The top 10 things you might not know about the famous radio broadcaster
10: Beginning in 1969, Kasem voiced the character Shaggy for the animated series ScoobyDoo: Where Are You! He continued to voice the long- haired hippie in TV, fi lm and video games until 2009. 9: Kasem’s work on radio commercials was highly lucrative — and not nearly as easy as it might have seemed for someone so smooth on the air. “The greatest compliment that anyone can pay me is that after I say something, they remember it,” he once said. 8: In addition to his radio show and voice work, Kasem was the co- host of a teen dance show on Los Angeles television during the 1960s called Shebang. He also had a minor hit single during that time, Letter From Elaina, and appeared in a few low- budget movies and some network TV series, including Hawaii Five- O and Ironside. 7: While Kasem seldom appeared onscreen, his second wife, Jean Kasem, was a semiregular in the sitcom Cheers as Loretta Tortelli. 6: Kasem gained attention in the 1990s when he blew up because of a staff error on his American Top 40 show and his taped remarks, swearing and all, made their way into cyberspace. 5: Kasem was a vegetarian and an activist against factory farming. 4: An Arab- American activist, Kasem called for a fairer balance between heroes and villains in the 1994 Disney Aladdin sequel, The Return of Jafar. But he added, “We’re not out there just to be so picky that we become a pain in the neck.” 3: As host of American Top 40, Kasem introduced a romantic segment called Long Distance Dedications. Listeners would send in their dedications, and Kasem would pick a few heartfelt messages to read each week on the air, playing the love song that went with it. 2: When American Top 40 premiered on July 4, 1970, the top fi ve songs were: Three Dog Night’s Mama Told Me ( Not to Come), The Jackson Five’s The Love You Save, The Temptations’ Ball of Confusion ( That’s What the World is Today), Ride Captain Ride by Blues Image and Freda Payne’s Band of Gold. 1: “Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.” — The radio sign- off Kasem used throughout his fi ve- decade career.