From this morning's NOW Newsletter...
Don Bustany, a key figure in the development of “American Top 40” and “American Country Countdown,” died Monday, says the RAMP Newsletter. Don preferred to let stars like Casey Kasem take the spotlight, but he’s mentioned in that famous tape where Casey throws a tantrum while reading a “long-distance song dedication” from a man in Cincinnati whose dog died. As Casey warms up to his rant about how you can’t come out of an up-tempo record into a downer-message like a dead dog, he asks “Is Don on the phone?” – meaning Don Bustany. Don was the business-man who made AT40 and ACC go in their early days. Bustany went on to work on the TV sitcoms of Bob Newhart and Mary Tyler Moore as a camera coordinator and director. He died in Santa Barbara at age 89.
One last spin of the dog dying tantrum...
