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During the 1970’s and 80’s , one of my favorite radio programs to listen to was American Top 40 with Casey Kasem .
Casey would count down and play the Top 40 pop tunes in America for the week from number 40 all the way to number 1. Along the way , to stretch out the program he would have added features to the show.
One of those features was the Long Distance Dedication. Casey would read a letter on the air , usually from a lovesick young lady that wanted to dedicate a song to someone across the nation in a different state.
I had a similar experience one afternoon while working at WSJC in Magee. It was the Summer of 1980 and I was actually filling in that day for Sandy Lee .
The phone rang and a young girl told me she was listening to our station in Ft. Walton Beach, Fl while on vacation. The young lady said her name was Kathy and she was from Magee. She ask if she could dedicate a song to her boyfriend back in Mt. Olive. The song she wanted was “Lost In Love ” by Air Supply.
I told her sure , just give me a few minutes and thanks for the call. As I searched for the album I began to think about how I wanted to present this on the air.
I had heard Casey Kasem do this a thousand times and thought it would be fun to do it in Casey style and grace.
So I cued up the record to play next , cleared my throat and opened the microphone.
In my best Casey Kasem impression this is what I said ” Good afternoon, I’m Don Walker and this is Power 81 WSJC. Our next song is a long distance dedication from Kathy on vacation in Ft Walton Beach, Florida to her boyfriend Jeff in Mt. Olive, Mississippi. It’s Air Supply “Lost In Love” … Kathy , here’s your long distance dedication ” .
I could hear the office staff up front of the station just laughing out loud.
I remember Randy Blakeney coming into the control room and saying ” kid that was a pretty good impression , good thing Casey Kasem is in California and won’t sue us “. For a second he was all serious and then he started laughing too .
I never met Casey Kasem , he passed away on June 15, 2014 at the age of 82. But I’ll never forget the brief moment I had when I was ” Casey Kasem ” .
Don Walker
Ddwalker88@comcast.net
Enjoyed the story!!