American Top 40 With Casey Kasem Debuted 50 Years Ago Today — This Was Its Countdown

[SamAdams76]

Fifty years ago today, the first episode of the syndicated radio institution American Top 40 aired. The first station to air it was KDEO, in El Cajon, CA, who presented it on the evening of July 3rd, 1970. It broadcast through six other stations on July 4th and its reach would grow exponentially throughout the years, airing on 1,000 different stations at its peak. Casey Kasem, its iconic longtime host, would count down the most popular songs on the Billboard charts every week.

“Here we go with the top 40 hits of the nation this week on American Top 40 — the best-selling and most-played songs from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Canada to Mexico” is how he introduced his first show. “This is Casey Kasem in Hollywood, and in the next three hours, we’ll count down the 40 most popular hits in the United States this week, hot off the record charts of Billboard magazine…”

The first song ever played on the show was Marvin Gaye’s “End Of Our Road,” in the #40 slot. The show’s first #1 song was Three Dog Night’s “Mama Told Me (Not To Come),” which we reviewed in our The Number Ones column (naturally). Other artists that would get airtime that first week included the Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Jackson Five, the Temptations, and the Carpenters. Crosby Stills Nash And Young’s “Ohio,” which had come out a couple months earlier, came in at #30.

Kasem hosted the show continuously until 1988; it was taken over by Shadoe Stevens until 1995. It then went off the air for a short period, but was revived in 1998 with Kasem as host. (Kasem spent the interim hosting his own Casey’s Top 40.) Ryan Seacrest took the show over in 2004, and it still airs every week.

Check out the first-ever American Top 40 countdown below.

40 Marvin Gaye – “End Of Our Road”
39 Mark Lindsey – “Silver Bird”
38 Eric Burden – “Spill The Wine”
37 Crabby Appleton – “Go Back”
36 B.J. Thomas – “I Just Can’t Help Believing”
35 Aretha Franklin – “Spirit In The Dark”
34 John Phillips – “Mississippi”
33 Flaming Ember – “Westbound #9″
32 Four Tops – “It’s All In The Game”
31 Fifth Dimension – “Save The Country”
30 Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young – “Ohio”
29 Ray Stevens – “Everything Is Beautiful”
28 The Impressions – “Check Out Your Mind”
27 Moody Blues – “Question”
26 Stevie Wonder – “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”
25 Wilson Pickett – “Sugar, Sugar”
24 Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young – “Teach Your Children”
23 The Poppy Family – “Which Way You Goin’ Billy”
(Oldie: Bill Cosby – “Little Ole Man”)
22 The Moments – “Love On A Two Way Street”
21 Mountain – “Mississippi Queen”
20 Bread – “Make It With You”
19 Pacific Gas & Electric – “Are You Ready”
18 Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band – “Love Land”
17 Alive And Kicking – “Tighter & Tighter”
16 White Plains – “My Baby Loves Lovin'”
15 Miguel Rios – “A Song Of Joy”
(Oldie: Louis Armstrong – “Hello Dolly”)
14 Brotherhood Of Man – “United We Stand”
13 Rare Earth – “Get Ready”
12 The Five Stairsteps – “O-o-oh Child”
11 The Pipkins – “Gimme Dat Ding”
10 Vanity Fair – “Hitchin’ A Ride”
(Oldie: Blood, Sweat & Tears – “Spinning Wheel”)
09 Elvis Presley – “The Wonder Of You”
08 The Beatles – “The Long And Winding Road”
07 The Carpenters – “Close To You”
06 Melanie – “Lay Down (Candles In The Wind)”
05 Freda Payne – “Band Of Gold”
04 Blues Image – “Ride Captain Ride”
03 The Temptations – “Ball Of Confusion”
02 The Jackson Five – “The Love You Save”
(Oldie: The Rolling Stones – “Satisfaction”
01 Three Dog Night – “Mama Told Me (Not To Come)”

[SamAdams76]

Dorky as he sounds today (you can still hear replays of his show on the 70s station at Sirius/XM), I grew up with the guy.

For most of the 1970s and well into the 1980s, I listened to him count down the Top 40 hits on a weekly basis. I remember especially the early-1970s when his show came on Sunday nights on WRKO in Boston and I'd have my portable radio under my pillow with the single earplug (everything was mono back then) listening to see what was number one that week.

There were a lot of great pop songs during the 1970s and this list of the Top 40 from Independence Day weekend in 1970 (Casey's first show) had some pretty incredible music including some lost classics like "Westbount #9" by Flaming Ember and "Silver Bird" by Mark Lindsey.

Good times.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

The summer I turned 16.

[bgill]

Well, lookie there. Many are black musicians. Remind me again how they’re being kept down by da man.

[OttawaFreeper]

I listened to his countdown beginning about 1982. And I also remember “America’s Top Ten” on Saturday morning TV at about the same time, lol.

[Rinnwald]

You know it’s the ‘70’s when Three Dog Night is topping The Beatles.

[lee martell]

Where did the time go? As they often say.
I doesn’t feel like half a century since I listened to many of those songs, but it is.

Your post reminds me, that I need to buy a few rock bottom basic transistor radios. The Bay Area in North Cal is likely to have a few planned Brown-Outs this summer. All in the name of
‘Global Warming’ & other very expensive fairy tales.

[dfwgator]

03 The Temptations – “Ball Of Confusion”

Probably even more relevant now than then.

[Texas Eagle]

Miss those days.

[BenLurkin]

Alive And Kicking - Tighter, Tighter (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjG9wK-Cn-o

[Big Red Badger]

Mountain
“Mississippi Queen”
.
To think ElCajon California.

[bgill]

Here’s the show - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__a06FLchTY

[aimhigh]

Great post!

[Loud Mime]

Written by Tommy James?

[BenLurkin]

O-O-OH CHILD - THE FIVE STAIRSTEPS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrU3geNtsJo

[mad_as_he$$]

WoW! Number 2 and 3 were black bands. Strange for a racist country.

[CatOwner]

I believe The Long And Winding Road by The Beatles was their last singles release from the Let It Be album. Seems Casey Kasem started right when The Beatles would no longer be a group.

Speaking only for myself, The Beatles peaked with the Rubber Soul and Revolver albums, along with some singles releases mixed in during that period (Day Tripper, We Can Work It Out, Paperback Writer, Rain). A lot of Beatles' fans thought Sgt. Pepper was their best album, but for me, it was a big "meh".

[VTenigma]

It was a great summer.

[SamAdams76]

"Which Way You Going Billy" by The Poppy Family.

Forgot how great that song was.

Terry Jacks would go solo and have a massive hit in 1974 called "Seasons In The Sun."

[dfwgator]

A lot of Beatles' fans thought Sgt. Pepper was their best album, but for me, it was a big "meh".

IMHO the two singles released before Sgt. Pepper, "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever", were better than any songs on the album itself.

[Fair Paul]

I just finished listening to it on SiriusXM.