Casey Kasem created and hosted several radio countdown programs through the years, most notably “American Top 40” from 1970 to 1988. In the early 1980s, I plugged a microphone into my General Electric cassette player and recorded many of the songs he played on 94.5 KKEZ. I didn’t understand “stereo” sound back then, so I received a distorted version when setting up the microphone by only one speaker. Even so, I thought it was high tech.
That same microphone — and the same process — recorded many of my brother’s KISS, Alice Cooper and Foghat 8-tracks and even the audio from some of my favorite TV shows, most notably “Sanford and Son.”
The greatest challenge with my cassette recorder was to record and stop at just the right times to miss Casey’s comments and only capture the music. It took two quick fingers to push play and record at the exact time each song started. It wasn’t live. But it was Memorex.
This all may sound foreign to the younger readers of the Daily Umbrella (and to many of you older ones, too), but to a generation of kids at that time, it was how we gathered music on the cheap — all thanks to Casey Kasem.
Casey had one of the most iconic radio voices of all time. In addition to his time on the radio dial, he also voiced Shaggy in many of the “Scooby-Doo” cartoons and the caped crusader Robin in “Super Friends.” Now that’s talent.
I catch replays of Casey’s work on satellite radio on the weekends, and I am reminded of how good he truly was. His shows mixed in biographical information, artist trivia, flashbacks and the beloved “Long-Distance Dedication” letters from listeners. He did his homework.
Casey was also known for mentioning a trivia fact about a singer before a commercial break and then providing the name of the singer after the break. It proved to keep me and many of the kids my age listening through all the ads.
My cassette player and microphone met the garbage pile several decades ago, and those cassette tapes certainly crinkled, but memories of Casey Kasem, who died in 2014, live on. The greatest remembrance of him may be the words he closed each show with: “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”
That sure beats, “Have a marvelous Monday, and thanks for reading.”
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com
See Shane Goodman's previous columns here. |
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Your Clear Mortgage forecast
Expect morning fog to dissipate. Warmer temperatures are ahead this week, along with a chance of sprinkles tonight.
For help with pre-approvals or refinancing, get in touch with Originating Branch Manager Carrie Hansen at carrie.mortgage. |
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| CITYVIEW's Best Of Des Moines® | | | The results have been tallied and will be published in the February issue and at www.dmcityview.com on Jan. 31 |
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| Featured home for sale | | | |
$210,000
1110 21st St.
Des Moines, IA 50311
Are you ready to live in the heart of the city, minutes from downtown, Drake, and the Dogtown District? This home is an incredible opportunity for a family needing space to spread out or an investment opportunity for Drake students. Early 1900s style charm with space galore! You will feel at home instantly as you walk through the front porch into the large living room with open staircase and formal dining room big enough for the whole family.
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| From CITYVIEW | | | JOE'S NEIGHBORHOOD
Long Johns and life
By Joe Weeg
My friend and I kneel clumsily on the side of the altar in the early morning dark before school begins. Our shoes are covered by our black cassocks, which are straitjackets for squirmy 11-year-olds. So we tug and pull at the cassocks until the priest, bending over the chalice, gives us a side-eye that promises everlasting hellfire. Being more comfortable with our long and well-deserved stint in purgatory, we stop squirming.
“Dominus vobiscum,” says the priest.
“Et cum spiritu tuo,” we chant quickly and without any inkling as to the meaning.
And so go the instructions in “How to Serve Low Mass,” by Rev. William A. O’Brien (published in 1931), and made available to us boys at St. Mary’s School in Iowa City in 1964.
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A Wall Street Journal story by Andrea Petersen determined that avocado and extra virgin olive oils are the best bets for healthy diets because they are less processed than seed oils like sunflower, corn, soy and safflower. Other takeaways from her research: Avocado oil is better than olive oil for cooking with high heat; burnt (smoking) oil is never a good thing.
Sales of chicken nuggets, tenders and sandwiches are up 6.4% in the past five years, compared to 4.7% for burgers and other beef-based items, according to market research firm Technomic. Chicken wings and sandwiches both were added to menus at a higher rate than burgers last year. Chicken sandwiches have helped Chick-fil-A’s sales more than quadruple in the past decade while Popeye's, Burger King and McDonald's have all emulated their sandwich.
Monday brings prime rib specials to Christopher's (2816 Beaver Ave., Des Moines) and Chicago Speakeasy (1512 Euclid Ave., Des Moines).
— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com |
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"Spring is here. My wife spotted this robin and its mate in one of our trees." — John Frank, Ankeny |
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FROM KCCI: RAGBRAI 2024: Route announced for summer bike ride across Iowa. And it's the hilliest ever.
DES MOINES, Iowa — We now know the route for the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa this summer. RAGBRAI LI will start July 21 in Glenwood and end July 27 in Burlington. In between, there will be overnight stops at Red Oak, Atlantic, Winterset, Knoxville, Ottumwa, Mount Pleasant and Burlington...READ MORE FROM KCCI
FROM WHO-TV: Juvenile injured by gunfire at party on east side of Des Moines overnight
DES MOINES, IOWA — Two people – including a juvenile- suffered gunshot wounds after someone opened fire at a party hosted at an east side event center in Des Moines early Sunday morning. An adult male injured in the shooting remains hospitalized with what police are calling a “life-threatening” injury while the juvenile also remains hospitalized but is expected to recover. ... READ MORE FROM WHO-TV
FROM WOI-DT Local 5: Iowa DCI: DNA evidence identifies parents in 1996 newborn death
Iowa DCI has identified the parents of "Baby Jane Lincoln", who was discovered in a garbage bag in a barn off Highway 30 near Lisbon, Iowa, on Nov. 10, 1996.....READ MORE FROM WOI-DT Local 5 |
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49ers-Chiefs: Super Bowl LVIII predictions, picks, odds
The San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs are officially headed to Super Bowl LVIII, which kicks off Sunday, Feb. 11, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Kansas City 17 Baltimore 10
Detroit 31 San Francisco 34
READ MORE AT ESPN.COM |
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| Birthdays and notables | | | These celebrities were born on this date: Nicholas Turturro, Heather Graham, Sara Gilbert, Kelly Packard, Justin Hartley, Madison Bailey, Oprah Winfrey, Adam Lambert, Tom Selleck, Charlie Wilson, Romário
SUBMIT: Send your birthday greetings and congratulatory notes to: tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com |
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The answer to yesterday's riddle:
What killed the old hipster? HE DROWNED IN THE MAINSTREAM! - Gail Tomlinson. Thanks for sending in guesses Rex Post, William Snyder. And I missed mentioning those who participated in the previous joke about crop circles and protractors: Gail Tomlinson, Rex Post, Lori Bluml.
Today's riddle
What do they call the business head at Old MacDonald's Farm?
Have a guess? Email tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com |
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To advertise in this daily newsletter, contact Jolene Goodman at jolene@iowalivingmagazines.com, or call 515-953-4822 ext. 319.
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www.biggreenumbrellamedia.com. Add webmaster@dmcityview.com to your address book to ensure delivery. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Click here to get it delivered to your inbox for FREE! |
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