AT40, still a thrill?

[lasvegaskid]

When I first discovered the re-airings circa 2007 I went apesh*t. I wouldn't miss an XM or terrestrial show. After all some of these I hadn't heard in 25+ years.

Now I still enjoy and listen almost every day. But after 10 years (which is only 8 years less than Casey's entire original run) it is no longer do or die listening. Other than the guest hosted/Shadoe shows, I've heard just about every classic AT40 I care about. If I miss an episode, it is no big deal.

Do you get the same excitement you did when the rebroadcasts first started?

[dukelightning]

Yes I get that. When I first discovered the rebroadcasts in 2010, I was anxiously waiting for each weekend and the terrestrial and XM broadcasts and I did not care that much that one was edited to death and the other was butchered to death. But 7 years later, I have heard every single show from 1970 to late 1988 and I hear 1-2 shows a day. So that eagerness to hear a show is long gone. However, I am still here posting and listening to shows. Hearing the 70s and 80s show each week is still very entertaining. And since I have literally heard over 1000 shows since last hearing for example the 1972 and 1983 shows for this week, it is not all that repetitive because I don't remember all the details. But yes I noticed after 2-3 years of hearing the rebroadcasts, that my feelings had changed since I started hearing the rebroadcasts. And even hearing a show for the first time from the 90s and beyond is not as special. Oh well, what are you gonna do?! Start listening to Rick Dees shows which is why I post in that thread now!

[matt]

Good question...I was just thinking about this recently. I still love listening to the shows, and particularly the ones from my favorite months and years during the original run--after all, there are many songs from the 70s to the 90s that I really like, and there's nothing quite like hearing Casey introduce those songs, whether with a story, station call outs, or just a bare bones intro.

That being said, there was nothing like the first year-plus after I discovered the reruns (2010-11), nothing like being able to hear those shows again for the first time in 25+ years. Every show (especially those from about 1977 on for me) was like a trip back in time, and there's nothing quite like hearing and rediscovering a lost hit that you literally hadn't heard since the song was on the charts. That part has worn off somewhat, and it's probably no surprise.

So, I could probably say that I don't get quite the same excitement now as I did during the first couple years after I discovered the re-airings. However...AT40 and Casey's Top 40 remain the musical content that I listen to the most and would still go out of my way for as much as anything else. I guess I have yet to tire of hearing Casey do the countdowns, and if you think about it, there is so much to hear. I think it's 939 or so shows at 3 or 4 hours a crack. That's many hours of AT40 to get through without hearing the same shows multiple times. And that's just the original 1970-88 AT40 run!

[80sat40fan]

I guess my best answer to this question is... kind of.

If it's a show that hasn't aired previously, I get somewhat excited. If a show is a repeat from a year I love like '76 or '85, I'll certainly listen. However, if both shows are repeats, I sometimes will skip both shows.

When I moved back to St. Louis in 2008 and heard the '70s shows airing Saturday mornings on KLOU, it became must hear radio. When KLOU switched the show to Sunday mornings, I listened just about every week. Since I moved to Detroit in 2013, I sometimes have different work or travel schedules. Because of that, I try my best to listen to a '70s show or an '80s show each weekend but that isn't always possible. However, I still enjoy hearing Casey's voice and his stories most weeks. I rarely listen to shows outside of the weekend hours as I want his shows to still have that "tug" or special feel. If I listen to the iHeart channel too much, his shows lose that feeling. It's kind of like only going to your favorite restaurant every so often... if you go too much, it loses its appeal.

"Once a week with Casey"... that's what I need. I guess you could say I still have a fondness for the shows but not quite the thrill as before.

[Deleted]

Apr 20, 2017 16:19:17 GMT -5 lasvegaskid said:

When I first discovered the re-airings circa 2007 I went apesh*t. I wouldn't miss an XM or terrestrial show. After all some of these I hadn't heard in 25+ years.

Now I still enjoy and listen almost every day. But after 10 years (which is only 8 years less than Casey's entire original run) it is no longer do or die listening. Other than the guest hosted/Shadoe shows, I've heard just about every classic AT40 I care about. If I miss an episode, it is no big deal.

Do you get the same excitement you did when the rebroadcasts first started?

Not really. At times it's a slog to listen to 4 a week. Then I get behind and when I'm 2 /2 months backed up it's a bigger slog.

Having not heard any shows from the 70s or most from the 80s, one of the initial things I thought was cool was listening to songs I knew by heart over the years be heard going up and down the chart when they were popular. That's not a thrill anymore either.

[keithr63]

It depends on the show that is airing

[bm63]

When I first started listening to these broadcasts, it was a thrill to hear a song I had forgotten about that was no longer played. Now that I have been listening for a while, I really don't hear songs like that anymore. I still look forward to both the 70s and 80s shows. I will usually listen to both on Sunday morning while doing other things around the house.

[adam31]

I still look forward to listening, and like many here, get more excited when it's one I haven't heard before. I prefer 1984-91 better than the early part of the 80s and the later 70s ones also. The later 90s and even the AT20s I tend to like a lot too. They bring back a lot of memories,, and a lot more interesting to have the stories told than just to hear the songs on a loop or album. Just when I don't think I will enjoy hearing an AT40, all I have to do is pick one up in the middle and I'm hooked again. There still is hardly a show where I didn't learn something or heard a song I never did or remember hearing before. It also makes the household chores or any kind of work or road trip go a lot faster with Casey or Shadoe by your side.

[djjoe1960]

I agree with what Adam (adam31) says that I usually like something about each show I hear (music or information about the songs/artists)--but obviously the 'magic' of hearing the shows is not the same a 2nd or 3rd time around. It's a shame that there was no national countdown show during the 1960's (one of the most interesting decades musically)--I guess that is why a few of us are trying to keep that time frame alive.

One other thing as some others have said before listening to a weekly countdown is like a snapshot of life during that time.

[michaelcasselman]

I started listening to the replays in late 2011 and like others here, it was a great thrill to catch up on the show again after all these years. However, once the A/B show trend started, I really got burnt out on trying to clear the time to listen to the shows... kinda like "too much of a good thing all at once", I guess. Nowadays, I catch the shows on my local affiliate and listen during the workday to whatever the Classic AT40 iHeart channel plays without going out of my way to catch a particular show.

[OnWithTheCountdown]

Absolutely! I joined the party late (April 2014) - found out through a co-worker about the re-airings. There's just something about the way Casey delivers the stories about the artists, the music, behind-the-scenes stuff you wouldn't hear almost anywhere else. I'll never get tired of listening.

[freakyflybry]

I feel the same way, honestly. I still do enjoy hearing all the old AT40 shows each week, but it just doesn't feel fresh and new to me anymore, not only because I've heard most of these shows before, but also because there are less unfamiliar songs.

Still, listening to Casey (or Rick Dees, Shadoe Stevens, Dick Clark or any other "legendary" countdown show host) is always a great listen for 3-4 hours at a time, like going through a time capsule of the biggest hits as they were then.

[at40nut]

I joined the party around July 2013, but I have heard 70's countdowns here and there since 2007. I did not pay much attention to what was airing, until I got into it more the last few years. I look for shows that have the "hidden gems", particularly the first hour of the 80's shows. Today's popular music I cannot get into at all, the conventional 80's songs have waned a little for me, so I'm into the older music like the 60's and 70's. I look for older "gems" from that period- ie "Union Man" by The Cate Brothers. As long as there is something in those shows that I rarely hear, or have not heard, the intrigue is always going to be there for me.

[skuncle]

I still listen each week, many get backlogged for a later time. When I first started listening I was only interested in shows from about 1977-1984/85 anything outside of that window I didn't care about. Then it was only shows outside that window that had a song or story I wanted to hear. Now I'll listen to the entire run. I have no interest in any of the Shadoe shows though. There are several guest hosted shows I'd like to hear still.

[at40petebattistini]

Even though Premiere has been releasing vintage shows for 10 years now, pick almost any year during the classic Casey era and you'll likely agree that Top 40 radio during the the month of July generated many memorable tunes. In no particular order, a few personal favorite summer music months include 1973, 1978, 1982, 1970, and 1977.