Happy 80th Birthday, Casey Kasem!

Happy Birthday, Casey Kasem!! In one of my music therapy groups today, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Casey Kasem and reminisced about his show, American Top 40. We played tambourines to the very first song to be played on "American Top 40" (July 4, 1970) -- Marvin Gaye's "End of The Road." The number one song on that first broadcast was "Mama Told Me Not to Come" by the inimitable 3 Dog Night, which we sang and played drums to. In the top 10 on that day were Elvis' "Wonder of You" and the Beatles "Long and Winding Road." Stretching our limbs seemed a natural fit for the Elvis song, and we joined in singing "I'll never know the reason why you love me as you do. That's the wonder, the wonder of you!" The Beatles tune worked nicely with a pentatonic tone chime improvisation. My clients were surprised to learn the #1 song from the 1970s was "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone. The group sang the song beautifully, accompanied by guitar. "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John was American Top 40s' #1 song of the 1980s, which of course we exercised to! It just seemed so right . . . What a fun walk down memory lane with Casey, AT40 and all those great artists. Long distance dedication to Casey!!