Quotes from Casey Kasem

For years everyone looked toward the demise of radio when television came along. Before that, they thought talking movies might eliminate radio as well. But radio just keeps getting stronger.

I started radio in 1950 on the Lone Ranger radio program, a dramatic show that emanated from Detroit when I was 18 years old and just beginning college. I did that for a couple of years.

Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

For the most part, that message hasn't changed a lot over the years - love is still love, and heartbreak is still heartbreak.

If the beat gets to the audience, and the message touches them, you've got a hit.

That something extra, I believe, is a certain humanity that comes from upbeat and positive human interest letters and success stories. Advertisers like to be associated with those qualities.

We gave the show away and in return, we received a certain number of minutes per hour for the three-hour show that we could sell to Madison Avenue. One of the first sponsors was MGM Records.

I love to keep busy. But I never forget it's the countdown that made it all possible.

Garbage. It's a natural quality of huskiness in the midrange of my voice that I call 'garbage.' It's not a clear-toned announcer's voice. It's more like the voice of the guy next door.

It's been amazing, the number of commercials that I've done, starting back in 1968. It must be 8,000.

Every station I was at, I never said goodbye - when I was in Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Oakland, and L.A. I don't know why.

We tell stories. We talk about statistics. And in 1978, we added an element of the show that gave it its heartbeat: the long distance dedication.

The greatest compliment that anyone can pay me is that after I say something, they remember it. I'll go over a piece of copy until I've gotten the essence of what the writer had in mind - every nuance.

Success doesn't happen in a vacuum. You're only as good as the people you work with and the people you work for.

I like the storytelling and reading the letters, the long-distance dedications. Anytime in radio that you can reach somebody on an emotional level, you're really connecting.

I like the storytelling and reading the letters, the long-distance dedications.

Before that, they thought talking movies might eliminate radio as well. But radio just keeps getting stronger.

Songs used to be short, then they became longer, and now they're getting shorter. But otherwise, music is about a beat and a message. If the beat gets to the audience, and the message touches them, you've got a hit.

My agent said that I was one of the top three busiest people in the country.

Hosting various versions of my countdown program has kept me extremely busy, and I loved every minute of it.

Anytime in radio that you can reach somebody on an emotional level, you're really connecting.