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Post by BrettVW on Nov 21, 2012 23:52:56 GMT -5
I have been re-listening to AT20's from various years, and was just comparing the shows from 1998-2004 with 3 LDD's (one per hour) to 2004 with mainly two LDD's per show, and then from late 2004 thru the end of the show was just one. Honestly, I preferred just one LDD per show, as 3 LDD's on a 3 hour show often seems like overkill. But did anyone else prefer the 3 LDD years?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2012 7:12:21 GMT -5
No, I prefer 0 per show.
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Post by Shadoe Fan on Nov 23, 2012 4:28:59 GMT -5
I prefer only 1 per show.
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Post by mkarns on Nov 23, 2012 10:46:54 GMT -5
Compromise and make it two? I personally have never been a big fan of LDD's, but I'm in the minority among Casey listeners. Given this choice I prefer one.
Three LDD's/R&Ds per show were OK in four hour AT40s and CT40s; for AT20 or 10 one for each of three hours was a bit much. Two was good in most of Casey's AT40s in the 1980s; under Shadoe dedications were usually reduced to one extra song per week (sometimes there would be two LDD letters, usually if a requested song was part of that week's chart.)
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Post by BrettVW on Nov 23, 2012 17:35:26 GMT -5
I agree that one per show was plenty. The best thing to happeb to AT20 in 2004 was cutting the number of LDDs. And count me in as a huge Casey fan that never cared for LDDs. I have been listening to AT20's from the early 00's and between the short two song segments and the hourly LDDs, they aren't as good to listen to as the later years
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2012 20:19:06 GMT -5
Was it just me or were the LDDs in the latter years almost repetitive. It seemed like every other week was someone in prison writing to say they were sorry about something or another. That alone made me think if the only people listening were us and prisoners, the shows listenership was in trouble.
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Post by shemp9971 on Mar 30, 2013 11:14:58 GMT -5
I wasn't usually a fan of LDD's but I do remember a close friend of Neil Tennant of the 80's dance duo "The Pet Shop Boys" dedicating "West End Girls" to him as well as telling the story of Tennant's early struggles in the music business. I also liked another LDD from a guy in Australia who had visited the U.S. and started his letter with "G'Day Casey". Another one was from a guy in New York State to his high school buddy who moved here to Minnesota who had both started up a disc jockey service. The guy dedicated "Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung to him. That was the show where Charlie Van Dyke filled in for Casey as was the Australian LDD.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2015 18:43:50 GMT -5
Today I hear...
Dear Casey,
The biggest mistake I made was leaving my wife of 15 years for a woman who I thought was the love of my life.
That's how today's LDD began. No way if I were a host I could do this feature at all. I'd wind up making fun of and insulting the people who use a national radio show as a forum to showcase how idiotic they are. And while that would be fun, I doubt I'd get many subsequent letters.
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Post by BrettVW on Jun 19, 2015 10:31:56 GMT -5
What was the song... Wind Beneath My Wings? Because You Loved Me? Somewhere Out There?
I feel like the dedications in the 80s were not nearly as bad
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2015 13:58:06 GMT -5
"Foolish Games" which was an absolutely stupid request. The writer was the one with someone else not giving a crap about his spouse, it wasn't the spouse writing in. Of course it's possible this was not his request and perhaps he asked for a different song and they decided to go with this one for show format and all.
Yes, they were better in the 80's because there weren't 2 or 3 shows the songs had to fit on. Technically in the AT40 ver 2 era they just change the song so that wasn't as big an issue so why they still only used a few songs is beyond me. WW1 though would have to be passable on each format because they wouldn't change anything as far as I know. Why the heck they couldn't have different ones on different shows even if it meant you did less of them on each show a week is a mystery to me. Really I see no good explanation for it. I mean, I see a couple of reasons but none of them are good.
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Post by mkarns on Jun 19, 2015 16:03:38 GMT -5
Today the closest thing there is on AT40 to LDD's is listener requests that appear at the end of an hour, with the name of the person requesting it and often a reason given, but no tear-jerking letter. Premiere treats them as optional extras, which may be the best way to do so; not all stations play them and those that do do so at the end of an hour, making it easy to know when they'll be on.
Whatever you think of recent AT40 music, the selection of requested songs is more interesting than the overly repetitious ones of Casey's 1990s and early 2000s shows IMO, as they don't have to pass muster with AC stations as well.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2015 16:24:16 GMT -5
Today the closest thing there is on AT40 to LDD's is listener requests that appear at the end of an hour, with the name of the person requesting it and often a reason given, but no tear-jerking letter. Premiere treats them as optional extras, which may be the best way to do so; not all stations play them and those that do do so at the end of an hour, making it easy to know when they'll be on. Whatever you think of recent AT40 music, the selection of requested songs is more interesting than the overly repetitious ones of Casey's 1990s and early 2000s shows 2000s IMO, as they don't have to pass muster with AC stations as well. I have 0 problems with the listener requests today, when they air, or how they are handled. No bs story I can't stand hearing or anything. I love it. I cannot tell you how many times listening to the dedications on old shows and it's one person being mean, abusive, leaving another yet they are taken back or want back I cynically say "yeah you're probably now divorced, 2 kids from that person, 2 more from someone else, living with someone else who has 3 of their own, and you are probably cheating on them now too GET OFF MY RADIO!!!!" As I said....I'm very cynical these days. |
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Post by briguy52748 on Jun 28, 2015 16:04:30 GMT -5
Today the closest thing there is on AT40 to LDD's is listener requests that appear at the end of an hour, with the name of the person requesting it and often a reason given, but no tear-jerking letter. Premiere treats them as optional extras, which may be the best way to do so; not all stations play them and those that do do so at the end of an hour, making it easy to know when they'll be on. Whatever you think of recent AT40 music, the selection of requested songs is more interesting than the overly repetitious ones of Casey's 1990s and early 2000s shows 2000s IMO, as they don't have to pass muster with AC stations as well. I have 0 problems with the listener requests today, when they air, or how they are handled. No bs story I can't stand hearing or anything. I love it. I cannot tell you how many times listening to the dedications on old shows and it's one person being mean, abusive, leaving another yet they are taken back or want back I cynically say "yeah you're probably now divorced, 2 kids from that person, 2 more from someone else, living with someone else who has 3 of their own, and you are probably cheating on them now too GET OFF MY RADIO!!!!" As I said....I'm very cynical these days. Well, it gets you to wonder something, listening to all these LDDs from 25 and 35 years ago. What's behind them? What's the true story of the relationship being spoken of in the letter? I've noted many times the LDD from the January 1986 AT40 where an inmate at a California prison requested "I'm Alive" by the Electric Light Orchestra; he had done something he admitted he could never forgive himself for. What was it? Rape? Child molestation? And what bad memories would it bring up for someone who, in the off-chance they tune in classic AT40, they hear the segment and realize -- hey, that thing the letter writer said he could "never forgive himself for" happened to me! All that hypnosis and therapy to get me to forget it ... all for naught! As far as the relationships go: How many were written by controlling boyfriends or spouses, pleading "I'm sorry" and begging for one more chance (of course, sugar coating everything and just saying "I made a mistake" but not saying what the mistake was), and then asking Casey to play a song that they first fell in love to. Somebody the other day mentioned something about family portraits, a la the kind you might see in a church directory. What secrets do they hide? Is it truly a happy family like "The Waltons" or "The Brady Bunch," is it semi-perfect or maybe dysfunctional but still (in a weird sort of way) loving like "Roseanne" and "The Simpsons" -- or is it more sinister. Same with the LDDs. I'm sure a good majority were indeed simple and straightforward and were truly harmless ... but what about the ones that aren't and hide dark secrets? That's where I'm going with this. Brian |
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Post by adam31 on Jul 6, 2015 15:12:49 GMT -5
LDD's are a signature feature of AT40, so I'm glad they happened and are still in the replays. Casey read those letters as if he cared about every word and each listener who took the time to write. He said many times on the show that every letter mailed in was read by the staff. A few thoughts:
- They might have ramped up the LDD's to 3 in the AT20 because they had more extra time to fill and/or the show was trying to get in as many letters in the time they had left on the air. Everyone knew that Casey wouldn't be doing this for much longer.
- I'm not sure why ABC kept the LDD as a feature after Casey left in 1988, they probably should have just let him take it with him to WW1 as Shadoe did not sound as sincere reading them.
- I'd say 1 LDD per AT20 show and 2 per AT40 show were the appropriate number.
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Post by OnWithTheCountdown on Jun 13, 2018 13:00:56 GMT -5
I don't want to call myself a "newer" listener of AT20, as I heard CH20/AT20 back in the late 1990s, but moved to a market that only carried AT40 - so I couldn't keep up with AT20. I am trying to incorporate more shows in my listening queue these days, as I have almost the entire run in my collection. I love the LDDs, and the personal connection I have to some of them (I've never written any, but can relate to quite a few). I think one to two per show is sufficient - I wouldn't go more than two or less than one. I think it's one of the best features that AT40 came up with. We all know how music has such a profound impact on our lives, good or bad, and it was a great outlet to share that.
I've slowly but surely been going through the AT20/AT10 threads, as many of them predate my time on here. I enjoy reading everyone's thoughts on these shows, and I'll probably chime in with a few of mine as well.
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