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RICK DEES "Weekly Top 40" IS STILL ON??

E

electroboy73

...WOW! I thought he went to internet only or something. Here's what I don't get tho. In 2004 when Ryan Seacrest replaced Casey Kasem on "AT-40", that put Rick Dees at the top as the longest-running, ORIGINAL voice for a weekly national Top-40 countdown show. So, why is it (in the last several years), SO MANY stations seem to have stopped carrying "The Weekly Top-40"? Wouldn't they have wanted to keep the show up and continue to compete it with "AT-40"? (That's the way it always was, back in the day) It was always Rick Dees on Saturday Mornings and Casey Kasem on Sunday mornings. Seems they should have banked on the fact that, (unlike Ryan Seacrest), Rick Dees is STILL on the air after all these years. But, I don't think he's even carried on much the east coast, anymore. I think wiki-pedia said about 200 stations still carry it. (i dunno)......

ANYWAY, but hearing his show on the web just now, the only thing that's changed is the music. Wow, I remember when his "Weekly Top-40: Remixes" were songs like, Madonna's "True Blue" (1987) and Tina Marie's "Lover Girl" (1984)! (damn, I'm old)! ;D
But still today the format, the structure, (even the sound effects) have remained unchanged as he played, Ke$ha, Eminem, and Young-Money.

(Hmmm....maybe the lack of structural changes is why it lost it's popularity, huh)?

Oh well, as far as I'm concerned, hearing Rick Dees again (playing the HITS of 2010) is like bumping into an "old friend" from my childhood. And, I'm glad to know he's still around nearly 30 years later and that he's still all about..........."RICK DEES....AND THE HITS!!"


Any thoughts?
 
CHR radio is all about getting newer an fresher talent and Dee's just isn't. Seacrest replaced Dee's in the morning in LA an ever since then, Dee's has been trying to find a place in todays market. It seems even in the corporate world its out w/ the old an in w/ the new. Nevermind the fact that his countdown is almost like a dartboard (lets put this song here and that song there). AT40 was suffering w/ Casey at the helm, thus the reason Seacrest took over and AT40 has made a comback.

I still love Dees an continue to acquire his shows, even the new ones, and hope he can continue counting down the hits for years to come.
 
Let's not forget that Rick Dees is now 60 years old. I heard a current countdown recently for the first time in awhile and noticed his voice was not as vibrant sounding as when I hear his countdowns from the 90s.

And yes, many of his sound effects and comedy bits have been to slow to change over the years, which perhaps helped lead to his demise.

Most of his affiliates are in smaller makets these days with a few medium sized markets sprinkled in. Perhaps someone can correct me, but I am not aware of him being in a top 20 or so market.

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, both Rick and Casey have a special place in my heart, but the changes were needed.
 
Corporate radio has something to do with the disapperance of the Weekly Top 40. He lost most of his Clear Channel affiliates when Ryan Seacrest took over AT 40. When Cumulus picked up the Billy Bush countdown for its CHRs, most of them had to drop the countdown show they were carrying in order to make room. For most of them it was Rick Dees, this corporate move affected the MTV and Hollywood Hamilton countdown shows to a lesser extent. As it was pointed out earlier, the show seems to be in the smaller markets any more. I think if these coprorate stations carried more than one countdown show, they may have had the option to keep one.
 
WWST "Star 102.1" in Knoxville still carries The Weekly Top 40 w/ Rick Dees early on Saturday mornings. And, yeah I'm an old fart too I guess, but I also enjoy hearing Rick a lot more than I do Ryan Seacrest or Billy Bush. I'm 40, and still love current CHR music, but I do miss the personality and hype of CHR radio from the 80s. I know it's considered passe or lame now, but I still prefer the hyped up energy of CHR from those days (loud big voiced jocks, goofy in-your-face attitude sweepers, jingles for every element like weather and top-of-the-hour, reverb on the mic, etc.). I know it's more about sounding "natural" now and not "cluttering" the music, but I still love hearing guys like Rick Dees and John Garabedian who are playing current CHR hits with an "old school" presentation.
 
The Outsider said:
Corporate radio has something to do with the disapperance of the Weekly Top 40. He lost most of his Clear Channel affiliates when Ryan Seacrest took over AT 40. When Cumulus picked up the Billy Bush countdown for its CHRs, most of them had to drop the countdown show they were carrying in order to make room. For most of them it was Rick Dees, this corporate move affected the MTV and Hollywood Hamilton countdown shows to a lesser extent. As it was pointed out earlier, the show seems to be in the smaller markets any more. I think if these coprorate stations carried more than one countdown show, they may have had the option to keep one.
Click to expand...

Cumulus owned 104.3 WZYP still carries Rick Dees.
 
I'd take old repeats of old 80's Weekly Top 40 or American Music Magazine (Rick's nightly weekday countdown) any day over Seacrest or Shadow Stevens. They're just..."blaaah", like every other corporate voice track. At least Dees was funny & had a ton of drops. Half of why I listened to Casey back then was the jingles!
I wonder if anyone's running old Scott Shannon "Rockin' America Top 30 Countdown"s...(that show used to be my "#3" if I missed Rick or Casey).
 
shadough said:
Nevermind the fact that his countdown is almost like a dartboard (lets put this song here and that song there).
Click to expand...

No kidding. I heard part of the countdown this weekend. Lady Antebellum was still #24! Should that be what the position was about 2 months ago? It was the CHR (not Hot AC) countdown because Nicki Minaj was #26 and David Guetta was #25.
 
Hollywood Hamilton is the best. I remember when Amber's "sexual" and La Rissa's "I do both Jay & Jane" were both on the rhythmic top 30 countdown.
 
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