The Casey Kasem jinx

[jlthorpe]

Does anyone have any examples of where Casey seemed to jinx something by making a statement about it on AT40? According to Wikipedia, there was one show from 1979 where Casey said "disco is here to stay" - just before disco dropped in popularity. Apparently, he also made a statement about Stevie Wonder's future success on this weekend's 1985 show (dukedeb brought this up in the 80s show thread), when he didn't have much more pop success following that show.

[tarobe]

On the very first AT40 show Casey introduced the #21 song, Mountain's "Mississippi Queen," with the comment "..and it's gonna be a biggie!" The record never got any higher and began dropping the next week.

[lasvegaskid]

On a 1976 show I remember him saying BeeGees Love So Right had all the makings of a #1 record. A couple weeks later it stalled at #3.

[dukelightning]

If I had a dollar for every time he said that about a song, I could get a boat load of shows from Scott Lakefield...lol. Sometimes I think he just said it for show.

[Mike]

6/13/87: Casey stated that Kenny Loggins's "Meet Me Halfway" was "lookin' Top 10 bound". It was at #11 that week - and it peaked right there.

7/16/88: Casey referred to "I Should Be So Lucky" having hit #1 in six countries already and "Nite and Day" having already hit #1 on the soul chart and was looking for a chance to hit #1 on the pop chart. Kylie was #28 that week, and Al B. Sure was #7 - and both peaked right at those positions.

You could probably fill multiple pages with these kind of chart predictions (not counting the time when making #1 predictions was a show feature, in '72/'73).

[mstgator]

Oct 18, 2011 14:38:59 GMT -5 jlthorpe said:

Apparently, he also made a statement about Stevie Wonder's future success on this weekend's 1985 show (dukedeb brought this up in the 80s show thread), when he didn't have much more pop success following that show.

He said something similar about Prince on an early 1995 edition of Casey's Biggest Hits (spotlighting "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" [1994]). At the time Prince held the record for most years in a row with a Top Ten hit (twelve), and Casey said something to the effect that the way he was churning out hits that record was likely to be extended.

Not only did Prince miss the Top Ten in 1995, he hasn't returned to the Top Ten since.

[matt]

How 'bout his intro to the Eagles' "Life In the Fast Lane" at #11 on the June 25, 1977 show. Casey's words: "this one's headed toward the Top 10"...but it turns out the song was at it's peak position that week!

I think Casey should have put his crystal ball away...predicting chart movements is just too tough.

[vince]

I vaguely recall in 1978 Casey saying something about “An Everlasting Love” becoming Andy Gibb’s 4th #1, it ended up peaking at #5. I also recall in 1979 Casey saying ELO had a big one coming up with “Don’t Bring Me Down” after a #41 to #18 jump. It ended up peaking at #4 and spent a total of 15 weeks on the Hot 100.

[reachinforthestars]

When Barry White's song "I'll Do For You Anything You Want Me To" debuted at #40, I believe Casey mentioned he had five top 10 records in the last couple years and "He is going to do to again". The song stalled at #40 and dropped off.

[Mike]

Oct 18, 2011 23:27:30 GMT -5 vince said:

I vaguely recall in 1978 Casey saying something about “An Everlasting Love” becoming Andy Gibb’s 4th #1, it ended up peaking at #5. I also recall in 1979 Casey saying ELO had a big one coming up with “Don’t Bring Me Down” after a #41 to #18 jump. It ended up peaking at #4 and spent a total of 15 weeks on the Hot 100.

That wasn't entirely off for them though; that did turn out to be their highest-peaking hit.

[chrislc]

Oct 18, 2011 17:44:09 GMT -5 lasvegaskid said:

On a 1976 show I remember him saying BeeGees Love So Right had all the makings of a #1 record. A couple weeks later it stalled at #3.

You know, even though I am sure it is true that he did this other times, for some reason this is the one that really stuck with me. He sounded so sure it would be #1!

And the falsetto is so annoying on this song!

[Mike]

Oct 19, 2011 13:17:09 GMT -5 chrislc said:

Oct 18, 2011 17:44:09 GMT -5 lasvegaskid said:

On a 1976 show I remember him saying BeeGees Love So Right had all the makings of a #1 record. A couple weeks later it stalled at #3.

You know, even though I am sure it is true that he did this other times, for some reason this is the one that really stuck with me. He sounded so sure it would be #1!

And the falsetto is so annoying on this song!

You might say it was an Act of God...er, I mean Rod (Stewart, that is) - that proved him wrong on that score! I mean, with the way "Tonight's the Night" just flew up to #1 in just four weeks in the survey...

[mkarns]

Oct 19, 2011 1:12:41 GMT -5 reachinforthestars said:

When Barry White's song "I'll Do For You Anything You Want Me To" debuted at #40, I believe Casey mentioned he had five top 10 records in the last couple years and "He is going to do to again". The song stalled at #40 and dropped off.

That happened on 6/21/75, played by SXM this weekend. Casey said "Believe it or not, this man has had 5 top 10 records in just the past couple of years. He's Barry White, and he's going to do it again with 'I'll Do For You Anything You Want Me To'" which debuted at #40 that week and went no higher.

In that same show, Casey told a story about Jonathan King dreaming he found a band that hit #1 in the US called 10cc, and so he named a group that after deciding to release their record. Their hit "I'm Not In Love" jumped from 38-22 that week, and Casey said "If they keep getting that kind of action, Jonathan's dream just might come true". Instead it got stuck at #2 for 3 weeks.

[doomsdaymachine]

Then there's the flip side of the Casey Kasem jinx.

In 1981, Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts" was at #6 for its third consecutive week. Casey announced that the song may have peaked. A week later, it jumped to #2.

[mkarns]

Jun 25, 2012 17:40:23 GMT -5 doomsdaymachine said:

Then there's the flip side of the Casey Kasem jinx.

In 1981, Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts" was at #3 for its third consecutive week. Casey announced that the song may have peaked. A week later, it jumped to #2.

Actually, "Queen of Hearts" sat at #6 for three weeks before jumping to #2. And on the last of its three weeks at #6 (9/12/81) Gary Owens filled in for Casey.