I was listening to some classic AT40 with Casey Kasem this weekend:


http://tunein.com/radio/o...s-p154285/

and I always hear some interesting stories that I didn't know about before, which got me wondering....

Does anyone remember the stories that Casey Kasem shared on his syndicated radio show about PRINCE? If I had access to all the shows, I would simply fast forward to the chart topping song from Prince and listen to see if he would pause the show to share a story. Sometimes he just introduces the song, but other times, he'll share some tidbit about the artist, or the song.

Prince being so big in the 80's, I'm guessing that something interesting aired, and it would be awesome to hear a compilation of every time Casey Kasem would talk about him.

See if this link works:

https://books.google.com/...mp;f=false

I Googled "Casey Kasem Prince" and that's from a book called "American Top 40 with Casey Kasem (the 1980s)". There are several references to Prince. It looks like Casey told the story about Prince getting booed off the stage two different times. And there were two Long Distance dedications of Prince songs - "Purple Rain" and "Mountains".

Here is what appears to be a "Classic American Top 40 Tribute to Prince" that someone put together last year. You can download the show if you want (I haven't, so I can't tell you if it's any good):

http://933odc.iheart.com/...-14612834/

Here's a short Prince story from an LA Times article on Casem's passing:


The knowledge could be fun too. Before playing Prince’s “When Doves Cry” during a summer 1984 show, Kasem gave trivia on past bird-related hits by Inez Foxx (“Mockingbird”) and Rufus Thomas (“Do the Funky Chicken”). He then dubbed the dove “the most named bird in the top 40.”

http://www.latimes.com/en...story.html

Last but not least, here's an AT40 show from 4/19/86, when Prince had written the top 2 songs in the countdown (only the second time that had happened):

I was an avid student of American Top 40 back in the day; for awhile there was a syndicated Top 10 show with Casey.

I remember when he was counting down the Top 10 albums of 1984; I was certain Purple Rain would be #1 for year; 24 weeks at number one. Before Casey announced the #1 album of the year he gave a little hint about what would be #1 and then went to commercial.

When he came back he announced that the number one of 1984 is....Michael Jackson Thriller!

I couldn't believe it! I couldn't even comprehend it! I was sure there was some sort of conspiracy against Prince; Purple Rain wasn't even in their Top 10 for the year.

The chart methodology has changed since then with the Soundscan era.

sro100 said:

I was an avid student of American Top 40 back in the day; for awhile there was a syndicated Top 10 show with Casey.

I remember when he was counting down the Top 10 albums of 1984; I was certain Purple Rain would be #1 for year; 24 weeks at number one. Before Casey announced the #1 album of the year he gave a little hint about what would be #1 and then went to commercial.

When he came back he announced that the number one of 1984 is....Michael Jackson Thriller!

I couldn't believe it! I couldn't even comprehend it! I was sure there was some sort of conspiracy against Prince; Purple Rain wasn't even in their Top 10 for the year.

The chart methodology has changed since then with the Soundscan era.

I remember that, too! I have no idea if it was chart methodology, or payola, or both but I could never figure out how "Purple Rain" wasn't the #1 album of 1984, either.

Sidenote, I remember once in the 90's, I guess, when the national country western end-of-the-year countdown was broadcast. The #1 song of the year was a song that had NEVER been played on any of Houston's country and western stations. I wish I could remember what the song was but there was no way a country song could be #1 in the USA but never, ever get played in Houston, Texas.

sro100: That is odd to read that his countdown would omit Purple Rain, check this wiki link from his source, Billboard Magazine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/...ms_of_1984

Certainly, it should've been SOMEWHERE in the countdown!

heymistermusic said:

sro100: That is odd to read that his countdown would omit Purple Rain, check this wiki link from his source, Billboard Magazine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/...ms_of_1984

Certainly, it should've been SOMEWHERE in the countdown!

Amazing to realize there were only 5 number 1 albums that year.

Looking at other years, I cannot figure out the rhyme or reason for "Best Performing Album". In many years, the Best Performing Album didn't hold #1 as long as many other albums did that year. The most extreme example I was 1979. Billy Joel's "52nd Street" was #1 for one week; while the Eagles' "The Long Run" held onto #1 for 9 weeks. I don't know, maybe "52nd Street" was #2 for every other week?

Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 was the best performing and best-selling album of 1990 despite not reaching number-one at any point during the year. The album achieved 4 weeks atop the chart during 1989.


https://en.wikipedia.org/...ms_of_1990 OK, enough of my threadjacking!