I lived in Germany in 1978/79 and ended up in hospital for a couple of weeks as a result of a football/soccer accident. My only source of musical entertainment was when my AM radio managed to tune in to a USA Military show for a couple of hours between 2-4pm. The show was hosted by Casey Kasem. RIP Casey, you kept me sane!
On Sunday, 15 June 2014 22:08:48 UTC+1, t bedford wrote: > He's apparently more dead than this site, lately... > > > > Casey Kasem, king of the top 40 countdown, dead > BY ANTHONY MCCARTNEY > > LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Casey Kasem, the internationally famous radio > broadcaster with the cheerful manner and gentle voice who became the king > of the top 40 countdown with a syndicated show that ran for decades, died > Sunday. He was 82. > > Danny Deraney, publicist for Kasem's daughter, Kerri, says Kasem died > Sunday morning. A statement issued by the family says he died at 3:23 a.m. > surrounded by family and friends. > > Kasem's "American Top 40" began on July 4, 1970, in Los Angeles. The No. 1 > song on his list then was "Mama Told Me Not to Come," by Three Dog Night. > > The show continued in varying forms - and for varying syndicators - until > his retirement in 2009. In his signoff, he would tell viewers: "And don't > forget: keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars." > > In recent years, Kasem was trapped in a feud between his three adult > children and his second wife, former actress Jean Kasem. In 2013, his > children filed a legal petition to gain control of his health care, > alleging that Kasem was suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease and > that his wife was isolating him from friends and family members. Kasem also > suffered from Lewy Body Disease, a form of dementia. > > A judge in May temporarily stripped his wife of her caretaker role after > she moved him from a medical facility in Los Angeles to a friend's home in > Washington state. Jean Kasem said she moved her husband to protect his > privacy and to consult with doctors. Casey Kasem developed a severe bedsore > while in Washington and was in critical condition by the time he was > hospitalized in early June. > > It was a sad, startling end for a man whose voice had entertained and > informed music lovers worldwide. > > Kasem's "American Top 40" began on July 4, 1970, in Los Angeles, when the > No. 1 song was Three Dog Night's cover of Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not > to Come." The show expanded to hundreds of stations, including Armed Forces > Radio, and continued in varying forms - and for varying syndicators - into > the 21st century. He stepped down from "American Top 40" in 2004 and > retired altogether in 2009, completing his musical journey with Shinedown's > "Second Chance." > > While many DJs convulsed their listeners with stunts and "morning zoo" > snarkiness, Kasem would read "long distance dedications" of songs sent in > by readers and introduce countdown records with sympathetic background > anecdotes about the singers. > > "The idea from the beginning was to do the type of thing on radio that Ed > Sullivan did on television, good, honest stories with human interest," he > told the Los Angeles Times in 1975. > > Succeeding him at the main "American Top 40" show in 2004 was > multiplatform star Ryan Seacrest, who has said he had been a fan of Kasem > since boyhood and would imitate him in pretend countdown broadcasts at age > 9. > > Kasem's legacy reached well beyond music. His voice was heard in TV > cartoons such as "Scooby-Doo" (he was Shaggy) and in numerous commercials. > > "They are going to be playing Shaggy and Scooby-Doo for eons and eons," > Kasem told The New York Times in 2004. "And they're going to forget Casey > Kasem - unless they happen to step on his star on the Hollywood Walk of > Fame. I'll be one of those guys people say `Who's that?' about. And someone > else will say, `He's just some guy who used to be on the radio.'" > > The son of Lebanese immigrants, Kasem was active in speaking out for > greater understanding of Arab-Americans - both on political issues > involving the Mideast and on arts and media issues. > > "Arab-Americans are coming out of the closet," Kasem told The Associated > Press in 1990. "They are more outspoken now than ever before. People are > beginning to realize who they really are, that they are not the people who > yell and scream on their nightly newscast." > > Kasem was born Kemal Amin Kasem in 1932 in Detroit. He began his > broadcasting career in the radio club at Detroit's Northwestern High School > and was soon a disc jockey on WJBK radio in Detroit, initially calling > himself Kemal Kasem. > > In a 1997 visit with high school students in Dearborn, Michigan, home to a > large Arab-American community, he was asked why he changed his name to > Casey. > > "It didn't sound like a deejay; it wasn't hip. So we decided I'd be `Casey > at the Mike' - and I have been since," Kasem said. > > In the 1975 Los Angeles Times interview, he said he had been doing "a > regular screaming DJ show" in San Francisco in the early 1960s when his > boss suggested he talk about the records instead. > > He was unconvinced, since his screaming routine had brought him top > ratings. But he said he had learned "after a particularly unpleasant > situation in Buffalo never to argue with general managers." > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Diamond Headz" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
