Enjoy American Top 40 with Casey Kasem every Sunday from 9:00AM to 12NOON on Oldies 93.3! Classic shows from the 70s played back all the way through!

MAY 25, 1974 (Airs on May 26, 2013)

01. THE STREAK-Ray Stevens

02. DANCING MACHINE-Jackson 5

03. THE ENTERTAINER-Marvin Hamlisch

04. THE SHOW MUST GO ON-Three Dog Night

05. BAND ON THE RUN-Paul McCartney & Wings

06. YOU MAKE ME FEEL BRAND NEW-Stylistics

07. MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS-Maria Muldaur

08. THE LOCO-MOTION-Grand Funk

09. (I've Been) SEARCHIN' SO LONG-Chicago

10. HELP ME-Joni Mitchell

11. I WON'T LAST A DAY WITHOUT YOU-Carpenters

12. SUNDOWN-Gordon Lightfoot

13. BILLY, DON'T BE A HERO-Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods

14. OH VERY YOUNG-Cat Stevens

15. FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY-O'Jays

16. MY GIRL BILL-Jim Stafford

17. DON'T YOU WORRY 'BOUT A THING-Stevie Wonder

18. BENNIE AND THE JETS-Elton John

19. TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia)-MFSB

20, I'M IN LOVE-Aretha Franklin

21. JUST DON'T WANT TO BE LONELY-Main Ingredient

22. BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU GOT-William DeVaughn

23. TUBULAR BELLS-Mike Oldfield

24. BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME-Gladys Knight & The Pips

25. IF YOU LOVE (Let Me Know)-Olivia Newton-John

26. HOOKED ON A FEELING-Blue Swede

27. THE PAYBACK (Part 1)-James Brown

28. HOLLYWOOD SWINGING-Kool & The Gang

29. COME AND GET YOUR LOVE-Redbone

30. MIGHTY MIGHTY-Earth, Wind & Fire

31. OH MY MY-Ringo Starr

32. LET'S GET MARRIED-Al Green

33. YOU WON'T SEE ME-Anne Murray

34. I'LL HAVE TO SAY I LOVE YOU IN A SONG-Jim Croce

35. KEEP ON SINGING-Helen Reddy

36. ONE HELL OF A WOMAN-Mac Davis

37. MY MISTAKE WAS TO LOVE YOU-Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye

38. SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME-The DeFranco Family featuring Tony DeFranco

39. ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK-Bill Haley & The Comets

40. DAYBREAK-Nilsson

Red=Chart debut song

DO YOU WANNA KNOW A SECRET? AMERICAN TOP 40 WILL ALSO FEATURE A SPECIAL COUNTDOWN OF BEATLES CLASSICS ON OLDIES 93.3 FROM 8:00 P.M. TO MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY WITH CASEY KASEM! A CLASSIC AT40 SHOW THAT AIRED IN 1981! 

TWO AT40 SHOWS ON SUNDAY!! 9A-12N and 8P-12MID!

This program aired originally in July 1981 and now is part of another classic AT40 show featuring programs aired from 1980 to 1988 with Casey Kasem. You will hear the show introduced as "American Top 40 - The 80s." This weekend it is being aired as a Memorial Day Weekend bonus show on Oldies 93.3 Sunday night at 8:00. You just can't beat The Beatles! Enjoy this Oldies 93.3 Sunday Night Special (hopefully more to come!) - Mike 

SUNDAY 8:00 PM - 12MID

THE 40 BIGGEST HITS BY THE BEATLES - TOGETHER AND APART

01. HEY JUDE

02. I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND

03. (Just Like) STARTING OVER-John Lennon

04. SILLY LOVE SONGS-Wings

05. MY SWEET LORD-George Harrison

06. GET BACK

07. MY LOVE-Paul McCartney & Wings

08. SHE LOVES YOU

09. HELP!

10. WE CAN WORK IT OUT

11. COMING UP-Paul McCartney/COMING UP (Live At Glasgow)-Paul McCartney & Wings

12. YESTERDAY

13. I FEEL FINE

14. CAN'T BUY ME LOVE

15. COME TOGETHER/SOMETHING

16. LET IT BE

17. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT

18. BAND ON THE RUN-Paul McCartney & Wings

19. HELLO GOODBYE

20. YOU'RE SIXTEEN-Ringo Starr

21. PAPERBACK WRITER

22. WOMAN-John Lennon

23. LISTEN TO WHAT THE MAN SAID-Wings

24. UNCLE ALBERT/ADMIRAL HALSEY-Paul and Linda MCartney

25. EIGHT DAYS A WEEK

26. LOVE ME DO

27. WITH A LITTLE LUCK-Wings

28. TICKET TO RIDE

29. PHOTOGRAPH-Ringo Starr

30. THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

31. GIVE ME LOVE-George Harrison

32. ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

33. LIVE AND LET DIE-Wings

34. JUNIOR'S FARM-Paul McCartney & Wings

35. IT DON'T COME EASY-Ringo Starr

36. TWIST AND SHOUT

37. PLEASE PLEASE ME

38. GOODNIGHT TONIGHT-Wings

39. PENNY LANE

40. NOWHERE MAN

I grew up in Columbus, Ohio and enjoyed listening to the radio at an early age. I was fascinated by the DJs, the music and the way it all made me feel. It is very much like listening today, but you have very different platforms nowadays from which to enjoy music.

For instance, I heard music on a small transistor radio (now your cell phone, iPad or other mobile device). I listened to distant stations late at night on the AM band. There were stations that came in clear like WABC (770AM) in New York, WLS (890AM) and WCFL (1000AM) in Chicago, WLAC (1510AM) in Nashville, CKLW (800AM) in Windsor, Ontario (Canada) which attached itself to Detroit and WLW in Cincinnati. The presentation and the music were exciting. I heard R&B, rock, country, Top 40 and jazz, often all on one single station (Hmmm...like on iHeartRadio?).

Listening to local radio stations like WCOL (1230AM), WNCI (97.9FM), WTVN (610AM) and WCOL (92.3FM) was very inspiring back in the 70s. The amazing thing is that I now work for each of these stations. They're all in the building! There's different kinds of programming on each, but they're the stations I grew up with. WTVN and WNCI are very much the same as back in the day, where WTVN is still the local radio news king, and WNCI still plays the latest hits, along with having American Top 40 on Sunday mornings in the same time slot!

WODC (FM 93.3), known as Oldies 93.3, provides the same listening experience for me as my favorite Top 40 stations did back in the day! As a DJ for the station I emulate the sound of those stations. The music still fits, so does the presentation! When I'm on Saturdays I'm like those DJs I grew up with. They were short, to the point and made me smile. Most of all, they played the hits! That's exactly what I hope I'm doing for you!

One thing I noticed on each of the stations I listened to---they played the same songs over and over! But they played the same great songs over and over! When I bought the records I liked I took them home---and played them over and over! When I wanted even more variety I listened to different stations, but always came back to these great stations, because they played familiar music which met my expectations. With iHeartRadio we can do that in a much bigger way! Back then when I wanted to hear only the songs I liked the most, I put those tunes on a cassette tape and took my music anywhere I went---and played those tapes over and over---until they broke!

But you can enjoy even more variety on Oldies 93.3! At 4:00 every afternoon with Mike Frazer (3:00PM to 7:00PM) we play two Beatles songs in a row, with one of them being a rare gem like I'm Happy Just To Dance With You or I'll Follow The Sun. Marty Thompson is on 7:00PM to 12MID. During the first hour of his show he has a Lost 70s Hit like Love Is Alive by Gary Wright, or Calypso by John Denver. Or try The Streak by Ray Stevens! Then at 10:00 p.m. Marty has The Top Five At Ten where he highlights a certain year. Recently he gave us some 80s gems like Harden My Heart by Quarterflash and Centerfold by the J. Geils Band. I'd say that's VARIETY! And after learning that Leroy Bonner, the Ohio Players front man had recently passed away in Dayton, Ohio where the band was formed, I played Love Rollercoaster on my Saturday 10:00AM to 3:00PM show. He wrote the song and plays that familar up-and-down roller-coaster guitar riff that starts the tune!

For fun I made a partial list of rarely-heard hits that Mike and Marty have played on their respective shows since the first week of January. Even I have thrown in some gems like Creeque Alley by the Mamas & The Papas, Superstar by the Carpenters and Hollywood Swinging by Kool & the Gang on my Saturday show!

THE FAB FOUR AT 4 (Beatles) with Mike Frazer:

SHE'S A WOMAN

REVOLUTION

THANK YOU GIRL

BLACKBIRD

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

I WANNA BE YOUR MAN

BIRTHDAY

NO REPLY

WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS

WHEN I'M SIXTY-FOUR

LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS

DAY TRIPPER

I LOVE YOU

BACK IN THE U.S.S.R.

HEY JUDE (all 7+ minutes!)

YOU'VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY

LOST 70s HIT with Marty Thompson:

AIN'T NO STOPPIN' US NOW-McFadden & Whitehead

I'VE FOUND SOMEONE OF MY OWN-Free Movement

SATURDAY NIGHT-Bay City Rollers

HITCHIN' A RIDE-Vanity Fare

CLAIR-Gilbert O'Sullivan

TIME IN A BOTTLE-Jim Croce

MORE, MORE, MORE (Part 1)-Andrea True Connection

PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND-Clint Holmes

THE MORNING AFTER-Maureen McGovern

STRAWBERRY LETTER #23-Brothers Johnson

RUN JOEY RUN-David Geddes

MARTY'S TOP FIVE AT 10:

CONVOY-C.W. McCall

ME AND MRS. JONES-Billy Paul

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE-Led Zeppelin

RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD-B.J. Thomas

YOU'RE SIXTEEN-Ringo Starr

HOLD THE LINE-Toto

I WRITE THE SONGS-Barry Manilow

SHORT PEOPLE-Randy Newman

LE FREAK-Chic

DAZZ-Brick

ONE LESS BELL TO ANSWER-5th Dimension

PLEASE MR. POSTMAN-Carpenters

CAR WASH-Rose Royce

FIRE-Ohio Players

KNOCK THREE TIMES-Dawn

FUNKYTOWN-Lipps, Inc.

THE CISCO KID-War

FLOAT ON-The Floaters

THE HUSTLE-Van McCoy

For even more variety on Oldies 93.3, look no further than any American Top 40 with Casey Kasem show we play from the 70s every Sunday 9AM-12NOON.  You can hear anything from Go Away Little Girl by Donny Osmond to Soul Power by James Brown.  How about Tie A Yellow Ribbon Around The Old Oak Tree by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando to Me And Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin to You And I by Rick James?

With all of these shows combined you're hearing more different songs than on any radio station in Columbus! Yes, there's a LOT of variety on Oldies 93.3! And there's more to come. Stay tuned!

Some of us in-the-know realize that Motown is short for Motor Town, which was Detroit's nickname back in its auto-production heyday. It is also widely recognized as the name of the history-making independent record label formed in Detroit by Berry Gordy. He assembled a cadre of talented individuals and musicians and created a "sound" that became known as the Motown Sound. The sound was high on percussion (especially the tambourine), hand claps and a fast, shuffling drum beat. Lyrics were upbeat for the most part and it was dance-inducing, mass-appeal music. Among the artists were the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and the Four Tops. Songs from these artists and others, especially during the 1963-1968 era, had many of the same musicians on them, therefore creating the similar sound on those recordings.

Motown's dominance during the 1960s can lead one to believe that any song made by an R&B artist during that era might be Motown. The term really refers to artists and songs recorded in the Motown studios. There was also "Memphis" soul from artists like Booker T. & The M.G.'s and Sam & Dave. There were other popular non-Motown soul artists like Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin (ironically raised in Detroit) and Otis Redding who were very popular in the 60s and dominated the music charts.

A "payola" scandal (label representatives offering money under-the-table to DJs to get records played) plagued the radio and recording industry in the early 60s. The illegal practice claimed the careers of many radio DJs and record producers. Berry Gordy was scandal-free on that front. However, he used extraordinary caution to avoid even the appearance of payola. He had different record label names and logos for his Motown artists. There came a new requirement for radio stations to list the names of the labels alongside the artist and title of the songs on their "Top 40" music surveys. These surveys were used as music guides for the record-buying public and as popularity and sales-measurement tools by industry professionals. If any one label was dominant on the charts, it had the appearance---but did not necessarily mean---that payola was involved. Gordy cleverly placed his artists on different subsidiary label imprints. He put Stevie Wonder, the Miracles and the Marvelettes, among others, on the Tamla label (a yellow record). He placed Gladys Knight & the Pips and Jr. Walker & The All-Stars on the Soul label (purple & white), the Tempations on the Gordy imprint (purple with yellow lettering) and the Supremes, Four Tops and many others under the Motown logo (blue label with the map showing Detroit). If the Temptations, Four Tops, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight & the Pips dominated the Top 5 they would all show under a different label name.

Rare Earth was a rock group that emerged in 1970 covering a lot of earlier Motown classics like Get Ready and (I Know) I'm Losing You. The group gave the songs a real rock edge and breathed new life into them. They also created gems of their own like I Just Want To Celebrate. They were the only group to have a Motown subsidiary label named after them with Rare Earth record label.

Some artists who were originally on Motown had some hits on other labels after they left. Gladys Knight and the Pips had their biggest post-Motown hit with Midnight Train To Georgia on the Buddah label in 1973. The Four Tops ranked high with Ain't No Woman (Like The One I Got) on ABC Records, also in 1973. Marvin Gaye had a Grammy-winner on Columbia Records with Sexual Healing in 1982. The Isley Brothers recording of the original This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) in 1966 (redone by Rod Stewart with Ronald Isley as This Old Heart Of Mine in 1990) was on the Tamla imprint. However, a bigger hit of theirs titled It's Your Thing was on the T-Neck label in 1969, the year after they left Motown. The Spinners hit it big on Motown label imprint V.I.P. with the Stevie Wonder penned and produced It's A Shame in 1970. But their bigger hits were on Atlantic Records and included I'll Be Around and Could It Be I'm Falling In Love in 1972 and 1973, respectively. Of course, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 (as The Jacksons) had monster post-Motown hits on Epic Records (a CBS record-label subsidiary).

Some artists came along after Motown departed Detroit for Los Angeles in 1972, which left many of the Detroit musicians behind. As a result, there was a different, more lavishly-produced sound that occurred, which was common in most soul recordings of the mid-to-late 70s and early 80s. The Commodores were a self-contained group which came to Motown in 1972 (originally under Motown's MoWest imprint). The Dazz Band hit it big with Let It Whip in 1982 and Lionel Richie's biggest hits were under Motown's main imprint as well in the 1980s. DeBarge, Teena Marie and Rick James were some of the later artists to come along and score big on Motown labels. Diana Ross, still with Motown in 1980, got hold of a different but very recognizable sound when she teamed with the members of Atlantic Records act Chic (Le Freak, Good Times) and had their backing for her Diana album on Motown, which contained the hits Upside Down and I'm Coming Out.

THE NON-MOTOWN SOUL SOUND IS COOL, TOO!

When you hear Lou Rawls, Sly & The Family Stone, George Benson, Earth, Wind & Fire, James Brown, Barry White, Three Degrees, O'Jays, Natalie Cole, Sister Sledge, Emotions, Kool & The Gang, Al Green, War, Bill Withers, Fontella Bass (Rescue Me) and Carl Carlton (Everlasting Love) on Oldies 93.3---that ain't the Motown Sound---but it's still a mighty darn good sound!

Note: See more Motown and music trivia information in the article TMI About Some Of The Songs We Play on Oldies

When we hear about awards received at the Grammys, there are the categories Record Of The Year and Album Of The Year. Well, these days you might have a younger person asking what that means.

A favorite pastime for me and my sister Karen while growing up was playing records. When we bought or played records, that referred to the small vinyl recording with one song on each side. It had a big hole in the middle so it could slide down on something called a spindle. There were other centering devices on different styles of record-players. That kept the record centered so it could be played without slipping side-to-side while turning. It was these recordings that the recording industry lived on, because many new artists only had a song or two prepared for distribution starting out. Radio also counted on these records, also called singles, because it often took only one song to propel an artist to the top and it was easier to organize a playlist using single songs. These singles were also called 45s, because they would spin completely around 45 times in one minute.

When we bought or played albums, that referred to the bigger round vinyl recording. Albums contained at least 8 or more songs by an artist. In most cases up to 4 of those songs would be chosen to distribute as 45s to get more exposure. However, in the 60s and early 70s an artist would distribute 2 or more 45s over several weeks (usually 12 weeks per song) before an album would be made that also featured those songs. Albums had a smaller hole in the middle for a different-sized spindle from which to drop on the playing platter. These were often called 33s. They spun slower (at 33 revolutions per minute) because there were multiple songs on it to be played. They were also commonly called LPs (long-playing records). Albums usually contained a lot of information about the songs and artists inside the jackets that held them. There was often a nice photo of the recording artists on the front cover. My sister and I often referred to LPs as "record-albums." 

In many cases, consumers bought a song or two more than once. They would first buy it after hearing it on the radio, then buy the album containing that song once it became available---if they decided they liked that artist. The popular group The Beatles sold both records and albums with great success because of the sound and song structure of their great recordings. Their persona and showmanship helped those items to sell well, too, as well as many of today's artists.

Today the terms record and album seem dated. We buy CDs and upload individual songs online if desired. We no longer have to buy entire albums. Instead, we can pick and buy only the songs from an official "album" release. Radio stations no longer depend on singles for airplay. Many stations play multiple songs from new releases. Taylor Swift's debut release had as many as 6 songs in rotation on radio station playlists when it was new, while only one song was selected as the "single" during the peak period of popularity of the album.

Record companies these days send radio stations the song they want to "highlight" for an artist, and that would be what was known as the "record" or "single." That "record" would be played over a period of time to establish the song and artist. Then a followup would be selected. Artists still make "albums" on CDs, but the distribution of the individual songs have changed drastically with the advent of online purchasing of music.

So now you know the Record Of The Year is the one song selected to be highlighted for airplay that had huge success in the past year, and Album Of The Year is the longform CD release of multiple songs.

Wait a minute---then what is Song Of The Year? That could be a tune from a CD or even a digital release. Only the writer of that song is awarded. It wouldn't have to be the so-called "record" or single, but in most cases the nominated or winning song could have been released in that single format. Unless the artist wrote or co-wrote the song, award goes solely to the writer(s).

My sister and I both have turntables. She's been bugging me about coming over to play records. I think I'll soon be taking her up on that!

A lot has been written about American Top 40 and Casey Kasem.  The history of the show is fascinating!  You can probably search for information about it on the Internet and find out some of what you want to know. You can also buy a new book out about the show called American Top 40 With Casey Kasem (The 1970s) by Pete Battistini, who has done extensive research and compilations for the show's run in the 70s and 80s. Check it out at www.at40book.com. For this blog, since I've followed the show from its debut here in Columbus up to today, I thought that writing about the show's history in Columbus might be interesting as well. The story of how the show ran nationally differs a bit from the way the show ran here in Columbus. Of course, we air American Top 40 - The 70s, consisting of selected shows as they were aired back in the day here on Oldies 93.3. It's even in the same time slot it had during most of the 70s---9:00 a.m. to 12 noon. The show continues to run on sister station WNCI (97.9FM) with host Ryan Seacrest. I can't mention the history of the show without mentioning our sister station because that's where the show has aired for most of its history in Columbus.  I grew up listening to WNCI and I listened to American Top 40's first airing on that station while I was in high school. The show had been on nationally since July 4, 1970. Even while I worked in college radio at Ohio State and then on to a professional job with a local rock station, I kept my feet in the ground listening to American Top 40.  Here is a history of how AT40 has been heard in Columbus.

With much hype the show started on Sunday, February 14, 1971 as a "Valentine's Day gift to Columbus" from WNCI, which at the time called its studio Love Dove Central. The show ran from 9A-12N. What made the show interesting was hearing some of the songs that played on the national charts that weren't heard in Columbus---even on the station that presented it. AT40 used the upper rung of the Billboard Hot 100 chart which listed how singles were selling. Many singles sold without much airplay, therefore creating a dilemma for some stations around the country. Casey Kasem's stories and presentations were so fascinating that the airing of some of those not-yet-popular songs that often graced the first hour of AT40 was not that big of a deal, at least for WNCI, which already had a pretty diverse local song chart (WNCI rotated 50 singles and called it The Hot Half-Hundred and published it in a weekly Billboard-like circular called Record Rap). From early 1973 until mid-1975, WNCI replayed the previous Sunday's AT40 from 12MID to 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday mornings (or, as promoted, at 12 midnight on Tuesdays).

In late September 1978, WNCI ran promotional announcements stating that AT40 was going to become a four-hour show. The reason given was the length of many songs, running 4 or 5 minutes or more. When AT40 started, the average length of a song was less than 3 minutes. Casey Kasem and his team successfully launched a four-hour AT40 that ran from 8:00A-12N starting on October 8, 1978. Shortly before this change the famous Long Distance Dedication feature was introduced on the show.  The program's success in Columbus and worldwide was phenomenal by this point, and all was well---until 1988.

Casey Kasem tried to renegotiate a contract with the show's distributors but the talks broke down. Without much notice WNCI listeners heard a new host on the morning of August 14, 1988 by the name of Shadoe Stevens. It was quite a shocker. A countdown show without Casey's voice? It seemed to be the new reality so we had to try and accept it as fans.  Casey was out of the countdown business. But not for long.  He started a new show called Casey's Top 40 in January 1989. Although much was reported about Casey's new show at the time, WNCI stayed loyal to the AT40 brand and stuck with the show hosted by Shadoe Stevens almost to the end of its run in 1994.

Around this time WNCI had begun positioning itself as a Hot Adult Contemporary station---meaning they played the most popular songs on the charts---but eliminated country, heavy metal and songs representing the new hip-hop movement. Meanwhile these songs sold millions. Since AT40 used the Billboard singles sales chart, the show was forced to air these problematic songs (such as "One" by Metallica and songs by Slaughter, Guns 'N Roses, AC/DC and many rap artists).  Therefore, it was pretty amusing to hear WNCI use their moniker "Not Too Hard---Not Too Lite" and then hear Metallica on your way to church on AT40. 

I didn't catch on that there was a "problem music" scenario concerning WNCI until around June of 1990. I was reading Billboard when I discovered that Humpty Dance by the Digital Underground (a catchy but rousing, raunchy dance song) had made it to #11 on the chart. That meant that I was going to have fun hearing it on WNCI when they didn't even play that song or anything like it. I was getting ready to leave for church and heard the #12 song, Ready Or Not by After 7. Then a commercial break.  I waited and figured I'd have time to hear the Digital Underground song before I left. After that break they were already in the top 10 with a song by Perfect Gentlemen called Ooh La La I Can't Get Over You.  I assumed it was WNCI that skipped over the #11 song.  I had to live with the fact that I was late for church waiting to hear Humpty Dance on WNCI only to have them skip it! WNCI replayed AT40 on Sunday nights at the time. So I listened again and there was my confirmation. Something was up. I learned that stations had the option to delete from the show any song deemed offensive or way out of their music format. Humpty Dance was both, but I loved the winding bass in that song! 

Shortly after that WNCI rang the bells loudly and said that they were going to dump American Top 40 with Shadoe Stevens and air Casey's Top 40 in its place in early 1994. WNCI listeners had long complained about not having Casey Kasem on Sunday mornings, especially after hearing that he was on in other cities. Kasem's show was less problematic with the music as he used a non-Billboard chart that counted down what popular songs stations were playing around the country, versus songs that were actually selling. It made the show less interesting for the music aficionados who wanted to hear regional hits, but we got Casey back on WNCI in his old time-slot playing the big hits! 

Meanwhile, AT40 with Stevens was losing popularity nationally and left the air by July 1994 on the few U.S. stations that still aired it. But Kasem's show was soaring and didn't differ that much from AT40. In any case it was hard to believe that there was no show called American Top 40 on the radio---at least for at about three more years or so.

Then the remarkable happened!  WNCI announced, in early March 1998, that American Top 40 would return by the end of the month with Casey Kasem as host! A series of guest hosts were on Casey's Top 40 that month.  Then Kasem and his original show returned, complete with his Long Distance Dedication and other features he had to modify for Casey's Top 40 because of copyright issues. But he got all the rights back for AT40.  The only thing different was that he didn't use the Billboard chart. He used a song airplay chart versus a song sales chart as he did on Casey's Top 40, but by this time radio stations had opened up to a lot more diversity. 

Kasem remained on the show until January 2004 when Ryan Seacrest, today's host, took over. Kasem had other countdown shows for older audiences like American Top 10 and American Top 20, but he was still missed---to the point where we are now able to air AT40 shows from the 70s on Sunday mornings!!

Enjoy American Top 40 - The 70s with Casey Kasem every Sunday morning from 9A-12N just the way it was heard on our sister station WNCI back then! Interestingly, that puts two editions of AT40 on against each other on Sunday mornings on sister stations. Some of us will get the best of both worlds!