Casey Kasem's American Top 40 Yearbook (1979)

From the book American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century by Rob Durkee (2000):

With 20,000 copies published in the spring of 1979, [Casey Kasem's American Top 40 Yearbook] covered the 52-week period from November 5, 1977, to October 28, 1978, printing every Top 40 chart plus a biography and photo of all 174 artists who had a Top 40 hit in the survey period. Initially, the plan was to publish AT40 yearbooks annually, but only one book ever appeared.

Because of today's online resources, there's really no need for such a book anymore, but browsing through one is a fun trip for any Top 40 fan. Let's take a look:

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The majority of the book is artist biographies. Biographies include a photo of the act, artists' birth dates/birthplaces, a history of the act (more famous acts understandably get more column space than one hit wonders), and a complete Top 40 history for that act. Here's a sample page (click to enlarge):

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The second section of the book consists of essays about current music genres. The essays, written by various music journalists, are followed by year-end Top 40 lists of hits, artists, albums, songwriters, etc. Methodology for determining these lists is never mentioned.

• Pop single Top hit: "Shadow Dancing" by Andy Gibb. Top singles artist: Bee Gees.
• Pop album Top album: Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Top album artist: Bee Gees.
• Soul Top hit: "Serpentine Fire" by Earth, Wind & Fire. Top artist: Earth, Wind & Fire.
• Country Top hit: "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys/I Can Get Off on You" by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Top artist: Dolly Parton
• Disco Top hit: "Last Dance" by Donna Summer
• Jazz Top album: Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione
• Songwriters Barry, Robin, & Maurice Gibb
• Producers (3 way tie) Albhy Galuten, Barry Gibb, and Karl Richardson

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The final section of the book consists of the weekly Top 40 charts, starting with the November 5, 1977 chart (with "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone in the top spot) and ending with the chart from October 28, 1978 ("Hot Child in the City" by Nick Gilder).

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The final page of the book, "How Does Casey Kasem Know So Much About Pop Music," is an acknowledgement to Billboard magazine and Joel Whitburn at Record Research.

The book (©1979) is long out of print; original price: $4.99. Today's best online prices for used copies are $6.77 on Amazon, $22.95 on Half.com, and $14.99 on eBay.

For more AT40 stuff, click here. And don't forget to look into finding a copy of American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century by Rob Durkee (2000).

American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century by Rob Durkee (2000)

If you've stumbled upon this blog, chances are you spent more than a few hours as a teenager listening to Casey Kasem host his legendary countdown show, American Top 40. As a teenager growing up in the Houston radio market, I would listen to AT40 as often as I could, sometimes jotting down notes, sometimes recording the shows on cassette tapes, but always enjoying the format and, more importantly, Kasem's voice and delivery (I wish more DJs could backsell like Casey). More recently, I've enjoyed the replays of classic AT40 shows on satellite radio. Music has always transported me back to certain times and places, but when that music is coupled with Kasem's comforting, familiar voice, it all becomes so much sweeter. I know AT40 is still on the air with the talented Ryan Seacrest as host, but it's just not the same, is it? So while I'd like to say I'm a huge AT40 fan, it's more accurate to say that I'm a huge Kasem fan.

So while searching online for classic AT40 info, I came across mention of Rob Durkee's book, American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century. Durkee worked as a writer and researcher for AT40 and therefore had access to all the principal AT40 players: Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. It covers a lot of ground, including how the show survived despite losing money in its first three years, the controversial change in hosts in 1988, how and why the show died in 1995, and how it was reborn in 1998. Also included is a 68-page appendix, including all specials through 1991, all year-end lists from 1970-1994, and a list of AT40 guest hosts. It's as complete an history as you're likely to find (although Durkee seems to go out of his way not to name names where controversy is involved). Highly recommended.

The book (©2000) is currently out of print and fetching high prices online (today's prices are $385 on Amazon and $126-$199 on eBay). I got my free "loaner" copy easy peasy through interlibrary loan (ILL) and suggest you boogie down to your local library and do the same ASAP.

"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

P.S. For more good AT40 stuff, go check out The Hits Just Keep On Comin' by friend o' the blog and radio expert, JB.

Billboard Top Adult Songs 1961-2006

 

This book is a recent acquisition and it's a wonder the Soft Rock Kid didn't get a copy sooner.  Put together by Joel Whitburn over at Record Research, it incorporates all the chart information from Billboard's Adult Top 40  (which started in March 1996) with the info from the Adult Contemporary charts (which started in July 1961 as the "Easy Listening" chart).  My only problem is the use of the term "adult" because its use isn't consistent with the rest of the entertainment industry:  the term "adult songs" doesn't quite have the same meaning as "adult magazines" or "adult movies," does it?

Published in 2007, it includes all the adult contemporary chart information needed for this blog, so get ready because sooner or later you're going to get more info than you need about the Captain & Tennille's "Muskrat Love" and Spyro Gyra's "Morning Dance."