Casey Kasem American Top 40

[RGMike]

Gem of the Week: Chris Rea's original hit 45 version of "Fool If You Think It's Over", still wonderful and sadly out-of-print. He's re-recorded it for Best-of albums on other labels, but its not the same.

[RGMike]

This weekend (9/27-28) Casey70's visits Sept 30, 1978. 
I notice a Long Distance Dedication at #11, we haven't heard LDDs in these replays.
http://www.whnn.com/goout.asp?u=http://images.radcity.net/5874/3084307.pdf

LDDs didn't come in until '78, iirc -- I'm wondering if this is a 4-hour show edited to fit into 3 hours?

It appears that the LDD just happened to be a current hit in that week's Top 40.

And quite a stunning LDD it was: a young woman dedicated "You Needed Me" to her fiance who was killed in a car accident.  Nonetheless, I must give a VHM to Randy Goodrum, who wrote the song, one of the loveliest ballads of that era, and perhaps Anne Murray's finest hour.

And here's Andy Gibb, who's been here on your line -- your phone line? the line to get in to see you? Wha?

[RGMike]

Gem of the Week 2: "Love is In The Air", John Paul Young's feel-good disco classic. 30 years later and I'm still amazed that Vanda & Young (of Easybeats and Flash & the Pan fame) masterminded this one.

[Tinka Cat]

And quite a stunning LDD it was: a young woman dedicated "You Needed Me" to her fiance who was killed in a car accident.  ...

And here's Andy Gibb, who's been here on your line -- your phone line? the line to get in to see you? Wha?

men's room line? ...  line of coke?  (sorry...)

my highlights: agree, Chris Rea's song was great! forgot how good that sounded.   Ambrosia and Exile added to the cheese factor .. in a very good way.  Also, I found myself tapping the feets to The Cap'n and Tennille's "YOU NEVER DONE IT LIKE THAT.”  Rick James' "You and I." Foreigner had two hits!   That LDD woman and her fiance were from Rochester, NY (my hometown), I wonder if that accident registered w me back then. 

 

[Gazoo]

Gem of the Week: Chris Rea's original hit 45 version of "Fool If You Think It's Over", still wonderful and sadly out-of-print. He's re-recorded it for Best-of albums on other labels, but its not the same.

Wish I could find that somewhere; I assume the version I own to be a re-recording.

And I agree that "You Needed Me" was Anne's finest hour, though there's a nice vanilla sweetness to her recordings of "Danny's Song" and "Walk Right Back" and a much later effort, "A Little Good News."

[RGMike]

Gem of the Week: Chris Rea's original hit 45 version of "Fool If You Think It's Over", still wonderful and sadly out-of-print. He's re-recorded it for Best-of albums on other labels, but its not the same.

Wish I could find that somewhere; I assume the version I own to be a re-recording.

And I agree that "You Needed Me" was Anne's finest hour, though there's a nice vanilla sweetness to her recordings of "Danny's Song" and "Walk Right Back" and a much later effort, "A Little Good News."

Well of course I love her voice, period. And her Beatles covers are legendary.

[RGMike]

This week Casey visits Sept 29th 1973!

http://www.whnn.com/goout.asp?u=http://images.radcity.net/5874/3106984.pdf

any opportunity to hear "Basketball Jones" *and* Millie Jackson in the same show is golden.

[Wayback]

This weekend (10/4-5) Casey70's visits Sept 29, 1973.  Some interesting hits including Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" (featuring Tyrone Shoelaces) at #26, and at #18, "Theme from Cleopatra Jones".  The playlist:
http://www.wbbgfm.com/pages/pp_caseykasem.html

[Gazoo]

This was the cognitive-dissonance portion of this weekend's program:

#26 “BASKETBALL JONES” – Cheech & Chong f/ Tyrone Shoelaces

#25 “IF YOU WANT ME TO STAY” – Sly & The Family Stone

#24 “YOU’VE NEVER BEEN THIS FAR BEFORE” – Conway Twitty

#23 “WHY ME” – Kris Kristofferson

And that Joe Simon track was, um, kind of a mess.

[RGMike]

#24 “YOU’VE NEVER BEEN THIS FAR BEFORE” – Conway Twitty

Ah, the days when a #1 country single gave you a better-than-even chance of a Top 40 crossover. I'd forgotten Conway got, er, that far.

[RGMike]

Gobs of forgotten soul in Casey's first hour:

The Tempts at #35 with "Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)", followed by the Ohio Players' "Ecstasy" debuting at 34 -- it will drop to 42 the next week, then pop back up to 35! Most unusual. The Chi-Lites are back-seat drivers in a car of love with their fantabulous "Stoned Out of My Mind" at 30. And the J-5 leap from 40 to 29 with "Get it Together" -- but they'll end up peaking at 28. "Get up off your high horse", indeed. And Johnny Taylor (the natch'ral wailer) gives us the lovely "I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)".

But it's pseudo-soul that provides the biggest "WTF?" of the show: Cross Country (who?) doing a teeth-grindingly white cover of "In the Midnight Hour". I totally don't remember this one; per Whitburn they're all former members of the Tokens. (Gaz, if you've never heard the Tokens' "She Lets Her Hair Down", seek it out -- a fine Four Seasons imitation and another song that began as a commercial; shampoo iirc).

Couple of "bubbling under" notes: We just missed hearing both Gaz fave "Summer (The First Time)" and Art Garfunkel's sublime "All I Know", which will debut next week, and Deodato's "Rhapsody in Blue", just-missing the 40 at its peak of #41.  And debuting at #99, Jackson Browne's "Redneck Friend"; about six weeks ahead of the For Everyman LP, it would only get to #85, and Jackson wouldn't chart another single until "Here Come Those Tears" in early '77.

[RGMike]

Sonny wouldn't let Cher do "The Night The Lights Went Out in GA" for fear of offending Southerners, but here she is offending everyone else with "Hayuf Breed".  Give her a fethuh!

[Gazoo]

Casey's '80s takes us to 1984, where - TANC, Mike - debuting at #38 is H&O's "Out of Touch"!

[Gazoo]

And at #37 is one I haven't heard since it came out: Barry Gibb, "Shine Shine."  Mike, I'm with you in that I'd rather have gotten frere Robin's "Boys Do Fall in Love."

[Gazoo]

Two other curiosities had preceded: at 40, Joyce Kennedy and Jeffrey Osborne on "The Last Time I Made Love" (written by Mann/Weil with Jeff Barry; and how often does someone's sole chart hit peak at exactly #40?), and at 39, the sadly forgotten "What in the Name of Love" from Naked Eyes.  I think their work holds up better than most other synth-pop of the period.