I suppose I should have posted this early in the summer, when Kasey Kasem finally (!) retired, but then again there were a great great many things I never got around to posting here. But hey, considering that radio stations are currently playing old "American Top 40" shows from the 70s and 80s, it is clear the format hasn't gone out of style.
Gotta say, I loved that show when I was in Middle School, when KK was on top of his game and the Top 40 still mattered in pop culture. Always thought it would have been great to hear an ATF of my own picks, and can even hear Kasey Kasem reading the lead in to some of them.
So, to take us to the top of the hour, and off to another blog, here is my own All-time Top 40. Take it away Kasey!
40. Talk to You Later ... The Tubes
39. Convoy ... C.B. McCall
38. Texarkana ... R.E.M.
37. Baker Street ... Gerry Rafferty
36. Total Eclipse of the Heart ... Bonnie Tyler
35. The Pink Panther Theme ... Henry Mancini
34. The Battle of Evermore ... Led Zeppelin
33. Head Like A Hole ... Nine Inch Nails
32. Hold Me Now ... The Thompson Twins
31. The Dreaming ... Kate Bush
30. Snapshot The Art Of Noise
29. Barracuda ... Heart
28. Heaven & Hell Vangelis
27. What A Fool Believes ... The Doobie Brothers
26. Just Like U Said It Would B ... Sinéad O'Connor
25. I Before E Except After C ... Yaz
24. Word Up! ... Cameo
23. Jump ... Aztec Camera
22. I Must Be Dreamin' ... Cheap Trick
21. I Did It Just The Same ... Eurythmics
20. I Wanna Be Sedated ... The Ramones
19. The Right Profile ... The Clash
18. Sexual Healing ... Marvin Gaye
17. Beautiful Girl ... Peter Droge & the Sinners
16. I Ran ... A Flock Of Seagulls
15. Heart Of Glass ... Blondie
14. Watermark ... Enya
13. Cannonball ... The Breeders
12. Bohemian Rhapsody ... Queen
11. Dance Along the Edge ... Concrete Blonde
10. Once in a Lifetime ... Talking Heads
9. There She Goes ... The La's
8. September ... Earth Wind & Fire
7. More Than This ... Roxy Music
6. No New Tale To Tell ... Love & Rockets
5. Fat Bottomed Girls ... Queen
4. No Myth ... Michael Penn
3. Solace ... Scott Joplin
2. Mercyfuck ... Mary Prankster
(Can you just imagine Kasey Kasem reading the intro to THAT tune? Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha)
Finally, before we get to #1, let me just say -- yes, I know this is a cheat, as it is actually 3 songs occupying the top slot. However, on the album, all 3 fold into each other and are meant to be played together, so we are therefore considering them one long tune. So here it is, your Jape All-time #1 hit, from The Cars!
1. Double Life/Shoo Be Do/Candy-O ... The Cars
... in addition to Woodstock and the Moon Walk (and the cancellation of Star Trek, which paved the way to modern fandom), you also had the epic meeting of Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson at GenCon II, that paved the way for modern gaming. Oh yeah, and I started kindergarten.
UPDATE: Wow, also the beginning of Monty Pyhton's Flying Circus AND Sesame Street.
So essentially, my entire conscious life started 40 years ago. Woot.
