American Top 40

Though this post is somewhat off topic, I think a lot of members would be interested to know this info. I just found out about it a couple days ago. Every week, one of Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" programs from the 70s, and one from the '80s, airs on XMSatellite radio's 70s and '80s channels, respectively. While listening last night, I noticed they usually play single edits and/or mixes (for instance, last night they played the single edit of LRB's "Lady"), and this could be a good way for us to check out the edits and mixes that are no longer played on current radio! These shows don't air chronologically -- they pick a random date from the decade (one per week) and air it twice during the week (without commercials). (I sort of recall there may be the occasional time when the show itself edited a song but that was pretty rare and I think most of the songs play just the way they were as singles). Since so many of us want to know, have, check out the actual single versions, this is one way to discover them. Plus, it sure was a LOT of fun (at least for me) to hear a vintage show of AT40! I never thought I'd have the chance to do that again.

I did the same thing, writing down the songs every Sunday morning. (99X/WXLO-FM in New York, then 66 WNBC in New York, then WPLJ in New York, then 98PXY in Rochester, NY when I went off to college) I still have the 3-ring binder with all the pages from 1979-1989. Fond memories, indeed!

While AT40 played mostly the single edits, that wasn't a hard and fast rule.

I can think of a few examples off the top of my head.

Frank & Moon Zappa's "Valley Girl" only spent 3 weeks in the top 40 in 1982, and at least one of those was the LP version. (Maybe two?) At some point in the song chart life, they switched from LP to 45, or just faded out early.

Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" was the DJ edit throughout its chart life, not the commercial 45 version, much to the dismay of this particular record buyer...

Murray Head's "One Night In Bangkok" began with an orchestra-type intro, then went straight into the vocals during the first verse. I'm not sure if that's the LP version, but it's certainly not the commercial 45.

I believe that Don McLean's "American Pie" was the DJ edit of the song, which clocked in at 5 minutes or so.

AT40 also used to occasionally edit songs to make the show segments fit into the allotted time. And not just during the year-end countdowns - this was year-round, and based on how much time they had to trim for a particular week. This is mentioned in Rob Durkee's book about American Top 40.

On the plus side, the old AT40 shows are where I first discovered the 45 version of Eddie Money's "Two Tickets To Paradise", with extra guitar overdubs and a totally new vocal track with different words!

I'd use the old shows as a guideline, or maybe a way to give yourself a red flag if you hear something you don't recognize. They're not a be-all, end-all, though.

a quick note on "One Night In Bangkok". On the promo 45, there was a version with orchestral intro called the "US Radio Edit". The commercial 45 version was on the other side and was called "Original European Hit".
I also recall hearing the orchestral intro version on AT40 - searched for that version for years, but didn't find it until last year. I believe the LP version was a longer version of the orchestral into version...

It's funny in that I also always heard the "Canadian" version of Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" not the "US" mix when it was out in 1986, though the "US" mix is the one that's by far most readily available on CD.

Edited by cmmmbase

Mike, that's nice to know that occasionally AT40 played single versions, single edits and that these old shows even include some songs that have never been on CD. Since you have made mp3s of all these great finds, I take it you've listened closely on headphones -- can you tell if the show used carts (i.e. tapes) for their sources or the actual 45s (with pops and clicks and all)?

On last night's show I only noticed a vinyl source on a song from the '50s (where they obviously had never received a cart source) but that was the only one I noticed, without listening on headphones, and so it seemed all these non-CD songs (and single mixes) I heard were all from tape sources!

Was the show distributed on vinyl, though? I remember once while hearing the show on WLS in Chicago that during the playing of Barry Manilow's "Read 'Em And Weep," there was a skip.

(The Manilow tune never made it to WLS' playlist, but was carted up as it was played during their local survey countdown show.)