Casey Kasem

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Casey Kasem

Casey Kasem (born Kemal Amin Kasem on April 27, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan of Palestinian/Lebanese heritage) is an American radio personality and voice actor. He currently hosts two weekly syndicated radio programs, American Top 20 with Casey Kasem and American Top 10 with Casey Kasem. American Top 20 is a countdown of the Top 20 Hot Adult Contemporary hits of the week that also includes 3 Extras, 12 Big Hits from the Past, and the weekly Long Distance Dedication. American Top 10 is a countdown of the Top 10 Soft Adult Contemporary hits of the week that also includes a weekly themed spotlight feature that spotlights several songs, 3 Extras, several Big Hits from the Past, and the weekly Long Distance Dedication. Both American Top 20 and American Top 10 are three hours in length, and air on radio stations worldwide on Saturday and Sunday at a time decided by individual affiliates. Stations receive Kasem's program via CD or internet download. Kasem's radio programs are distributed by Premiere Radio Networks.

In addition to American Top 20 and American Top 10, Kasem also provides the voice of many commercials, has done many voices for Sesame Street, was the voice for the bumpers of Saturday morning cartoon shows on NBC, helps out with the annual Jerry Lewis telethon, and most notably the cartoon voice of Shaggy from Scooby Doo,

[edit] Radio

Kasem is best known by name as a music historian and disc jockey, most notably as host of the weekly American Top 40 radio program from 1970 to 1988, and again from March 1998 until January 10, 2004, when Ryan Seacrest succeeded him. He hosted a spin-off television show called America's Top 10 for a time in the 1980s. He was the host of the short-lived American version of 100% in 1999. For a period in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kasem was the staff announcer for the NBC television network. More recently, he has appeared on infomercials about CD music compilations. Kasem was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1992. He is a graduate of Wayne State University.

From January 1989 to March 1998 when he was not at the helm of American Top 40, he was host of Casey's Top 40, Casey's Hot 20, and Casey's Countdown syndicated out of the Westwood One Radio Networks. These shows competed with his former show, American Top 40, which was hosted by Shadoe Stevens from 1988–1995.

In August 2006 XM Satellite Radio began airing newly restored versions of the original American Top 40 radio show from the 1970s and 1980s. Premiere Radio Networks also started airing reruns of AT40 (dating from 1970 to 1978) in January 2007.

Casey Kasem developed his rock-trivia persona from his work as a disc jockey in the early 1960s at KEWB in Oakland, California. He also worked for several other stations across the country, including WYSL in Buffalo, New York, before launching the national show.

Many times, Kasem starts talking (usually after a commercial break or song) with, "Ya know..."

[edit] Outtakes

A perfectionist in the studio, recordings of a frustrated Kasem in an extended profane rant during a rehearsal for American Top 40 appeared on Negativland's single "U2". In it, Kasem is heard introducing a U2 single by reading the names and instruments of the entire personnel of the band from a script. Kasem interrupts and says:

This is bullshit! Nobody cares! ... These guys are from England and who gives a shit!

Another notorious Kasem outtake from the September 14, 1985 AT40 was also used by Negativland in "U2". It involves reading a "Long Distance Dedication" from a man to his deceased dog "Snuggles." Casey objects to the dedication ("Shannon" by Henry Gross) following an up-tempo song ("Dare Me" by the Pointer Sisters) and explodes:

...I want a goddamn concerted effort to come out of a record that isn't a fucking up-tempo record every time I gotta do a goddamn death dedication! It's the last goddamn time; I want somebody who uses his fucking brain to not come out of a goddamn record... that's up-tempo and I've got to talk about a fucking dog dying!...Boy, is this fucking ponderous man...ponderous, fucking ponderous.

Despite Kasem's objection, the two mismatched songs were aired as scripted.

The audio made its way onto bootleg cassette tapes by the winter of 1985, and circulated underground. With the advent of the Internet, digital versions of the outtakes circulated again, where it acquired the unofficial name of "The Dead Dog Tape" or the "Snuggles Tape". It is also featured on the track "Snuggles" from 1999's "Muy Rico" by Jacknife Lee. Syndicated radio personality Howard Stern aired both censored and uncensored versions of the "Snuggles Tape" on his WXRK-FM and his Sirius Radio show, respectively, popularizing the outtake considerably during the 1990s; Kasem even commented (via a taped interview) about the recording, and admitted the voice was his and explained that he "was having a bad day" when the show was recorded. A thorough (and entertaining) explanation of the incident was detailed in a chapter in the 1999 book American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century, written by Rob Durkee.

[edit] Television

Kasem is a prominent voice-over actor, most notably the voice of Shaggy in Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo cartoons from 1969 onwards. He has done work for many other animated series, such as the voice of Robin in the 1968 Batman cartoons and various versions of SuperFriends, the drummer Groove from The Cattanooga Cats (1969), Alexander Cabot III from Josie and the Pussycats (1970, 1972), and television specials such as Rankin-Bass' Here Comes Peter Cottontail. Kasem has also done many TV commercial voiceovers for companies and products like A&P, Chevron, Ford, Red Lobster, Raid, Hoover vacuum cleaners, Joy dish soap, Heinz Ketchup, Sears, Prestone, Continental airlines, The California Raisin Advisory Board, The National Cancer Institute, and 1976–1988 promos for the NBC television network (citation needed). He also played the voice of Mark, the American name of Ken Washio in Battle of the Planets, the first American version of Gatchaman.

He has also lent his voice for many animated characters on Sesame Street in the 1970s and 80s.

In the 1980s he was a regular voice-actor on The Transformers, providing the voices of good-guy Autobots Cliffjumper and Bluestreak, as well as the Autobots' computer Teletraan I. In 1986, he walked out on the show after a dispute regarding the portrayal of Arab characters[1]. He also walked out on his role as Shaggy in 1995, when he was asked to voice Shaggy in a Burger King commercial. The role had been re-cast with Scott Innes, who, in 1997 after the death of legendary voice actor Don Messick, had also taken over the role of Messick's Scooby-Doo. Kasem felt that it was not appropriate for the character to eat anything meat based; he has said more than once that Shaggy should also to be a vegetarian (this may or may not be the reason he turned down the role in the most recent series, as the first episode refers to "hot dog tacos"). He returned to the character in 2002, after Hanna-Barbera (or rather Warner Bros.) agreed to portray Shaggy as a strict vegetarian, notwithstanding the fact that Shaggy has been seen by countless viewers gorging himself on any food in sight, including plenty of meat, since 1969. Kasem's more recent portrayals of Shaggy can be found on the What's New Scooby-Doo series (however, he will not be returning for Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue; Shaggy will be voiced here by Scott Menville). In addition to voice-acting, Kasem has appeared on camera on Nick-at-Nite on New Year's Eve from 1989 to 1998, counting down the top reruns of the year (billed as "Nick at Nite's Rerun Countdown" from 1989 to 1992, "Nick at Nite's Classic TV Countdown" from 1993–1997 and "Nick at Nite's TV Hits Countdown" in 1998), in which Kasem spoofed his image as the master of countdowns.

He was once also seen on "The Late Show with David Letterman" performing a Top Ten list - the Top Ten Numbers. This hysterical countdown of numbers - which had Kasem primarily just reading a number to camera which was different to the Top Ten number, was paused at number 2 for Kasem to spoof one of his long distance dedications. David Letterman could be heard laughing loudly in the background.

Additionally, he has appeared on-camera as a co-host of Jerry Lewis's annual Labor Day Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association since 1983. Kasem also anchored the local segments of the telethon in Los Angeles, and when the telethon returned to Las Vegas in 2006, he appeared only in pre-recorded statements nationally, and anchored the local L.A. telethon segments.

Kasem also made two separate cameo appearances on the TV show Saved by the Bell in the early 1990s. He has also made a cameo appearance on the 2003 film Looney Tunes: Back in Action talking to Matthew Lillard, who played Shaggy in the 2002 film adaptation of Scooby-Doo.

[edit] Personal life

Kasem has been married to actress/singer Jean Kasem since 1980 and they have one child together, daughter Liberty Kasem. He had three children with his first wife, Linda Myers Kasem (to whom he was married from 1969 to 1979). Their son, Mike Kasem, is also a voice-over actor. Their daughter is television and radio host Kerri Kasem.

[edit] Further reading

• Durkee, Rob. "American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century." Schriner Books, New York City, 1999.
• Battistini, Pete, "American Top 40 with Casey Kasem The 1970s." Authorhouse.com, January 31, 2005. ISBN 1-4184-1070-5.

[edit] External links

• Kasem entry at the National Broadcaster's Hall of Fame
• Casey Kasem at the Internet Movie Database
• Casey Kasem at VoiceChasers