Casey Kasem
Casey Kasem
Kemal Amen "Casey" Kasemwas an American disc jockey, music historian, radio personality, voice actor, and actor, known for being the host of several music radio countdown programs, most notably American Top 40, from 1970 until his retirement in 2009, and for providing the voice of "Shaggy" Rogers in the Scooby-Doo franchise from 1969 to 1997, and again from 2002 until 2009...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Show Host
Date of Birth27 April 1932
CityDetroit, MI
CountryUnited States of America
I probably would be continuing to do voice-overs, continuing to do cartoon shows, and at the same time I'd probably be on a sitcom or a dramatic television show.
We tell stories. We talk about statistics. And in 1978, we added an element of the show that gave it its heartbeat: the long distance dedication.
For years everyone looked toward the demise of radio when television came along. Before that, they thought talking movies might eliminate radio as well. But radio just keeps getting stronger.
I like the storytelling and reading the letters, the long-distance dedications.
Growing up, I actually wanted to be a professional Baseball player, instead of a radio DJ. Believe it or not.
Some of the things that I do, I think are very important and much more important than the radio show or the television show that I do or anything else that I do. I think right at the top of the list is the basic thing. And of course the basic thing is to hopefully stop people from killing anything. And to create a non-violent diet for themselves, because a non-violent world has roots in a non-violent diet.
If the beat gets to the audience, and the message touches them, you've got a hit.
As you know, in the past several years, month after month, radio has increased its revenues - some of it even coming from Dot-Com advertisers. So, radio is a survivor.
The group Bananarama has such a light, cutesy-pie sound that they make The Go-Go's sound like Led Zeppelin by comparison.
The first syndicating I tried was when two partners and I created a production company in 1952. We wanted to syndicate famous Bible stories and sell them for $25 a show.
I was drafted and went to Korea where I had an opportunity to create a production team that did dramatic and comedy shows. I had also done a little disc jockeying.
I started radio in 1950 on the Lone Ranger radio program, a dramatic show that emanated from Detroit when I was 18 years old and just beginning college. I did that for a couple of years.
It's been amazing, the number of commercials that I've done, starting back in 1968. It must be 8,000.
My first commercial was for Miller High Life beer.