Casey Kasem, 1932-2014
"Casey Kasem had been at KRLA just five months when this aircheck was made, having made his way from San Francisco's KEWB.
"Kasem's approach to announcing was less frenetic than his on-air colleagues. He offered biographical information about each artist played during his early afternoon show and used teaser questions to keep his audience hooked from commercial to commercial. At this point he had not yet added in his countdown of top ten records, a feature that he would debut on KRLA a short time later.
"In this segment Karen Tommassio calls in to play "Record Roulette" (with only six dollars in the jackpot). The news is read by Cecil Tuck, later publisher of the KRLA Beat, Sie Holiday handles the timecheck into Kasem's second hour, and a variety of advertisements are offered for your pleasure, among them the newest sensation in beer cans, the lift tab cans from Falstaff."
Who of us didn't listen to KRLA during the heat of Beatlemania? Even while living in the Santa Ynez Valley I tuned in religiously, although I confess my favorite DJ was Dave Hull, fondly known as the Hullabalooer. Those were innocent days, before acid rock, free love, and the Viet Nam war kicked into high gear. Casey was to us a likable, mellow DJ and when he created his weekly American Top 40 show in 1970 some of us knew he was on to bigger and brighter things in his career.
Pass in peace, Casey. Your beautiful speaking voice and the breadth of your musical knowledge will be remembered fondly.
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