What happened at AT40 when Elvis died?

[Dale Latimer]

Sandy Stert Benjamin remembers... and she'll talk about it on this week's (8/16-22) Chart Beat Podcast with Gary Trust and Trevor Anderson on Billboard.com, whose lead topic is songs (old and new) that have topped the Hot 100 for exactly 14 weeks (and whether the reigning #1 can add to that total)... Sandy appears on the 40th anniversary of the King's demise to recall what happened at the AT40 office and studio when the sad news reached Casey and company...

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/podcasts/7905217/chart-beat-podcast-ranking-the-14-week-hot-100-no-1s-from-boyz-ii

Direct link to audio:
acastprod.blob.core.windows.net:443/media/v1/56990063-adf3-4d67-8efc-1e28b3fff35a/chartbeatno60-j6fhf78d.mp3

Show runs just short of an hour, and Sandy comes in at about 16 minutes on, with Elvis' "Way Down" as intro music.

dL

[Rodney]

Better late than never.... haven't been on the boards too much in the past several months. Thanks for posting this. Enjoyed listening to it quite bit.

[mrjukebox]

Interesting conversation with Sandy Stert Benjamin.

[dth1971]

Did some AT40 affiliate stations not carry AT40 that weekend after Elvis died and play all Elvis music nonstop through the end of the weekend?

I remember following the 9/11/2001 tragic events most radio stations didn't get the 9/15/2001 AT40/AT20 episodes due to the slow mail and air traffic ban that happened.

Of course, the launch of the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 Gulf War II didn't affect AT40 receivings of that weekend's shows following the war launches.

[OldSchoolAT40Fan]

Jan 13, 2018 14:43:46 GMT -5 dth1971 said:

Did some AT40 affiliate stations not carry AT40 that weekend after Elvis died and play all Elvis music nonstop through the end of the weekend?

I remember following the 9/11/2001 tragic events most radio stations didn't get the 9/15/2001 AT40/AT20 episodes due to the slow mail and air traffic ban that happened.

OZ-FM in Newfoundland is no exception. That radio station ended up playing the previous week's AT40, which I believe was guest-hosted and had a tribute to the late singer Aaliyah.

It's too bad many missed out on the 9/15/2001 show, especially since it supposedly had the debut of Michael Jackson's "You Rock My World".

As for the comment about Elvis Presley music being played non-stop, I don't think tribute marathons were as big back in 1977 as they are now. Plus, Michael Jackson's death in June 2009 never interfered with the following weekend's AT40 on OZ-FM, if I recall - but either way, AT40 was just two weeks away from being dropped from OZ-FM's lineup in favor of changing to a new format devoted to post-1979 rock music.

It's too bad Casey Kasem retired from his hosting gig before Michael Jackson died. I really can't get over how he missed an opportunity to record a tribute to Michael Jackson.