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Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on Jan 27, 2012 16:45:39 GMT -5
...on Saturday, January 28, 1995, sad news for AT40 fans of yesteryear...
The original run of AT40 aired for the last time. I was just waking up from bed that morning, and when I heard Shadoe mention "Welcome to the last American Top 40", I was like... shocked. A radio show I grew up with in the last half of the 1980s up until the end of the run, I was very sad and devastated to hear the announcement. It came as a surprise, as I was not given a heads-up or anything like that.
A countdown program that started with Marvin Gaye's "End Of Our Road" in July 1970 and went out with Boyz II Men's "On Bended Knee" (the same group that had the hit "End Of The Road"). After the final #1 was played, Shadoe mentioned that they have reached "the end of the road" and the show's closing credits went out a la Hollywood Squares, John Davidson style, with the crew singing "Happy Trails To You" - a very touching way for the show to go out.
It really wasn't the end of the road for AT40. Casey Kasem put new life into the show 3 years later, and is doing quite well with Ryan Seacrest at the mic. AT40 today is not the same for us fans who grew up with Casey Kasem or Shadoe Stevens, but a whole new generation is enjoying today's music and tuning in to Ryan's AT40 on weekends. Ryan has hosted the current run of AT40 the longest.
To be quite honest, I couldn't care less if the current AT40 goes off the air, but I know full well that if it appeals to many younger fans, it ain't going nowhere anytime soon.
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Post by jlthorpe on Jan 28, 2012 9:19:12 GMT -5
And Ryan is the second longest running host of AT40 overall, 8 years (January, 2004 to the present). Shadoe was about 6 1/2 years (August, 1988 to January, 1995). And Casey's combined run is about 24 years (July, 1970 to August, 1988 and March, 1998 to January, 2004), not to mention also hosting Casey's Top 40 and hosting the AT20/AT10 countdowns after Seacrest took over.
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Post by cafy1000 on Jan 28, 2012 11:52:29 GMT -5
Hi,
I was just curious where (in what country) you heard American Top 40 when it went off the air?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2012 12:47:47 GMT -5
It could have aired in Canada. That's international.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2012 15:28:31 GMT -5
I think AT40 was axed in The States after July 4, 1994 , what finished on January 28, 1995 was the show overseas.
I remember that show aired that week on Cadena 40 Spain and how the station switched to the World Chart Show with Ace and Joe and the same mailing address , PO Box 2000 , Hollywood CA 90028. I thought they were joking, later I understood The World Chart Show was "the new AT40 show", I did not know Casey was doing a chart show and Rick Dees took the place on AFRTS Rota and Moron Airbase stations on Saturdays, and later in 1995 Caseys Countdown was taken also by AFRTS on Sundays.
It was so sad, when Spanish radio said AT40 had a rival chart, a strong contender, I never knew it was Casey´s show, I thought it was Rick.
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Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on Jan 28, 2012 16:18:16 GMT -5
I guess all radio stations in the U.S. dropping AT40 after July 4, 1994 and the remainder of the run airing in other parts of the world kind of defeats being called "American Top 40", to be quite honest. I can see why "The World Chart Show" was the perfect replacement - "American Top 40", the name, was becoming redundant for the show's final 7 months on the air, as it no longer aired in America. Thankfully, Casey Kasem gave AT40 a new life in March 1998, though it wasn't the same great sound anymore. And I tuned out AT40 after Ryan's first week of hosting.
And in response to cafy1000: Yes, I am from Canada.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2012 16:35:29 GMT -5
I guess all radio stations in the U.S. dropping AT40 after July 4, 1994 and the remainder of the run airing in other parts of the world kind of defeats being called "American Top 40", to be quite honest. I can see why "The World Chart Show" was the perfect replacement - "American Top 40", the name, was becoming redundant for the show's final 7 months on the air, as it no longer aired in America. Thankfully, Casey Kasem gave AT40 a new life in March 1998, though it wasn't the same great sound anymore. And I tuned out AT40 after Ryan's first week of hosting. And in response to cafy1000: Yes, I am from Canada. Imagine if conventional wisdom had prevailed and Casey Kasem had just stayed at WW1 and not revived AT40 since they weren't interested in renaming the show. |
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Post by Shadoe Fan on Jan 28, 2012 17:56:35 GMT -5
Here's a bit of trivia about the last show...the final station mention was for "Radio Rocks", Moscow, Russia.
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Post by karaokegod on Jan 28, 2012 18:17:39 GMT -5
someone needs to post this show!
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Post by mstgator on Jan 28, 2012 22:14:23 GMT -5
I guess all radio stations in the U.S. dropping AT40 after July 4, 1994 and the remainder of the run airing in other parts of the world kind of defeats being called "American Top 40", to be quite honest. I can see why "The World Chart Show" was the perfect replacement - "American Top 40", the name, was becoming redundant for the show's final 7 months on the air, as it no longer aired in America. True, but they were still airing the Top 40 songs being played on American radio stations, so technically it was still the American Top 40 (whether the show itself was being heard here or not). I can see your point too though.  |
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Post by MEF on Jan 29, 2012 0:36:44 GMT -5
I remember the blooper at the start of the 4th hour from the 1/28/95 show. Just before the #10 song was played, the number #17 jingle was played.
I thought WVKS Toledo did air the final AT40. However, I'm near the Canadian border, it had to be a station from there. I recall hearing the 'happy trails' ending.
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Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on Jan 29, 2012 7:35:31 GMT -5
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Post by Scott Lakefield on Feb 1, 2012 13:13:44 GMT -5
I guess all radio stations in the U.S. dropping AT40 after July 4, 1994 and the remainder of the run airing in other parts of the world kind of defeats being called "American Top 40", to be quite honest. I can see why "The World Chart Show" was the perfect replacement - "American Top 40", the name, was becoming redundant for the show's final 7 months on the air, as it no longer aired in America. True, but they were still airing the Top 40 songs being played on American radio stations, so technically it was still the American Top 40 (whether the show itself was being heard here or not). I can see your point too though. I remember industry people joking at the time that a more appropriate name for WCS would have been "Unamerican Top 36" since the show didn't include American airplay in the rankings and was only a top 36, not a top 40 (now I think it's a top 20). |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2012 14:03:30 GMT -5
Now it is a Top 20 and I never understood why it was a Top 36.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2012 14:45:54 GMT -5
Now it is a Top 20 and I never understood why it was a Top 36. There's a Christian music countdown show called the Weekend 22 and they countdown the top 22 songs. So, people do this for some strange reason. |
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