Casey Kasem

Two charts I followed in the early '90s (on shortwave radio) were BBC's Multitrack Top 10 (hosted by Tim Smith) and Billboard Top 10 on Now music USA (VOA, hosted by Ray McDonald). Casey's Top 40, hosted by Casey Kasem, was aired on VOA Europe. On the first listen itself I was blown away by his style and format of the program. As the Wiki entry says, he pioneered the format of countdown shows.

I received this autographed picture from Casey Kasem (in 1993, I guess) and is the best thing in my radio memorabilia collection.
Now you can hear Casey Kasem on Radio Indigo in Bangalore on weekends.

Keep reaching for the stars!

Willis Conover 1920-1996

Cross posted from my other blog. The complete scanned copy of the VOA newletter is posted here.

Willis Conover 1920-1996
You may call Willis Conver a Jazz legend, though he was just the host of the Jazz Hour program on Voice of America. I heard Conover on radio (Voice of America on shortwave) when I was probably too young to listen to Jazz. Perhaps he is the only radio show host who is as respected as the legends of the music genre itself.

The clipping is from the VOA newsletter which I recieved in '96. Click on the image to read.

Read the Conover tribute by the The Hindu jazz critic Jazzebel here.