Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 (sometimes known as The Weekly Top 40) is an internationally syndicated radio program created and hosted by American radio personality Rick Dees. It is currently heard on over 200 radio stations worldwide. It is distributed domestically by Compass Media Networks and internationally by Radio Express. It is also heard on Dees's official website for listeners in the United States only.
The Weekly Top 40 countdown is available in two versions: Hit Radio (for Top 40 stations), and Hot Adult (for Hot AC stations). A version for AC stations called Weekly Top 30 debuted in July 2009; it has since been cut to 20 songs.
History
The Weekly Top 40 debuted in September 1983, after Rick's then-station, KIIS-FM, lost American Top 40 to a rival station, KIQQ (now KKLQ) over the playing of network commercials.[1] (KIIS-FM re-obtained the rights to carry AT40 in 1988, after Shadoe Stevens took over as host.)[2] Initially syndicated by United Stations, the show was initially heard on 10 stations, but expanded to 40 by the end of 1983. By the end of 1984, the show expanded to 275 stations in the United States, and 320 stations by the following year.
Part of the Weekly Top 40's appeal in the '80s - and how it differentiated itself from the more sober AT40 - was Rick's colorful, signature use of goofy sound effects and comedy voices, often at the end of each segment before commercial breaks. The voice impressions were by Rick and his wife Julie (a voice actor) as well as other mimics, and included characters imported from Rick's popular morning show on KIIS-FM.
Characters heard on the Weekly Top 40 through the '80s and beyond included "talent booking agent" Bernie Shelley of "Possessive Artists" and his ditzy receptionist; countdown "technician" and wino Willard Wiseman; snide gossip columnist Groanin' Barrett; snappy workout guru Jane Fondle with her Radio Aerobics; call-in airhead John Revolting; salivating agony aunt "Crabby"; tittering sex therapist Dr. Rude (a spoof of popular radio and TV sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Dr. Ruth)); and "Joan's Clone", a take-off of comedian Joan Rivers.
Other comedy routines were "Outrageous!" Facts (inspired by Lionel Richie's reaction to Prince at the 1985 American Music Awards), and "News of the Offbeat", a punchline gag introduced by Rick quoting from bizarre supermarket tabloid stories. Dees Sleaze, a jokey recycling of an item of Hollywood gossip, was often accompanied by the lisping voice of Rick's "boss" at the radio station.
In the '80s, the countdown would open with John Williams's theme to the 1978 film Superman, with Dees reciting an alternative version of the classic Adventures of Superman opening narration: "...and who, disguised as Rick Dees, mild-mannered disc jockey, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the pursuit of loose women." By 1988 the show's IDs included voice impressions of former hit songs (early examples were Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors", Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel", George Michael's "Faith", and 'Need You Tonight" by INXS). Other commonly heard sound effects were Little Richard's throaty belly laugh, Michael Jackson's falsetto squeal, James Brown's lines "Believe me that's bad" and "I feel good", and the Joan's Clone exclamations "Yuck!" and "She's a tramp!!".
A contest (the Weekly Top 40 Challenge) and a pre-recorded interview ("special in-studio guest") were other enduring features that helped give Rick's show a younger more contemporary sound when compared to American Top 40. By 1985, the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 could be heard on radio stations around the world as far away as New Zealand.
After ABC Radio Networks pulled AT40 from American stations in July 1994, it picked up the Weekly Top 40 for national syndication. In January 2000, Weekly Top 40 moved to Premiere Radio Networks (the same company that owned AT40) until 2005, when Dees left KIIS-FM and its owner Clear Channel Communications, which owned Premiere (Dees had apparently been passed over as Casey Kasem's successor at AT40 in favor of current host Ryan Seacrest, which may have played a role in his departure).[citation needed]
The Weekly Top 40 moved its distribution over to Dial Global from 2005 to 2008. It has been streamed on Dees's official website since 2006. From 2017, streaming was limited to listeners in the United States with a smartphone app installed; previously it had been available internationally, and was able to be streamed directly from the rick.com website.
In January 2009, Dees and the Weekly Top 40 returned to ABC Radio, which has since been acquired by Citadel Broadcasting, with ABC Radio's programming division renamed as Citadel Media.[3]
On February 1, 2011, it was announced that the Weekly Top 40 franchise switched syndication to the Westwood One radio network (former syndicator for Casey's Top 40), returning to Dial Global after the latter merged in October 2011. The new syndication deal included additional programming in the franchise, including "The Daily Dees", "Rick Dees 80s and 8", "Rick Dees 90s at 9", repeats of past editions of "Weekly Top 40", and the "Teen Top 20 with Kevin Dees".[4]
On October 25, 2012, it was announced that Dees Entertainment properties switched syndication again to the Compass Media Networks radio network.[5]
In early 2017, for unknown reasons, both the Weekly Top 40 Hot AC and CHR charts were removed from the rick.com website.
In December 2023, Rick Dees' Weekly Top 40 was once again broadcast in Ireland, on Classic Hits 80s, a temporary radio station licensed by the Irish regulator Coimisiún na Meán to broadcast on FM to the four main cities in Ireland for 30 days. The temporary station was run by multicity broadcaster Ireland's Classic Hits Radio. Rick Dees' Weekly Top 40 was broadcast each day on the new station, evoking fond memories in Ireland of the show's run on the iconic Radio Nova and Energy 103 radio stations that broadcast from Dublin in the 1980s, both owned by radio entrepreneur Chris Cary.
Segments aired on the Weekly Top 40
Sure Shot - a song predicted to crack the Top 40 in the following weeks. Additionally, listeners can vote on one of three songs (via the show's website) to determine that week's Sure Shot. There have been numerous Sure Shots that did not make the chart
Special Guest - Charting artists, actors, etc. would appear weekly as guests in the show
Weekly Top 40 Challenge - during the program, listeners will claim their prize
Behind the Velvet Rope with Kevin Dees - a gossip segment hosted by Rick's son Kevin; previously known as Dees Sleaze, hosted by Rick himself.
What's Happening - a rundown of new movies, DVDs and music
Number Ones Around the World - a look at the Number One song in various nations
Top Downloads - the hottest music, ringtones, TV shows and videos being downloaded from the Internet.
Planet of the Apps - the latest news on mobile smartphone applications.
Occasionally, select songs (mostly in the hip-hop/rap genre at the request of Hot AC-leaning affiliates) would be omitted and "replaced" by those peaking under the top 40 on whatever chart source at the time. Notable “replacements” have included "El Baile Del Gorilla" by Melody, "Shot of Laughter" by Sugar Ray, "Vamos al Mundial" by Jennifer Peña, "Word Up!" by Korn and "Work" by Jimmy Eat World, all of which never charted on Radio & Records CHR/Pop chart (the show’s chart source at the time). Also, Dees would often skip charted songs by just announcing their chart status (mainly older songs) due to time constraints. Additionally, Latin music was sometimes used as Sure Shots or charted songs solely for that week (usually to replace an outgoing hip-hop/rap song).
Running gags
Before introducing a song on a chart, Dees would often play a montage (other songs, soundbites from films/TV shows, etc.) related to the song’s title/artist (done usually before the first song played after a commercial break). Additionally, most of the time, Dees would edit charted songs to include altered lyrics that were usually comedic in nature (by Dees and his staff), these edits are sometimes known as the "Countdown Mix". A running joke also occurs during the Weekly Top 40 Challenge, whenever it has a sponsor for that week, Dees would precede it by saying "because this show has no budget!" (This is similar in context to the Inside the NBA segment E.J.'s Neat-O Stat of the Night, where it is known for its similar lack of continued sponsorship).
Spinoff
In February 1985, Dees created and hosted a syndicated weekday music program for United Stations, American Music Magazine — the daily, hour-long program was similar to his countdown show, except that it played the "most requested songs", as phoned in by listeners to an 800 number hotline. The songs were not typically played in countdown fashion, but the most requested was always played at the end of the show. As with most syndicated radio programs, the shows were distributed to radio stations in collector-type boxes—which has been most helpful in keeping the shows in good condition for collectors—by United Stations Programming Network on five LPs, one for each day of the week. Each week's box of LPs typically contained two promo spots: one for weekdays and one for the weekends.
The show was produced in a "faux-live" style. Dees encouraged callers to "call in" to the show, and often pre-recorded calls and caller montages aired as though listeners were actually calling in at the time of broadcast, even though these shows were recorded and distributed to stations at least a week ahead of the air date.
Often these shows featured celebrity guests (either call-in or in-studio) who were promoting events, movies, TV shows or albums un-related to the show. Guests included Patrick Swayze, Milli Vanilli, Jon Provost of Lassie, Cher's mother, etc.
At the end of 1988, Dees left the program and was replaced by Bruce Vidal, who regularly subbed for Dees on his countdown show. Around this time, stations could play the program an hour a day on weekdays, or, for weekend airplay, as a single five-hour block, or as a two-hour and a three-hour block. It is unknown when "American Music Magazine" left the air, though at least one show from June 5, 1989 has surfaced in online show trading.
Related Research Articles
Rigdon Osmond Dees III, best known as Rick Dees, is an American entertainer, radio personality, comedian, actor, and voice artist, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown and for the 1976 satirical novelty song "Disco Duck".
American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacrest and presented as an adjunct to his weekday radio program, On Air with Ryan Seacrest.
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts. There are several subcategories, dominantly focusing on rock, pop, or urban music. Used alone, CHR most often refers to the CHR-pop format. The term contemporary hit radio was coined in the early 1980s by Radio & Records magazine to designate Top 40 stations which continued to play hits from all musical genres as pop music splintered into Adult contemporary, Urban contemporary, Contemporary Christian and other formats.
Joe Montione, commonly referred to as Banana Joe, was a well-known a radio personality.
American Country Countdown, also known as ACC, is a weekly internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 30 country songs of the previous week, from No. 30 to No. 1, according to the Billboard Country Airplay chart. The program premiered in 1973 and as of January 2006 is hosted by Kix Brooks. It is syndicated by Cumulus Media Networks.
KIIS-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States, and broadcasts to the Greater Los Angeles area. The station airs a Top 40 (CHR) format. Owned by iHeartMedia, KIIS-FM is the origin of the conglomerate's KISS-FM brand, and serves as the flagship station for the radio program On Air with Ryan Seacrest. KIIS-FM's studios are located in Burbank, while the station transmitter resides on Mount Wilson, north of Los Angeles.
Radio & Records (R&R) was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister trade to Billboard, until its final issue in 2009.
Michael Scott Shannon is an American radio disc jockey currently best known as the announcer of The Sean Hannity Show. He also hosted the morning show for WCBS-FM in New York City from 2014 to 2022 as well as Scott Shannon Presents America's Greatest Hits which is syndicated nationally with United Stations Radio Networks and Audacy. He previously worked for WHTZ, WPLJ, and The True Oldies Channel.
Port FM was a local radio station based in Timaru, New Zealand that broadcast throughout South Canterbury and the MacKenzie Country. It also operated as a network with sister-stations in Ashburton and Oamaru known as 'Port FM Local'. Port FM's music genre was contemporary rock and pop, with the bulk of the weekday playlist made up of music from the mid eighties through the early nineties. The main station was used as a network feed for Port FM Local in Ashburton and Oamaru during breakfast, nights and weekends.
WZWZ is a radio station owned by Hoosier AM/FM LLC in Kokomo, Indiana. The station is located on the south side of Kokomo, Indiana on Indiana State Road 26, just east of Indiana State Road 931.
Casey's Top 40 was a syndicated radio music program that was distributed by the Westwood One radio network. The show was a vehicle for former American Top 40 host and co-creator Casey Kasem and ran for over nine years. Like Kasem's prior show, Casey's Top 40 aired on weekends, emanated from Hollywood, California, and was a countdown of the 40 biggest hits of the week on the popular music chart. Unlike American Top 40, this show is not replayed or syndicated, whilst the former is still currently being replayed and syndicated.
KGRC is a CHR format radio station in the Quincy, Illinois, region owned by STARadio Corporation.
American Top 20 was the name given to two weekly spinoffs of the music countdown program American Top 40. They were both hosted by Casey Kasem for Premiere Networks and premiered on the weekend of March 28, 1998, the same weekend Kasem returned to host American Top 40.
WMMX is a commercial radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format. It is licensed to Dayton, Ohio, and is owned by iHeartMedia with the license held by as iHM Licenses, LLC. Weeknights, it carries the nationally syndicated show On with Mario Lopez. Its studios and offices are on South Main Street in Dayton.
On Air with Ryan Seacrest is a weekday syndicated radio program hosted by Ryan Seacrest. It was launched in 2004 as a drive time show at the same time on Los Angeles Top 40 station 102.7 KIIS-FM as the television show with the same name, although Seacrest had hosted a similar show in afternoon drive time on sister station Star 98.7 KYSR from 1995 until 2003. The TV series ran for several months in 2004, but nationwide syndication of the radio program did not start until 2008. While Seacrest hosted his Los Angeles show in the morning, the syndicated show's affiliates aired it in middays or afternoons. The syndicated show took segments from Seacrest's live Los Angeles wake up show and packaged them with music, so listeners in other cities could hear them later in the day or the following day. The live radio show originated its broadcast from the KIIS-FM studios in Burbank, California. KIIS-FM is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.
WQMA (defunct) was a broadcast radio station licensed to Marks, Mississippi. The station was owned by Jason Konarz with an oldies format on 1520 kHz. Its F.C.C. license was cancelled May 31, 2006. WQMA had operated under Special Temporary Authority from the F.C.C., but it was denied August 20, 2010. The station exhausted its appeal options, and its application for license renewal was dismissed by the FCC on May 20, 2015.
Radio Express is an independent radio syndication company based in Pasadena, California, whose main focus is in markets outside the U.S. The company was founded by Tom Rounds, one of the creators of American Top 40. Radio Express was created in 1985 as a way to distribute AT40 to stations outside the United States, three years after ABC Radio Networks acquired AT40's production company, Watermark Inc.
iHeartRadio Countdown is a globally-syndicated, independent song countdown radio program. The countdown is based on the popular iHeartRadio, an Internet radio platform owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The show premiered on January 14, 2014 on selected iHeartMedia-owned stations, and is syndicated by Premiere Networks and ARN in Australia. Internationally, the show airs on Shanghai's KFM 98.1 and the Cayman Islands' X107.1.
American Dance Traxx was an American dance music countdown program that was syndicated by Westwood One and produced at KPWR/Los Angeles, California from March 1987 to December 1993. The three-hour program was distributed to more than 200 Top 40/CHR and Rhythmic stations internationally, including The Armed Forces Network.
Top 40 may refer to:
References
↑ Durkee, Rob. American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century. ISBN0-02-864895-1. New York City: Schirmer Books, 1999. Accessed December 10, 2007.
Listen to Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 online - A partial list of radio stations carrying the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, including XM Satellite Radio's channels, with scheduled broadcast times and streaming links.
1 = Distribution only; produced by another company.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
