"Letters To Casey: the Longest Distance Dedication"

[baylink]

I've mumbled about this idea in the past, but it really came up again and slapped me in the face last Friday... when it looked like ... well, never mind.

In any event, I've decided that I'm actually going to try to assemble a countdown that's the top 40 listener Long Distance Dedications to Casey himself. I announced it on the Facebook group, and I have about 6 or 7 so far.

Do you have a song that you'd like to dedicate to The Man?

Tell the story.

(Pilot of the Airwaves is already taken; sorry. :-)

[Deleted]

Leader of the Band

[1finemrg]

Jun 9, 2014 21:28:24 GMT -5 baylink said:

I've mumbled about this idea in the past, but it really came up again and slapped me in the face last Friday... when it looked like ... well, never mind.

In any event, I've decided that I'm actually going to try to assemble a countdown that's the top 40 listener Long Distance Dedications to Casey himself. I announced it on the Facebook group, and I have about 6 or 7 so far.

Do you have a song that you'd like to dedicate to The Man?

Tell the story.

(Pilot of the Airwaves is already taken; sorry. :-)

Posted this last week on the lost 70s classic thread. Copy below:

This June 8, 1974 lost classic is a long-distance dedication to Casey Kasem. The singer is currently touring with Ringo Starr's All-Star Band, and this gem had a 16 week chart run that peaked one notch below the Top 40.

Casey: American Top 40 and its derivatives have given your fans years of listening pleasure and will continue to do so for generations to come. While hoping for better health, best wishes that you have the peace and dignity that you deserve. Also condolences to those close to him. Thanks.

A Dream Goes On Forever - Todd Rundgren

[jlthorpe]

How about dedicating a Meredith Brooks song to Jean?

[baylink]

Haw. I was thinking about "They're Coming To Take Me Away (Ha Ha!)", but for the actual program I'm gonna keep it clean. :-)

[baylink]

Well, either this isn't as good an idea as I thought, or I've put it in the wrong forum here...

[pointpark04]

Well, baylink, I for one think it is a marvelous and touching idea.

My LDD would be this:

Casey, I don't know how many times I've listened to you over the years; how many hours of my life have been spent listening to you tell stories and introduce songs I've heard a thousand times over. I do know one thing: You filled my life with such laughter, joy, and pleasant memories, even in times when I didn't otherwise have much laughter or joy, or when my life was not very pleasant. You were there for me at all times of my life. You were always in my heart, and you'll always be there. Now, and forever more.

Casey, would you please play "You'll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins before you go? You'll be there in my heart, always. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Todd Bryner, Pittsburgh, PA

[dougbroda]

Every week, when I was alone and sad or when I was waiting for the trip to the lake or when I was lamenting not having a girlfriend and when I was grateful I didn't have a girlfriend and when I was thrilled at the A in history and when I was furious at that &*&@#&(@&#( typing teacher or when I got admitted to the college of my choice or when I realized I hated the college I chose... Casey, you were always there, to spin that latest disco record ("the music of tomorrow") or dedicate that long distance dedication or tell me to keep my feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

I know you wouldn't have played this on an AT40 show, but it speaks as truly as I can find words, so I ask for an exception:

My old friend, this song's for you
Cause a few simple verses
Was the least that I could do
To tell the world that you were here
Cause the love and the laughter
Will live on long after
All of the sadness and the tears
We'll meet again, my old friend

Casey, could you play "My Old Friend" by Tim McGraw, and dedicate it to the king of the countdown, the radio voice of my adolescence and teenage years and that of millions more, with utmost gratitude, from Doug Broda in Schaghticoke, New York?

youtu.be/MR1tGp5EJVY

[briguy52748]

I will dedicate to him the first-ever No. 1 song that he ever played on the first-ever AT40, from July 4, 1970. The excitement that was in his voice as he told the story of how the band came upon its name, before playing "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)." He'd do that again, introducing more than 400 more titles at some point during those first 18 years on AT40, plus another 200 or so (I suppose) during Casey's Top 40, and untold number -- I'm going to hazard a rough guess of about 250 songs that went No. 1 on the revived AT40, and his sister programs AT10 and AT20. But there's always a first time, and that's why I choose Three Dog Night and their smash hit from 1970.

Brian

[keith]

A dedication from Keith in Chicago.

Dear Casey,

Growing up in North Carolina with relatives in South Carolina we had weekend trips, we'd tune in 1110 WBT, you were on on the drive down and local legend "Hello Henry" Bogan in the evening.

After the divorce her first job in 1978 was as an ad copywriter for a local AM station, that had been printing their own countdowns to advertise the stations to read while patrons waited.

Fast forward the decades, and 19 months ago, my mother was in an auto wreck. I traveled more often from Chicago back to North Carolina. But now I was renting cars and in the XM satellite radios, I heard the replays of the countdowns as we ran errands. Even our favorite barbeque restaurant had the show on. The roles had reversed, but you were the constant.

Even after we moved her up here last year, I found the internet streams, that would beam your voice and knowledge from Sioux Falls, Louisville, Phoenix and Michigan, to calm me while I worked on my errands.

It saddens me to know that you are spending your final hours on this earth, an ironic that some will be on the day I will also celebrate my mothers 72nd birthday.

After the pain you've felt and the chaos, you've witnessed among those who love you, I hope you find your peace. So to one of the legends of radio, Casey, I dedicate to you "FM" by Steely Dan, and hope that you soon feel, as the song's full title says "No static at all"

[bobbo428]

I have learned a great deal from Casey Kasem through the years. If not for his show, I most likely would never have begun to compile my personal song chart--or my top 100 quote chart, which I update weekly. Without the American Top 40 framework, my two favorite pastimes probably wouldn't be. I want to dedicate a song that debuted on the top 40 exactly forty years ago, the Righteous Brothers' "Rock and Roll Heaven." I am hoping that Casey can find some peace and tranquility soon.

Robert Ruane (bobbo428)

[baylink]

Well, events moved too fast -- certainly for me -- but Tom Daniels and I are commencing pre-pro on this countdown, which I'm titling "Longest Distance Dedications: Letters to Casey" this afternoon.

Here are a few of the notes I posted on the Facebook group where this idea first bubbled up:

Note 1: If you've seen an LDD to Casey somewhere outside Facebook, please get me a link. They need to be a song title, and a story.

Note 2: If you own, run, or work at a Great (call-letter) Radio Station which is currently clearing Classic AT40, please note your frequency, callsign, strapline, city and state in a comment here; I'll want about a dozen.

Note 5: I am an absolute *maniac* about "the full credit roll". I'd like everyone here to add, in a comment, the names of everyone they can think of who worked with Casey over the years, on AT40, CT40, AT20 and the tv countdowns.

And if you have a song and something to say about it, please chime in by, say, Wed/18.

[ Thanks to Scott for putting this in the right group ]

[beegee3]

Dear Casey, I discovered your show in the early 1980s, right around the start of New Wave music, and once I heard it I was hooked. Every week I would make a point to spend four hours near my radio to hear you count down the hits. You got me to appreciate acts from the past, like Elvis, Pat Boone, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. You introduced me to new acts our radio stations wasn't playing, like Icicle Works and Cock Robin. And the stories, both those chart-related and just loosely tied to the music, were the best. One of my favorites was the "Three Minutes of Silence" story and how juke boxes would stock it so people could get some relief from the noise around them. When someone dies, it's common to give a moment of silence in respect. For all the respect I have for you, sir, could I dedicate "Three Minutes of Silence" to you and your memory. Thank you. Chris

[brownjb81]

If I were to do my own Long Distance Dedication to Casey, it would go something like this:

Dear Casey:

I started listening to American Top 40 in the spring of 1987 on Power 96/WHYT-FM in Detroit as a 14 year old high school freshman. I don't know the exact date but I think it was March 1987. I remember the very first song that I listened to on American Top 40, it was "Respect Yourself" by Bruce Willis. To say how much the show had an impact on me would be a extreme understatement. In those early weeks, I only listened to bits and pieces of the show, I probably listened to about 4-5 songs. Within a couple of months, I listened to the Top 15-20 songs, and shortly after that, the entire Top 40. A few months after I started listening to the show, there was a small article featured in my high school newspaper featuring the girls high school swim team and several members of the team were featured in that article including a pair of twin sisters that I was friends with at the time and I had a crush on one of the twin sisters. In fact, I began to have a crush on her around the same time that I began listening to AT40. On the very next page of that issue, there was an advertisement featuring you talking about your love for Wayne State University. In the ad, you said, "WAYNE STATE, GREAT SCHOOL". Listening to the show had led me to many things. It got me interested in music trivia, reading Billboard magazine (including the Hot 100), music books, biographies and Joel Whitburn's Billboard Books. You inspired me to go to Wayne State. I used to joke that I would be Wayne State's 2nd most famous graduate. Although I never graduated from Wayne State, I do intend to go back and finish up my bachelor's degree. You, along with longtime NFL Films announcer John Facenda, inspired me to become a Voice Over artist. Although I haven't pursued that goal, I am working on pursuing it now. I have been collecting classic AT40 shows for many years now and for the past 13 years, I have been listening to AT40 classic shows in my car on the weekends. There is nothing like listening to your voice while I am driving. You have become my weekend traveling buddy. Like a lot of people, I was devastated when you passed away. Although your death was expected, I was heartbroken and very upset nonetheless. You no longer being with us hasn't sunk in yet but it will eventually. Despite the fact that you are gone, I will continue to listen to the classic shows on the weekends and I plan to get more AT40 shows in the near future. We will miss you terribly but I hope that you will be counting them down in heaven.

Sincerely,
Jerome Brown aka Brownjb81

[baylink]

Ok; I've locked the playlist at -- hey, look! -- 40 dedications, tonight.

Jerome, I assume the Bruce Willis track was the dedication?

1finemrg, need a name and city.

Chris: we're gonna do your dedication, but obviously, we couldn't play 3MOS... even if we could find a copy. We hope you'll approve of where we go instead.

Script starts tomorrow; we're gonna bust our ass to get this out.