OT/National Radio Countdowns
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10015
Printed Date: 03 May 2025 at 8:29am
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Topic: OT/National Radio Countdowns
Posted By: EdisonLite
Subject: OT/National Radio Countdowns
Date Posted: 12 November 2023 at 5:06pm
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I’m trying to determine (compile) info for most of the national radio countdowns that aired (specifically what years each ran, and which chart was used for the countdown).
I used the Charis Music site and Wikipedia as a basis (and some googling). Can anyone help fill in the blanks (and correct any wrong info)? I believe all are Casey Kasem-hosted except where noted. MAIN YEARS 1970-1995: AT40 - 7/70-8/88 - Billboard Hot 100 AT40 (Shadoe Stevens years) - 8/88-1/95 - Billboard Hot 100 thru 11/23/91; BB Top 40 Radio Monitor (Hot 100 Airplay): 11/30/91-12/19/92; then BB Top 40/Mainstream chart until end CASEY AFTER "AT40”: Casey’s Top 40 - 1/21/89-3/98 - R&R CHR (then "CHR/pop" from ’94 on, when their CHR split into CHR/pop & CHR/Rhythmic) Casey’s Countdown (1st top 25, later top 20) (3 hours) - 5/92-3/98 - R&R AC Casey’s Hot 20 (3 hours)- 11/94-3/98 - R&R Hot AC (These all ended in 3/98 when Casey brought AT40 back) REBIRTH OF AT40 (Casey) after Shadoe: AT40 (CHR) - 3/28/98-1/3/04 - R&R Top 40/Mainstream thru '09 (except 10/00-8/01 - media base); then mediabase Mainstream top 40 starting 2009 AT40 (Hot AC) - 2004 (or 1998?) until when - R&R Hot AC chart, then official Mediabase Hot AC chart AT20 (AC) - 3/98-3/20/04 - R&R AC except 2000-01 & early 2003 on: Mediabase chart; then show reduced to: AT10 (AC) - 3/04-7/4/09 - Mediabase chart; 2005-8/19/06: R&R AC, then Mediabase or unpublished chart AT20 (Hot AC) - 3/98-7/4//09 - R&R Hot AC except 2000-01 Mediabase chart RYAN SEACREST: AT40 (CHR) - 1/10/04-present / house Mediabase chart AT40 (Hot AC) - 12/8/04-present / house Mediabase chart DICK CLARK: National Music Survey - ’81-'85 - Cashbox until 3/12/82; then R&R AC National Music Survey (hosted by Bill St. James & Charlie Tuna after Clark) - 85 until when? - R&R AC Countdown America (also included other hosts) - '83? - 86? (at least) - R&R CHR Possibly: Countdown America (AC version) - years? - R&R? RICK DEES: Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 (CHR version) - 9/83-now - Cashbox thru 1/12/85; then R&R -which chart?, then their own chart Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Hot AC - years? - R&R Hot AC? Rick Dees Weekly Top 30 (AC version) - years? - R&R AC? OTHER NON-CASEY: Weekly Top 30 (Mark Elliott) - 6/30/79-12/81 - averages sales surveys of the nation’s leading music magazines (Continuing where the above chart left off): Weekly Music Magazine (Charlie Van Dyke) - 1/9/82-12/25/02 - their own chart Rockin’ America: Top 30 Countdown (Scott Shannon) - 84-92 - their own chart until 8/87, then R&R CHR to 1990; then self-published chart after name change to Scott Shannon All Request Top 30 Countdown Top 40 Satellite Survey (Dan Ingram) - mid-80s (at least 6/84-5/86) - chart? Hitlist Live with Elvis Duran & Elliot Segal (or Patty Steele?) - mid ‘90s - chart? I know there’s quite a few question marks here. But hope you guys can fill these in. Thanks. |
Replies:
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 13 November 2023 at 6:00am
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Dan Ingram did one in the mid-ish 80s, if I'm not mistaken it was called the Dan Ingram Satellite Survey. Only heard it once while I was on a road
trip. One of the songs skipped so I doubt it was actually delivered by satellite. In the mid-late 90s our station ran one hosted by Elvis Duran and somebody else. There was some sort of falling out, either between the 2 hosts or between them and the syndicator and the show was abruptly discontinued. Too bad, it was a good show. There was a show called the National Album Countdown I recall hearing in the mid-ish 70s where they counted down the top 20? 30? LPs, playing one track from each. Despite the focus on albums, it didn't seem to be targeted towards AOR since albums of other genres were included. No idea who hosted it. |
Posted By: thecdguy
Date Posted: 13 November 2023 at 6:28am
The first AT40 began in July 1970. If I recall what I read somewhere, it debuted on the July 4th weekend that year.
I was listening to the radio one day in 1986 and there was some countdown going on with a host whose voice I had never heard before and I remember hearing him say something about John Cougar Mellencamp's "R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A." falling from 1 to 13. I wonder if this was what I heard. I don't know what source he used for the countdown, but it obviously wasn't Billboard, Cashbox or Radio & Records since the Mellencamp song didn't go to #1 on any of those charts. And I don't think it was a local countdown either, as I most likely would have recognized the voice with the amount of time I spent listening to the radio back then. A year before, I heard another countdown where Daryl Hall & John Oates' "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" fell from 10 to 20 and after mentioning the 10-notch drop, the host said something to the effect of "Some Things ARE Better Left Unsaid". The Ingram countdown may have been what I heard in both cases. I do remember that a few weeks after the Mellencamp song was #1, I never heard the program or his voice again. ------------- Dan In Philly |
AT40 - 1/70-8/88 - Billboard Hot 100Posted By: 995wlol
Date Posted: 13 November 2023 at 10:54am
I think you may be referring to Hitlist Live with Elvis Duran and Patty Steele? KDWB used to broadcast it here in Mpls during the mid 90s (it either started out as Adam Curry's Top 30 Hitlist, or changed over to it after Hitlist Live...I don't remember). |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 13 November 2023 at 11:36am
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Scott Shannon hosted Scott Shannon's Rockin' America: The Top 30 Countdown from 1984 to 1992.
The show used their own charts from 1984 to the weekend of August 28–30, 1987. The show used the R&R CHR Top 30 chart from the weekend of September 4–6, 1987 to 1990. The show was renamed Scott Shannon's All Request Top 30 Countdown in 1990, and reverted to a self-published chart. (All info and dates from Wikipedia.) ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 13 November 2023 at 1:41pm
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AT40 (Shadoe Stevens era):
Billboard Hot 100: 8/13/88 - 11/23/91 Billboard Top 40 Radio Monitor (Hot 100 Airplay): 11/30/91 - 12/19/92 Billboard Top 40/Mainstream Chart: 1/9/93 - 1/28/95 (final "Shadoe" show) |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 13 November 2023 at 1:48pm
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The Weekly Top 30 with Mark Elliott premiered on 6/30/79. The countdown was based on calculations from the "countdown
computer" which "averages sales surveys of the nation's leading music magazines." I don't recall if they ever actually stated what those magazines were (I highly doubt it). I remember enjoying the show when I remembered to catch it back in the day. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 14 November 2023 at 12:21am
Oh of course. My brain must have been in another universe when I wrote that! |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 14 November 2023 at 12:26am
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Paul Haney, thanks for your answers. Do you know if Weekly Music Magazine
(which continued on the week after Weeklty Top 30 ended) also continued with the same basis? |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 14 November 2023 at 4:58am
Sorry Gordon, I don't recall ever hearing Weekly Music Magazine. FWIW, I used to run the Countdown America show hosted by Dick Clark during my weekend DJ show on KANO-AM in Anoka, Minnesota. I think most of those records ended up in the dumpster. Wish I would've had the foresight to take them home with me. They were fun shows to listen to. |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 14 November 2023 at 5:05am
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I think the annual Opus countdown shows are also worth mentioning. IIRC, these only aired once a year and
counted down the Top 100 songs. Not sure what source(s) they used or exactly how many years they ran. I vividly remember listening to them in the late 70s and very early 80s for sure. |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 14 November 2023 at 5:25am
It was 2 guys, I think the other one might have been named Elliot. Somewhere I saved one of the countdown shows, but a quick search didn't turn it up. |
Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 14 November 2023 at 7:14am
I asked a collector about this thread. He is having trouble getting signed up to post here himself, so I'm relaying what he told me:
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Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 14 November 2023 at 12:57pm
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I updated my original post above based on answers I've gotten on here so far
and on AT40 Fun & Games. There's a LOT of new info there for those who are interested. But there are still many unanswered questions, so I hope some people can answer some of those. Part of my asking these questions is that I'm hoping to get recordings for some of these countdowns (and I already have some). But before I do, I want to know what years the countdowns ran - and what chart was the basis for the countdown - before making any decisions. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 14 November 2023 at 3:46pm
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I thought I'd sum up the remaining questions here, since this is much shorter:
REBIRTH OF AT40 (Casey) after Shadoe: AT40 (Hot AC) - 2004 (or 1998?) until when - R&R Hot AC chart, then official Mediabase Hot AC chart DICK CLARK: National Music Survey (hosted by Bill St. James & Charlie Tuna after Clark) - 85 until ? - R&R AC Countdown America (also included other hosts) - '83? - 86? (at least) - R&R CHR Possibly: Countdown America (AC version) - years? - R&R? RICK DEES Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 (CHR version) - 9/83-now - Cashbox thru 1/12/85; then R&R -which chart?, then their own chart Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Hot AC - years? - R&R Hot AC? Rick Dees Weekly Top 30 (AC version) - years? - R&R AC? |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 15 November 2023 at 5:00am
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Gordon, I know for certain that the Dick Clark's Countdown America used the Radio & Records CHR chart at
least during the times I played it on the air in 1986. IIRC, Clark did both a CHR and AC version of the countdown (at least for awhile) and I believe that he used the R&R charts for both, but I can't be 100% sure without hearing some examples of those show(s). |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 15 November 2023 at 5:05pm
| Thanks Paul. I've updated the lists above. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 15 November 2023 at 5:08pm
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BTW, does anyone know how I can format my posts above to go all the way to
the right and not stop at about 5"? I know this was discussed elsewhere last year, and I think we figured out the reason why. I don't recall if there's any way the original poster can correct for this. I think the listings above would be easier to read if I could fix that. |
Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 15 November 2023 at 7:43pm
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@EdisonLite, when editing a post, stretch the message box so there are no line breaks where you don't want them.
Depending on how long your paragraphs are, you may need to greatly reduce the size of the text in your browser temporarily. |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 15 November 2023 at 11:39pm
I don't recall the show but this must be Elliot Segal -- he and Elvis hosted the Z100 Morning Zoo together in the '90s, before Elliot went to Washington - he's been doing mornings on DC101 for decades.
Ha! Yes - it was the Top 40 Satellite Survey but at least some stations received it on vinyl. I have shows ranging from June 1984 to May 1986, so it ran at least that long. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 16 November 2023 at 12:34am
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Thanks for all the info, guys. Does anyone know if there were national
countdowns for the AC charts in the late '70s? From my lists above, the earliest I can find seems to be 1981: DICK CLARK: National Music Survey - ’81-'85 - Cashbox until 3/12/82; then R&R AC But since these are unknown I suppose it could be either of these: Dick Clark Countdown America (AC version) - years? - R&R? Weekly Top 30 (Mark Elliott) - 6/30/79-12/81 - averages sales surveys of the nation’s leading music magazines -but was this AC-leaning or pop-leaning?? |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 16 November 2023 at 12:47am
Thanks Mike. I followed your suggestion. When I stretched the box though, it didn't alter the line breaks at all. But, line by line, I was manually able to "fix" each line so it would be one line across. And it's much easier to read now. Is each line supposed to be hand-dragged, or should it happen automatically? |
Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 16 November 2023 at 2:11am
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@EdisonLite - The line breaks are inserted at the edges of the editing box every time you edit, so yes, when editing an existing post, you have to stretch that box and makes sure the only breaks are right where you want them...as you noticed. Nothing will get fixed automatically.
It's a weird system. Every other forum I've ever seen which uses this software does not have this issue. |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 16 November 2023 at 2:26am
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Gordon, as far as I can tell from listening to the shows, the Weekly Top 30 "computerized" chart was CHR (Top 40) based
only. I'm not aware of any A/C shows from the late 1970s/early 1980s. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 16 November 2023 at 1:25pm
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Thanks Mike & Paul,
That's too bad there were no national radio countdowns for AC earlier. I especially loved the AC charts from '78-'81. |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 16 November 2023 at 6:32pm
I found a clip from https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/70s/1979/CB-1979-05-26-OCR-Page-0015.pdf - Billboard in 1979 that Weekly Top 30 was targeted for AC affiliates - but by 1980, could you really tell the difference? There's one sample 1980 disc on https://www.discogs.com/release/16021299-Various-The-Weekly-Top-30-Week-of-Jan-26-1980 - Discogs which seems AC-heavy (Engelbert Humperdinck as a chart extra) but has a couple harder tracks (e.g., "Jane") so maybe they were appealing to the more rock-influenced CHRs. By the mid-80s, CBS was syndicating Top 30 USA with MG Kelly which was decidedly AC-focused from what I've heard. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 17 November 2023 at 12:36am
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Eric, thanks for the 2 links. Both are interesting. That Top 30 USA countdown
with MG Kelly sounds REALLY familiar. And as it was AC-oriented, I probably listened to it if/when it was available in my area. |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 17 November 2023 at 4:38am
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I do remember hearing that Top 30 USA countdown around 1984 or so. It was definitely an A/C show.
BTW, here's a link to the very first Weekly Top 40 with Mark Elliott episode from 1979: https://www.mixcloud.com/jukeboxhero26/weekly-top-30-wmark-elliott-premiere-episode-june-30-1979/ - Weekly Top 30 Most certainly CHR. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 18 November 2023 at 12:19am
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Thanks Paul. I'm listening to the premier episode of Weekly Top 30 from 1979
right now. It's really cool! |