What show are you listening to right now?

[michaelcasselman]

Jul 1, 2024 21:30:20 GMT -5 woolebull said:

One final note from the first hour: Casey mentioned that 30 years ago Herb Alpert had his only #1 with a vocal song, "This Guys In Love With You". I need to double check but I am pretty sure "Rise" got a week at #1 in 1979 on R and R (just checked: it did). What was interesting is Casey went out of his way to say that most of Alpert's hits were instrumental but not his only #1. Pretty big miss by the crew on that one.

I wonder if that was a matter of where an inflection should have been put, since, technically, "TGILWY" IS Herb's only #1 VOCAL hit (as opposed to instrumental).

[woolebull]

Jul 2, 2024 9:50:49 GMT -5 michaelcasselman said:

Jul 1, 2024 21:30:20 GMT -5 woolebull said:

One final note from the first hour: Casey mentioned that 30 years ago Herb Alpert had his only #1 with a vocal song, "This Guys In Love With You". I need to double check but I am pretty sure "Rise" got a week at #1 in 1979 on R and R (just checked: it did). What was interesting is Casey went out of his way to say that most of Alpert's hits were instrumental but not his only #1. Pretty big miss by the crew on that one.

I wonder if that was a matter of where an inflection should have been put, since, technically, "TGILWY" IS Herb's only #1 VOCAL hit (as opposed to instrumental).

I mean since Casey said, "his one, and only #1 song, was a vocal recording" I feel certain that the writers were all in on what they were saying.

[dukelightning]

Took a couple days to hear the 8/17/02 AT40. First half on Saturday in the mountains but when my phone got down to 20%, I had to stop so I could have my phone available for another day before returning. Second half on Monday. Ed McMann guest hosted and it started with Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation" that was created by a Dutch producer. Had never heard this! Thought he did a great job on the song. This is its only week on and Ed said that it was 25 years after Elvis death which is neat. Too bad Casey was off this week not only fur Elvis but later parts 1 and 2 of "I Need a Girl" were back to back which is the only time that happened according to Ed. To have 2 parts of the same song in the countdown has probably never happened either. Speaking of hits related to each other, Ed called Mario's "Just a Friend 2002" a remake of the Biz Markie hit. I would not call that a remake however. Only the chorus is common between the songs. A remake of the #1 song in the 80s show that I had heard before this show is "Heaven" which is sandwiched in between the pair of Nelly hits at 6 and 4. Lots of great songs in this show including all of the above.

[woolebull]

I don't think I mentioned this, but in May I was listening to the 5/13/00 AT show and Casey did something I have never heard: He mentioned Shadoe's name! Casey was talking about how (at least I think he was talking about) the history of AT 40 and various guest hosts. He then spent the segment highlighting Debbie Gibson's time on AT. He acknowledged Shadoe as the host. As far as I know, this is the only time Shadoe's name was ever given out by Casey.

Speaking of the 6/24/89 show, I listened to it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I have always been a Debbie fan, so it shouldn't surprise me how good she was. But man, she now ranks up there as one of my favorite guest hosts ever. She was smooth but not polished, and had so many anecdotes that really added to the songs and artists. For example, she talked about how a chance meeting with Michael Damien convinced her to start wearing hats. If you remember, Debbie seemed to have a different hat on in every video. Damien got her into the routine. It is hard for me to believe that she was only 19 when she hosted. Only two things about the show were a little off. One, is petty: When it was time for "Cuddly Toy", Debbie introed it talking about Motown. She then mentioned that Roachford was bringing the Motown sound back. I mean Living Color? Maybe. The Temptations? I never got that vibe from Andrew Roachford off of that or any album he has put out. Again, not a big deal. The second was every listener question and even the flashback centered around Debbie. Nothing wrong with it, but it seems that Debbie was a little awkward when having to talk about herself. I mean, if that is all I have to complain about with a show, I will take that every time! It also helps that this is around the time that I loved 37 or 38 songs so it made the show enjoyable for sure.

[dukelightning]

I definitely enjoyed that show when I heard it a few years ago. I'll have to go back and listen to the voice overs in the previous show to see if Shadoe mentioned that Debbie would be guest hosting the next week. Because that is what he did several times in the 8/28/93 AT40. Casey never mentioned a guest host the week before and I am not sure if Shadoe did that on any other occasion. In this case it was 2 guest hosts because it was the 2 people starring with him in Dave's World that did the next show which I have apparently already heard according to my cheat sheet. Don't remember anything peculiar about the show however.
As for the show that I did just listen to over the weekend, Shadoe says that "Reason to Believe" debuts exactly 22 years after it originally debuted. And that is exactly 22 years because 1971 and 1993 have the same calendar. So Reason debuted as part of the double sided hit with "Maggie Maye" on 8/28/71. Of course this time it is from MTV Unplugged and is the first of 3 such hits in the countdown. "Have I Told You Lately" and the hit whose title is the last word of Rod's hit by Jodeci are the other 2 and those are 2 of my fave songs in this show. Though I do prefer Stevie Wonder's original version of "Lately".
SWV have 3 hits in this show and someone wrote in to ask if an artist having their first 3 hits in the top 40 was a first. It was not. The Beatles had their first 5 hits in the top 40 and in a surprising factoid, second place in this category went to Sonny Bono who had 3 hits with his wife as Sonny & Cher and a solo hit in the top 40 at the same time in 1965.
Mentioned a couple faves but my fave song in the show is an easy choice. It's "If" and Shadoe says that once again Janet was looking for her 15th top 10 hit. Surprised me since it meant that she was holding at #11. Not many big hits like that stall out on their way up the chart. The week before brother Michael was back to back with her at 12. He climbed to #9 this week. She would win the battle however in the end.
Shadoe also mentioned after playng "Whoomp There it is" not to confuse it with "Whoot There it is" by 95 South. I remember seeing that on the Hot 100 back in 1993 but don't think I ever heard it on the radio. Reached #11 on that chart so it must have gotten some airplay but not enough to reach either AT or CT40.

[OnWithTheCountdown]

Shadoe did mention in the 6/17/1989 show close that Debbie Gibson would guest host the following week. 🙂

Once I'm done with the 1997-1999 shows (currently in the last week of February), the 5/13/2000 show will go in the queue. I remember Casey mentioning Shadoe when I heard that show originally.

Just finished the CT40 show dated 6/29/1991, beautifully remastered. Took me a week and a half to finish, thanks to a hectic schedule. Got 6/27/1992 on currently.

ETA: Quickly checking through future Shadoe shows for guest host announcements: 2/10/1990, no mention. 1/5/1991, none. 1/4/1992, yes (Richard Marx). 2/29/1992, none. 3/28/1992, yes (Jody Watley). 10/24/1992, none. 4/24/1993, none. 3/5/1994, none. 7/16/1994, none. Not sure if he knew he would be out the following week for whatever reason, but those announcements are hit or miss. On 7/23/1994, Joe Cipriano mentioned Shadoe would be back the following week, but he wasn't; Adrienne Walker hosted on 7/30.

[woolebull]

Jul 9, 2024 6:37:16 GMT -5 dukelightning said:

"Whoot There it is" by 95 South. I remember seeing that on the Hot 100 back in 1993 but don't think I ever heard it on the radio. Reached #11 on that chart so it must have gotten some airplay but not enough to reach either AT or CT40.

We never did get to hear 95 South on AT or CT. However, the producers of 95 South would be heard a few years later on CT when they would form the Quad City DJ's!

[freakyflybry]

Casey's Top 40 from August 10, 1996.

I picked this particular show in honour of seeing Jewel and Melissa Etheridge in concert last night. They both put on a great show! Despite similar demographics for their fans, they were rarely top 40 at the same time, with this stretch in 1996 being the only time they were, as "Who Will Save Your Soul", then at its peak of #3, charted every single week that "Nowhere To Go", which debuted at #33, was in the top 40.

I tend to see artists on this show in pairs. Back in 2019, I saw both Gwen Stefani (in the chart leading No Doubt - she did lots of No Doubt songs in her show) and Celine Dion on a trip to Las Vegas, and in 2022, I saw Garbage (charting with their first hit) open for Alanis Morissette (who played the entirety of "Jagged Little Pill" - including both songs on this chart).

Speaking of Alanis, Casey told the story about how she got her first name. Had things been different, she might've been compared more to Alannah Myles.

[dukelightning]

A lot of references to women in that post. But none of them were among the 5 women who represented the top 5 artists for most top 40 hits during the 90s. That is an answer to Casey's own question in the 8/26/00 AT40. Answer in countdown style...5th place Celine with 16, 4th Whitney with 18, 3rd Janet with 22, second is Mariah with 24 and the most was Madonna with 25.
Has anyone ever had a triple crown show? Triple crown meaning that your 3 best songs in the countdown were the highest debut, the biggest mover and the #1 song. This show came close to being a triple crown for me. The highest debut while a good song was not one of the 3 best ones, "You're an Ocean" by Fastball. But the biggest mover, 38-31, "Most Girls" and the new #1 song 'Bent" are among the 3 best to my ears anyway with "Bent" also being my fave by M20. To complete the best 3 it would be either "Faded" or "Everything You Want", the latter in its 37th week in the countdown.
A couple artists that Casey mentioned who they were influenced by, Lara Fabian and Joe. Lara(pronounced like Laura) was influenced by the enigmatical(as Casey said) Freddie Mercury. She was impressed by the way he combined classical and rock and "I Will Love Again" has her singing a bit like Freddie did in "Bohemian Rhapsody". Joe was influenced by Janet who unlike Freddie was not only alive and well but in the countdown with her own hit "Doesn't Really Matter", which just missed the cut as one of the best 3 in the show for me as is also the case for "I Wanna Know". Joe liked the vibe that she expressed.
I should be hearing this show today because it is headed to 98 degrees and they were in the show.
Now I am hearing this week 80s show as I get ready to head away for a longish vacation later this week. Casey says in the intro that Sheila E. is from San Francisco and afterward says that she was born and raised in Oakland but now lives in Los Angeles. A bit confusing but "The Glamorous Life" is a great song regardless. This show has one of those outdated, never played on radio anymore (in 1984, never mind 2024)songs as a LDD..."Seasons in the Sun".

[OnWithTheCountdown]

In woolebull's post further up on this page, he talked about Casey mentioning Shadoe's name in the AT40 show dated 5/13/2000. What Casey was doing, in a preview of AT40's 30th anniversary of counting down the hits, was plugging Rob Durkee's then-new book, The Countdown Of The Century. Debbie Gibson's stint as guest host was noteworthy in that she was the first teenager to host the show. (Much more common these days with artist and celebrity guest hosts.) Rob was the first to present the show's story. AT40 had told us countless stories over the years, but the story of AT40 itself wasn't told until then. It's a very fascinating read, and along with Pete's two AT40 books released several years later, are must-haves for any AT40 fan. 🙂

Another noteworthy stat on Debbie's guest host appearance, is it was the final week AT40 was sent out on vinyl (much like 2/29/1992 was for Casey's Top 40). The 7/1/1989 show was the first AT40 show to go out on CD. For ACC, that date was 6/16/1990.

And now, on with the countdown.

[woolebull]

Jul 15, 2024 8:17:37 GMT -5 OnWithTheCountdown said:

In woolebull's post further up on this page, he talked about Casey mentioning Shadoe's name in the AT40 show dated 5/13/2000. What Casey was doing, in a preview of AT40's 30th anniversary of counting down the hits, was plugging Rob Durkee's then-new book, The Countdown Of The Century. Debbie Gibson's stint as guest host was noteworthy in that she was the first teenager to host the show. (Much more common these days with artist and celebrity guest hosts.) Rob was the first to present the show's story. AT40 had told us countless stories over the years, but the story of AT40 itself wasn't told until then. It's a very fascinating read, and along with Pete's two AT40 books released several years later, are must-haves for any AT40 fan. 🙂

Another noteworthy stat on Debbie's guest host appearance, is it was the final week AT40 was sent out on vinyl (much like 2/29/1992 was for Casey's Top 40). The 7/1/1989 show was the first AT40 show to go out on CD. For ACC, that date was 6/16/1990.

And now, on with the countdown.

Thanks for the update! I had forgotten the referencing of Rob. I absolutely agree that Rob's book, along with Pete's two volume masterpiece, are must haves for us all!

[woolebull]

I just finished up the 7/20/96 CT show and something amazing happened. I could talk about how fun it was to hear groups like The Nixons and The Badlees. Or how, "Theme from 'Mission Impossible" dropped out, leaving Robert Miles' "Children" as the only instrumental on the show and subsequently is still the fourth newest instrumental to hit CT/AT since (that is so wild to me). But something else will now always stick out to me about the show.


Back in 1996, I always wanted the Butthole Surfers to hit the top 40 just so I could hear Casey say the name of the group. Unfortunately, "Pepper" peaked at 42. A while back on this board, someone mentioned that Casey did say the name of the group as he was mentioning the various #1's on other charts. Today, I finally hit the random listening lottery and heard him mention the group and the song as the #1 on the alternative chart. What I wasn't ready for was how Casey named the group. And I quote, "#1 on the alternative chart is "Pepper" by...BH Surfers". I laughed so hard at that! I mean it was 1996: every commercial seem like they were condom commercials, including one sponsored by Westwood One. But apparently Casey could not say "that" word. Certainly worth the wait lol.

Onto 7/24/99 Dees and something cool happened that I have never noticed before: on this particular show, Rick counted down the Top 41. And he could do that because, "Baby Did A Bad Thing" by Chris Isaak was the "Sure Shot". I was surprised it was the sure shot (because the song came out in 1995). I went to see how far, if at all, the song made it into the top 50 in 1999. It would peak the week of the 7/24/99 show at 41. The reason it was released after all those years? It was used in "Eyes Wide Shut". Cool tidbit I wasn't aware of.

[OnWithTheCountdown]

woolebull - thinking it was either dukelightning or me that mentioned "BH Surfers". Yeah, definitely an LOL moment. 😂

I just heard all the 1996 shows a few months ago.

[woolebull]

Jul 24, 2024 18:29:42 GMT -5 OnWithTheCountdown said:

woolebull - thinking it was either dukelightning or me that mentioned "BH Surfers". Yeah, definitely an LOL moment. 😂

I just heard all the 1996 shows a few months ago.

I remember talking about it, certainly didn't remember BH Surfers though. That was all time classic!

[freakyflybry]

AT40 from October 1, 1988.

Why so late, you may ask? Well, because TWO songs in this show were used for that year's Olympics in Seoul... and this weekend, the Olympics open for another session in Paris.

Sadly, all the singers involved in said Olympics songs have since died: Whitney Houston on "One Moment In Time", and all of the Four Tops on "Indestructible" (interestingly, I prefer their next single from the "Buster" soundtrack, "Loco In Acapulco", which was a huge hit in Europe). Alongside them in rock and roll heaven this week include Jeff LaBar of Cinderella, George Michael, Alec John Such of Bon Jovi, Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys, Eddie Van Halen, Michael Hutchence of INXS, Glenn Frey, Robert Palmer, Brian Travers and Astro of UB40 (did Shadoe ever play the version of "Red Red Wine" with Astro's "toasting" near the end?), and Steve Clark of Def Leppard.

Shadoe mentioned the Four Tops had been around over 30 years with no line-up changes, this would last until the mid-90's. Eventually, ZZ Top would beat them with 50 years with their original trio until Dusty Hill died. Incidentally, he said that the Rolling Stones may have broken up for good. But they came back the year later... and amazingly are still touring in 2024 with two original members and another long-term member who joined in the mid-70's.

This show also has a connection with a concert I will be attending next week; I will be in Toronto for a few days next week, and one of the shows I will be going to has two acts performing there in the top 10: Def Leppard at #2 and Cheap Trick at #6. I do feel Def Leppard will play "Love Bites", but I don't think Cheap Trick will do their version of "Don't Be Cruel" as they seldom play it anymore. The other act on the bill, Journey, was broken up at the time.

Interestingly enough, I have already seen both Def Leppard and Cheap Trick before; the previous time I saw Def Leppard was in Calgary and they were on tour with Poison, who had #16 with "Fallen Angel". Cheap Trick was supposed to be opening for Rod Stewart, who cancelled the show after Cheap Trick's opening set finished; Rod had #21 with "Forever Young".

And I will see another act on here later this year; Taylor Dayne is coming here on tour with Paula Abdul and Tiffany, both of whom would get another top 40 (or in Paula's, her first) by the end of the year. Taylor has #3 with "I'll Always Love You".

The previous week had a chart oddity with Bobby McFerrin, who had #1 with "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He was the only one hit wonder on that week's chart! Alas, that was no longer the case this week as Giant Steps debuted with their only top 40 hit.

Looking to the future then, who would've thought that "Fast Car" would come back last year as a country remake by Luke Combs? Or who would've thought that Kylie Minogue would have TWO chart comebacks, skipping a decade in between? After her initial run, she had another in the early 2000's including "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" - and then returned last year with "Padam Padam"! Yet she had no top 40 hits in the 1990's or 2010's.