Who did top 40 after Casey Kasem?

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Fifty years ago today, the first episode of the syndicated radio institution American Top 40 aired. The first station to air it was KDEO, in El Cajon, CA, who presented it on the evening of July 3rd, 1970. It broadcast through six other stations on July 4th and its reach would grow exponentially throughout the years, airing on 1,000 different stations at its peak. Casey Kasem, its iconic longtime host, would count down the most popular songs on the Billboard charts every week.

Here we go with the top 40 hits of the nation this week on American Top 40 the best-selling and most-played songs from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Canada to Mexico is how he introduced his first show. This is Casey Kasem in Hollywood, and in the next three hours, well count down the 40 most popular hits in the United States this week, hot off the record charts of Billboard magazine

The first song ever played on the show was Marvin Gayes End Of Our Road, in the #40 slot. The shows first #1 song was Three Dog Nights Mama Told Me [Not To Come], which we reviewed in our The Number Ones column [naturally]. Other artists that would get airtime that first week included the Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Jackson Five, the Temptations, and the Carpenters. Crosby Stills Nash And Youngs Ohio, which had come out a couple months earlier, came in at #30.

Kasem hosted the show continuously until 1988; it was taken over by Shadoe Stevens until 1995. It then went off the air for a short period, but was revived in 1998 with Kasem as host. [Kasem spent the interim hosting his own Caseys Top 40.] Ryan Seacrest took the show over in 2004, and it still airs every week.

Check out the first-ever American Top 40 countdown below.

40 Marvin Gaye End Of Our Road
39 Mark Lindsey Silver Bird
38 Eric Burden Spill The Wine
37 Crabby Appleton Go Back
36 B.J. Thomas I Just Cant Help Believing
35 Aretha Franklin Spirit In The Dark
34 John Phillips Mississippi
33 Flaming Ember Westbound #9
32 Four Tops Its All In The Game
31 Fifth Dimension Save The Country
30 Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young Ohio
29 Ray Stevens Everything Is Beautiful
28 The Impressions Check Out Your Mind
27 Moody Blues Question
26 Stevie Wonder Signed, Sealed, Delivered
25 Wilson Pickett Sugar, Sugar
24 Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young Teach Your Children
23 The Poppy Family Which Way You Goin Billy
[Oldie: Bill Cosby Little Ole Man]
22 The Moments Love On A Two Way Street
21 Mountain Mississippi Queen
20 Bread Make It With You
19 Pacific Gas & Electric Are You Ready
18 Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band Love Land
17 Alive And Kicking Tighter & Tighter
16 White Plains My Baby Loves Lovin'
15 Miguel Rios A Song Of Joy
[Oldie: Louis Armstrong Hello Dolly]
14 Brotherhood Of Man United We Stand
13 Rare Earth Get Ready
12 The Five Stairsteps O-o-oh Child
11 The Pipkins Gimme Dat Ding
10 Vanity Fair Hitchin A Ride
[Oldie: Blood, Sweat & Tears Spinning Wheel]
09 Elvis Presley The Wonder Of You
08 The Beatles The Long And Winding Road
07 The Carpenters Close To You
06 Melanie Lay Down [Candles In The Wind]
05 Freda Payne Band Of Gold
04 Blues Image Ride Captain Ride
03 The Temptations Ball Of Confusion
02 The Jackson Five The Love You Save
[Oldie: The Rolling Stones Satisfaction
01 Three Dog Night Mama Told Me [Not To Come]

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