Father's Day brought an end to the life and times of Casey Kasem. A weird story with some bizarre occurrences in the last days of his life.
Basically, he had a whacked-out family.
But enough about them, this post is meant to honor and remember, at least for me, the greatest on-air radio personality in my lifetime: Casey Kasem.
Little did I realize at the time, that I had known Casey's work much earlier in life before I ever switched on a Pop station in the 80s and became hooked on 80s music forever.
But more on that in a minute! ;)
As you can see by the picture, Casey was hard at work making sure kids of the 60s/70s and early 80s enjoyed some quality television.
I'm not sure which order I met him first, was it Shaggy then Robin, or vice versa?
Either way, he was the perfect voice for one half of two of the best dynamic duos in cartoons.
Holy Sidekick Batman, it's hard to believe that the same guy who voiced Robin could turn around and give the same life to the ultimate 60s stoner-who's-not-a-stoner, Shaggy.
But really, if you take Shaggy away from Scooby Doo, that's like taking Abbott away from Costello: it just doesn't work.
I love that Hanna Barbera kept Kasem as the voice of Shaggy for future generations as well. It's an amazing legacy, and if he had done nothing further, I'd still be typing this remembrance for him.
But no...
Casey brought me Pop Music every weekend in the form of American Top 40. I was there, counting them down every week, watching my favorites climb the charts while past favorites dropped out of favor.
I used the cassette function of my boom box (!!!) to make compilations of some of my favorite songs. I even played a bunch of tapes on the school bus for those long 30 minute rides to school. So well-played back in the day, I still think of songs that would come next on my tape when I hear them on the radio, or the squelch of stopping Casey in mid-speech as we came out of a song.
:)
When they let Casey go in the late 80s and replaced him with Shadoe Stevens, I left the countdown as well. Would catch Casey doing his Top 10 on television on occasion, but it just wasn't the same.
Listening to what AT40 has become under Ryan Seacrest is a travesty... arbitrary rankings, sleaze versus actual stories about the artists....
I weep for future generations of music lovers.
And today, I weep a bit for the passing of a very influential part of my growing up.
However, while I don't have Sirius XM, our local station does play replays of American Top 40: The 80s every Sunday from 8-nooon.
It's a great trip down memory lane, and one I try to catch at least a few minutes of every week.
Rest in Peace Casey, and thank you!
As you advised me every week growing up, I will keep my feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars!
