Casey Kasem - Radio - 1970s–1980s

1970s–1980s

Kasem is best known as a music historian and disc jockey, most notably as host of the weekly American Top 40 radio program from July 4, 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 most of the 1980s. 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 in infomercials, marketing CD music compilations. Kasem received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 27, 1981, his 49th birthday, and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1992. When he was hosting American Top 40, Kasem would often include trivia facts about songs he played and artists whose work he showcased. Frequently, he would mention a trivia fact about an unnamed singer before a commercial break, and then provide the name of the singer after returning from the break; this later also made its way into America's Top 10, where viewers would submit trivia questions for him to answer. In 1971, he provided the character voice of Peter Cottontail in the Rankin/Bass production of Here Comes Peter Cottontail, versus Vincent Price providing the voice of the villainous Iron Tail.

In 1972, Kasem appeared in the low budget film The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, which also starred Bruce Dern. In 1984, he made a cameo in Ghostbusters, reprising his role as the host of American Top 40.