Today Casey Kasem passed away after a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia. Sadly his family problems were in the news over the past several months. When radio enthusiasts think of Casey the first first thing that comes to mind is countdowns and American Top 40. Back in the 1960s I used to copy down countdowns from WMCA and WABC in New York City which represented the popularity of records locally. Back then there were 3 national publications: Record World, Billboard, and Cashbox which reported Record Surveys. We always liked to compare chart positions of our favorite hits.
As we got in the 1970s my interest in surveys declined, but on July 4, 1970 American Top 40 hosted by Casey premiered. I described this show in a
journal entry a few days ago. I always enjoyed the chart trivia and anecdotes that Casey gave. Certainly there were many people behind the scenes that made the show possible. I am not into Top 40 radio today, but I will always listen to the archived shows. Casey was really a gem and a great asset to his profession.
Please check out
this article from All Access.
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