Keep Reaching for the Stars

RIP, Casey Kasem. I spent many an hour listening to his Top 40 countdown in the ’80s. I remember cuing up the mix tape on my ghettoblaster before the countdown began and waiting to press the “record” button. Wondering to myself, ” Will ‘Lost in Your Eyes’ hold the #5 spot?” “What spot will ‘Shiny Happy People’ make it to this week?”

And I think I pretty much lived for the “Long-Distance Dedication” portion of the show. Lived. for.

I felt the need to listen to a mix tape in honor of Casey today. I still have a Walkman tape player, yes I do. Unfortunately my earphones are at work. I don’t have any tapes from my teen years, but I still have a few from the college years.

Thank you, Casey, for instilling a love of music in the heart of a teenager in Rochester, New York, all those years ago.