AT40 at 50

[johnnywest]

I would like them to launch a retro Ryan show similar to what is being done with Casey and Rick. Granted, not a lot of people care about 15-year-old interviews with Paris Hilton, but it would be nice to hear the music.

[Mike]

50 Years Ago, Casey Kasem Began Counting Down The Hits On American Top 40

[statenislandfan]

H A P P Y 50th A N N I V E R S A R Y A M E R I C A N T O P 4 0. Thank You for being in my life as we grew up together.

[MEF]

Ryan also gives well deserve credit to Don Bustany at the end of the 7/4/2020 AT40 show. Happy 50th anniversary American Top 40!

[djjoe1960]

I heard a little bit of this show where it was noted that 28 million people listen to the show weekly. It made me wonder what the size of the audience was during the show's peak (1980's version was heard on a reported 1000 stations)?

[OnWithTheCountdown]

Listening to my recording of this past weekend's show now. Really like the imaging put together for this show. You'll hear jingles from 1985 and 2004 (Seacrest's first year) incorporated into them. Great show so far. 👍

[DJ Particle]

I caught that too...though the 2004 one was based off the AT40 jingle tune created in 1998.

Surprised they didn't use the classic AT40 jingle tune.

[adam31]

Heard most of the show on the IHeartRadio app, will try to catch it all through the week. I must say, well done by Ryan and Staff, the tributes to Casey and the show, the classic jingles, even a mention to Don Bustany, all fantastic! Only one negative, I don't think he mentioned Shadoe Stevens, and since this is a celebration of the show and not in particular Casey, thought that was an oversight (Unless I missed it). Also, a lot of the music was tough to get through.

[chartcrazy]

I just heard the AT40 50th anniversary show. I can take them pretending the 3 year hiatus never happened or ignoring Shadoe's existence, but they make it seem that only R&R/Mediabase was ever used on AT40.

At one point Ryan mentioned that Fleetwood Mac had 4 number ones. They did... on R&R. But it was Billboard that was used during those years where they had just 1 number one song , "Dreams".

What are we celebrating if they completely ignore the chart that was used it's first 2 decades?

[adam31]

Jul 7, 2020 16:20:21 GMT -5 chartcrazy said:

I just heard the AT40 50th anniversary show. I can take them pretending the 3 year hiatus never happened or ignoring Shadoe's existence, but they make it seem that only R&R/Mediabase was ever used on AT40.

At one point Ryan mentioned that Fleetwood Mac had 4 number ones. They did... on R&R. But it was Billboard that was used during those years where they had just 1 number one song , "Dreams".

What are we celebrating if they completely ignore the chart that was used it's first 2 decades?

Ironically, Billboard is mentioned when replaying Casey's intro to the first show from July 4, 1970!

[DJ Particle]

I noticed the "Billboard's #1!" jingle. *heh*

[OnWithTheCountdown]

In this weekend's show, Ryan brings up the 39th anniversary launching of MTV, and plays Casey's 1979 intro to the song whose video was the first to air: The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star". (That intro was from the 12/15/1979 show, and was the only week in the top 40.)

Thankfully, videos didn't kill radio stars. It just made them much better.

[mkarns]

Jul 7, 2020 16:20:21 GMT -5 chartcrazy said:

I just heard the AT40 50th anniversary show. I can take them pretending the 3 year hiatus never happened or ignoring Shadoe's existence, but they make it seem that only R&R/Mediabase was ever used on AT40.

At one point Ryan mentioned that Fleetwood Mac had 4 number ones. They did... on R&R. But it was Billboard that was used during those years where they had just 1 number one song , "Dreams".

What are we celebrating if they completely ignore the chart that was used it's first 2 decades?

Here's a fun chart fact: in AT40 history three songs have hit #1, fallen from that spot, returned a second time, dropped again, and returned to #1 for a THIRD time. And two of those have happened so far in 2020, they being "Circles" by Post Malone and "Blinding Lights" by the Weeknd.

And the third? "Le Freak" by Chic in 1978-79, the only song in the Casey era to do so. BUT...that was on the Billboard Hot 100. It didn't do that in Radio & Records (where "Le Freak" hit #1 for two consecutive weeks, plus it can be given two "frozen" end-of-year weeks), so Ryan won't cite it.

[dannyd]

Aug 2, 2020 13:18:49 GMT -5 OnWithTheCountdown said:

In this weekend's show, Ryan brings up the 39th anniversary launching of MTV, and plays Casey's 1979 intro to the song whose video was the first to air: The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star". (That intro was from the 12/15/1979 show, and was the only week in the top 40.)

Thankfully, videos didn't kill radio stars. It just made them much better.

Ryan also played “Without Me” by Eminem and “Glamorous” by Fergie.

[Hervard]

Aug 2, 2020 21:10:24 GMT -5 mkarns said:

Jul 7, 2020 16:20:21 GMT -5 chartcrazy said:

I just heard the AT40 50th anniversary show. I can take them pretending the 3 year hiatus never happened or ignoring Shadoe's existence, but they make it seem that only R&R/Mediabase was ever used on AT40.

At one point Ryan mentioned that Fleetwood Mac had 4 number ones. They did... on R&R. But it was Billboard that was used during those years where they had just 1 number one song , "Dreams".

What are we celebrating if they completely ignore the chart that was used it's first 2 decades?

Here's a fun chart fact: in AT40 history three songs have hit #1, fallen from that spot, returned a second time, dropped again, and returned to #1 for a THIRD time. And two of those have happened so far in 2020, they being "Circles" by Post Malone and "Blinding Lights" by the Weeknd.

And the third? "Le Freak" by Chic in 1978-79, the only song in the Casey era to do so. BUT...that was on the Billboard Hot 100. It didn't do that in Radio & Records (where "Le Freak" hit #1 for two consecutive weeks, plus it can be given two "frozen" end-of-year weeks), so Ryan won't cite it.

"On Bended Knee" by Boyz II Men also hit #1 three times, all of them before AT40 ended in early 1995. Shadoe even mentioned that in the song's backsell on the last AT40 show.