Post by ccwolffenc on Dec 2, 2014 20:07:35 GMT -5
Hey there, guys....Scott Lakefield and a few of you may know me from the Facebook AT40 pages (the 70's and 80's, usually), and I thought I'd introduce myself here. A while back, I joined the American Top 40 pages, mainly because of my love for radio, both the classic shows of yesteryear and the "modern" era of broadcasting, especially where a certain DJ named Casey Kasem was concerned. I'm a big fan of AT40 and all its incarnations (even though I do find the current "rendition" of AT40 with Ryan Seacrest lacking the heart of the original with Casey, and even Shadoe), as well as a couple of his competitors (Mark Elliot, Dan Ingram, and John Leader being my favorite "rivals")-but I've expressed along with a good number of folks, NO ONE BUT NO ONE could ever do the countdown shows the way that Casey has done. He and his staff put together a radio legacy that featured good music with fun trivia, interesting facts about the stars and the songs, and provide a way for us all to connect with the music that touched our lives in one form or another, making us laugh, cry, fall in or out of love, dance, rock, or even be introspective, and maybe even change the world. Casey's also known for voiceovers, acting in movies and TV, and as a beloved cartoon voice (notably for Shaggy of the "Scooby-Doo" cartoon franchise), and even a TV version of his countdown show. But American Top 40 (and its successors) are still the trademark of how to mix music and info in a fun way, and Casey (along with Don Bustany, Ron Jacobs, and the late Tom Rounds) should be praised for such a show that touched so many lives. Right after Casey's death, I posed a trivia question to a few folks, and the answer involved an act that made it to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-and when I read the reminder, well, to quote Homer Simpson, "D'OH!" I knew of Dick Clark and Alan Freed, among others, who'd been honored by the RRHOF, and found out about the Ahmet Ertegun Award, given to non-recording artists who helped make a contribution to the rock/pop music community and to various humanitarian causes in whatever form. Given Casey's recent passing, and the craziness of recent months involving his family, it tore my heart out-THAT'S not what I want people to remember about Kemal Amin Kasem, but of the pleasure and information that he bestowed upon the public. And that's why I helped start a drive to get the Hall of Fame to recognize Casey as one of its future awardees-and thank God I've had support from Shannon Lynn, Jay Ashworth, and more recently, Casey's daughter Kerri, among a good number of others. And now I'd like to ask if you'd be willing to help out-if there's a way to get the word out, I hope you'll help make it so. And one good way to make that voice heard, I've posted a petition online at Change.org, which I plan to make sure I send to the Hall of Fame whenever possible-numbers don't matter on this one, but "voices" do, and I hope there'll be a few that can help chime in and make this happen. I'm not gonna stop, so to speak, til we reach the top, and give Casey Kasem a much-deserved final #1, just for him. And I hope you guys can help us out in this effort. BTW, the petition can be found out at...tinyurl.com/qaellb3 BTW, glad to be here on the forum, and hope you guys will say hello if you see me. HUGS and HOWLS, Matt Gillis (aka "CCWolffeNC")