Posted on 07/05/2020 8:33:36 AM PDT by 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)”
Love that song.
Mighty strange!
By the way, the images of Casey in that clip reminded me of a young Mike Dukakis.
His show was the way I “downloaded” music in 1983, lol.
“White Album”
and
Charlie Manson.
.
Things got ugly then.
Stevie's Signed, Sealed, Delivered all the way down at 26 has certainly stood the test of time longer than many that made this first list.
I was Flashing,
“APOCALYPSE NOW!”
.
Welcome Home.
I think that was Stevie’s last hit before he went more on his own and produced his best albums: Talking Book and Innervisions.
Just tryin' to set ya straight! ;-)
>>>The summer I turned 16<<<
Same here my FRiend.
Back then we had no idea how lucky we were growing up in that era.
Politicians say: “More taxes will solve anything.”
...and the band played on...
Now I like 60s music well enough but it's the 70s music that brings back memories of when I was growing up.
I loved that movie when it came out.
Nowadays, it reminds me of a story about a popular AFVN host that was abruptly yanked off the air, demoted, and reassigned as a chaplain’s assistant...for playing a WLS jingle on the air.
I sort of straddle the 60s and 70s. My decade is probably mid-60s to mid-70s.
Good catch. Paul had already quit The Beatles by then. I agree Rubber Soul and Revolver are amazing, but I still love Abbey Road too, especially the side-two medley leading to “The End”
I think the formative years of music imprinting on our brains are from around age 9 to 14. I was 12 in 1970, and hearing that summer’s songs (or even reading the list) can transport me.
I can’t describe how much I love the music of the early 70s (late 60’s very close 2nd). I listened to CKLW in Detroit/Windsor until I turned to album rock on WABX, WRIF, WWWW a few years later. A radio station changing format from rock to country, or such, was like a death in the family. I could also pick up WMMX? in Cleveland on a good day in the early 80’s. WIOT in Toledo was decent, too.
I think it’s magical the way several teenagers or early 20’s kids can form a band and create a tune that will stay in tens of millions of peoples’ heads for decades. Even if they’re AH’s I hope God honors their simple gifts to humanity. A classical master is not necessarily a good tunesmith. Also, how is it that many rock bands’ creativity peaks in their early or mid twenties?
Brotherhood Of Man – “United We Stand”
We could use a re-boot of this one, for sure!
Love so many of these songs. I was 11 that Summer and my Transistor Radio was with me and ON at all times. Well, until Mom would take it from me when I went to bed with it, LOL!
Faves:
The Carpenters – “Close To You”
Freda Payne – “Band Of Gold”
Blues Image – “Ride Captain Ride” - First 45 I ever bought!
The Jackson Five – “The Love You Save”
Great post. Thanks! :)
I think it’s magical the way several teenagers or early 20’s kids can form a band and create a tune that will stay in tens of millions of peoples’ heads for decades. “”
Yeah, I thought it was magical too. Then I learned about session musicians and, specifically The Wrecking Crew et al. The part these people played in the sound and the creation of the hits is far from secondary or tangential. Very often the things you remember most about many songs came out of their heads.
There was plenty of talent out there creating music and at an explosively varied time but they had HUGE help from a handful of players who gave it amazing cohesion.
The Beatles are the closest thing to a bunch of kids creating long lived hits. But we lumped a lot of other guys in with them who weren’t quite that talented. quite that good.
‘Rubber Soul’ for sure is my favorite Beatles album. I also own the CD ‘1’ with all of their hits, which is fun from time to time, but I could take a steady diet of ‘Rubber Soul’ for the rest of my life. ;)
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