Enjoyable article

[BrettVW]

I just came across this tonight although I know it was written shortly after Casey passed. I enjoyed the authors commentary of each song and it is always fun to read the comments of a casual listener and see how much they actually do match up with how was diehards feel.

www.vulture.com/m/2014/06/dave-holmes-on-1988-casey-kasem-last-top-40.html

[adam31]

Thanks for sharing this, excellent read. This says it for me about why I can't enjoy AT40 with Ryan Seacrest:

Casey Kasem was never cool, and that’s why Casey Kasem was the coolest guy in the history of radio. One cannot imagine Casey calling Debbie Gibson his “good friend,” the way a Ryan Seacrest will a Demi Lovato. One cannot picture Casey Kasem buddying up to Bruce Springsteen or the Pet Shop Boys or Ronnie Milsap. He wasn’t flashy. Until Jean Kasem turned up on Cheers, we didn’t even know he had a wife. That’s because Casey Kasem did a thing that’s inconceivable in our compulsively oversharing world: He avoided the use of the word “I.”

[dukelightning]

I concur esp after hearing the 8/9/03 AT40 that Seacrest guest hosted the other day. He liked every Tom, Dick and Mary on the show and if someone appeared on American Idol, he was all over that. Ridiculous.

[ccwolffenc]

Brett, what Dave Holmes said is probably what a lot of us feel. The current American Top 40 is more or less a showcase of "entertainment," not necessarily just about the pop chart-and unfortunately, Ryan Seacrest (aka the Kardassian's best friend) seems to be the perfect candidate to host the modern AT40, built for an audience who'd rather catch YouTube or iTunes. He's just too freakin' schmoozy, to use a word, and too much a celebrity hound. Casey was all about the MUSIC and the connection with the audience, and how the songs were shaped to touch whatever emotion they might generate, whether doing one of his bio teases or doing a Long Distance Dedication. I can deal with the AT40 of today, but it still sounds, to me, like a watered-down Rick Dees' Weekly Top 40, and Rick KNOWS the music and the audience is what matters, as much as Casey did. And for that matter, I'd rather listen to Rick Dees, who seems to have faded in popularity, and that's a shame-for that matter, I'd even welcome Shadoe Stevens back on the air.