American Top 40 "Death Dedications"

[JRZFM100]

Hey, does anyone know about or even listen to AT-40 anymore? The official AT-40 / Seacrest site says that it's on KDMX, Sunday 6-10AM? Really... I never knew.

I just accidentally stumbled across this unedited studio tape from Casey Kasem, cica 1985, where Kasem blows the script and continues to ramble and calls the Long Distance Dedication segment the Death Dedication.

The audio is a must listen experience for those who have never heard it, as Casey uses a variety of choice language repetitively, including G** D*** and the F word too.

WOW, I can't believe I din't know about this till today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=fDYK2H0ldbo

Laughing so hard after this, it was impossible to keep my feet on the ground while trying to catch my breadth.

 

[Kent]

This has been viral around the internet for quite some time. I've heard the actual show, which aired without any indication Casey ever had a problem with it. He was upset that "Dare Me" by The Pointer Sisters was supposed to air before the dedication about a dead dog named "Snuggles." The dedication was for "Shannon" by Henry Gross in honor of the dog. It's funny to hear the actual show. "And here's a long distance dedication about a story we can all relate to. It's from a man in [...] who writes, 'Dear Casey...'" The show aired September 14, 1985.

 

[JRZFM100]

That is funny; I only found it through researching the Henry Gross song Shannon. They say it was made very popular when Howard Stern played the bit.

What radio station would have had that in Dallas in 1985? Was AT-40 on KHKS, KEGL or other station here?

 

[TheBigA]

The irony being that "Shannon" was written by Henry Gross about his own dead dog.

 

[JRZFM100]

Wikki says the song is about one of the Beach Boys dead dogs...

I think the dead dog aspect of an LDD really felled Casey - it was just too d*** much. He really lost it.

 

[TheBigA]

Wikki says the song is about one of the Beach Boys dead dogs...

Whoops, that's correct. Carl Wilson, to be specific. Thus the Beach Boy style harmonies in the record. However, the story goes that both Henry AND Carl owned dogs named Shannon.

 

[Kent]

What radio station would have had that in Dallas in 1985? Was AT-40 on KHKS, KEGL or other station here?

KEGL had it in '85. I'm sure they weren't the first to carry it, but they're the only station I know of that carried the first edition of AT-40. I'm thinking KHKS carried Casey's Top-40 but never picked up the Shadoe Stevens version after KEGL dropped it when it flipped to rock.

 

[MikeShannon914]

Except for 1979 below, these all were "...on great radio stations like..." announcements that Kasem gave periodically during each show.

7/71, KXOL-1360/Fort Worth
11/73, still KXOL
7/79, KFJZ-AM
4/80, KAFM
9/83, KIKM-Sherman (of course, there was probably still a DFW affiliate then as well)

After Casey quit in August 1988, he came up with "Casey's Top 40," which aired over KHYI-"Y-95."

 

[Kent]

9/83, KIKM-Sherman (of course, there was probably still a DFW affiliate then as well)

KEGL had AT-40 as early as 1983. Not sure when it went from 92.5 to 97.1, though.

After Casey quit in August 1988, he came up with "Casey's Top 40," which aired over KHYI-"Y-95."

Casey's Top-40 initially aired on KEGL along with American Top-40 with Shadoe Stevens. CT-40 either aired 6 AM to 10 AM or 8 AM to noon on Saturdays. AT-40 aired 8 AM to noon on Sundays. Y-95 stole CT-40 away from KEGL in either late '89 or early 1990 and ran it up against AT-40 on Sunday mornings. I believe Y-95 also aired the Rick Dees Weekly Top-40.

 

[rnigma1]

I heard that the "dead dog dedication" recording was faked - someone impersonating Casey supplied the saltier language and edited the rants into a recording of the real Casey.

 

[TheBigA]

I heard that the "dead dog dedication" recording was faked - someone impersonating Casey supplied the saltier language and edited the rants into a recording of the real Casey.

Could be...I always thought it was interesting how the tape leaked shortly after he left ABC.

 

[Kent]

From what I heard, Casey has acknowledged it was real. I suppose, though, that it could've been like the gossip game, where it was completely different by the time I heard it.