Casey Kasem (1932-2014): Radio's Countdown King

Casey Kasem at the 41st Emmy Awards (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Casey Kasem, who died Sunday at age 82, was known to one generation as the man who counted down the hits every week on radio.  To others, he was the voice of "Shaggy" on TV's "Scooby-Doo".  Either way, Kasem made his own impact on American contemporary pop culture.

After a long career as a radio deejay and sometime actor, Kasem helped launch "American Top 40" in syndication on July 4, 1970.  The original version lasted almost two decades, at a time when the Top 40 format on AM radio was giving way to the demographically-parsed programming (contemporary hits, album rock, etc.) of FM.  For three or four hours every weekend (depending on the city), Kasem played what America listened to, regardless of whether your radio station had them on their playlist or not.

A typical "AT40" had Kasem introducing the songs as they were ranked by Billboard magazine's (or somebody else's) record chart, interspersing them with tidbits about the song or the artist.  Kasem would interrupt the countdown long enough to add extra tunes, salute stations that carried his show, and deliver a "Long Distance Dedication" from (typically) a soldier serving overseas to his sweetheart in Bozeman, Montana.

Kasem did his countdown shows in various formats for nearly four decades before retiring in 2009.  Ryan Seacrest has been hosting "AT40" since Kasem turned the show over to him in 2004.

In Kasem's spare time, he lent his voice to animated characters including "Shaggy", some commercials, and was at one point the voice of NBC.

Recently, the end of Kasem's life was a tragic soap opera that played out on the evening news.  Because of the form of dementia that he was living with, his voice was gone.  He was the subject of family squabbles over money, how he was physically treated, and who had legal control over his affairs.  Then it was reported that Kasem disappeared, only to turn up somewhere in Washington state.

Then Casey Kasem died on Father's Day, leaving behind a legacy of "Scooby-Doo" reruns and classic "AT40" episodes that still air on some radio stations.  Say, didn't he end his show by urging his listeners to keep their feet on the ground and to keep reaching for the stars?

He's probably among those stars right about now.