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, well 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 Gayes End Of Our Road, in the #40 slot. The shows first #1 song was Three Dog Nights 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 Youngs 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 Caseys 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 Cant Help Believing
35 Aretha Franklin Spirit In The Dark
34 John Phillips Mississippi
33 Flaming Ember Westbound #9″
32 Four Tops Its 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)
.? What about El Cajon CA? My hometown.
Brings back memories. I used to listen to Casey and the top 40 countdown.
I had an email correspondence at one time with someone who wrote a book about Casey and the top 40. And he asked me about the radio stations I heard American Top 40 on. I had moved around the country, and was able to recall:
WPGC AM/FM in Washington, DC
WCAO in Baltimore
WCUM in Cumberland, Maryland
WKLP in Keyser, West Virginia
WBBM-FM in Chicago
WLS in Chicago
KFMB in San Diego
I think he was trying to compile a listing of all stations which had ever carried the Top 40 countdown.
LOL! Men and their gadgets. DH still possesses
his first transistor radio to this day.
Along with several others offered by EBay.
“Do you like good music
That sweet soul music
Just as long as it’s swingin’
Oh yeah, oh yeah”
SWEET SOUL MUSIC - Arthur Conley
Early 1970’s in my mid 20’s, music tastes changing to some
degree.
Casey, RIP
Thanks for the memories.
So that’s the excuse you’re gonna go with?! Sheesh.
Of course kidding; enjoying a little wine today! :)
He was the Master at what he did. You can find entire shows of the countdowns played on youtube.
Yep! I listened religiously on the beloved little radio my folks got me for Christmas, single ear bud in my ear so i didn’t disturb mom. She didn’t like that rock ‘n’ roll music that was going to corrupt me. Ah...the 70s.
LOL, that and the "Dr. Demento Show"
I watched a Netflix documentary on David Foster. He was also an asshole, self-admitted at that.
Never realized just how many great musicians for whom he produced.
I was living in San Diego in July 1970 but don’t remember ever hearing of KDEO. The two stations I listened to were KGB and KCBQ.
Found this Top 40 list on You Tube. Listened to the entire show. It was great, a blast from the past. Thanks for posting.
Listen to the old Dick Clark countdown show on weekends.
Dick Clark Rock Roll & Remember - Saturday 8am-Noon
http://www.superhits935.com/pages/index.cfm?id=493
“...F the Beatles...”
I second that. “Imagine” is the atheist anthem that sums up the communist “revolution” our nation is suffering under in real time.
Thanks for posting this! My wife and I both had the Pocket Radio! She remembers more static than music coming from it, but I remembering thinking how cool it was.
For me, we lived in Monterey and listened on KMBY, it was the greatest place in the world for a kid to be at the time.
Loved Three Dog Night. Remember the band, ‘Lobo’? Some good songs there, too. :)
I always thought he treated Scooby like dirt. Making him go ahead before him in some creepy haunted mansion. He was a coward! And a cheap skate, hardly ever passing out Scooby snacks.
Imagine was not by the Beatles. John Lennon did that on his own. And he also was an asshole who let his yellow paramour break up the band.
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