Pre Show Fun:Casey Kasem, Carmen Miranda, and Lucille Ball!!!

Casey Kasem passed away recently and there have been many excellent tributes to the man and the legend. I had a roommate who used to listen to American Top 40 every week and that’s how I was introduced to Casey. My influences as a DJ started earlier than that with DJs from WKNR, CKLW, and WABX, but you cannot minimize the influence that Casey had on the music, radio, and basically all media. Any one who does any kind of countdown owed a royalty to him. It was said that “he was the one who taught the world to count–backwards.” So as he officially joins my Hall of Fame, just notice how he could make something sound exciting even on something as silly as this David Letterman Top 10 Countdown:

Carmen Miranda was another original who was often imitated from Bugs Bunny cartoons to movies to TV Shows. She brought her sultry culture from Brazil to the US and the world. Here’s “The Brazilian Bombshell,” “the lady with the fruit on her head,” in a clip from the movie, “Down Argentine Way” doing her signature song, “Mama Eu Quero” (I Want My Mama):

When I was a kid, I never quite understood what Lucille Ball was doing on the show, but I knew it was funny! Here’s Lucy doing her comedy tribute to Carmen Miranda!: