Happy Throwback Thursday! Today we’re spotlighting 1970 – the year American Top 40 first started airing! The show was created by Casey Kasem, his childhood friend Don Bustany, radio veteran Tom Rounds, and program director Ron Jacobs. At the time, top 40 radio was losing popularity as DJ’s preferred album-oriented progressive rock. Kasem was reportedly inspired by Make Believe Ballroom, a nationally syndicated radio show in the 1940s, while the format of the show was loosely based on the TV show Your Hit Parade.
American Top 40 first hit the airwaves on Independence Day weekend in 1970. It started on 7 radio stations but quickly went nationwide. At its peak in the 1980s, the show was broadcast on more than 1,000 stations in some 50 countries.
One of the most popular features on AT40 was the Long Distance Dedication. Kasem intended for the feature to be part of the show from the beginning. But he knew it would take some time before a listener wrote in with a request and he let the process happen organically. In August 1978, a request finally came in. The listener requested “Desiree” by Neil Diamond, which he dedicated to his girlfriend who was moving to Germany to live with her family on an army base.
Kasem left the show in 1988 over contract concerns and signed a 5-year $15 million contract with Westwood One. He launched Casey’s Top 40 in 1989, using the weekly chart survey published by Radio & Records based on radio airplay. Kasem was replaced on AT40 by Shadoe Stevens. However, AT40 lost a significant number of affiliates when Kasem’s new show started, and it was canceled in 1995.
In 1997, Kasem regained the rights to AT40 and the show was back on the air in 1998. At the end of 2003, he announced he’d be leaving the show once his contract expired and would be replaced by Ryan Seacrest. Today, American Top 40 can be heard on nearly 500 radio stations in the U.S. and several other territories worldwide, making it one of the most listened-to weekly radio programs worldwide.
Learn more here.
Listen to the first #1 song on American Top 40 below!