Beech Tree News Network

Kemal Amin “Casey” Kasem (April 27, 1932-June 15, 2004) was an American Disc Jockey, actor and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably American Top 40He was the first actor to voice Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby Doo franchise (1969-2009 and Dick Grayson/Robin in Super Friends(1973-1985).  

Kasem was born in Detroit, Michigan to Lebanese Druze immigrants Helen and Amin Kasem, who were grocers.  He was named after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a man Kasem said his father respected.  Kasem’s parents did not allow their children to speak Arabic and insisted they assimilate into American life.

In the late 1940’s the radio show Make Believe Ballroom reportedly inspired Kasem to pursue a career as a radio disk jockey.  Kasem received his first experience in radio covering sports at Northwester High School in Detroit.  He then attended Wayne State University, where he voiced children on radio programs such as The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon.  In 1952, Kasem was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Korea.  There, he worked as a DJ/announcer on the Armed Forces radio affiliate on the peninsula, the Armed Forces Korea Network (AFKN).

After the war, Kasem began his professional broadcasting career in Flint, Michigan, then worked at Detroit’s WJLB and WJBK-and portrayed children’s television host “Krogo the Clown”.  He left broadcasting to tend to the family grocery store.  Kasem unsuccessfully attempted work as a stage actor in New York for six months, auditioning for a role in the off-Broadway production Ivan Of, but lost out to Ed Asner.  Returning to Detroit, Kasem re-applied at WJBK but was promptly referred to co-owned WJW, which not only had a late-evening slot open but a hosting role for Cleveland Bandstand over WJW-TV as well.  Cleveland’s emerging status as a popular music epicenter appealed to Kasem.  Kasem identified himself as “Casey at the Mike” owing to varied misspellings of his name in both contemporary news accounts and station promos.

His tenure in Cleveland was a brief but successful one, entering the market with a vengeance against Top 40 stations WHK and KYW.  Within three months, Kasem reached second place behind WHK in ratings.  After WJW switched to “beautiful music”, as instrumental music was often called then, which Kasem attributed to the payola scandal I discussed a few weeks ago, he left for Buffalo’s WBNY but remained in contact with friends in the Cleveland area.  At KYA in San Francisco, the station manager suggested he tone down his delivery and talk about the records instead.  

At KEWB in Oakland, California, Kasem was bith music director and on-air personality.  He said he was inspired by a Who’s Who in Pop Music, 1962 magazine he found in the trash.  He created a show that mixed biographical tidbits about the artists he played and attracted the attention of Bill Garvin, who tried to recruit him as partner.  After Kasem joined KRLA in Los Angeles in 1963, his career began to blossom and he championed the R&B music of East L.A.

Kasem acted in several low-budget movies and radio dramas.  While hosting “dance hops” on local television, he attracted the attention of Dick Clark, who hired him as co-host of a daily teenage music show called Shebang, starting in 1964.  Kasem’s roles on network tv series included Hawaii Five-O and Ironside.  In 1967, he appeared on The Dating Game and played the role of “Mouth” in the motorcycle gang film The Glory Stompers.  In 1969, he played the role of Knife in the film Wild Wheels and had a small role in another biker movie, The Cycle Savages, starring Bruce Dern and Melody Patterson.  

Kasem’s voice was the key to his career.  In 1964, during the Beatlemania craze, Kasem had a minor hit single called “Letter From Elaina”.  At the end of the ‘60’s, he began working as a voice actor.  In 1969, he started one of his most famous roles, the voice of Shaggy in Scooby Doo Where Are You.   On July 4, 1970, Kasem, along with Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs launched the weekly radio program American Top 40.  At the time, top 40 radio was on the decline as DJ’s preferred to play album-oriented progressive rock.  Loosely based on the tv program Your Hit Parade, the show counted down from #40 to #1 based on the Billboard Hot 100 weekly chart.  Kasem mixed in biographical information with trivia about the artists, as well as flashbacks and long-distance dedication segments.  He ended the program with his signature sign-off “keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars”. 

The show debuted on seven stations but soon went nationwide.  In October 1978, the show expanded from three hours to four.  AT40 spawned several imitators, including a weekly half-hour music video television show America’s Top 10, hosted by Kasem himself.  “When we first went on the air, I thought we would be around at least 20 years.  I knew the formula worked.  I knew people tuned in to find out what the number one record was”.  

In 1977, he was hired to narrate the ABC sitcom Soap but quit after the pilot episode because of the shows’ controversial content.  Rod Roddy took his place.  Yes, the original announcer of The Price Is Right! He was staff announcer for NBC from late ‘70’s to early ‘80’s.  In 1984, Kasem made a cameo in Ghostbusters, reprising his role as host of American Top 40.  In 1983, he helped found the American Video Awards.  His goal was to make them the Oscars of music videos.  There were only five shows-the last airing in 1987.  

In 1988, Kasem left American Top 40 because of a contract dispute with ABC Radio Network.  He signed a five-year, $15 million contract with Westwood One and started Casey’s Top 40.  From ’89-’98, Kasem hosted Nick at Night’s New Year’s Eve countdown of the top reruns of the year.  He made cameo appearances on Saved By The Bell and Alf in the ‘90’s.  The original AT40, hosted by Shadoe Stevens after Kasem’s departure, was cancelled in 1995.  Kasem regained the rights to the show in ’97 and the show was back a year later.  At the end of 2003, Kasem announced he would leave the show once his contract was up and would be replaced by Ryan Seacrest.  In 2009, Premiere announced it would no longer produce Kasem’s shows.  He also retired from voice acting. In October 2013, Kerri Kasem announced that her father had Parkinson’s disease, diagnosed in 2007.  A few months later, she said he had Lewy body dementia.  His condition left him unable to speak during his final months, He passed June 15, 2004 at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington at age 82.   

1981: Kasem was granted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  1985: he was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.  1992: Radio Hall of Fame’s first Lifetime Achievement Award.  2003: Radio Icon award recipient.

  Thanks for reading!

Here is the link to my vlog for this week: https://youtu.be/B7zXz7_H0yc?feature=shared