Post by shadster on Aug 3, 2006 21:46:54 GMT -5
I can't remember the 1st #1 I heard either. I have vague memories of hearing the countdown from either the late 70s or early 80s (I wasn't cognitively aware of my surroundings until at least 75). I can't recall if I heard a #1 back then or not, I would hear Casey occasionally in the car on my families long drives home from our beach house sunday nites. My folks liked country so usually that was what i was subjected to but occasionally my sister would change the station. I never had much interest in radio until I got my 1st stereo @x-mas of '83, from then on I was hooked. Initially I latched on to John Leaders Countdown America, allthough I did listen to Casey also as they were both on at the same time. I used to tape most of the Countdown america shows and listen to it throughout the day and week, then next weekend record over it w/ the new show. Man....how many shows I would have if I had kept em... Somehow I got it into my head that listening to Casey wasn't 'cool', and after I discovered Rick dees in 85, I had found my new countdown. I still would occasionlly listen to casey. I remember the week of the CT40 premiere, cuz Power105 (dc) promoted its dabue throughout the week. So I most defintly listened to that 1st show, which I now have a copy of (thanks spt). Even still I prefered Rick for whatever reason. 1990 came and the last shadoe show was heard in washington, never heard another Shadoe show, till I started collecting. Then in 1992, Casey disapeared as WAVA turned christian and Top40 was gone from the Baltimore/washington area. Well almost, there was Z104 out of Frederick but they were a low powered fm which barely even touched the dc area, you really needed a good radio to pick it. Interestingly enough, this was when I started listening to Casey more, oddly enough off of a ROCK station from Hagerstown MD was airing Casey on Sunday mornings, that only lasted till the end of the year. In 1993, I had to goto a lil more extreme efforts to get CT40. The only 2 stations I knew were still airing the show: 1 was in Richmond, Q94 which strangely enough has never deviated from the top40 format for over 30 years, amazing, they aired casey every sunday morning at 8am; the other was mix106.3 from DelMarVa, aka the eastern shore. Both these stations I could pick up from my folks beach house. So that meant I'd hafta make that 2 hour drive every so often to get Casey. Even still, I didn't 'really' like Casey. Blasphemy I know. At first I used to time it so that i would only record the Marc Elliott hosted shows, every 6th week. Soon, though Casey started taking irregular vacations The Mix station aired CT40 on saturday nites, of all nites, BUT they would replay the show sunday nites @midnight. At the time, I was in college and if I didn't want to drive down to the beach house saturday nite, I would wait till sunday nite, leave at 10pm at the latest, so I could be there in time to catch Casey @midnight. At 2am I would typically let the auto reverse deck record the last 2 hours w/a 120 min tape and hit the sack, an listen to the show later. I would only do that if I didn't have classes on monday. Somewhere in 1994 though, that small Z104 station picked up Casey. This was the only time Casey would be anywhere near dc counting down a top40. Thank god I didn't need to goto that beach house anymore, but such things wouldn't last long. Z104 was bought out by the dc station located 1 notch up from them at the beginning of 1995, and Z104 was put on a shelf somewhere. The 2 stations became one and never really had much luck on any format they tried, until they dusted off Z104 an revived it in mid '96. So now, 1995, spring, no top40 statiion for miles an miles. Mix106.3 had dropped Casey also. Now I had but one choice, make more trips back to the beach house to get Casey off Q94 in Richmond sunday mornings, which i started diong in July of '95. I guess it was somewheres around here when I started to appreciate Casey a lot more. Now that it was a commodity that was hard to come by. In 1997 I discovered another Casey affiliate from Harisonburg, va. At least a 2 hours drive, BUT I knew that this station could be heard in the Centreville area, which was only a 15 min drive. Centreville is up on a hill kinda w/ a gorgeous view of the blue ridge mtns to the west, and Q101 would beam over those mtns to reach my radio. So now I didn't hafta drive as far to get Casey but still had to endure summer heat and the freeze of winter from my car. Centreville, like Fairfax, is just another suburb of dc. I would typically only record the show once a month. I didn't get the bright idea to retain countdowns until the end of '97, when i discovered that i still had a piece of the end of the year survey from '96. I thought, hmm, why not keep the end of the year shows? So from then on, I have. Weekly surveys however, I didnt retain. Allthough I do have a few of them from around the end of the century and form this century.
edit: AT40 didnt last too long on Q101 either, I think somewheres around 2000 or 01 they switched to AT20 which really didnt last long and they dropped casey alltogather. So it was at that point, for me, more trips to the beach house to get AT40 up until his last show @ the start of '04. I didnt tape that one cuz I didnt know it was his last show. I was blind sided when I heard Seacrest. I was hoping to hear part 2 of the Top100 (Q94 had aired part 1, for 2 weeks in a row). Never did get part 2.
Even though I've been on the internet since 1994, I never heard of 'trading'. Its only been in the last couple years that ive discovered this hobby and have really gotten into it. However, time is of the esscence, and w/ work, house chores, work, leisure activities and work, its hard to squeeze it in.
I guess I've come full circle, from 1st hearing a fascinating thing called a 'countdown' (which I've always been fascinated w/), thru the voice of Casey Kasem originally, to only in the last decade or so to really appreciate Casey as a major historical figure of our time. And to now, want to collect the shows that I probably never heard to begin with .....maybe I'm exaggerting a lil bit. Its defintly been an interesting ride. I also wouldn't mind hearing some of those John Leader Countdown America shows that instilled in me a love of countdown shows. But I hear those are rare indeed.
edit: AT40 didnt last too long on Q101 either, I think somewheres around 2000 or 01 they switched to AT20 which really didnt last long and they dropped casey alltogather. So it was at that point, for me, more trips to the beach house to get AT40 up until his last show @ the start of '04. I didnt tape that one cuz I didnt know it was his last show. I was blind sided when I heard Seacrest. I was hoping to hear part 2 of the Top100 (Q94 had aired part 1, for 2 weeks in a row). Never did get part 2.
Even though I've been on the internet since 1994, I never heard of 'trading'. Its only been in the last couple years that ive discovered this hobby and have really gotten into it. However, time is of the esscence, and w/ work, house chores, work, leisure activities and work, its hard to squeeze it in.
I guess I've come full circle, from 1st hearing a fascinating thing called a 'countdown' (which I've always been fascinated w/), thru the voice of Casey Kasem originally, to only in the last decade or so to really appreciate Casey as a major historical figure of our time. And to now, want to collect the shows that I probably never heard to begin with .....maybe I'm exaggerting a lil bit. Its defintly been an interesting ride. I also wouldn't mind hearing some of those John Leader Countdown America shows that instilled in me a love of countdown shows. But I hear those are rare indeed.