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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 11:50 am 
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Casey Kasem dead at 82

Casey Kasem, the sentimental king of the music radio countdown and the television voice of Shaggy on "Scooby-Doo," died Sunday, his daughter said. He was 82.

"Early this Father’s Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends. Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken," Kerri Kasem wrote on her Facebook page.

He had reportedly suffered from Lewy body disease, a form of progressive dementia, for several years.

He became the subject of an ugly family battle when his daughter Kerri and his two other adult children from his first marriage sued his second wife Jean in an attempt to take over his care.

His name still made news because over 40-plus years on the radio, Casey Kasem set the benchmark for contemporary countdown shows.

He would play the top 10, 20 or 40 songs, interspersed with upbeat patter and stories about the artists or records.

He regularly read listener dedications and never apologized for a sentimental style that often dipped into cornball. He ended each show by telling listeners, "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

He had the tone of an enthusiastic conversationalist whose appreciation for the music transcended the traditionally teenage Top 40 audience.

"A lot of my fans," he said in a 1998 interview, "are people who have grown up and don't have as much time to listen to the radio, but still want to keep up with what's popular. A lot of shows don't talk to them anymore, but I do."

"Casey was one in a trillion," said Rob Durkee, author of the book "American Top 40." "What made him so great was the way he talked to the listeners. When he told a story, you'd swear he was sitting right next to you. It takes years to understand how to do that, and no one did it like Casey."

Sean (Hollywood) Hamilton of New York's WKTU, who does his own countdown show, called Kasem "the godfather of countdowns. Everybody who grew up with the radio knew Casey Kasem. And everybody who does a countdown show learned from him."

Kasem eventually branched out from the original "American Top 40" to do "Casey's Top 40," "Casey's Hot 20," "American Top 20" and "American Top 10."

He also hosted a video-based TV program, "America's Top 10," from 1980 to 1989 and 1991-92.

Outside radio, he was the voice of Shaggy from 1969 to 1995 and 2002 to 2009. Among other voiceover gigs, he was Robin in the first animated "Batman" and can be heard on "Josie and the Pussycats."

He did real-life acting on TV shows that included "Charlie's Angels" and "Police Story."

He read a top-10 "countdown" list for David Letterman and for years co-hosted Jerry Lewis's annual muscular dystrophy telethon. For several years in the late '70s and early '80s he was the staff announcer for NBC television.

His friendly voice also made him a natural for commercials, and he could be heard on ads that included Ford, Chevy, Red Lobster, Oscar Mayer, Velveeta, Heinz ketchup, Sears, Dairy Queen, Continental Airlines and the California Raisin Advisory Board.

He did a series of infomercials for music compilation CDs.

"I love to keep busy," he said in 1998. "But I never forget it's the countdown that made it all possible."

The son of Lebanese immigrants who worked in Detroit as grocers, he became an active advocate throughout his life for Arab-Americans.

He quit the "Transformers" television series, he said, because he felt the portrayal of Arab characters was stereotypical and demeaning.

A long-time vegetarian, he refused several jobs that involved promoting meat.

He was a progressive political activist who maintained a strict traditional code for music on "American Top 40." When George Michael's "I Want Your Sex" became a No. 1 record, he played it, but never spoke the title.

His family-friendly persona and code made it especially astonishing when an outtake surfaced several years ago from a taping in which Kasem broke into a profane denunciation of everything and everyone in sight.

On Sept. 14, 1985, he was reading a letter from a listener who asked that Kasem dedicate a song to the listener's recently deceased dog.

Kasem started the dedication, then stopped to complain that it didn't feel right because he had just played an up-tempo record.

His staff should know better, he yelled, than to slot an up-tempo song before a letter about "a f---ing dead dog."

The widely circulated rant didn't affect his popularity, but did become a classic in radio circles. After some time had passed, Kasem would talk about it in interviews with an amused shrug.

On a more serious note, Kasem said he learned radio from the air personalities of his own youth.

"They made radio fun," he said in 1998. "They made you want to listen to the host as well as the music."

The popularity of "American Top 40" peaked in the early 1980s and, in 1988 after a contract dispute, the show's syndicators replaced Kasem with Shadoe Stevens, who had previously been one of his fill-in hosts.

An unhappy Kasem said he had been forced out and soon started a rival countdown show that ran for 10 years before he was reinstated at "American Top 40."

He eventually wound his programs down to "American Top 20" and "American Top 10," both of which he ended on July 4, 2009. He was 77 and when he retired, he mostly stayed out of the spotlight.

Many of his shows have been repeated over the years, on satellite radio and elsewhere. His periodic specials, like "The Top 40 Girls of the Rock Era" or "The Top 40 Beatles Songs" or "The Top 40 Christmas Songs," have been particularly popular.

Radio was his favorite medium, he said, because "it engages your imagination."

Merrill Shindler, who wrote for Kasem's shows for years, told Durkee, "The pleasure of the Casey show is that it was actually a primitive show, a very simple thing with very simple music and connections."

Kasem is survived by his second wife, Jean, and four children, Mike, Julie, Kerri and Liberty.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... -1.1830533

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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 11:59 am 
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I have a DVD box set of Casey introducing some great videos. I will play this today in tribute. Rest in peace my DJ..

Rick A.

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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 12:39 pm 
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R.I.P.

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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 2:36 pm 
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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 5:33 pm 
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Because this is local; the newspaper carried quite a bit about the step Mother vs Daughter feud on how to handle his condition. While (thank God) I didn't have a fued to deal with; this is very similar to what I dealt with when my dad passed abot 3 years ago. My feud was with the hospital who clearly stated they wanted him to die because they were terrified that the insurance company wouldn't pay for continued care (dad was conscious, though in bad shape). I am not exaggerating here; several "social workers" clearly told me that was the issue.

It even got to a point where a Dr. literally screamed at me. I finally caved when dad was no longer willing to fight with the hospital, & I've been kicking myself ever since

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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 7:39 pm 
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When I had XM, I used to listen to the old America's Top 40 shows on the '70s channel. Great fun.

Rest well, Casey Kasem.

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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 8:52 pm 
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When I was growing up our family would take a trip almost every summer, sometimes far away, sometimes near. No matter where we went, it was always cool to find American Top 40 on a local radio station. RIP, Casey, and thanks for the music.


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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 11:08 pm 
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I still listen to chunks of the AT40 replays on XM. Sunday mornings used to be Casey mornings for me - much better than church. Even listened when we went to my grandmother's for lunch on Sundays. I can remember listening for some of my favorite songs - and hoping not to hear them because the longer I had to wait, the higher they were on the charts.

RIP, Casey.

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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 11:15 pm 
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Truly an icon. Listening to Casey's countdown in the 70s had a huge influence on me and my musical education.

Thank you for the music, Casey.

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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 8:59 am 
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Thanks, Casey, for helping to grow my love of music. RIP among those stars.

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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:00 pm 
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I first heard Casey's AT40 in 1974 when a local AM station started carrying him, and was able to listen to him for about 5 years total during the 70s as various local stations switched their coverage off and on.

Really liked the special countdowns he used to do, such as:
--the All-Time Christmas Countdown
--the Top 40 disappearing acts of the rock era (i.e., one hit wonders)
--the Top 40 acts of the rock era
--the Top 40 British acts of the rock era
--a repeat of the first AT40 show

You can find all of the specials countdowns out there in internet land.

I need to get 2 of the several books out there about AT40, one is out of print and going for sky high prices, ugh...

I gotta tell you this funny story. Sometime in the 80's, there was this DJ team in town called The Love Brothers. I think they were syndicated to several other stations around the US, too. One of the guys was a spot on impersonator. He had Casey down perfectly, and maybe once a week he made up a parody of those special long distance dedications.

One week, he was telling us the "real" story behind The Sandpipers hit from the 60s "Guantanamera". The story went, a member of The Sandpipers had a grandfather, who had a saying "well, if that's true, I'll eat a one ton tomato." And so The Sandpiper wrote this song about his grandfather's catch phrase. The Love Brother was so convincing in his delivery, that one of my co-workers at the time heard the story over the radio on the way into work that morning, and swore up and down that this was no impersonator, that was the real Casey! I just laughed and told him the truth, he still could not believe it. Hilarious beyond words!

So, for your discerning ears, I give you "Guantanamera." Listen carefully to the words and see if they aren't singing "one ton tomato, I'll eat a one ton tomato."



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 Post subject: Casey Kasem, RIP (1932-2014)
PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2015 6:16 pm 
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