# Casey Kasem's first Top 40 countdown was 50 years ago this week **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 30, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822 "2020-06-30T17:50:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/1 "2020-06-30T17:50:55Z")
Presumably stations which carry countdown repeats are running that one this week. I know this station will on Saturday afternoon, from 4 'til 7 (Eastern time). > **[The Valley](https://wvli927.com/)** ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/2 "2020-07-01T00:00:03Z")
Wow. Time flies. So he already had his “Shaggy” role well in hand when he started doing Top 40. Interesting ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/3 "2020-07-01T00:05:13Z")
There’s a fun blast from the past. 🙂 I once had a long distance dedication read on air by Kasem on his Top 40 show. I was as surprised as anyone it made the cut. Always feel bad how his life ended… what a mess. He seemed a good man. I may tune in for old time’s sake. Thanks for mentioning the broadcast, **Skywatcher**. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/4 "2020-07-01T00:11:14Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I once had a long distance dedication read on air by Kasem on his Top 40 show. I was as surprised as anyone it made the cut. It wasn’t about your pet dog dying, was it? 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/5 "2020-07-01T00:12:36Z")
> [@SwissMan](#): > > It wasn’t about your pet dog dying, was it? LOL, nope. But I made sure it was sappy enough. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/6 "2020-07-01T00:13:16Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > But I made sure it was sappy enough. Let’s just hope the crew didn’t lead into it with any up-tempo numbers! ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/7 "2020-07-01T00:20:05Z")
Hey, the guy was just counting down the Top 40 – not really his fault if the preceding number happened to be _Born to Be Alive_, was it? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/8 "2020-07-01T00:42:32Z")
Mr. Kasem’s show was a favorite of mine all thru my childhood and teen years; it was one of those things that was just part of the fabric of my existence for many, many years. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/9 "2020-07-01T01:38:12Z")
He was a little dog named Snuggles. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/10 "2020-07-01T01:43:33Z")
Ah. Got it. Whooshed here. I wasn’t aware of that story. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/11 "2020-07-01T02:54:41Z")
Sirius XM runs his show on the 70’s channel on the weekend. It’s nice to hear the great songs, but man oh man, most of the countdown is forgettable crap. He also played some “oldies” for even back then, like Louis Armstrong’s Hello Dolly. This site has the [7/4/1970 countdown](https://web.archive.org/web/20150416161419/http://oldradioshows.com/at40/070470.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/12 "2020-07-01T16:20:05Z")
Many fans of Casey Kasem’s show have heard the famous outtake from the Snuggles dog death dedication. Probably not nearly as many have heard what actually aired on the radio. The segment in question starts at 58:12 of the [Crap from the Past episode](https://archive.org/details/cftp-2012-04-20) of April 20, 2012. The uptempo song preceding “Shannon” that angered Casey so much was “Dare Me” by the Pointer Sisters. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/13 "2020-07-02T03:00:15Z")
This man kept my sanity in check during my insomnia days in elementary school. My mother bought me a small AM/FM radio and listened to him in the 80s. His voice and the songs helped me fall asleep. On the next school day, I would talk with my classmates about the popular songs and artists. I would never miss the weekly radio and TV show in those times. I even saved money to buy Billboard magazine once a month or so. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-kasems-first-top-40-countdown-was-50-years-ago-this-week/913822/14 "2020-07-02T03:29:28Z")
I have an episode of that show from some radio station. I found it in a thrift shop. It’s for the week ending May 22, 1976. It’s on three 33 1/3 LPs. They are labeled “This radio program is restricted to radio station broadcast use only…” #40 was _Never Gonna Fall in Love Again_ by Eric Carmen, # 1 was _Silly Love Songs_ by Wings. The previously mentioned _Shannon_ was # 9 that week. The thing I always hated about the show was that they always played the short versions of the good songs. _Blinded by The Light_ by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and _Come Sail Away_ by Styx are two examples.