I heard a very unfortunate reggae version of the very unfortunate hit Roxanne by The Police while at dinner tonight, which reminded me of a Casey Kasem fact that I forgot to include in my initial post.

Occasionally during the run of AT40 one of the songs on the charts would include some objectionable content. When these occasions would arise (as with Roxanne, for instance) the AT40 producers would cut the show together in a way that the affiliates could opt out of playing the objectionable song.

In one nearly famous case, when George Michael’s I want your sex was clawing from the floor of the men’s restroom to the top of the charts, Kasem refused to announce the name of the song, opting instead to just introduce the song as being by Michael.

He seems to have dropped that objection in later years, however, as he had no issue announcing that Birthday Sex by the multifaceted and talented Jeremih was #1 on the urban charts this week.