[Description by Pete Battistini]

Here’s a ten-minute demo, along with the unscoped version, of the last hour of Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 program dated January 20, 1973. The demo was recorded from the original 7-inch reel that was sent to me by Watermark’s Tom Rounds when I was a high school student at an educational radio station outside of Chicago in Gary, Indiana. I either called or wrote to him after WCFL dropped Casey a few weeks earlier. According to an accompanying letter from Tom, Watermark charged educational radio stations $28 a week for AT40. I’ve kept the tape and the demo materials, including the cover letter, all these years.A few other items are worth noting. First, with the materials from Watermark was a promotional marketing flyer proclaiming “Soon……Stereo.” From it’s debut in July 1970 until February 1973, AT40 was produced and distributed to stations in mono. But it was just a matter of time before they made the program more attractive to the growing number of FM stations with a Top 40 format.

Also, the third hour of the 1/20/73 program captured what may be the only time where Casey gives a record’s incorrect chart position number, and then immediately corrects himself. When I first heard the demo, I thought it was a special recording different from the actual show. But that’s the way it was on the program. Finally, at that point in the history of AT40, there was no attempt made to sell the program to national sponsors. And because the two offerings here are from the demo and the actual program LPs, there are no commercials.