AT40 Firsts

[dukelightning]

Here is a comprehensive list of the significant firsts on AT40 in the Casey Kasem era.

First AT40..............................broadcast date 7/4/70, chart date 7/11/70
First edited song..............................................On the first AT40
("Question" at #27....edited the third verse, cutting off about a minute from 45 version)
First extra played.............................................On the first AT40
(Little Ole Man)
First debut record in the top 20........................On the first AT40
(Make it With You at #20)
First program error............................................On the first AT40
(Casey stated that "Love Land" was holding at 18 when it was up one notch)
First time flip side was played..........................BD 7/11/70, CD 7/18/70
(For You Blue)
First time artist had back to back songs...........BD 7/25/70, CD 8/1/70
(Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
First time song title was not mentioned...........BD 8/1/70, CD 8/8/70
(The Love You Save)
First time radio station mentioned....................BD 8/22/70, CD 8/29/70
("Heard coast to coast on great radio stations like KMEN in San Bernadino, California")
First time song from #1 LP played................BD 8/29/70, CD 9/5/70
(I Heard it Through the Grapevine)
First time dropouts from top 40 mentioned......BD 9/5/70, CD 9/12/70
First HOT 100 debut in top 40....................BD 9/12/70, CD 9/19/70
(I'll Be There at #40)...not mentioned
First time easy listening chart mentioned......BD 9/19/70, CD 9/26/70
First time end of hour 2 recap was done.....BD 9/26/70, CD 10/3/70
(first time dropouts from top 40 mentioned twice)
First time chart record established........... BD 10/3/70, CD 10/10/70
(Creedence Clearwater Revival's 5th #2 peaking single)...not mentioned
First time top 5 is all AC songs..................BD 11/7/70, CD 11/14/70
First time double-sided hit played..........BD 11/21/70, CD 11/28/70
First time wrong song played................BD 12/12/70, CD 12/19/70
(So Close)
First time countdown song was skipped........BD 12/19/70, CD 12/26/70
(Share the Land)
First recap of last week's top 3 songs........BD 1/9/71, CD 1/16/71
First mention of recent artist death............BD 2/13/71, CD 2/20/71
(Janis Joplin)
First time 3 versions of a song are in top 40........BD 2/20/71, CD 2/27/71
(Theme from Love Story)
First time 2 versions of a song debut................BD 2/20/71, CD 2/27/71
(Theme from Love Story)
First time top 5 is all by male artists.................BD 4/10/71, CD 4/17/71
First question answered...................................BD 4/17/71, CD 4/24/71
First special show broadcast.................................................5/1/71
First corresponding broadcast and chart date......................5/8/71
First show with no extras played..........................................9/4/71
First HOT 100 debut in top 20...........................................10/23/71
(Imagine at #20)
First debut record in top 10..............................................10/23/71
(Theme from Shaft at #9)
First guest-hosted show....................................................11/6/71
(Dave Hull)
First time different versions of song debuted in back to
back weeks.......................................................12/11 and 12/18/71
(I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing)
First time there are no social or protest songs in top 40........2/5/72
First time artist had 3 songs in top 40...............................2/26/72
(Melanie)
First time #1s on other charts mentioned..........................4/15/72
First time top 5 is all soul songs...........................................5/6/72
First time 2 siblings were in the top 40..............................6/17/72
(Donny and Jimmy Osmond)
First time top 10 is all AC songs.........................................7/15/72
First time top 10 is all by male artists..................................9/9/72
First time there are no female vocalists in top 40..............9/23/72
First time predicting next week's #1 song.........................11/25/72
(I'd Love You to Want Me...incorrect)
First stereo broadcast........................................................2/24/73
First time chart date was mentioned on a weekly basis.........7/14/73
First mini-salute of recent artist death..............................10/20/73
(Jim Croce)
First time brother and sister had separate songs...............12/15/73
(Donny and Marie Osmond)
First time a novelty song, a foreign language song, a spoken word
and an instrumental were all in top 40................................2/23/74
(Energy Crisis '74, Eres Tu, Americans and Love's Theme)
First time top 5 songs all hit #1..........................................3/30/74
First time stations identified themselves............................6/22/74
First time other #1s mentioned on a weekly basis..............9/7/74
First Top 100 of year played........................................12/21,28/74
First use of "Shuckatoom" theme.......................................11/8/75
First mention of Book of Records......................................11/20/76
First time top 5 is all disco songs.......................................1/29/77
First time only 1 song in top 10 hit #1...............................11/5/77
(You Light Up My Life)
First time 2 versions of a song are back to back.................1/21/78
(Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
First time top 5 is all by foreign artists.................................3/4/78
First time top 10 songs are in the same position................8/19/78
(top 14 songs were the same)
First Long Distance Dedication...........................................8/26/78
(Desiree)
First 4 hour show...............................................................10/7/78
First time archive #1 songs of the 70s played....................10/7/78
First time song reached #1 a third time...............................1/20/79
(Le Freak)
First time last week's top 3 songs played.............................2/24/79
First time same song was first and last song played.............3/10/79
(I Will Survive)
First time 2 different songs with same title were in top 40.......4/7/79
(Crazy Love)
First LDD that did not make the top 40.................................6/9/79
(Desperado)
First time top 5 is all by female artists.................................6/30/79
First female duo in top 40...................................................7/21/79
(Pink Lady...the other 7 types of artists made their first appearance in the first month of AT40)
First time LDD was by artist who never made top 40...........9/22/79
(Linda Clifford)
First time archive #1 songs of the 60s played......................6/28/80
First time two Hot 100 debuts debuted in the top 40..........11/1/80
(Starting Over and Love on the Rocks)
First time only 1 or 2 of last week's top 3 played................11/8/80
First time same 2 artists were back to back twice...............3/28/81
(REO Speedwagon and Styx)
First audio recording of artist interview...............................4/18/81
(Sheena Easton)
First time two artists had back to back songs.......................5/2/81
(Don McLean and John Lennon)
First time none of last week's top 3 were played.................8/1/81
First time since era began that there was no disco song......8/29/81
First time top 5 is all rock songs..........................................7/10/82
First time top 5 is all one word titles...................................12/4/82
First year with no specials played...........................................1982
First time there are more foreign acts in top 40(21)...........5/28/83
First female guest-hosted show..........................................8/13/83
(Keri Tombazian)
First time in the 80s that top 40 droppers mentioned......12/17/83
First Top 100 of year broadcast in 1 week........................12/31/83
First time both LDDs were by same artist............................6/8/84
(Olivia Newton-John)
First time song was used as LDD two weeks in a row..........8/4/84
(Hello)
First time promos for stations recorded..............................12/8/84
First time 2 consecutive shows guest-hosted..................1/5,12/85
(Charlie van Dyke)
First time Hall of Fame was mentioned................................6/15/85
First time special show and regular show recorded..............7/5/86
First time subtitle was deliberately never mentioned......12/20/86-3/14/87
(I Want Your Body)
First time song title not mentioned in consecutive weeks......7/11,18/87
(I Want Your Sex)
First time recording artist guest hosted the show...............7/30/88
(Daryl Hall & John Oates)

[jdelachjr2002]

Apr 28, 2011 9:20:14 GMT -5 dukelightning said:

Here is a comprehensive list of all the significant firsts on AT40 in the Casey Kasem era.

First AT40........broadcast date 7/4/70, chart date 7/11/70
First radio station mentioned........BD 8/22/70, CD 8/29/70
First non-year end special played...................... 5/1/71
First corresponding broadcast and chart date.....5/8/71
First questions answered..................................5/8/71
First show with no extras played....................9/4/71
First guest-hosted show..............11/6/71(Dave Hull)
First time #1s on other charts mentioned......4/15/72
First time chart date was mentioned............7/14/73
First Top 100 of year played.................12/21,28/74
First use of "Shuckatoom" theme................11/8/75
First Long Distance Dedication....................8/26/78
First 4 hour show........................................10/7/78
First time last week's top 3 played..............2/24/79
First year with no specials played.................1982
First Top 100 of year broadcast in 1 week.....12/31/83
First time a regular and a special show recorded..7/5/86
First time 2 consecutive shows guest-hosted...7/11,18/87
(Charlie van Dyke)

Actually, Charlie subbed for Casey during the first two shows of 1985 (1/5 and 1/12).

[Deleted]

Today´s show, april 26 , 1975, Casey has said they are not going to answer ( probably by mail) all the questions they receive from listeners, dued to the huge number of letters received with chart questions.

Thou all the letters are going to be read. So apparently, since that show, listeners are told that dont wait for an answer by mail if they have made a chart question for the very first time.

[dukelightning]

I consider myself lucky to have had my question...actually one of a series of questions....answered on the air in 1978 because there must have been a ton of competition. (This week is the anniversary of that happening).

[dukelightning]

Bumping this up since I added a few more firsts.

[at40petebattistini]

dukedeb,
A great list...are these worth considerating?

*first stereo broadcast
*first time an audio track of an artist interview was used in a program
*first mention of Book of Records
*first Top 40 chart with more non-U.S. artists than U.S. acts
*first time mini-salute acknowledging current artist death
*first time radio stations ID'd themselves
*first female guest host

[dukelightning]

Pete,

They certainly are. Of course you and your book are the source for much of the firsts I listed. Will have to include all of them.

[johnnywest]

How about the first time the AC Chart (or Easy Listening) was mentioned? I believe it was in the early 70s, but it was quite rare during Casey's first tenure.

One date I sorta of remember: AT40's first broadcast using something other than the Billboard's Hot 100 on a regular basis, which was the first weekend of December 1991.

[dukelightning]

johnny, sure I will add that date which was in Sept 1970. The other does not apply because this only applies to the first era for Casey. But that is a significant date just the same. One AT40 first that I do not know and cannot figure out but that I am curious about is the first time that AT40 edited a song or songs because songs were getting too long. As an example, on this week's 5/18/74, I noted 2 songs that were edited about :30 each. So it was before that. It was not until 1975 or 6 that the edits started to get ridiculous. This one may never be figured out because it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack but I would guess sometime in 1973.

[bestmusicexpert]

I know they edited Deodato's song down from its 5 minute version on 4-21-73. I also think they shortened the long version of American Pie once or twice, instead of playing the 45 version.

[dukelightning]

I'm going to cut AT40 a break re: American Pie and not count any edits of that song. But it might have happened in 72 anyway with Nights in White Satin later in the year.

[bestmusicexpert]

There was a 5 edit of it (450 or so) so maybe. but they did edit it down. Took the album version and shortened it a bit. That kind of counts. Plus I understand they shortened Jungle Fever from time to time.

[Big Red Machine]

I think it was sometime late in 71 when this ended, but interesting how Casey used to use the term "points" instead of "notches" in the early days. I wonder why he changed it.

[tarobe]

May 23, 2011 11:56:36 GMT -5 dukelightning said:

johnny, sure I will add that date which was in Sept 1970. The other does not apply because this only applies to the first era for Casey. But that is a significant date just the same. One AT40 first that I do not know and cannot figure out but that I am curious about is the first time that AT40 edited a song or songs because songs were getting too long. As an example, on this week's 5/18/74, I noted 2 songs that were edited about :30 each. So it was before that. It was not until 1975 or 6 that the edits started to get ridiculous. This one may never be figured out because it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack but I would guess sometime in 1973.

The first edit I'm aware of is on the very first show. "Ball of Confusion" by the Temptations is edited. The 45 runs 4:04 and mentions "the Beatles' new record." This is missing off the AT40 version. At first I thought this was a Premiere edit (they edited Mark Lindsay's "Silver Bird" for the 40th anniversary broadcast), but it's on the Shannon Lynn remaster.

[dukelightning]

That doesn't surprise me. It took 18 hours to record that first AT40. They did it in 20 minute segments. My guess is they were in a pinch as they got near the end and had no choice but to edit a song. So I will cut them a break in that instance. It is going to be hard to determine what is a an AT40 edit and what is a Premiere edit. So SXM may be the best way to figure this out. This week's show on SXM was from 1971 and I did not notice any blatant edits of songs in the top 40.