Casey Kasem's "Soul Train" No Quiet Ride

Care to comment? Leave your remarks below - what do you think of Casey's suspended burial?

Young DJ Casey at KEWB
San Francisco 02/24/1962

With a heavy heart, I post an update to Casey Kasem’s rise to Rock& Roll Heaven. His family simply will not allow him to take a peaceful journey on the “Soul Train.”

Recent reports raise the question of the whereabouts of his remains. Seriously?! The "Father" of American Top 40 spirited away on Father's Day (06/15/14). Let the poor man Rest In Peace, for cryin' out loud.

We cannot judge his wife without firsthand knowledge. However, she has apparently defied what his children claim are “his wishes” – and who can argue that none of us would want our bodies to linger in limbo.

While my personal belief is that the soul moves on when our Earthly bodies expire, few of us would deny it is simply unethical not to care for our "released" bodies in a humane way.

We can only hope that this ridiculous travesty will soon be remedied and Mr. Kasem can ultimately, truly, Rest In Peace.

“You don't have to hurry | On a soul train ride | You don't have to worry | Let your troubles slide”

(1968, Classics IV)

Rock On, Casey!

Casey Kasem – Peace, Love, and #1 on our American Top 40

This is not the article I had intended to post next. The Universe, however, has its own plans for us as we learned again recently, when it welcomed another American icon into its Rock & Roll Heaven.

Casey Kasem, 82, the "Father of American Top 40" found his peace last Sunday – Father’s Day, a fitting tribute for his ascent – finally escaping the spectacle of family squabbles that dogged his final year(s) on Earth. 

Casey’s “guy next door” voice served him well from his start in Armed Forces Radio Network in 1950s’ Korea, to finish, as co-creator of the perpetual American Top 40 — which has endured for decades and leaves a fitting legacy for the man behind the microphone.

There was a lot of living in between. Let's celebrate Mr. Kasem's accomplishments, dedication, and contributions to Rock & Roll music!

In the mid-1950s that blasphemous, new-fangled boob-tube was taking the world by storm. Radio simply did not know what to do next.

A vital part of the early Pop and Rock music scene, Casey and other DJs of the era helped shape the genre, as a wave of technology enveloped our world.

Television threatened to drown radio in its salty wake. But Rock & Roll rescued radio …