Long before Casey Kasem forged his legendary career in cartoons, he had been well established in radio. During a stint in San Francisco, Casey recorded a spoken word single, "A Letter From Elaina", in 1964. "Letter" didn't quite make it onto the Top 40, but it would ultimately be the forerunner to the "Long Distance Dedication" segment on American Top 40, the long-running radio series Kasem launched in 1970, and continues to this day with American Idol host Ryan Seacrest as the current host. "Letter" was also Casey's only studio recording of note. Nearly 40 years later, some of his work as Shaggy on Scooby-Doo was included on the "Scooby's Snack Tracks" compilation CD. Since the story on the record involves the Beatles, I'm willing to bet a lot of Beatles mermorabilia collectors either have copies of this single, or are looking for them. A photo slide show of Kasem accompanies the track:
2 comments:
That recording was so sweet!!
I can empathize with "Elaina" as I had the opportunity to hug one of my favorite idols too!
No I won't tell!
It's funny how Kasem is so much a part of at least 3 generations of adults; whether it was as a cartoon voice actor in the 60s-80s, a radio DJ/host and countless public appearances like the MDA telethon.
Talk about longevity!!
Well, he is regarded as a pop culture icon, after all....!
It's a wonder that "Letter" doesn't get played on oldies channels more often, though.
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