|
|
Post by mrjukebox on Jul 28, 2009 15:55:12 GMT -5
Next Thursday (8/6),marks the 21st anniversary of Casey's final "AT40" show for ABC Watermark-One story I heard had to do with renegotiating Casey's contract-Another story said that Casey's superiors weren't happy that he lost his temper in 1985-I'm referring to the infamous "Dead Dog Dedication"-Anybody else want to comment further?
|
|
|
|
Post by jaxxalude on Jul 28, 2009 16:31:18 GMT -5
The temper story smells like bullnuts to me. If that was true, they would have gotten him fired on the spot, no questions asked.
What happened is already very much documented. Casey wanted to renegotiate his contract to better suit him, and ABC refused, mainly on the grounds that the show was starting to lose affiliates - which, in itself, seemed like a harbinger of things to come for both the show and Top 40 radio in general, giving reason to ABC's objections. Simple as that, end of story, let's move on.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shannon Lynn on Jul 28, 2009 17:02:21 GMT -5
It had nothing at all to do with the "Dead Dog Dedication". I thought you might find this L.A. Times article from 1989 interesting,
Six months ago, Casey Kasem, co-creator and host of "American Top 40," the nation's most widely syndicated radio countdown show, left the ABC Radio Network after 18 years at the mike. Shadoe Stevens, Los Angeles radio veteran and celebrity player on "Hollywood Squares," slipped into Kasem's seat and resumed the countdown for ABC.
On Sunday, Kasem returns to challenge "America Top 40" with a new countdown show from Westwood One, "Casey's Top 40 With Casey Kasem," debuting locally on KPWR-FM (105.9) at 8 a.m.
It will be interesting to find out which show draws a larger audience," said Stevens, 42, whose countdown series airs on KIIS-FM (102.7) from 6-10 a.m. Sundays.
Indeed--and not simply because of Kasem's past association with Stevens' program. ABC is the nation's largest radio network; Westwood One is second.
ABC claims that "American Top 40" is not competing with "Casey's Top 40." One company official says, in fact, that "American Top 40" is "launching Shadoe Stevens, just like it launched Casey Kasem 18 years ago."
"That's just too absurd to believe," responds Norman Pattiz, chairman of Westwood One. "A countdown show is a countdown show--we do eight of them. Casey Kasem is the element that made that countdown show special."
Pattiz stepped in last year when ABC and Kasem were unable to agree on terms to a new contract. "When I heard Casey was available, I thought it was a rib," Pattiz said. "Maybe a friend of mine in the business was calling me to pull my chain. I would have offered Casey anything to bring him to Westwood One."
As it was, Kasem signed a five-year contract with Westwood One for a reported $17 million.
Tom Cuddy, vice president of entertainment programming for ABC, says that "American Top 40" has gained momentum since switching from Kasem to Stevens.
"Shadoe has been on the air since August, and in that time the amount of 'American Top 40' mail has doubled," he said. "Shadoe integrates a sense of hipness and humor into the show. We've never had that before.
"The true judge of a show's success is to look at how many stations are airing it. Since we've made the transition, we have more stations than any other time in the show's history."
"American Top 40" currently plays on 487 U.S. radio stations, 1,012 stations worldwide. "Casey's Top 40" is set to air on 425 stations, including the number one stations in Los Angeles (KPWR-FM), New York (WHTZ-FM) and Chicago (WBBM-FM)--the nation's top three radio markets.
The shows will be similar in format. Both are four hours long, air every Sunday and feature listener dedications, tantalizing facts about recording artists and a countdown of the Top 40 songs in America as reported by a popular radio industry magazine.
While their shows may be similar, the hosts are distinctively different.
Years ago, Kasem developed a gritty delivery style so that his graveled voice sounds the same whether heard through a costly home stereo or a tinny, three-inch car speaker.
"That crackle is my trademark," Kasem said, smiling. "I eliminate the highs and lows, the mountains and valleys, in my voice. I'm a storyteller, and if I emphasize a syllable, I want listeners to be able to hear that. I talk to them, not at them."
"Mine is a different approach," Stevens said, referring to his expressive manner of delivery. "It has more of an attitude, and a little more color. Where Casey would say, 'You're listening to "American Top 40" and we're counting down to number one,' I might say, 'From Hollywood, where the palm trees mambo to a brave new beat every week, we'll bashfully bend to kiss the hem of the number one song in America.' "
Kasem, 56, is relying on his experiences and familiarity with the American public, which helped establish "American Top 40" as a pop-music institution, to push "Casey's Top 40" quickly up the charts.
"A lot of people have grown up with me," he said. "I've sort of become part of the family."
|
|
|
|
Post by mstgator on Jul 28, 2009 19:42:25 GMT -5
ItTom Cuddy, vice president of entertainment programming for ABC, says that "American Top 40" has gained momentum since switching from Kasem to Stevens. "Shadoe has been on the air since August, and in that time the amount of 'American Top 40' mail has doubled," he said. Heh, I wonder how much of that mail was positive, and how much was along the lines of "what the hell happened to Casey?"  |
|
|
|
Post by jdelachjr2002 on Jul 28, 2009 21:50:57 GMT -5
I wonder if Premiere ever gets similar e-mails from fans of "AT40: The '70s" or "AT40: The '80s" (in this case, replace Casey with Mike)?
|
|
|
|
Post by Shannon Lynn on Jul 29, 2009 10:52:21 GMT -5
Not sure but you can sure tell back then that ABC was trying to make the best of a bad situation.
|
|
|
|
Post by UnknownEric on Jul 29, 2009 13:41:58 GMT -5
Where Casey would say, 'You're listening to "American Top 40" and we're counting down to number one,' I might say, 'From Hollywood, where the palm trees mambo to a brave new beat every week, we'll bashfully bend to kiss the hem of the number one song in America.' That's simultaneously amusing and sad, given the lengths ABC would go to to stop the Shad from talking like that. |
|
|
|
Post by vto66 on Jul 31, 2009 0:33:14 GMT -5
Next Thursday (8/6),marks the 21st anniversary of Casey's final "AT40" show for ABC Watermark-One story I heard had to do with renegotiating Casey's contract-Another story said that Casey's superiors weren't happy that he lost his temper in 1985-I'm referring to the infamous "Dead Dog Dedication"-Anybody else want to comment further? I must admit that I was one of those few who speculated that Casey's Dead Dog tirade may have been a contributing factor in his AT40 contract not being renewed in the late-80s. However, I can also understand the logic expressed by another poster who stated that if the folks at ABC had been so unhappy about Casey's meltdown, they would have yanked him right then and there, rather than waiting for his contract to expire. |
|
|
|
Post by mkarns on Jul 31, 2009 10:25:37 GMT -5
The story of the dead dog incident leading to Casey's departure really doesn't make any sense; everyone loses their temper at some time, and this wasn't on air (at least not at the time). It isn't Casey's fault that someone, in violation of Casey's contract at the time, surrepetitously leaked the tape. Considering how popular Casey was, I don't think ABC/Watermark would have dropped such a valuable commodity over one outburst from three years earlier.
As far as losing affiliates, that was probably more a generalized radio trend than anything related to Casey specifically. After all, in the 1990s Casey without AT40 ended up holding many more affiliates than AT40 without Casey.
|
|
|
|
Post by briguy52748 on Aug 3, 2009 9:15:21 GMT -5
As far as the "dead dog" incident goes, I am sure Casey regained his composure and, showing his usual professionalism, taped the dedication as intended. I think that Casey's departure had nothing to do with that; it was in all likelihood forgotten by ABC Watermark by the time his contract expired in 1988.
That said, I surely would have scheduled the "dead dog" dedication at another point in the show, such as after a ballad (or, if there were no ballads on that week's countdown, on a show where there was a ballad).
Brian
|
|
