History
The Weekly Top 40 debuted in September 1983, after Rick's station, KIIS-FM, lost American Top 40 to a rival station, KIQQ (now KSWD) over the playing of network commercials. (Ironically, KIIS-FM would again carry AT40 in 1988, after Shadoe Stevens took over as host.) Initially syndicated by United Stations, the show was initially heard on ten stations, but would expand to 40 by the end of 1983.
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 talented 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 Radio Aerobics; call-in airhead John Revolting; excessively-salivating agony aunt "Crabby"; and tittering sex therapist Dr. Rude (a spoof of popular radio and TV sex therapist Dr Ruth Westheimer).
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' Superman Theme and 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." From 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 Joan Rivers' 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 would move to Premiere Radio Networks (ironically, 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 up as Casey Kasem's successor at AT40 in favor of current host Ryan Seacrest, which may have played a role in his departure).
The Weekly Top 40 moved its distribution over to Dial Global from 2005 to 2008. It has been streamed on Dees' official website since 2006.
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.
Reruns of the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 from the 1980s began airing on the TKO Radio Network in 2010 after a trial run on WQMA in Mississippi. A few stations under the "Gen X" moniker air old 90's versions of the countdown starting in summer of 2010. Recently the AC version of the countdown was shortened to the Weekly Top 20.
On February 1, 2011, it was announced that the Weekly Top 40 franchise went switched syndication to the Westwood One radio network, returning to Dial Global after the latter merged in October 2011. The new syndication deal will include additional programming in the franchise, including "The Daily Dees", "Rick Dees 80s and 8", "Rick Dees 90s at 90", repeats of past editions of "Weekly Top 40", and the "Teen Top 20 with Kevin Dees".
Read more about this topic: Rick Dees Weekly Top 40
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