Post by secretman on Mar 30, 2015 16:56:11 GMT -5
[Source: Examiner.com]
One More #1 for Radio's 'Countdown King': Detroit-Born Legend Casey Kasem
March 29, 2015
11:12 AM MST
This summer, an institution (of sorts) will be celebrating its 45th Anniversary on radio, of all places. The "institution," in fact, is a radio show called "American Top 40," known for its weekly look at the top of the modern music hit parade. Current host Ryan Seacrest, the host of "American Idol," became the host of pop music's well-known survey 11 years ago, where it now bases its music chart on electronic data, collected from more than 200 radio stations across the U.S., as to what the most popular tracks happen to be. But some still look back to the beginnings of the show known as "AT40," and say that it's been more overdue than ever that one of the co-creators should finally be recognized in a very special way, especially for American Top 40's 45th Anniversary.
The show actually began back in 1969, thanks to four gentlemen who met in Los Angeles, and with the formation of a production company called Watermark, Inc., the foursome-executive in charge Tom Rounds, producers Don Bustany and Ron Jacobs, and the Detroit-born L.A. radio personality Casey Kasem - began American Top 40 the weekend of July 4th, 1970, on seven radio stations across the U.S.A. By the end of the decade, American Top 40 was broadcast not only in the U.S., but was heard on at least 400 stations all over the world, as well as on Armed Forces Radio. One of the biggest reasons for the draw was, indeed, the voice of Casey Kasem - a warm, inviting voice whose vocal tones invited us in, to hear about the latest hits that became popular, and some of the stories behind them.
American Top 40 had, in fact, used the charts from music's best "insider" source, Billboard magazine, based on their "Hot 100" sales chart (and later was adapted to include radio airplay as well as sales). But Casey Kasem and the AT40 (as it is also well known) staff combed thru interviews and magazines alike to provide the stories behind the artists and the songs each week, bringing out trivia of just about every sort to help educate the public about the music, and so much more. Special features were also added before long, including one of its most endearing, the "Long Distance Dedications." The Long Distance Dedications provided listeners a chance to offer a song to send to someone, to express their deepest feelings, in a way that they might not be able to do otherwise.
Casey Kasem hosted American Top 40 from the July 4th weekend in 1970, until a contract dispute with the producers of the show, Watermark, which became part of the Capital Cities-ABC Radio Networks, had Casey parting ways with his old friends, and signing a new contract with rival radio network Westwood One. Shadoe Stevens, a well-known DJ and announcer of the most recent edition of the game show "The Hollywood Squares," took over Casey's duties on the weekend of August 13th, 1988, and five months later, Casey returned with his new show "Casey's Top 40," based on the charts of Billboard's top rival magazine, Radio & Records. One other show that Casey had helped co-found, the popular "American Country Countdown," originally hosted by comedian Don Bowman from October 1973 til May 1978, and then by Bob Kingsley from May 1978 to January 2006, still remains on the air, hosted, since January 2006 to the present day, by country music star, Kix Brooks, of the duo Brooks & Dunn.
Casey would continue with Casey's Top 40, as well as the "Casey's Hot 20" and "Casey's Countdown" shows designed for the adult contemporary stations, for Westwood One, until March 1998. But in 1997, Casey and "American Top 40" would be reunited, when Casey and co-creator Don Bustany would win the rights back to the show name from ABC Radio Networks, when ABC had cancelled the American Top 40 with Shadoe Stevens for the U.S. audiences in July 1994, and the worldwide broadcast from ABC and Radio Express ended in January 1995. After Westwood One refused to allow the name change, Casey made an abrupt deal with the AM/FM Networks, and in March 1998, AM/FM debuted the "new" American Top 40, with Casey Kasem at the helm once again (followed quickly by the "American Top 20" adult pop countdowns). Premiere Radio Networks would acquire AM/FM in 2000, and Casey continued his association with his new network. In January 2004, it was decided to let Casey take a bit of a breather-American Top 40 was thus turned over to DJ and "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest, while Casey continued with the adult editions, now dubbed "American Top 20" for the "hot adult" stations (those going very light on hard rock and rap/dance) and "American Top 10" for the regular adult pop stations.
Casey continued with the adult countdowns, but by 2008, he had shown signs of a very serious neurological disorder, Lewy body dementia, which affected the nervous system and brought about moments of dementia. Casey signed off for the final time on the weekend of July 4th, 2009, 39 years after he had started doing his countdowns on seven stations in the U.S., and becoming a global sensation not long after that. And in doing so, Casey, for one last time, reminded his listeners to, as was his famous tag line, "keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars." (Later on, the famous quote would add a further extension, "And keep your radio dial tuned right where it is.") And with that, Casey retired, for the most part, from radio, acting, and the public eye.
Casey's condition would further worsen, and was hindered by an ongoing feud brewing between Casey's second wife, actress Jean Thompson, and the children from Casey's first marriage to Linda Myers, most notably Casey's elder daughter Kerri Kasem, herself a respected DJ and talk show host.
Allegedly, Kerri had often accused Jean of possibly mistreating her father, while Jean allegedly had accused Casey's three older kids of wanting to take advantage of their dad's fortune. The drama played out over the next five years, and intensified with a series of altercations in early 2014. Casey Kasem would finally pass away on Father's Day, June 15, 2014, surrounded by Kerri and her siblings Mike and Julie, and several close friends of Casey, who had helped come to Casey's aid in his final days. Allegedly, there is still some contention between the elder Kasem children and Jean Thompson to this day, with possibly no end in sight.
One More #1 for Radio's 'Countdown King': Detroit-Born Legend Casey Kasem
March 29, 2015
11:12 AM MST
This summer, an institution (of sorts) will be celebrating its 45th Anniversary on radio, of all places. The "institution," in fact, is a radio show called "American Top 40," known for its weekly look at the top of the modern music hit parade. Current host Ryan Seacrest, the host of "American Idol," became the host of pop music's well-known survey 11 years ago, where it now bases its music chart on electronic data, collected from more than 200 radio stations across the U.S., as to what the most popular tracks happen to be. But some still look back to the beginnings of the show known as "AT40," and say that it's been more overdue than ever that one of the co-creators should finally be recognized in a very special way, especially for American Top 40's 45th Anniversary.
The show actually began back in 1969, thanks to four gentlemen who met in Los Angeles, and with the formation of a production company called Watermark, Inc., the foursome-executive in charge Tom Rounds, producers Don Bustany and Ron Jacobs, and the Detroit-born L.A. radio personality Casey Kasem - began American Top 40 the weekend of July 4th, 1970, on seven radio stations across the U.S.A. By the end of the decade, American Top 40 was broadcast not only in the U.S., but was heard on at least 400 stations all over the world, as well as on Armed Forces Radio. One of the biggest reasons for the draw was, indeed, the voice of Casey Kasem - a warm, inviting voice whose vocal tones invited us in, to hear about the latest hits that became popular, and some of the stories behind them.
American Top 40 had, in fact, used the charts from music's best "insider" source, Billboard magazine, based on their "Hot 100" sales chart (and later was adapted to include radio airplay as well as sales). But Casey Kasem and the AT40 (as it is also well known) staff combed thru interviews and magazines alike to provide the stories behind the artists and the songs each week, bringing out trivia of just about every sort to help educate the public about the music, and so much more. Special features were also added before long, including one of its most endearing, the "Long Distance Dedications." The Long Distance Dedications provided listeners a chance to offer a song to send to someone, to express their deepest feelings, in a way that they might not be able to do otherwise.
Casey Kasem hosted American Top 40 from the July 4th weekend in 1970, until a contract dispute with the producers of the show, Watermark, which became part of the Capital Cities-ABC Radio Networks, had Casey parting ways with his old friends, and signing a new contract with rival radio network Westwood One. Shadoe Stevens, a well-known DJ and announcer of the most recent edition of the game show "The Hollywood Squares," took over Casey's duties on the weekend of August 13th, 1988, and five months later, Casey returned with his new show "Casey's Top 40," based on the charts of Billboard's top rival magazine, Radio & Records. One other show that Casey had helped co-found, the popular "American Country Countdown," originally hosted by comedian Don Bowman from October 1973 til May 1978, and then by Bob Kingsley from May 1978 to January 2006, still remains on the air, hosted, since January 2006 to the present day, by country music star, Kix Brooks, of the duo Brooks & Dunn.
Casey would continue with Casey's Top 40, as well as the "Casey's Hot 20" and "Casey's Countdown" shows designed for the adult contemporary stations, for Westwood One, until March 1998. But in 1997, Casey and "American Top 40" would be reunited, when Casey and co-creator Don Bustany would win the rights back to the show name from ABC Radio Networks, when ABC had cancelled the American Top 40 with Shadoe Stevens for the U.S. audiences in July 1994, and the worldwide broadcast from ABC and Radio Express ended in January 1995. After Westwood One refused to allow the name change, Casey made an abrupt deal with the AM/FM Networks, and in March 1998, AM/FM debuted the "new" American Top 40, with Casey Kasem at the helm once again (followed quickly by the "American Top 20" adult pop countdowns). Premiere Radio Networks would acquire AM/FM in 2000, and Casey continued his association with his new network. In January 2004, it was decided to let Casey take a bit of a breather-American Top 40 was thus turned over to DJ and "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest, while Casey continued with the adult editions, now dubbed "American Top 20" for the "hot adult" stations (those going very light on hard rock and rap/dance) and "American Top 10" for the regular adult pop stations.
Casey continued with the adult countdowns, but by 2008, he had shown signs of a very serious neurological disorder, Lewy body dementia, which affected the nervous system and brought about moments of dementia. Casey signed off for the final time on the weekend of July 4th, 2009, 39 years after he had started doing his countdowns on seven stations in the U.S., and becoming a global sensation not long after that. And in doing so, Casey, for one last time, reminded his listeners to, as was his famous tag line, "keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars." (Later on, the famous quote would add a further extension, "And keep your radio dial tuned right where it is.") And with that, Casey retired, for the most part, from radio, acting, and the public eye.
Casey's condition would further worsen, and was hindered by an ongoing feud brewing between Casey's second wife, actress Jean Thompson, and the children from Casey's first marriage to Linda Myers, most notably Casey's elder daughter Kerri Kasem, herself a respected DJ and talk show host.
Allegedly, Kerri had often accused Jean of possibly mistreating her father, while Jean allegedly had accused Casey's three older kids of wanting to take advantage of their dad's fortune. The drama played out over the next five years, and intensified with a series of altercations in early 2014. Casey Kasem would finally pass away on Father's Day, June 15, 2014, surrounded by Kerri and her siblings Mike and Julie, and several close friends of Casey, who had helped come to Casey's aid in his final days. Allegedly, there is still some contention between the elder Kasem children and Jean Thompson to this day, with possibly no end in sight.