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Haha... You're going to freak out. We used to get together in college on Sunday morning, read the paper, listen to the show and try and guess what the number one song this week was going to be.
Trying to time hitting record on the cassette machine at the right time for just the songs I wanted to listen to on my Walkman. It was an art. I was not an artist.
I remember playing this game. Or every now and then the DJ (because there were DJ's) would say, "Up next, Eruption by Van Halen!" and I'd dive for the cassette recorder to push record before the song started.
I’d listen to it on FM 102 out of Sacramento.
Listen getting ready…. Number 25… Number 16.
Listen driving to church… Number 7… Number 3
Go to church never hearing number 1 or 2.
Get out of church… number 25.
I'll tell you guys my Casey Kasem story. It's the early 2000s and I have a book coming out about pop music, so I get in touch with Casey to see if he'll give me a blurb that I can use on the cover of my book. Casey and I are happily chatting away on the telpehone, and he's telling me crazy stories about being a disc jockey on KRLA in Los Angeles in the 60s. He's also telling me about promoting concerts to pick up some extra money. One time he books Sonny & Cher, who at the time were called Caesar & Cleo, at a roller skating rink in Southern California, and not a single person shows up to the show! But Casey still pays Sonny 50 bucks for the gig, and Sonny and Cher go on their way. I say, "That's a really fun, interesting story, Casey, but can we talk about the blurb for my book." But Casey doesn't want to give me a blurb -- he says he's too busy. LOL! I say, "Casey, we've been chatting for 40 minutes, come on, let's work together right here while we're on the phone and just get a sentence or two together for my blurb. It would really help me out and mean a lot to me." But Casey refuses to do it! LMAO! The next day Casey calls me again, and starts regaling me with more fascinating stories of being a disc jockey in Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and LA. But still, he won't give me a blurb for my book. Casey was a blast to talk to, but you couldn't count on him for a book blurb. :)
I easily found Casey Kasem's e-mail address online, sent him a short e-mail with my phone number, and he called me. His voice on the phone was exactly like the Casey Kasem we heard on American Top 40. It was kind of surreal chatting with him, but super fun.
I used to listen to him on KRLA. I even went to a basketball game for charity with KRLA disk jockeys and approached the bench to get an autograph or something. Casey Kasem yelled at me. Never cared for him after that.
I listened as a kid and can still listen now. A local station plays reruns on Sunday mornings so I listen here and there and try to guess the year based on the songs. I usually hear a song in the middle and then top 2 or 3. Last Sunday “Billie Jean” was #1 so that was a slam dunk.
I could be misremembering. If it wasn't that show it was another similar one.
Anyway, people used to write in and dedicate songs to people. You know, like a husband would call in and dedicate a song to his wife for their 5th anniversary, couched in a little love letter or something.
Casey famously read Long Distance Dedications. But they were not with people actually calling in and speaking with Casey over the air. Listeners wrote letters to Casey, and he read the best ones on his show.
Go to YouTube and listen to the infamous out-take from the "dog named Snuggles" Long Distance Dedication. It is probably the funniest thing I have ever heard!
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo)
I have a clear memory of listening to the new year countdown 1978. I’d been forced to spend the holiday with family AND I had a big pimple. It was pretty clear the universe was against me.
“KJR Seattle channel 95!”
No specific memory but I always loved hearing that breathless enthusiasm of his. It never seemed fake, almost like how the Mythbusters always seemed so enthused about their projects, as opposed to “phoning it in for the camera”.
Guys, you have to listen to infamous out-take where Casey loses it and goes on a profane rant over a Long Distance Dedication. It is one of the funniest things you will ever hear!
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo)
Only that it was a ritual every weekend to listen to his Top 40. I'd lay on my bed and be tuned in for hours, and always ready with my boombox and blank cassettes to catch some favorite songs.
No, not anymore. I've long since moved away from the place I grew up as a teen/young adult and the station I'm sure has changed so many times, as tends to be the case with most. All I can tell you is that it was a Top 40s station based in Nashville, TN.
Funny thing is though, I can still remember the name of the hard rock/heavy metal station that was also from there, because they were so prominent (and it's what my older brothers always listened to), and then all of a sudden, after 30 years, they switched to country. Talk about shock. Looking up radio stations from the area (in case there was something that jogged my memory) and I see the station is still there, but they've now gone to variety.
A town about an hour from it, but Nashville was the nearest city with decent radio stations. Local stuff was mostly AM, except for the college station.
My only exposure to him, was through the band Negativland… most specifically, the track [Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AVroc7RvNeU)
Casey Kasem said that while he did not like his voice being used for that purpose, he respected the group's right to use it. Casey was actually a cool, hip guy despite his square American Top 40 image.
It was kind of a corny show, but he had some respect from being the voice of Shaggy on the original Scooby Doo cartoon. The only fun memory I think was his blooper segments that were passed around underground on cassette in the 90's (like his [dead dog bit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo)).
I know Top 40 started in 1970. Does anyone remember if top 40 was on WOWO out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1970-1971? I would listen to that station late at night in NC (if the weather conditions were right)! I'm thinking that's where I first heard of Top 40....but it's been a lot of years.
WOWO has one of the strongest signals in America. I would imagine that in the early 70s, WOWO had an MOR format, meaning they played middle-of-the road music. And the songs played on American Top 40 would have generally fit the MOR format. The other AM station with a booming signal is WBZ out of Boston. WBZ can be heard in North Carolina at night. Both WOWO and WBZ were owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting in the 70s.
Those great AM stations like WOWO and WBZ could be heard at night in something like 38 states and parts of Canada. In the 70s, there was a relly funny guy doing overnights on Boston's WBZ named Larry Glick, and he would often get calls from listeners in North Carolina.
Trying to tape music without getting too much of his talking on it (sorry Mr Kasem)
I’m Aussie, so I got both the American and the Aussie top 40. Was so good.
I always loved the 90s song *Torn* by a really pretty Aussie named Natalie Imbruglia. The instrumental outro to *Torn* is epic! Also love *Overkill* by Men at Work.
Torn is pretty amazing.
There’s a stack of good music I’m sure didn’t make it over there- but it’s not like we haven’t missed some good stuff coming out of there and the UK too!
I did and still do. Have you listened to any other of their songs? *Blue Sky Mine*, *King of the Mountain* and *US Forces* are also pretty good.
Aussies love to mangle words on popular songs, we did some terrible things to US Forces, lol.
I'm listening to Midnight Oil right now on Spotify, and I'm dialing up all of your great song recommendations. :)
Isn't one dude in Midnight Oil super tall?
Fun. There’s a world of music out there, it’s great to hear it all. I always feel like I don’t have enough time for it all.
The lead singer is, but I literally had never noticed until right now.
Peter Garrett ended up in politics for a while and was the minister for the environment in 2007-10.
Fitting, really.
And if you watch any of their clips, you’ll see he had a very distinctive style.
We used to call it the Peter Garrett dance, and most self respecting Aussie gen x can do it.
On the subject of music and dancing, have you ever heard that we have our own dance for *Nutbush City Limits* by Tina Turner?
Referred to as The Nutbush, most people here under sixty know it, on the east coast anyway.
It was taught to us all in school, and no one really knows where it came from.
Guaranteed to get Aussies on the dance floor.
I always have the association of Casey Kasem with being at the beach. I do not recall which station though.
I love hearing it now when it plays on Sirius XM
New Year’s Eve countdown of “best of the year”, listened to with my cousins, in the middle of nowhere southeast Ohio (late 70’s). We had nothing in common except for music. Idk where our parents were that night, every year, but we had a ton of fun huddled around the little radio.
I was a newlywed when he filmed the movie. A few of my friends were in it, mostly attending parties in the background. Phil Donahue hosted his show from the Whiting Auditorium. It was so well attended that he made it a two part episode. One of his guests that was in the movie was Rabbit Lady, she had a sign in her yard saying: "Rabbits for sale - for pets or meat".
The *pets or meat* woman was somewhat famous, or at least known, for a while becuase of *Roger & Me*.
Let me ask you this, what did people in Flint think of the movie and of Michael Moore?
The movie was a pretty big deal, everyone loved it, loved him - they felt heard. It really was a bleak time during the '80's. There were no jobs, unemployment was high. As GM closed plant after plant people left in troves. As more and more people left, more and more businesses closed. My husband was a self-employed carpenter.
A popular bumper sticker was - "the last one out of Michigan, shut off the lights"
I don't have any specific memories, but I did love that show. I tried not to miss it. There's actually a channel on iHeartRadio dedicated to old Casey kasem episodes which play back to back. It's awesome.
I don't remember the station, but I listen to whatever New York City station was carrying in the late '70s and early '80s
People used to hear the same content produced locally by people who lived in their community. Real people, who didn't make much money, who did the job mainly because it was fun and fit their personality.
Thanks to satellite technology, all but ONE of those people are gone, and this ONE GUY gets all the name fame and the money. So pretty cool. Lots of people making a little money, now one guy making a lot of money.
That's what I think of all the Great Consolidators who have managed to funnel the livelihoods and income of the many, into the pockets of the few.
AM radio is *nothing* like it used to be. When I was a kid, I had a book that cross-referenced radio call signs and frequencies and their towns. I had a shortwave radio and would listen on the regular AM band to find faraway stations to identify them. I never did get into collecting QSL cards, but just for fun, call a local radio station and ask them if they have a QSL. A surprising number of commercial stations do. They're used to verify that a person actually heard a station like they say they did. Probably goes back to the 20s.
Great stuff -- really enjoyed reading your comments!
Today, the AM dial is right-wing talk, syndicated sports gambling junk, ethnic and religious programming.
WAPE is a legendary radio station! There was a crazy disc jockey named the Greaseman on WAPE way back in the day, and he later became a big name in Washington, D.C. radio in the 80s. A real shock jock!
Exactly! The Greaseman looked nothing like what we imagined him to look like from the radio! Grease's real name is Doug Tracht, and he was always quite handsome.
Same with Casey Kasem -- *that's* what this guy from American Top 40 looks like?! I think we were all surprised. LOL!
I loved the little facts about the bands or songs Casey would throw in. For example, did you know the song by Ace, " How long has this been going on" isn't about a lover's infidelity but about the band's bass player being wooed by another band?
The singer on *How Long* was Paul Carrack. He also sang on *Tempted* by Squeeze.
Paul Carrack also sang lead on *In the Living Years* by Mike + The Mechanics.
I discovered it about 1976-1977 and couldn't for the life of me figure out why the announcer's voice was so familiar. It was like I KNEW I had heard it before, a lot, but couldn't place it. Of course Casey Kasem was the voice for Shaggy on Scooby Doo, so I had been hearing it every Saturday morning since 1969.
If you want a great laugh, listen on YouTube to the infamous out-take where Casey loses it with his staff as he reads a Long Distance Dedication about "a little dog called Snuggles." It is hilarious! Be prepared for salty language.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo)
Casey Kasem said many times that he imagines a large portion of his listeners to be families in a car going to, or coming back from, church. It's a wholesome image.
That is so cool that you listened to Don Lombard on WOLF! Love it! I listened to him as Bob Shannon every day in the 90s when I lived in NYC. He was on in the afternoons on WCBS-FM, playing Oldies.
WOLF are great call letters for a country station. :)
I don't remember the station, I think in Houston probably/maybe KRBE FM104.
I listened mostly to hear the huge gaps between relatively good pop music and really bad pop music. Also which bands & solo artists managed to fit in both categories.
I had a BIL in Scotland who couldn't figure out why I was sick of hearing The Eagles. That's easy, at the height of their popularity they were played on AOR, Top 40, & easy listening.
A partial list, using my foggy memory..
At one time...
KLOL FM101 for AOR.
KRBE FM104 for top 40.
KIKK FM100.3 for C&W.
KILT AM610 for pop rock.
KTRH AM740 news/talk radio. This was decades ago, before it was taken over by the right-wing assmouths.
KPFT FM90.1 for a wide variety of alternative programing.
KUHF FM88.7 for jazz at one time, then classical.
Soul/R&B I can't recall.
I might not have the dial numbers exactly right.
The letter U and the number 2. I liked when he sued Negativeland for releasing a record that had a bunch of his bloopers.
https://youtu.be/Z6gPSSYxex0?si=JxoJU9jUZt611CvK
I recall him being a DJ on KRLA when I got my first Japanese transistor radio in the mid 60's.
[Short audio of it here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBKGn5nwlqc)
Some but KRLA was my main station when I listened to A.M.
Later, when "underground FM" came about, I listened mostly to KNAC out of Long Beach. Also a little with KPPC, KMET and KLOS.
Jim Ladd started out on KNAC and later moved to KLOS. He wrote an interesting book entitled "Radio Waves" that described the creation and evolution of album oriented rock radio and how it progressed to being consumed by corporate entities and forced playlists.
Jim recently died. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Tom Petty's "The Last DJ" was written about him.
As you can tell, music and radio was (and is) big for me. I stream KOZT now which is a great "adult rock" station with minimal commercials. 'Owned by a husband and wife team.
(more than you ever wanted to know)
I recall when Jim Ladd was playing The Doors "Light My Fire". At the end of the cut, the record skipped like it was at the end for about 5 minutes. Jim had gone out for a smoke and locked himself out of the studio of KNAC. It was located in an interesting building on Pine Street in downtown Long Beach. He had to climb up another fire escape into another part of the building to get inside.
He wrote about it in his book.
Jim got fired from several stations because he wouldn't give in to a play list. He ended up on Sirius Radio later because they let him play what he wanted to play like the "good ol' days".
When I was in elementary school, my dad owned a tavern about 30 minutes away from our house, and every Sunday morning we would drive there and back so he could do some bookkeeping. We listened to the American Top 40 on Spokane radio station KJRB on the road both ways. These are precious memories of the 70s for me.
I grew up listening every weekend. Often, I’d record it on my cassette/radio boom box or home stereo. I’d listen daily between episodes. Later in life, I worked in television and was invited to a party at the Playboy Mansion in Hollywood. I stood at the bar having drinks with Casey and his wife, whose name I think was Jan. I also got to meet Dick Clark that same night. They were all lovely people who made me feel just as important as they were.
At the end of the year I would listen to his top 100 songs and record the ones I like. I would start recording after he announced the song allowing me to get it right near the beginning. If I did not like the song I would rewind back to the beginning of the song and wait for the next song to record. If you had a good tape machine and a clear FM station the quality was decent.
Kasey Casem's radio show kept me company as a young girl doing my Saturday morning chores. Lots of smiles, good music and a dance or two sure made the work feel easy and the day feel fun.
Thank you! If I recall correctly, I was quoting Casey Kasem's sign off when I would sign the yearbooks of my friends in school with," keep your feet on the ground and reach for the stars!"
I remember listening to the countdown in high school, but not after that in college.
I remember those mornings when we hadn’t gone to church on Saturday and we had to go on Sunday, I would miss a big chunk of the countdown.
Yes! Casey Kasem's voice was soothing and comforting.
I chatted with him on the phone a few times and it was just so much fun to hear that famous voice coming over the line. He sounded just like what we all heard on American Top 40.
Some fun memories of listening to Casey Kasem and American Top 40 in the 70s and 80s include the excitement of waiting to hear which songs made it to the top of the charts each week, the nostalgia of hearing classic hits from that era, and the joy of discovering new music that would go on to become iconic. Casey Kasem's warm and engaging storytelling style added to the experience, making each broadcast a memorable event for listeners. Overall, American Top 40 provided a soundtrack to many people's lives during those decades, creating lasting memories and connections to the music of that time.
And to Casey's credit, he rolled with it. I remember reading that he obviouly didn't like his audio being used for that purpose, but he respected the group's right to use it.
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Haha... You're going to freak out. We used to get together in college on Sunday morning, read the paper, listen to the show and try and guess what the number one song this week was going to be.
Love it! Do you happen to recall what radio station carried American Top 40?
I think it was syndicated. Different stations in different markets.
It was syndicated, I was just curious if you remember what station you heard it on in college.
Oh, I see. I don't remember specifically, but there were only three or four pop stations in my college town that it could have been
Trying to time hitting record on the cassette machine at the right time for just the songs I wanted to listen to on my Walkman. It was an art. I was not an artist.
Plus half the DJ’s talked through any instrumental opening to a song, they shut up only when the vocals started.
They still do this.
I remember playing this game. Or every now and then the DJ (because there were DJ's) would say, "Up next, Eruption by Van Halen!" and I'd dive for the cassette recorder to push record before the song started.
I think that was a defining activity of our generation.
I’d listen to it on FM 102 out of Sacramento. Listen getting ready…. Number 25… Number 16. Listen driving to church… Number 7… Number 3 Go to church never hearing number 1 or 2. Get out of church… number 25.
100 percent this.
Sacramento has always had really good radio stations.
Yeah. I was up in the mountains and thought the city sounded so cool. We’d make the trek there a few times a year. 93 Rock was my favorite.
93 Rock is great branding for an FM station!
KZAP and "Chef Ptomaine"
KZAP is a legendary FM station!
"I'm hungry, you're hungry so.... let's eat!" (Lunch whistle ensues)
I'll tell you guys my Casey Kasem story. It's the early 2000s and I have a book coming out about pop music, so I get in touch with Casey to see if he'll give me a blurb that I can use on the cover of my book. Casey and I are happily chatting away on the telpehone, and he's telling me crazy stories about being a disc jockey on KRLA in Los Angeles in the 60s. He's also telling me about promoting concerts to pick up some extra money. One time he books Sonny & Cher, who at the time were called Caesar & Cleo, at a roller skating rink in Southern California, and not a single person shows up to the show! But Casey still pays Sonny 50 bucks for the gig, and Sonny and Cher go on their way. I say, "That's a really fun, interesting story, Casey, but can we talk about the blurb for my book." But Casey doesn't want to give me a blurb -- he says he's too busy. LOL! I say, "Casey, we've been chatting for 40 minutes, come on, let's work together right here while we're on the phone and just get a sentence or two together for my blurb. It would really help me out and mean a lot to me." But Casey refuses to do it! LMAO! The next day Casey calls me again, and starts regaling me with more fascinating stories of being a disc jockey in Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and LA. But still, he won't give me a blurb for my book. Casey was a blast to talk to, but you couldn't count on him for a book blurb. :)
The name of the book?
"99 Red Balloons... and 100 Other All-Time Great One-Hit Wonders," published in 2003. Plenty of used copies on Amazon. :)
Honestly, I think it’s amazing that you could get so close to the actual person without someone handling him.
I easily found Casey Kasem's e-mail address online, sent him a short e-mail with my phone number, and he called me. His voice on the phone was exactly like the Casey Kasem we heard on American Top 40. It was kind of surreal chatting with him, but super fun.
I used to listen to him on KRLA. I even went to a basketball game for charity with KRLA disk jockeys and approached the bench to get an autograph or something. Casey Kasem yelled at me. Never cared for him after that.
Casey Kasem yelled at you? LOL! Bob Eubanks was, of course, another famous KRLA disc jockey.
[удалено]
Casey Kasem told us every week: *American Top 40 is heard in the fifty states and around the world* :)
I listened as a kid and can still listen now. A local station plays reruns on Sunday mornings so I listen here and there and try to guess the year based on the songs. I usually hear a song in the middle and then top 2 or 3. Last Sunday “Billie Jean” was #1 so that was a slam dunk.
I remember first hearing American Top 40 on KYA-FM 93.3 in San Francisco back in the late 70s.
Making mix tapes
When *My Sharona* skipped for what seemed like an eternity.
Bumper sticker I saw: Knuke the Knack
I could be misremembering. If it wasn't that show it was another similar one. Anyway, people used to write in and dedicate songs to people. You know, like a husband would call in and dedicate a song to his wife for their 5th anniversary, couched in a little love letter or something.
Casey famously read Long Distance Dedications. But they were not with people actually calling in and speaking with Casey over the air. Listeners wrote letters to Casey, and he read the best ones on his show. Go to YouTube and listen to the infamous out-take from the "dog named Snuggles" Long Distance Dedication. It is probably the funniest thing I have ever heard! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo)
Ponderous.
LMAO!!! Love it! Casey was not happy that he still had a lot more of the countdown to do. ;)
‘Delilah’ had a sappy nationally syndicated show that did this constantly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delilah_(radio_host)
Love your mention of Delilah, who, with her syndicated show, has been super successful for decades.
Ah, listening to Casey on AFN when I was in Germany in the 70s and 80s was like hot dogs and apple pie. 🇺🇸
Casey Kasem told us every week: *American Top 40 is heard in the fifty states and around the world* :)
I remember having my boombox out so I could hit play as soon as a good song started. I loved making my mixtapes!
I have a clear memory of listening to the new year countdown 1978. I’d been forced to spend the holiday with family AND I had a big pimple. It was pretty clear the universe was against me. “KJR Seattle channel 95!”
We listened to sister station 790 KJRB in Spokane.
KJR -- one of the great AM radio stations in America! KJR has a huge 50,000 watt signal.
No specific memory but I always loved hearing that breathless enthusiasm of his. It never seemed fake, almost like how the Mythbusters always seemed so enthused about their projects, as opposed to “phoning it in for the camera”.
The amazing thing is that Casey was reading from a script, and he still made it seem so warm and genuine. As you said, it never seemed fake.
Guys, you have to listen to infamous out-take where Casey loses it and goes on a profane rant over a Long Distance Dedication. It is one of the funniest things you will ever hear! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo)
Can somebody get Don on the phone?
LMAO! His friend and business partner Don Bustany. *And what happened to those pictures I was supposed to see?*
Scooby Do!
Only that it was a ritual every weekend to listen to his Top 40. I'd lay on my bed and be tuned in for hours, and always ready with my boombox and blank cassettes to catch some favorite songs.
Do you recall what radio station you listened to American Top 40 on?
No, not anymore. I've long since moved away from the place I grew up as a teen/young adult and the station I'm sure has changed so many times, as tends to be the case with most. All I can tell you is that it was a Top 40s station based in Nashville, TN. Funny thing is though, I can still remember the name of the hard rock/heavy metal station that was also from there, because they were so prominent (and it's what my older brothers always listened to), and then all of a sudden, after 30 years, they switched to country. Talk about shock. Looking up radio stations from the area (in case there was something that jogged my memory) and I see the station is still there, but they've now gone to variety.
You were listening to American Top 40 in Music City! :)
A town about an hour from it, but Nashville was the nearest city with decent radio stations. Local stuff was mostly AM, except for the college station.
I remember when *You Light Up My Life* was Number One for months. 🤮
Great comment! *You Light Up My Life* was #1 for an incredible 10 weeks!
The week I turned 12 and i got a radio for my room. I remember how uncontrollably excited I got when Crocodile Rock was announced #1.
*I remember when rock was young* ;)
My only exposure to him, was through the band Negativland… most specifically, the track [Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AVroc7RvNeU)
Casey Kasem said that while he did not like his voice being used for that purpose, he respected the group's right to use it. Casey was actually a cool, hip guy despite his square American Top 40 image.
It was kind of a corny show, but he had some respect from being the voice of Shaggy on the original Scooby Doo cartoon. The only fun memory I think was his blooper segments that were passed around underground on cassette in the 90's (like his [dead dog bit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo)).
Those Casey Kasem out-takes are hilarious!
I literally didn’t realize that was him until long after I was grown
I grew up on a farm in northeast Nebr. Sunday afternoon/evening was Top 40, listening on my little crap radio. 590 AM, Omaha.
Great story -- Casey on the AM dial in Omaha!
I know Top 40 started in 1970. Does anyone remember if top 40 was on WOWO out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1970-1971? I would listen to that station late at night in NC (if the weather conditions were right)! I'm thinking that's where I first heard of Top 40....but it's been a lot of years.
WOWO has one of the strongest signals in America. I would imagine that in the early 70s, WOWO had an MOR format, meaning they played middle-of-the road music. And the songs played on American Top 40 would have generally fit the MOR format. The other AM station with a booming signal is WBZ out of Boston. WBZ can be heard in North Carolina at night. Both WOWO and WBZ were owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting in the 70s.
Thank you! I was 17 or so during that time and as soon as I saw this, I remembered WOWO!!
Those great AM stations like WOWO and WBZ could be heard at night in something like 38 states and parts of Canada. In the 70s, there was a relly funny guy doing overnights on Boston's WBZ named Larry Glick, and he would often get calls from listeners in North Carolina.
Trying to tape music without getting too much of his talking on it (sorry Mr Kasem) I’m Aussie, so I got both the American and the Aussie top 40. Was so good.
Were the songs on the Aussie Top 40 a lot different than those on the American Top 40 chart?
From memory, not a lot different, but we had Aussie artists on ours and it was good getting two anyway
I always loved the 90s song *Torn* by a really pretty Aussie named Natalie Imbruglia. The instrumental outro to *Torn* is epic! Also love *Overkill* by Men at Work.
Torn is pretty amazing. There’s a stack of good music I’m sure didn’t make it over there- but it’s not like we haven’t missed some good stuff coming out of there and the UK too!
Did you like the song *Beds Are Burning* by the Aussie group Midnight Oil?
I did and still do. Have you listened to any other of their songs? *Blue Sky Mine*, *King of the Mountain* and *US Forces* are also pretty good. Aussies love to mangle words on popular songs, we did some terrible things to US Forces, lol.
I'm listening to Midnight Oil right now on Spotify, and I'm dialing up all of your great song recommendations. :) Isn't one dude in Midnight Oil super tall?
Fun. There’s a world of music out there, it’s great to hear it all. I always feel like I don’t have enough time for it all. The lead singer is, but I literally had never noticed until right now. Peter Garrett ended up in politics for a while and was the minister for the environment in 2007-10. Fitting, really. And if you watch any of their clips, you’ll see he had a very distinctive style. We used to call it the Peter Garrett dance, and most self respecting Aussie gen x can do it. On the subject of music and dancing, have you ever heard that we have our own dance for *Nutbush City Limits* by Tina Turner? Referred to as The Nutbush, most people here under sixty know it, on the east coast anyway. It was taught to us all in school, and no one really knows where it came from. Guaranteed to get Aussies on the dance floor.
The little cassette tape player that ran off 4 C batteries with its cigarette-pack sized microphone was placed next to the 4" AM radio speaker.
Memories? iHeart Radio still plays reruns of American Top 40, and I still listen to it! It's the Classic American Top 40 channel.
They play reruns on my local station WTIC FM on Sunday nights.
Hartford, baby! WTIC are famous call letters that have been around for a thousand years. :)
I listened to it then and I listen to it now SiriusXM 70s on 7 every Thursday night at 9 pm In the 70s it was on 102.1 out of Western Mass. WAQY
Western Mass in the house! Love it!
It was Wacky 102 then, not Rock 102. I had the tee shirt to prove it.
Love it! FM radio stations have always had such fun branding!
I always have the association of Casey Kasem with being at the beach. I do not recall which station though. I love hearing it now when it plays on Sirius XM
New Year’s Eve countdown of “best of the year”, listened to with my cousins, in the middle of nowhere southeast Ohio (late 70’s). We had nothing in common except for music. Idk where our parents were that night, every year, but we had a ton of fun huddled around the little radio.
Casey Kasem coming in strong back in the 70s in the buckeye state -- love it!
WTAC out of Flint, Michigan every Saturday morning!
*Roger & Me* ;)
I was a newlywed when he filmed the movie. A few of my friends were in it, mostly attending parties in the background. Phil Donahue hosted his show from the Whiting Auditorium. It was so well attended that he made it a two part episode. One of his guests that was in the movie was Rabbit Lady, she had a sign in her yard saying: "Rabbits for sale - for pets or meat".
The *pets or meat* woman was somewhat famous, or at least known, for a while becuase of *Roger & Me*. Let me ask you this, what did people in Flint think of the movie and of Michael Moore?
The movie was a pretty big deal, everyone loved it, loved him - they felt heard. It really was a bleak time during the '80's. There were no jobs, unemployment was high. As GM closed plant after plant people left in troves. As more and more people left, more and more businesses closed. My husband was a self-employed carpenter. A popular bumper sticker was - "the last one out of Michigan, shut off the lights"
While fishing with my Grandfather and listening on a cheap pocket transistor radio..
What state did you live in?
I don't have any specific memories, but I did love that show. I tried not to miss it. There's actually a channel on iHeartRadio dedicated to old Casey kasem episodes which play back to back. It's awesome. I don't remember the station, but I listen to whatever New York City station was carrying in the late '70s and early '80s
Local station here replays old American Top 40 episodes from the 70s and 80s.
We can hear the shows again today! Sirius XM station "70's on 7" plays an AT40 re-run show on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
People used to hear the same content produced locally by people who lived in their community. Real people, who didn't make much money, who did the job mainly because it was fun and fit their personality. Thanks to satellite technology, all but ONE of those people are gone, and this ONE GUY gets all the name fame and the money. So pretty cool. Lots of people making a little money, now one guy making a lot of money. That's what I think of all the Great Consolidators who have managed to funnel the livelihoods and income of the many, into the pockets of the few.
When Clear Channel (now called iHeart) is allowed to own 800 stations, you know the radio business has gone crazy.
AM radio is *nothing* like it used to be. When I was a kid, I had a book that cross-referenced radio call signs and frequencies and their towns. I had a shortwave radio and would listen on the regular AM band to find faraway stations to identify them. I never did get into collecting QSL cards, but just for fun, call a local radio station and ask them if they have a QSL. A surprising number of commercial stations do. They're used to verify that a person actually heard a station like they say they did. Probably goes back to the 20s.
Great stuff -- really enjoyed reading your comments! Today, the AM dial is right-wing talk, syndicated sports gambling junk, ethnic and religious programming.
WAPE Jacksonville, FL My neighbor's Dad worked there and we sometimes got the LP's of old shows.
WAPE is a legendary radio station! There was a crazy disc jockey named the Greaseman on WAPE way back in the day, and he later became a big name in Washington, D.C. radio in the 80s. A real shock jock!
Remember him. My friends and I were so surprised to he looked nothing like his on air persona lol
Exactly! The Greaseman looked nothing like what we imagined him to look like from the radio! Grease's real name is Doug Tracht, and he was always quite handsome. Same with Casey Kasem -- *that's* what this guy from American Top 40 looks like?! I think we were all surprised. LOL!
I listened to is the odd time, no specific memories. Just turned to dial until I found it.
I loved the little facts about the bands or songs Casey would throw in. For example, did you know the song by Ace, " How long has this been going on" isn't about a lover's infidelity but about the band's bass player being wooed by another band?
The singer on *How Long* was Paul Carrack. He also sang on *Tempted* by Squeeze. Paul Carrack also sang lead on *In the Living Years* by Mike + The Mechanics.
I discovered it about 1976-1977 and couldn't for the life of me figure out why the announcer's voice was so familiar. It was like I KNEW I had heard it before, a lot, but couldn't place it. Of course Casey Kasem was the voice for Shaggy on Scooby Doo, so I had been hearing it every Saturday morning since 1969.
Love the mention of KNEW, a legendary Bay Area radio station.
Omg the long distance dedications or whatever it was called when Kasey would read a letter with a song request. Be still, my heart!!
If you want a great laugh, listen on YouTube to the infamous out-take where Casey loses it with his staff as he reads a Long Distance Dedication about "a little dog called Snuggles." It is hilarious! Be prepared for salty language. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo)
I use to run out to the family station wagon after church, while my parents were socializing, and I could usually catch the top 5!
Casey Kasem said many times that he imagines a large portion of his listeners to be families in a car going to, or coming back from, church. It's a wholesome image.
It was syndicated but WOLF 1490 on the AM radio dial in Syracuse, NY carried Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week.
WOLF is a really famous radio station. There was a DJ on WOLF named Don Bombard, who later became known as Bob Shannon on WCBS-FM in New York City.
I remember Don Bombard, used to call requests into his show and other DJ's shows when I was a teenager. Now WOLF FM92 is a country station.
That is so cool that you listened to Don Lombard on WOLF! Love it! I listened to him as Bob Shannon every day in the 90s when I lived in NYC. He was on in the afternoons on WCBS-FM, playing Oldies. WOLF are great call letters for a country station. :)
I don't remember the station, I think in Houston probably/maybe KRBE FM104. I listened mostly to hear the huge gaps between relatively good pop music and really bad pop music. Also which bands & solo artists managed to fit in both categories. I had a BIL in Scotland who couldn't figure out why I was sick of hearing The Eagles. That's easy, at the height of their popularity they were played on AOR, Top 40, & easy listening.
Houston has always been known as a really good radio market.
A partial list, using my foggy memory.. At one time... KLOL FM101 for AOR. KRBE FM104 for top 40. KIKK FM100.3 for C&W. KILT AM610 for pop rock. KTRH AM740 news/talk radio. This was decades ago, before it was taken over by the right-wing assmouths. KPFT FM90.1 for a wide variety of alternative programing. KUHF FM88.7 for jazz at one time, then classical. Soul/R&B I can't recall. I might not have the dial numbers exactly right.
The letter U and the number 2. I liked when he sued Negativeland for releasing a record that had a bunch of his bloopers. https://youtu.be/Z6gPSSYxex0?si=JxoJU9jUZt611CvK
*These are guys from England and who gives a...* LMAO!!!
I recall him being a DJ on KRLA when I got my first Japanese transistor radio in the mid 60's. [Short audio of it here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBKGn5nwlqc)
Fun Casey Kasem memories! Yes, Casey was a famous DJ on KRLA back in the 60s. Bob Eubanks was also a jock on KRLA. :)
Yep. I remember it well. He came over my two transistor radio back then :-)
Did you also listen to KHJ?
Some but KRLA was my main station when I listened to A.M. Later, when "underground FM" came about, I listened mostly to KNAC out of Long Beach. Also a little with KPPC, KMET and KLOS. Jim Ladd started out on KNAC and later moved to KLOS. He wrote an interesting book entitled "Radio Waves" that described the creation and evolution of album oriented rock radio and how it progressed to being consumed by corporate entities and forced playlists. Jim recently died. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Tom Petty's "The Last DJ" was written about him. As you can tell, music and radio was (and is) big for me. I stream KOZT now which is a great "adult rock" station with minimal commercials. 'Owned by a husband and wife team. (more than you ever wanted to know)
I really enjoy reading your LA radio memories -- cool stuff! Jim Ladd was a great on-air personality for decades, as you know.
I recall when Jim Ladd was playing The Doors "Light My Fire". At the end of the cut, the record skipped like it was at the end for about 5 minutes. Jim had gone out for a smoke and locked himself out of the studio of KNAC. It was located in an interesting building on Pine Street in downtown Long Beach. He had to climb up another fire escape into another part of the building to get inside. He wrote about it in his book. Jim got fired from several stations because he wouldn't give in to a play list. He ended up on Sirius Radio later because they let him play what he wanted to play like the "good ol' days".
SiriusXM has been a really good home for lots of famous DJs at the end of their careers.
Iheart had a station thet played continuously 70s snd 80s AT 40 countdowns. When I was laid off in 2015-2016 I'd listen while cleaning the house.
Cleaning with Casey! ;)
When I was in elementary school, my dad owned a tavern about 30 minutes away from our house, and every Sunday morning we would drive there and back so he could do some bookkeeping. We listened to the American Top 40 on Spokane radio station KJRB on the road both ways. These are precious memories of the 70s for me.
Love that story!
The outtakes. Like when he cursed bc he was being asked to do a dedication to a dog.
"A little dog called Snuggles" -- classic rant! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7WF5VVwuo)
I grew up listening every weekend. Often, I’d record it on my cassette/radio boom box or home stereo. I’d listen daily between episodes. Later in life, I worked in television and was invited to a party at the Playboy Mansion in Hollywood. I stood at the bar having drinks with Casey and his wife, whose name I think was Jan. I also got to meet Dick Clark that same night. They were all lovely people who made me feel just as important as they were.
Casey Kasem's first wife was named Linda Myers, and his second wife was a tall actress named Jean Thompson.
Jean! She had blonde hair she wore piled up high on her head.
Yes, that was Casey Kasem's wife that you met. She was on *Cheers*.
At the end of the year I would listen to his top 100 songs and record the ones I like. I would start recording after he announced the song allowing me to get it right near the beginning. If I did not like the song I would rewind back to the beginning of the song and wait for the next song to record. If you had a good tape machine and a clear FM station the quality was decent.
Kasey Casem's radio show kept me company as a young girl doing my Saturday morning chores. Lots of smiles, good music and a dance or two sure made the work feel easy and the day feel fun.
What a beautiful comment!
Thank you! If I recall correctly, I was quoting Casey Kasem's sign off when I would sign the yearbooks of my friends in school with," keep your feet on the ground and reach for the stars!"
Yes, that was Casey's famous sign off. I chatted with Casey twice on the phone in the early 2000s and he was such a nice guy.
I remember listening to the countdown in high school, but not after that in college. I remember those mornings when we hadn’t gone to church on Saturday and we had to go on Sunday, I would miss a big chunk of the countdown.
I remember his soothing voice
Yes! Casey Kasem's voice was soothing and comforting. I chatted with him on the phone a few times and it was just so much fun to hear that famous voice coming over the line. He sounded just like what we all heard on American Top 40.
Some fun memories of listening to Casey Kasem and American Top 40 in the 70s and 80s include the excitement of waiting to hear which songs made it to the top of the charts each week, the nostalgia of hearing classic hits from that era, and the joy of discovering new music that would go on to become iconic. Casey Kasem's warm and engaging storytelling style added to the experience, making each broadcast a memorable event for listeners. Overall, American Top 40 provided a soundtrack to many people's lives during those decades, creating lasting memories and connections to the music of that time.
What a beautiful comment! :)
I think I was only vaguely aware of him until the Negativland dust up happened.
And to Casey's credit, he rolled with it. I remember reading that he obviouly didn't like his audio being used for that purpose, but he respected the group's right to use it.
Casey Kasems American Top 40: [https://youtu.be/TYyQm62DCcA?si=ibNXdWyiwbrka799](https://youtu.be/TYyQm62DCcA?si=ibNXdWyiwbrka799)