American Top 40's 50th Anniversary

Click below to hear a re-creation of the original broadcast of American Top 40 on WPGC,
one of the original 8 stations to carry the show on Sunday, July 5th, 1970 from 9a-12p.

 

 

The original American Top 40 'Uncle
Sam' logo, by Paul Gruwell, circa 1970

Read more on the history of the show and its evolution. See which stations are airing re-broadcasts of the original shows nationally. Early in 1970, Tom Rounds of Watermark traveled to Beantown to meet with WPGC & WMEX owner, Max Richmond in an effort to get him to run the show. Getting two powerhouse stations such as these would go a long way in convincing stations in smaller markets to do the same. 'Mac' was receptive to the idea, if only because the program was free at the time and he didn't have to pay an air personality to cover that shift. Hence, these two stations became the first to agree to clear the show and among the first 7 to air the broadcast. On WPGC, this occured on Sunday, July 5th, 1970 from 9a-12p.

WPGC continued to carry the show for 13 years until the program was taken away in 1983 by ABC which had acquired Watermark the previous year and then began giving the show to ABC Owned & Operated stations in markets where they had them. AT 40 was then forcibly taken away from WPGC and given to Q107 when the contract came up for renewal on July 1st of that year. At the time, WPGC was the longest running affiliate, the only one of the original 8 stations still carrying the show and ran it twice each weekend, on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings. Casey himself did not approve of the roughshod way in which ABC treated long term affiliates, just one of numerous conditions that led to his leaving ABC / Watermark in August of 1988.

Read how WPGC was one of the first two stations to sign up to carry AT 40 (sister station, WMEX in Boston was the other) and air the program on its July 4, 1970 weekend debut in, 'In Search Of American Top 40's Original Stations'.

 

American Top 40's Four Founding Fathers
Casey Kasem	Don Bustany	Tom Rounds	Ron Jacobs

Casey Kasem had worked on the air at WJBK / Detroit, WBNY / Buffalo, WJW / Cleveland and KEWB / San Francisco before moving to KRLA in Los Angles in 1963. In 1966, he began hosting a daily TV dance show, 'Shebang!' produced by Dick Clark. By 1969, Casey's commercial voice-over and cartoon work as 'Shaggy' on 'Scooby Doo' was becoming time restrictive to the extent that he gave up his full time afternoon shift at KRLA but continued doing one weekend shift on Sunday afternoons with (what else?), a local countdown show which became the prototype for 'AT 40'.

He and his partner, Don Bustany were interested in taking the show nationally but were in need of a syndication deal. In a coincidence of cosmic proportions, at the same time, a new syndicator in Hollywood, 'Watermark', headed by former KFRC Program Director, Tom Rounds and former KHJ legendary PD, Ron Jacobs were searching for shows that might be offered to stations.

A meeting of the minds at Art's Deli in Studio City in the Fall of 1969 set the stage for the birth of the program the following July 4th weekend. Getting stations to sign up for the show however proved problematic. Tom Rounds traveled to Boston in early 1970 to secure an agreement with Max Richmond, owner of both WMEX in Beantown as well as WPGC. Getting clearance on two powerhouses such as these would go a long way in convincing stations in smaller markets to do the same. The result of that meeting was that Richmond agreed to carry the show on his stations.

Thus, WPGC and WMEX became the first two stations to agree to run the program. By the time of the show's debut, both stations were among the original 7 affiliates to air it. On WPGC, this occurred on Sunday, July 5, 1970 from 9a-12 noon.

As song lengths continued to increase during the '70's, it became increasingly difficult to squeeze 40 songs into the three hour format of the show. The inevitable expansion of the program to 4 hours began on 10/0778. To fill the extra time, Long Distance Dedications, which had debuted shortly before the lengthening of the show, as well as the AT 40 Archives, a chronological review of all the #1 hits of the '70's (and later, the '60's) were introduced.

In 1982, Watermark, the production company responsible for 'AT40' was acquired by ABC Radio who proceeded to take the show away from long time affiliates in markets where ABC owned stations. In Washington, the show as taken from WPGC (which was running it twice each weekend by then) after 13 consecutive years (the only remaining station of the original 7 and the longest running affiliate at the time) and given to Q107 for this reason in 1983.

In 1988, Casey left the show over a contract dispute with ABC and launched his own show, 'Casey's Countdown' on the Westwood One Radio Network. Rights to the name of American Top 40 reverted to Casey and Don in 1997 with 'AT 40' returning the next year on the AM/FM Networks. The original shows from the '70's & '80's continue to run in syndication today through the Premiere Radio Networks.

Those same shows, now restored digitally are also available from CharisMusicGroup.com where many of the chart lists can also be found. Fans should check out also Walt Bailey's tribute site to 'AT 40' at OldRadioShows.com that has complete chart lists for all the programs in its various incarnations over the years.

Three excellent books on the history of the show are Rob Durkee's, 'American Top 40, The Countdown Of The Century' and 'American Top 40 With Casey Kasem (The 1970's)' and 'American Top 40 With Casey Kasem (The 1980's)' by Pete Battistini.

 

 

Casey Kasem passed away on June 15, 2014 at age 82 after an extended battle between his second wife and his children from his first marriage over visitation rights. His eldest child, Kerri continues his tradition in broadcasting as well as his activism in her fight against Seniors abuse. Just days earlier, Tom Rounds passed away on 06/01/14 at age 77. After Watermark was absorbed by ABC, he became responsible for syndication of the show outside the U.S. through his own company, 'Radio Express'. Ron Jacobs joined his colleagues on Cloud 9 on 06/03/16 after having also created, 'The History of Rock & Roll' for Drake-Chenault as well as initated the 'Cruisin' series of radio broadcast re-creations on vinyl (of which Harv Moore was the featured personality on the 1969 disc).

Casey's childhood friend from Detroit, Don Bustany passed away on 04/23/18 in Santa Barbara. He was the show's original writer and producer. With the success of 'AT 40', within a few years he and Casey also co-created its spin-off, 'American Country Countdown'. But his involvement in the industry would go far beyond 'AT 40' and 'ACC'. In the early 1970's, he began working for 'MTM', first as a camera coordinator and later as a technical coordinator on the 'Mary Tyler Moore Show' and the 'Bob Newhart Show', a program he also directed an episode of. Other shows he was involved with included, 'Phyllis', 'Cheers' and the 'Tony Randall Show'.

In the '80's when Casey took the countdown show format to television with, 'America's Top Ten', Don was by his side easing the transition to the video age for his lifelong friend. Don Bustany was 89.

Read more about his life. Read about his activism. Read more in the Hollywood Reporter. And in RAMP.

Hear the one and only time Don introduced 'AT 40' when the first guest host, Dave Hull filled in for Casey on 11/06/71.

See Don's tribute to Casey in 2013.

With Don's passing, all four of 'AT 40's founding fathers have now gone on to that great transmitter in the sky.... :(

 

 

 

AT 40 Guest Host, Dave Roberts wrote:

Nice site! I'm Dave Roberts, the fill-in for Casey reading the WPGC mention below on 06/21/80. (I guest-hosted a total of 4 times until I became host of "The Hot Ones" on the RKO Radio Network in the 80's.) I was at (AT 40 affiliate), KYA in San Francisco at the time.

Interestingly, and not related to being tapped to guest host, I was also one of the first 7 Sunday morning jocks to rack up those 10-inch reels (AT 40 was not distributed on vinyl LP until 1971) and debut that first AT 40 episode back on the Fourth of July weekend, 1970 on KPOI in Honolulu.

BTW, Tom Moffett, the General Manager of KPOI was also one of the Watermark partners, which is why we were one of the first seven stations (besides WPGC) to carry the show.

When I was working at KYA, (AT 40 Producer), Don Bustany sent us a request for auditions. At the time, I was the afternoon drive DJ, Research Director, and "station voice" for the FM side. The Production Director asked me as I was wrapping up our daily session why I hadn't set up a time for my audition. What audition? I hadn't gotten the memo (literally). So, he said, "Here's the script, why don't you give it a try because I have to send these out today".

So, I cranked it out quickly and ran off to do my air shift. A few week's later, it was announced to the staff that I had been chosen to sit in. The cut with the WPGC mention was from that first show I guest hosted. I did the show three more times (although Don called me at least 2-3 other times, but since I was host of the RKO syndicated show, he said ABC wouldn't go for that.)

What's interesting, is that neither Don Bustany or anybody else including AT 40 co-creator, Tom Rounds (who I had met at KPOI when he came in to do one of those anniversary shows) knew I had worked for their partner Tom Moffett in Honolulu. (I'd do a Long Distance Dedication to "Tom in Honolulu" if I could...he was a terrific boss and a radio guy through and through).

Dave Roberts passed away at age 70 after a long battle with cancer on 11/24/18.

 

 

'Every week, American Top 40 is heard coast to coast
and around the world on great radio stations like.....'

According to Pete's aforementioned books, here is the complete listing of American Top 40 shows during the '70's & '80's in which WPGC was identified as one of the stations carrying the show.

Click on the dates below to see the cue sheets from the show or any of the songs to hear the WPGC mention for that week. Don't miss the 20 minute medley of all the mentions below the individual cuts.

An extra special Good Guy salute to Pete Battistini who compiled the majority of the below. All clips are © 'Watermark', Inc.

Also added, are Question Letters and Long Distance Dedications sent in by WPGC listeners over the years.

 

	09/20/70	#7 - In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry
	12/06/70	#14 - 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 Years Of Love - Presidents
	04/04/71	#16 - One Toke Over The Line - Brewer & Shipley
	08/22/71	#9 - Draggin' The Line - Tommy James
	10/24/71	#32 - Wedding Song (There Is Love) - Paul Stookey
	11/14/71	#32 - Thin Line Between Love & Hate - Persuaders
	01/23/72	#12 - Drowning In The Sea Of Love - Joe Simon
	02/13/72	#20 - You Are Everything - Stylistics
	05/07/72	#35 - Could've Been A Lady - April Wine
	05/28/72	#33 - Old Man - Neil Young
	06/18/72	#29 - Isn't Life Strange - Moody Blues
	07/23/72	#2 - Too Late To Turn Back Now - Cornelius Bros. & Sister Rose
	08/27/72	#31 - Lean On Me - Bill Withers
	12/10/72	#34 - Sunny Days - Lighthouse
	01/28/73	#23 - Could It Be I'm Falling In Love - Spinners
	04/22/73	#39 - Hocus Pocus - Focus
	06/03/73	#10 - Playground In My Mind - Clint Holmes
	08/12/73	#12 - I Believe In You (You Believe In Me) - Johnnie Taylor
	10/28/73	#15 - Space Race - Billy Preston
	02/17/74	#38 - I Like To Live The Love - B.B. King
	03/03/74	#35 - Can This Be - Natural Four
	05/26/74	#20 - I'm In Love - Aretha Franklin
	06/16/74	#7 - Be Thankful For What You Got - William DeVaughn
	10/20/74	#15 - Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
	03/30/75	#22 - Walking In Rhythm - Blackbyrds
	07/20/75	#34 - Just A Little Bit Of You - Michael Jackson
	07/20/75	#2 - The Hustle - Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony
	11/09/75	#24 - My Little Town - Simon & Garfunkel
	07/25/76	#6 - Get Closer - Seals & Croft
	11/14/76	#32 - Love Ballad - L.T.D.
	01/30/77	#24 - Year Of The Cat - Al Stewart
	03/06/77	#8 - Year Of The Cat - Al Stewart
	11/13/77	#18 - Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me - Peter Brown
	01/08/78	#36 - Swingtown - Steve Miller Band
	08/27/78	#11 - Kiss You All Over - Exile
	06/17/79	#31 - Heart Of The Night - Poco
	08/26/79	#17 - Let's Go - Cars
	12/23/79	#16 - Sexy Eyes - Dr. Hook
	06/22/80	#18 - Stomp!* - Brothers Johnson
	08/17/80	#7 - Shining Star - Manhattans
	12/14/80	#26 - I Believe In You - Don Williams
	03/29/81	#9 - Kiss On My List - Hall & Oates
	06/07/81	#34 - Fool In Love With You - Jim Photoglo
	07/26/81	#7 - Slow Hand - Pointer Sisters
	03/14/82	#5 - That Girl - Stevie Wonder
	11/07/82	#15 - The One That You Love - Glenn Frey
	01/30/83	#25 - Heart Of The Night - Juice Newton
*Guest Host - Dave Roberts

1970-83

Medley of WPGC mentions on AT 40

20:03

	06/13/71	Rockville, MD	What song was on the charts the longest?
	07/04/71	Washington, DC	Are the other Osmonds on Donny's songs?
	02/13/72	Washington, DC	Highest debuting song that never hit #1?
	04/08/72	Silver Spring, MD	What's the most controversial song ever?
	01/14/73	Washington, DC	Same artist, same title, but different song?
	02/17/73	Washington, DC	Did any White artists hit #1 on Soul chart?
	08/05/73	Suitland, MD	Did any artist have #1 song of the year, twice?
	06/22/74	Washington, DC	Did any White artists hit #1 on Soul chart?*
	11/29/75	Bowie, MD	Artists with the most Top Ten hits?
	05/16/76	Lexington Park, MD	Did Any #1 Song Of The Year Not Hit #1?
	01/29/77	Accokeek, MD	Disappearing Acts on LP Charts after hitting #1?
	11/25/78	Silver Spring, MD	Which family had the most recording acts - 1?
	03/04/79	Silver Spring, MD	Which family had the most recording acts - 2?**
	09/21/80	Arlington, VA	Which married couple hit #1 the most?
	02/07/81	Potomac, MD	Did any TV Stars have #1 records?
	01/23/83	Laurel, MD	Did any debut album become #1 LP of the year?
	02/27/83	Laurel, MD	Which recording act had the shortest name?
	06/26/83	Columbia, MD	Did Any Artist Hit #1 Album with Their 1st LP?***
	08/07/83	Silver Spring, MD	How Many Female Duos on the Charts?****
*Same question sent in by the same listener, used 16 months later.
**Same question sent in by the same listener, used 14 weeks later!
***Same question sent in by a different listener, used 6 years later.
***Sent in by a WPGC listener but aired several months later on Q107.

1971 - 83

Medley of WPGC Listener Question Letters Montage

26:54

	12/10/78	Damascus, MD	Just Remember I Love You - Firefall
	10/28/79	Leesburg, VA	When Will I See You Again - Three Degrees
	04/27/80	Manassas, VA	Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin
	02/22/81	Riva, MD	Woman In Love - Barbra Streisand
	06/21/81	Rockville, MD	If - Bread
	12/20/81	Washington, DC	All You Need Is Love - Beatles

1978 - 81

Medley of WPGC Long Distance Dedications

14:35

	01/01/71	Promo for WPGC	:06
	01/01/71	Promo for Good Guys Radio	:06
	04/71	Promo for Big Wilson	:06
	Mid '70's	WPGC Custom tracks	:17

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