JBXMRN
Junior Member
Posts: 53
|
Post by JBXMRN on Apr 4, 2004 19:11:56 GMT -5
I have a question for you. Do you ever find yourself doing strange things while you are listening to the countdown shows? Well, for me for example, sometimes I would sing along to some of the songs, or if any songs have either keyboards or organs, then I would pretend that I am playing either one, the other, or both.
|
|
|
Post by Jeffster on Apr 5, 2004 7:28:08 GMT -5
Doesn't sound too strange to me. I think just about everybody has sung or "played" along to songs on the radio, AT40 or not. I guess it could be considered strange, that I heard Bubble Yum commercials on 1989 AT40's that i listened to just last year, and I went out and bought some just to add to the nostalgia while I listened, heh heh.
|
|
|
Post by Hervard on Apr 5, 2004 9:50:13 GMT -5
Hmmm, strange things while listening to the countdown shows. In the 21 years that I've been listening to at least one countdown show or another, I'm sure I've done a lot of strange things.
Back in early 1984, when I was first introduced to music videos (via Solid Gold; we didn't get cable TV until that summer), I'd often pretend to be in the video of songs that I knew all the words to, as I lip synched along to the music while doing certain things (very limited, as there wasn't much to do in my room; I couldn't very well ride a medicine wagon like the one Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson did in "Say Say Say", which was the first video I ever saw).
Another thing that comes to mind is that, whenever "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer came on, I used to shadowbox in time to the music. Why? I have no idea! Maybe, that was my way of pretending to be in the video, since it was very difficult to lip synch to it, since, of course, it was an instrumental.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2005 14:07:57 GMT -5
Back in the day I used to play Legend of Zelda II while listening to the countdown. (I know, I went and grabbed a post from a long time ago and am commenting on it...I am bored right now. )
|
|
|
Post by BrettVW on Nov 16, 2005 15:34:25 GMT -5
I usually catch up on newspapers, magazines, etc. during the show. As a college student, I am probably one of seven people on a campus of 2,000 that is awake at 9:00 on Sunday morning - and the other six being people who never went to bed the night before.
So, for me it is the one time all week I can actually just have 3 interupted hours of peace. I'll write overdue emails and letters, surf the web for more than 5 minutes, or sometimes just lay in bed and listen to a half hour or so of the show (usually from when the alarm goes off at 8:55 until somewhere mid through Hour 1) and actually relax.. occasionally dozing back off and waking up a few songs later (which rarely happens and bugs me when it does.)
Fortunately I am lucky to have a roommate that does not hear my alarm go off at 8:55 on a weekend morning...last year's roommate didn't like that). And almost like clockwork, people start waking up during the last few minutes of the show and we all head down to the dining hall around 12:10. And on the weeks they either wake up earlier or the show runs over - they know i'll meet them down there once "that radio show" is over.
One thing I will not do during Casey is homework! Never did it in HS and wont do it now. Sometimes I will put an old show on during the week while I am writing a paper, but I never do work during the new weekly shows. I look forward to AT20 each week, and don't want to deal with work while I listen.
And I actually don't ever mind waking up for the show - and I mind even less here at college. Even though I only get about 6 hours of sleep a night, I don't mind Saturday being my only sleep-in day. While I cringe at waking up for my 8:00 class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, waking up for Casey doesn't bother me for two reasons. 1) It's Casey!! and 2) Living in a quad and being at college leaves NO time for being by myself to just get some stuff done and not have to listen to people talk constantly. So it's a nice little bit of almost self reflection time to prepare myself for the week. When i'm at home, I listen to the show in my room/basement (I have my own bedroom but our sound system and most of my 'stuff' is in our basement). Usually i'll eat breakfast at some point during the show. My dad is never around on Sunday morning and my mom usually heads out shopping or is elsewhere in the house cleaning, so it's another one of those rare times where I can just relax and enjoy the show in a little bit of solitude. I don't ever answer my phone during the show (unless it's super important) and just have a nice relaxing Sunday morning.
Last year on New Years Eve I got one of my friends/now ex-girlfriend hooked on the show, and she came over and we had a little "Top 60 Party" since WKDD ran the show on NYE from 10am-4pm. Cheesy I know, but ya gotta make your own fun!
In December 2003 back when it was still AT40 w/ Casey, I trimmed our Christmas tree one Saturday morning to the sounds of Lil John, 50 Cent and the likes during a week Ed subbed for Casey. I also put together our new kitchen table one Saturday morning while listening to Pat O'Brien count 'em down (noticing a pattern of manual labor during guest hosts here?)
But yeah -- I just try to relax and not do anything stressful or school work-related. I've done all sorts of different things during the shows. And I even have a portable shower radio so I don't have to miss a single song during the show!
|
|
|
Post by BROWNJB1 on Nov 16, 2005 23:46:37 GMT -5
Hey Brett! I am so fascinated that you are so open about your life, especially since you are only 19 years old, and a college student. Well anyway, back in the day, when I used to listen to AT40 during Casey's first stint with the show, and then later with Shadoe Steven's stint, I would sit my alarm clock and set it for whenever AT40 would come on, and in recent years, I have started doing it again, depending on which show I was listening to, whether it was Casey's Countdown, Casey's Hot 20, American Top 20, AT40, and now AT10.
|
|
|
Post by at40petebattistini on Feb 24, 2006 3:03:59 GMT -5
Strange things while listening to the countdown? Perhaps this qualifies.............since there are countless activities to do while listening to the radio, I recorded every weekly program. And because it was my practice to stop the tape for commercials, I needed to stay close to the radio.
For any number of pre-1979 AT40 broadcasts (sorry - I'm old school!), I usually had a copy of Billboard close by. Since I knew the positions of all the songs in Top 40 countdown, I scanned #41-100 on the Hot 100 and counted the songs I'd heard before. From there I compiled a wish list of songs that I hoped would make it to AT40. (No need to write them down -- it was a short list!) Some made it and others didn't.
I remember listening in particular to the March 12, 1977 program when Casey mentioned that "Billboard just called" with some chart changes. Once he provided details, I scrambled to dig out the previous week's Billboard to get a better picture on chart movement for the three songs that had changed. When was the last time a change was made in the middle of the countdown? I could be wrong but that may have been the only time.
I also spent time while recording AT40 going through old copies of Billboard. (Unfortunately, they're long gone now.) Old Billboards meant reviewing old Hot 100 charts -- and a desire to hear some of the AT40 shows from the early 70s. I had missed out on hearing 2-3 years worth of original AT40 program broadcasts so there were plenty of charts to look at.
These activities may appear to be strange to some but I was enough of a chart fan that I enjoyed it. And I still do!! ;D
|
|
|
Post by Indycolt on Feb 24, 2006 8:16:38 GMT -5
Pete, Like you,I needed to stay close by the radio when recording AT40,as I made it a practice to write the songs down each week. That meant I basically had to hang around my bed room during the mid 70's, However,there were times that my portable radio was my faithful companion on many Sunday "hikes" along the German economy. Several days ago I relistened to the 2-22-75 show(Yes,I'm old school too!)where AWB's "Pick Up The Pieces" was #1. What a classic "blast-from-my-past" and it put me right back to when I was 14,and a specific romp for several hours along and near the military community I lived at. Steve
|
|
|
Post by bandit73 on Feb 24, 2006 15:31:00 GMT -5
I always saluted a Men At Work folder whenever #28 was played. This was because Men At Work's last top 40 hit peaked at #28, and I was disappointed that they didn't have any more songs in the top 40.
So whenever the countdown got to #28, I kneeled on the floor for 28 seconds and faced a 'Business As Usual' folder that was propped up on the desk. Then I saluted the folder.
|
|
GQ
New Member
Posts: 33
|
Post by GQ on Mar 26, 2006 1:15:14 GMT -5
Doesn't sound too strange to me. I think just about everybody has sung or "played" along to songs on the radio, AT40 or not. I guess it could be considered strange, that I heard Bubble Yum commercials on 1989 AT40's that i listened to just last year, and I went out and bought some just to add to the nostalgia while I listened, heh heh. heh, heh, alright, I have you topped!! I actually considered trying to hunt down an old Pontiac from 1986 due to those pesky commercials which actually made the show what it was back then IMO.
|
|
|
Post by bandit73 on Mar 26, 2006 13:02:52 GMT -5
I actually considered trying to hunt down an old Pontiac from 1986 due to those pesky commercials which actually made the show what it was back then IMO. Was this the commersh where they sang, "We build excitement...Pontiac"? And I do remember some weird Bubble Yum commercials during AT40. I remember one from the late '80s that I think was for Bubble Yum, but it might have been some other brand of gum. It advertised some contest in which listeners would send in their best "bubble photo". I guess people were supposed to send in pictures of themselves blowing a huge bubble with bubble gum or something. I don't remember if the winner was ever announced or what the prize was. Another important advertiser on AT40 in the late '80s was Halls cough drops. They had some weird ads too.
|
|
|
Post by at40petebattistini on May 5, 2007 8:21:21 GMT -5
Resurrecting an old thread............it's always interesting to re-read AT40 fan comments! This may qualify as a strange listening habit -- I enjoy listening to a variety of shows on my Windows media player. That may not sound like it's too unusual until I point out that I typically add programs that are divided up into numerous tracks. When I mix up the lot, I may hear a 2-3 song segment from a 1975 AT40 show, followed immediately by a segment with Casey introducing a couple of 1982 songs and then an AT40 track with a couple of songs from 1972 appears. Truly a great variety!
|
|
|
Post by UnknownEric on May 5, 2007 12:54:39 GMT -5
Pete, Like you,I needed to stay close by the radio when recording AT40,as I made it a practice to write the songs down each week. That meant I basically had to hang around my bed room during the mid 70's. From 1983-1992 that was me. I used to drive my parents crazy because they knew that from 8am to noon on Sunday, I was locked in my room with a notebook and pencil, slavishly writing down every song, comparing it with past songs by those artists, and generally being completely obsessive about the show. ;D
|
|
|
Post by am1143 on May 5, 2007 14:24:02 GMT -5
Maybe this doesn't qualify - you decide. I used to listen to AT40 on Armed Forces Radio - on medium wave. Often I scheduled long sunday afternoon bike rides to listen to it on a walkman radio. Compared to that XM sounds way too good. So I sometimes run recorded shows through "stereo tool" - a free winamp plugin - which does a good job of re-creating the way AT40 is supposed to sound on AM. Then I put the show on my mp3 player and get out the bike for a 10-20 mile tour... Note: Stereo tool is here: www.hansvanzutphen.com/stereo_tool/download/
|
|
|
Post by jedijake on May 6, 2007 8:58:36 GMT -5
In 1984, I heard John Leader's Countdown America count down the top 84 songs of the year. Before revealing the #1 song, he had a montage of songs from #84 to #2. I taped that and still have it.
In 1987, Casey did a montage of #1 songs of the year before revealing the #1 song of the year. That gave me inspiration. It was simply a string of segments taped and linked back to back. I knew that I could do it.
Starting in 1988 and basically ending in 1994 (minus a couple of years I had to work), I made my own top 100 medley of songs. I would tape a few seconds of the chorus of EVERY song from #100 to #2 and link them in a medley. Then, I would record the host (Casey or Shadow) introducing the #1 song of the year.
It still brings back flashbacks to this day.
|
|