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Post by bobbo428 on Mar 2, 2013 14:53:02 GMT -5
I have had some log-in problems in recent months and wanted to start this feature 2 months ago, the 40th anniversary of the time I became a regular AT40 listener (on WENE Radio in Endicott, near Binghamton, NY).
40 years ago this week (from what I recall), the Stylistics made an impressive debut around #22 with "Break Up to Make Up." Al Green also made a solid debut with "Call Me," while Johnny Nash debuted in the mid-30s with "Stir It Up." Stevie Wonder wrapped up 13 weeks on the top 40 with "Superstition." Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly" reached #1 in only its fifth week on the top 40, replacing Elton John's "Crocodile Rock." The Fifth Dimension's "Living Together, Growing Together" dropped from its peak of 32 to 37. Little did I know that they would never reach the top 40 again. I recall it being a mild but cloudy day in the Northeast. I was still only in fifth grade, and when Casey said "debut," I thought he was saying "day-view," as in first seeing the light of day. The show was on from 7-10 p.m. on Sundays, and my parents usually sent me to bed around the time Casey reached the top 10. I would listen to the top 10 at a very low volume so they wouldn't hear me!
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Post by dukelightning on Mar 2, 2013 15:21:47 GMT -5
^ chrisic and I were in the Albany area 40 years ago and we did not have AT40 at the time. But in 2 weeks we would when WTRY picked it up for the March 17th, 1973 show. Although I would not hear of it until September.
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Post by bobbo428 on Mar 2, 2013 15:40:48 GMT -5
I became hooked on AT40 by late January 1973 and would remain hooked until the late 1980s, when I began to dislike the bland, overly synthesized songs, as well as hair metal.
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Post by pamelajaye on Mar 3, 2013 0:44:27 GMT -5
I was not there till September 74. It aired Sunday mornings. In 73 I was just discovering WROR and its automated 50s oldies format. No Beatles. Maybe some Beach Boys...
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Post by bobbo428 on Mar 3, 2013 1:16:59 GMT -5
During the 1960s and early 1970s (childhood), my music listening consisted mainly of what my parents listened to--the local MOR/light pop station. As a result, most songs from the 1960s I actually remember hearing back then were MOR tunes. I began to listen to the local top-40 station (WENE) by early 1972 and discovered AT40 in passing by November. that station carried AT40 until April 1974--I was not a happy camper when they dropped it, but I found a station 70 miles away that carried it.
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Post by jmack19 on Mar 3, 2013 1:47:39 GMT -5
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Post by pamelajaye on Mar 3, 2013 2:23:42 GMT -5
I was not there till September 74. It aired Sunday mornings. In 73 I was just discovering WROR and its automated 50s oldies format. No Beatles. Maybe some Beach Boys...
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Post by tarobe on Mar 3, 2013 12:50:31 GMT -5
I have had some log-in problems in recent months and wanted to start this feature 2 months ago, the 40th anniversary of the time I became a regular AT40 listener (on WENE Radio in Endicott, near Binghamton, NY). 40 years ago this week (from what I recall), the Stylistics made an impressive debut around #22 with "Break Up to Make Up." Al Green also made a solid debut with "Call Me," while Johnny Nash debuted in the mid-30s with "Stir It Up." Stevie Wonder wrapped up 13 weeks on the top 40 with "Superstition." Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly" reached #1 in only its fifth week on the top 40, replacing Elton John's "Crocodile Rock." The Fifth Dimension's "Living Together, Growing Together" dropped from its peak of 32 to 37. Little did I know that they would never reach the top 40 again. I recall it being a mild but cloudy day in the Northeast. I was still only in fifth grade, and when Casey said "debut," I thought he was saying "day-view," as in first seeing the light of day. The show was on from 7-10 p.m. on Sundays, and my parents usually sent me to bed around the time Casey reached the top 10. I would listen to the top 10 at a very low volume so they wouldn't hear me! Actually, Roberta Flack was in her second week at #1. Casey also made a mistake: In outroing the #30 song, "Hummingbird" by Seals and Crofts, he mentioned their previous hit "Summer Breeze" had peaked at #5. Really it peaked at #6. Casey wasn't the only one mistaken that week. In checking the Billboard Hot 100 for March 3, 1973 this morning, I noticed that the previous week's position for "Hello Hurray" by Alice Cooper (#42) was listed as #40. Actually, it was #50 and Mr. Cooper would enter the 40 next week. This was also a week where Casey DID NOT mention what was at the top of the charts.
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Post by bobbo428 on Mar 25, 2013 23:01:27 GMT -5
I remember hearing this weekend's AT40 presentation as a fifth grader 40 years ago today. (pretending it is actually 1973) The countdown began with my father's favorite song at the time, "Daisy a Day," by Jud Strunk. War had a sizzling debut with "Cisco Kid"; it should be a top-five hit...Jim Croce is struggling with "One Less Set of Footsteps," which moved up only one notch. John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High," which I first heard on a MOR station in late November, is still in the top 40, which I like. another 1972 holdout, Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" wraps up three months in the countdown...Austin ?roberts' "Keep On Singing" has yet to make the top 40, even though I first heard it 6 weeks ago. Sam Neely's "Rosalie" has yet to make the top 40 either. I notice that a lot of songs played on WNBF (the station my parents like) miss the top 40. I'm not sure of the reason. (I was not aware of radio formats yet, though I was aware that WNBF didn't play the harder-rocking songs, though they like acts such as Bread, Roberta Flack, Dawn, and Neil Diamond).
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Post by at40petebattistini on Mar 26, 2013 5:06:50 GMT -5
This time 40 years ago, I was without a local AT40 outlet and was compelled to scan the AM dial searching for the countdown. And the best I could do was listen to Casey on a station more than 300 miles away. WDXR (AM 1560) in Paducah, Kentucky aired the show on Friday nights from 7-10. (The station's transmitter had a directional antenna at night which must've sent the signal north.) Of course, you couldn't call it listening because the signal faded and was static-filled. I even tried recording the show off-air thinking I could fast forward through and listen when I could actually hear something. And that lasted for all of about one week. I tuned in on occasion after that but the effort was mostly futile. Nevertheless, there still was that thrill for locating a station that carried AT40 every week. And then, in April 1973, I traveled within earshot of WTUE-FM in Dayton, Ohio. It was a true, jock-driven Top 40 outlet -- in stereo -- and playing many songs that Casey was playing. (Actually, they were broadcasting in quad.) The program would've been a good fit for this station. Little did I know, however, at the time no station in Dayton carried the program. In fact, Casey and AT40 were snubbed by Dayton radio stations until late 1984.
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Post by bobbo428 on Mar 27, 2013 20:08:20 GMT -5
This time 40 years ago, I was without a local AT40 outlet and was compelled to scan the AM dial searching for the countdown. And the best I could do was listen to Casey on a station more than 300 miles away. WDXR (AM 1560) in Paducah, Kentucky aired the show on Friday nights from 7-10. (The station's transmitter had a directional antenna at night which must've sent the signal north.) Of course, you couldn't call it listening because the signal faded and was static-filled. I even tried recording the show off-air thinking I could fast forward through and listen when I could actually hear something. And that lasted for all of about one week. I tuned in on occasion after that but the effort was mostly futile. Nevertheless, there still was that thrill for locating a station that carried AT40 every week. And then, in April 1973, I traveled within earshot of WTUE-FM in Dayton, Ohio. It was a true, jock-driven Top 40 outlet -- in stereo -- and playing many songs that Casey was playing. (Actually, they were broadcasting in quad.) The program would've been a good fit for this station. Little did I know, however, at the time no station in Dayton carried the program. In fact, Casey and AT40 were snubbed by Dayton radio stations until late 1984. I remember the struggles I had to find AT40 after our local station had dropped it in April 1974. I lucked upon a station 70 miles away and endured a year and a half of static because I was an avid fan. A lot of times, I could not make out the titles of many of the debut songs. In fact, some songs that debuted and fell off in a week, I never knew the titles for years--until I bought The Billboard Book of top 40 Hits and filled in all the missing pieces. (This was before I ever saw a copy of Billboard, which was September 1975.)
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Post by bobbo428 on Mar 27, 2013 20:15:11 GMT -5
During the week of March 31-April 1, 1973, some sort of snafu prevented the show from airing. I surmised that, because it was a stormy day, it was a weather-related problem. Because there would be a special program the following week, I wouldn't be hearing a regular countdown until April 14-15. I began to speculate as to what songs had cracked the top 40. My guesses included Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," dobie Gray's "Drift Away," Ronnie Dyson's "One Man Band" Donna Fargo's "Superman," Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Out of the Question," and Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle." Or, some song our local station wasn't airing could be way up in the top 20 by mid-April.
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Post by tarobe on Mar 27, 2013 21:29:50 GMT -5
Casey made a couple of flubs on the March 24 countdown. He mentioned that Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" was a "former #1 song now dropping to 13" when it was actually at #27 and closing the first hour. Then he mentioned that Seals and Crofts played on the Champs' "Tequila." Not true. (Seals and Crofts were indeed members of the Champs, but not until after 1958. Same story with Glen Campbell.)
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Post by bobbo428 on Mar 27, 2013 22:21:28 GMT -5
Casey made a couple of flubs on the March 24 countdown. He mentioned that Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" was a "former #1 song now dropping to 13" when it was actually at #27 and closing the first hour. Then he mentioned that Seals and Crofts played on the Champs' "Tequila." Not true. (Seals and Crofts were indeed members of the Champs, but not until after 1958. Same story with Glen Campbell.) I remember that throwing me off this past weekend--I missed part of the countdown and came back right before Casey's flub. I was confused because I recall the song being in the 20s when I first heard the countdown as an 11-year-old. It was, incidentally, the song debuting in 1972 that lasted the farthest into 1973.
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Post by tarobe on Mar 28, 2013 22:23:52 GMT -5
Not a flub, but more like the Casey Kasem jinx:
Casey makes a big deal out of Bread before he plays "Aubrey," bragging about how they've had 11 straight Top 40 hits. (He did this a week or two earlier, too.) They won't hit the charts again for over three years.
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