I am listening to the 70s on 70 channel on Sirius/XM, which is playing a marathon of Casey Kasem countdowns from that decade in dedication to his radio work. It's Charlie Daniels Band's' "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" at No. 3 during the week of September 15, 1979, followed by "After the Love Has Gone" by Earth, Wind & Fire!
Kasem, who passed Sunday at age 82, was a weekly companion for me throughout my formative 1980s and I was thrilled to meet him back in 1993. He possessed that ingratiating, signature voice, an unforgettable exit line ("Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.") and those often cheesy long-distance dedications. I also found it amusing when he would quote people and actually finish the quote by saying "end of quote." Just a strange Casey quirk! And as an obsessive chart guy, I would jot down every song every week from 40 to 1 for years. I would also use cassette tapes to record songs off his countdown show that I liked.
I know I wasn't alone as a Casey fan so I asked several radio professionals in Atlanta their thoughts on the legend.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Ryan Cameron, morning host at V-103: "I always wanted to be Casey Kasem because he was Shaggy on Scooby Doo that made me want to do cartoon voices. And every personality wanted to do a countdown show. American Top 40 was the staple and Casey was the bar. I still remember 'Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars' like it was yesterday. He was a true vocal icon."
Melissa Carter, morning co-host at B985: "He's was a major part of my childhood, and my first introduction to radio. It's odd to consider myself a colleague of his, since we have served in the same profession, but what an honor it is to be able to claim that."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Jason Pullman, morning host at 94.9/The Bull: "When I was five years old, dad was a general sales manager at WLTA-FM/100. I'd tag along with him on the weekends to the radio station. He'd do paperwork and I'd go into the control room with the on-air personality. Throughout my childhood, I'd use a hairbrush because I didn't have a microphone, pretend like I was on the air and emulate Casey Kasem. I always though my on-air name would be "Jasey Jasem." He was a huge influence on my radio and voice-over career. Casey's voice was unmistakable and cut through the clutter of screaming deejays. His voice sounded so good through our speakers. He was kind, genuine and touched people's emotions. That's what good radio is all about... I know Casey is still counting down heaven's hottest hits! Now, on with the countdown..."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Mara Davis, former host at Dave FM and current Atlanta Eats TV and radio host, plus WABE-FM contributor: "I would have to say Casey Kasem is the reason I got into radio. I used to listen to AT 40 in my room every Sunday. I obsessed over the charts but what I loved about him was the storytelling. Those long-distance dedications are why radio is magic. You feel for that lady in Kansas who misses her son. There was a little taint when those tapes leaked with him getting angry. [Warning: there are curse words involved.] But it also made him more human. Oh my gosh! Casey Kasem is human! He was a true personality. That's what I miss about radio today."
Margot Chobanian, who runs EAV Radio and was former host on Dave FM: "Like most, I grew up listening to American Top 40. However, my parents didn't listen to "popular" music, mostly Mozart and other classical, so I had to find my own way when it came to music. I first heard him by accident. After that, every Sunday, I would listen however I could, whether that was transistor radio, or any radio I could get my hands on. (It didn't hurt that he was originally from Detroit, either.)"
Credit: Brian O'Shea (AJC)
Credit: Brian O'Shea (AJC)
Bert Weiss, morning host at Q100 and the syndicated Bert Show: "I listened to him every week at 2 p.m. in the afternoon. It was my job to go to the garage and sweep it. I'd listen to the entire show. He was a pioneer. The thing I would learn from him was he sounded like somebody you could approach. He had a friendly delivery. Any personality has to make a connection. He certainly was able to do that."
Tripp West, former Star 94/Groove/True Oldies host now at News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB and evenings on B98.5: "I grew up listening to Casey Kasem on American Top 40. The show aired twice on Sunday in my hometown of Savannah, GA. I loved the long distance dedications, and would always sit on the edge of my seat to hear if the song I had picked to be number one that week actually made it. He was a naturally smooth story-teller. It was that and the music that kept me tuning in week after week for most of my youth. I never had the pleasure of meeting him. One thing that keeps coming to my mind, early on in my radio career, I found some AT40 shows that were on vinyl. By this time, the shows were being distributed on CD. I asked about the vinyl and found out that the station would run the show at normal speed on Sunday morning, then slightly faster on Sunday night. This allowed for more commercials. Mind blown."
Steve Craig, jock at 97.1/The River and former mid-day host at 99X: "When I started in small-market radio stations on the weekends, we were all tasked with running AT 40. It came on LPs. We'd have to cue up the next segment on the turntable. It helped me become a chart watcher. I'm always digging up nuggets for Steve's College of Musical Knowledge. There was always trivia attached to chart action and Casey introduced me to that."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Steve McCoy, former morning host at Star 94: " The first time I heard Casey was in college. We actually ran American Top 40 on the college station. In those days ( the days of silent radio) the show came on reel to reel tapes,and one of the graduates actually worked at Watermark ( which produced American Top 40) and was one of the engineers on the show. He would send back to us all the out takes. The most famous one which was the that every jock and most people may have heard is the one where Casey gets upset about a long distance dedication about a dog dying. I was only a freshman at the time,so I wasn't in the know of everything that went on, but I do remember hearing that few minutes there and that's where that out take took off from. Years late, I interviewed Casey and asked him about it,and he was very honest about it, saying something to the effect that "Yes,it did happen, it was a bad day for me, and that happens to everyone." He laughed, and then laughed even harder when I told him the story of how it came about. I just remember him saying "small world, small world."
I used to VHS tape his "America's Top 10" show, which featured videos back in the day. Here's a sampling on YouTube:
About the Author
