The
original American Top 40 'Uncle Sam' logo, by artist,
Paul Gruwell, circa 1970.
WPGC
was one of the original 7 stations that carried American
Top 40 when it debuted on the July 4th weekend of 1970.
In 1982, Watermark, the production company responsible
for 'AT40' was acquired by ABC Radio who proceeded
to take the show away from long time affiliates in markets where
ABC owned stations. In Washington, the show as taken from WPGC
after 13 consecutive years (which was running it twice each
weekend by then) and given to Q107
for this reason in 1983.
Casey
Kasem has recently retired from hosting the CHR version of the
show but is still countin' 'em down on the Adult Contemporary
version from coast to coast. Now, on with the countdown!
Fans
of the original show should check out Walt Bailey's (a frequent
contributor to this site) tribute site to 'AT 40' at
OldRadioShows.com
that has complete chart lists for all the programs in its various
incarnations over the years. The original shows, now restored
digitally are also available from CharisMusicGroup.com
where many of the chart lists can also be found.
Two
excellent books on the history of the show are Rob Durkee's,
'American Top 40, The Countdown Of The Century' and 'American
Top 40 With Casey Kasem (The 1970's)' by Pete Battistini.
Read
more on the history of the show and its evolution. See which
stations are airing
re-broadcasts of the original shows nationally.
'Every
week, American Top 40 is heard coast to coast and around the
world on great radio stations like....'
Issued
on 10/03/64 while Casey was working on the air at
KEWB in Oakland, CA, the song did not chart nationally.
Small
Print Dept.:This non-profit historical site is
not affiliated in any way with WPGC Radio today or Infinity Broadcasting.
Use of copyrighted material is consistent with the "fair use"
provisions contained in §107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 due
to the following characteristics: Use of copyrighted material is
of a nonprofit, educational nature, intended for the sole purposes
of research and comment and does not significantly negatively affect
"the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work(s)."
Use of registered trademark material is not subject to civil action
or injunction as outlined in §1114 and §1125 of the Trademark
Act of 1946 (the Lanham Act) due to the following characteristics
of this work, and the registered marks published herein: Use of
reproductions of registered marks is not for the purpose of commerce,
nor is the use connected with the sale, offering for sale, or advertising
of any goods or services. Use of reproductions is not likely to
cause confusion, mistake, or deception as to the affiliation, connection,
or association of this work with owners of published registered
marks, nor as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of this work
by owners of published registered marks. Wherever possible, the
copyright or registered mark owner's name has been noted near the
copyrighted work or registered mark; however, all material used
in this site, including, but not limited to, newspaper articles,
syndicated themes, promos, commercials, photographs, playlists,
press releases, ratings, airchecks, newscasts, traffic reports,
sports reports, 'sound-offs', sweepers, bumperstickers and station
logos, should be considered protected copyrighted material or registered
mark with all rights reserved to the owner, named or unnamed. So
there!