a search there on American Top 40.

I also have many tapes of Solid Gold Saturday Night (with Dick Bartley)
recorded in the 80s. That was a great live network radio show. Rock and
Roll's Greatest HIts comes up short, it just isn't the same, too
mainstream.

torcan
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Posted: 10 January 2008 at 4:14pm \| IP Logged

RichM921 wrote:

However, it wasn't an easy thing to do... After Casey left, AT 40 affiliates were dropping like flies (at least around me.) I had 3 stations to hear AT 40 on in 1988 but by 1990 that number dropped to ZERO!

I know what you mean. Starting in Jan. 1989, I had to listen to it on AM for a while until another FM station I could get picked it up in the early '90s. It was worth it!

Just as an aside, another show I loved listening to back then was "Open House Party". We had it from 1989-92 - then my station changed formats and we never got it back. When I was searching the web a while back I was surprised to find it's still on - but it wouldn't be the same now because the music is just not as good.

Edited by torcan on 10 January 2008 at 4:15pm

RichM921
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Posted: 10 January 2008 at 7:08pm \| IP Logged

torcan wrote:

Just as an aside, another show I loved listening to back then was "Open House Party". We had it from 1989-92 - then my station changed formats and we never got it back. When I was searching the web a while back I was surprised to find it's still on - but it wouldn't be the same now because the music is just not as good.

Yeah, OHP is alive and well. My local CHR airs it every Sunday night.

eric_a
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Posted: 10 January 2008 at 7:44pm \| IP Logged

RichM921 wrote:

Yeah, OHP is alive and well. My local CHR airs it every Sunday night.

And, last I heard, John Garabedian was still hosting the Sat. night edition after 20 years. From his basement, no less!

Hykker
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Posted: 11 January 2008 at 10:12am \| IP Logged

eric_a wrote:

And, last I heard, John Garabedian was still hosting the Sat. night edition after 20 years. From his basement, no less!

The Saturday night edition can and does originate from any one of several home studios he has. In addition to his home in suburban Boston he also has a vacation home in Vermont and (I think) another on Cape Cod--all equipped with broadcast studios. He'd fly his staff and guests to wherever the show was originating from that week. Not sure how often he uses the remote studios these days...I've heard he's lost his pilot's license due to failing eyesight.

I had the opportunity to sit in on OHP about 10 years ago when John did both Saturday & Sunday shows. The guy was amazing to watch...he'd be voicetracking the Sunday show while the Saturday one was airing live. Those of us in the studio had no idea what was going on the air & what was being tracked. At the time he was using a custom-made music-on-hard-drive system.

jrjr
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Posted: 11 January 2008 at 2:14pm \| IP Logged

a little off the main topic here, but does anyone know where to acquire the "AT40" book by rob durkee??? i have searched the internet and so far have zip... i know it's out of print, but is it out of circulation, too??? defamatory material??? suits and countersuits???

crapfromthepast
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Posted: 11 January 2008 at 5:04pm \| IP Logged

jrjr wrote:

defamatory material??? suits and countersuits???

No, far from it. Rob Durkee was the official AT40 statistician for many years in the '80s and '90s. The book is fully sanctioned by all parties concerned. Whether it's out of print or not is a publisher's issue - similar to having your cassette single deleted as soon as it hits #1!

I'm especially fond of the book because I'm listed in the acknowledgements - right before Debbie Gibson!

cmmmbase
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Posted: 11 January 2008 at 9:35pm \| IP Logged

Rob's a good guy - very funny. I work with him at Mediabase 24/7. He's in charge of the Oldies and Mainstream AC formats there.

Edited by cmmmbase on 11 January 2008 at 9:37pm

The Hits Man
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Posted: 12 January 2008 at 12:14am \| IP Logged

I'm another one who listened to the show from 1975-1977, and in 1983, and now on XM radio when I can.

They pretty much played the correct 45 single versions except for a few, where they edited, or used edited versions of those single versions.

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Todd Ireland
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Posted: 12 January 2008 at 12:37am \| IP Logged

crapfromthepast wrote:

jrjr wrote:

defamatory material??? suits and countersuits???

It didn't list you as "crapfromthepast", did it? ;-P (Just kidding!)

Seriously, I was a huge fan of American Top 40, especially during the Shadoe Stevens years while I was living overseas, and I can attest to Rob Durkee's AT40 book being a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining read. I can actually clearly recall so many of the quirky little details he writes about the show!

Gary
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Posted: 12 January 2008 at 7:01pm \| IP Logged

jrjr wrote:

Try the number on this webpage from Rob's website - http://www.angelfire.com/music4/at40coc/bookorder.html

cmmmbase
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Posted: 13 January 2008 at 12:54pm \| IP Logged

Just traded e-mails with Rob and he says the book is out of print just as jrjr surmised.

Edited by cmmmbase on 13 January 2008 at 12:56pm

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