It was sad to hear the news today that legendary radio voice Casey Kasem passed away at age 82. Kasem was the voice of American Top 40 from the beginning with the first show aired on July 4th, 1970. He continued to be the voice of AT40 until his last show on July 4th, 2009.
When WBLU Salem started running AT40, I used to try and listen to the show every week. Kasem would count down the 40 biggest songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and I would always hear how songs were charting nationally compared to the two Top 40 stations in the Roanoke area (WBLU and WROV Roanoke). As a whole, WROV generally added songs earlier than TOP 40 powerhouse stations like WLS Chicago and WABC New York, so the AT40 countdown each week tended to be a little bit behind what the top ten songs were in Roanoke.
Here are the songs that Casey Kasem played on the first AT40 show on July 4th, 1970:
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AMERICAN TOP 40 – JULY 4, 1970
40 Marvin Gaye – The End Of Our Road 39 Mark Lindsay – Silver Bird 38 Eric Burdon and War – Spill The Wine 37 Crabby Appleton – Go Back 36 B.J. Thomas – I Just Can’t Help Believing 35 Aretha Franklin – Spirit In The Dark 34 John Phillips – Mississippi 33 The Flaming Ember – Westbound #9 32 The Four Tops – It’s All In The Game 31 The 5th Dimension – Save The Country 30 Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young – Ohio 29 Ray Stevens – Everything Is Beautiful 28 The Impressions – Check Out Your Mind! 27 The Moody Blues – Question 26 Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours 25 Wilson Pickett – Sugar, Sugar 24 Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young – Teach Your Children 23 The Poppy Family – Which Way You Goin’ Billy? Oldie: Bill Cosby – Little Ole Man 22 The Moments – Love On A Two-Way Street 21 Mountain – Mississippi Queen 20 Bread – Make It With You 19 Pacific Gas and Electric – Are You Ready? 18 Charles Wright and The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band – Love Land 17 Alive ‘N Kickin’ – Tighter, Tighter 16 White Plains – My Baby Loves Lovin’ 15 Miguel Rios – A Song Of Joy Oldie: Louis Armstrong – Hello, Dolly! 14 Brotherhood Of Man – United We Stand 13 Rare Earth – Get Ready 12 The Five Stairsteps – O-o-h Child 11 The Pipkins – Gimme Dat Ding 10 Vanity Fair – Hitchin’ A Ride Oldie: Blood, Sweat, and Tears – Spinning Wheel 09 Elvis Presley – The Wonder Of You 08 The Beatles – The Long And Winding Road 07 The Carpenters – (They Long To Be) Close To You 06 Melanie- Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) 05 Freda Payne – Band Of Gold 04 Blues Image – Ride Captain Ride 03 The Temptations – Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today) 02 The Jackson 5 – The Love You Save Oldie: The Rolling Stones – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction 01 Three Dog Night – Mama Told Me (Not To Come) ** 1 week @ no. 1 ** |
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As you can tell, Top 40 radio had a lot of variety during the summer of 1970. Thank you Casey Kasem for bringing the top songs to us every week on American Top 40. You will be missed! What are your memories of Casey Kasem and American Top 40? Were you a regular listener of AT40 at some point in your life? Since this is my first blog, I am interested in hearing your comments in relation to my musical musings. I welcome your thoughts and hope you will follow my blog as we explore musical history together. As Casey Kasem once said, “And don’t forget: keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. To subscribe to my blog via email, please click the “Follow” button in the menu above. I am looking forward reading your comments on my latest blog message. |
DJ Dave's Musical Musings 
I always like listening to AT40 Sunday morning on SunnyFM. I know many songs from the 70s but it’s always interesting to hear songs that aren’t on the hot rotation on oldies radio stations.
I also remember listening to AT40 on WBLU 1480. If memory serves me correctly, WFIR 960 carried it for awhile and K92 ran it in the 80’s. I enjoyed the way Casey would give background information on the various artists and answer listener questions about songs, artists, etc. An almost cruel ironic twist to Casey’s passing is the recent death of Tom Rounds, who was the original producer of AT40.
Heard some interesting trivia this past week from a DJ early in the day of AT40. The early shows were recorded on vinyl records, and shipped to the various stations that would carry the program. It would get to the end of the segment/side, the station operator/DJ would have to get a commercial going, flip the record, and continue with the show. I’d bet more than once, someone, somewhere, got the sequence out of order, or played the same side twice.
One of my favorite memories growing up listening to him. I also liked where he would interview the artist and ask them questions. I will never forget Little River band was one of my favorite bands and he asked the singer about Lady. He gave him the story of a real girl he use to see at the nightclub he was playing out. Graham I think. I am looking forward to the show tonight. I always agree with the children over the stepmother lol