7.2 /10 1 Votes
First episode date 1980 | 7.3/10 IMDb Cast Casey Kasem | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Scrabble, American Bandstand, The Mike Douglas Show, Battle of the Planets, The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Da | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
America's Top 10 (commonly abbreviated to AT10) was a television program of music hits based on the Billboard Hot 100, with the exception of the last season in 1992 which used the Radio and Records chart. It aired in syndication by Gold Key Media from 1980–1982 and by All American Television from 1982-1992. The show was hosted by Casey Kasem, the host of American Top 40 and Casey's Top 40, until 1991. After that point, the show was hosted by Siedah Garrett and then Tommy Puett; Kasem later returned as host until he closed down the show in 1992 to focus on launching "Casey's Countdown," an adult contemporary music spinoff of Casey's Top 40. From around 1987 onwards, the show was also transmitted by various regions of ITV in the United Kingdom, where it was often broadcast as part of the network's then-new overnight service.
Contents
Charlie Tuna served as announcer, and Syd Vinnedge was producer.
Format
Much like American Top 40, America's Top 10 counted down the top 10 pop songs of the past week. Because of the 30-minute format of the show, Kasem would highlight one song from the pop, R&B, country, and album charts, airing one music video from three of these charts. He would sometimes venture into other chart genres as well – such as Christmas or dance or disco – if there was an interesting chart feat taking place. A few times, interviews with artists from various music genres would also be shown.
In the first year, a generic music bed would be used behind Casey's voice as the Top 10 pop songs were announced, one by one. Later years, snippets of the actual song would be used behind his voice. The other Top 10 charts would normally not be announced song by song, but rather Casey would highlight several of the specific songs within each Top 10. The songs highlighted would be based on chart movements or interesting chart feats for that week.
"Should've Been a Top 10 Hit"
Like AT40, "America's Top 10" also had extras, one of the more common being the "Should've Been a Top 10 Hits." In this feature, Casey would pick out a song that never made it to the Top 10 (peaking anywhere from #11 down), but that he felt should have, based on a number of different things. He would justify why he felt it should have been a Top 10 hit as the video for the song was played. He would end the segment by repeating the name of the song and say what position it peaked at; "That's (song title) by (artist). A number XX song that should've been a top ten hit."
Other notable features during AT10's run included "Pop Music in the News" and "Pop Music Trivia", in which Casey answered trivia questions sent in by viewers each week.