(This is Not an official site, the
official site is at40.com)
AT40 Memos, Cue
Sheets, and More
Throughout this site, there are links to examples of
AT40 paperwork throughout the years. On this page is a summary and a
brief explanation of all those items and a few new ones.
Memos
AT40's Replay of the first show on its 5th
anniversary (July 1975)
To celebrate the show's 5th anniversary, AT40 replayed
the very first show from 1970. To inform program directors, they
included this memo with
the show.
Debbie Gibson as Guest Host
This letter
explains that Debbie Gibson will be filling in for Shadoe on the
6/24/89 show.
AT40's change to CD from vinyl
On July 1, 1989, AT40 was available on CD on the 1st
time. AT40 sent a letter
to radio stations about the change. Each show was 4 CDs in length, with
each CD containing an hours' worth of content. Eventually, CDs replaced
vinyl completely.
Inappropriate Lyrics
In 1990, "The Humpty Dance" was in the top 40, and the
song contained lyrics that some stations found inappropriate for their
station. This memo to
stations told how to edit the song out of the countdown.
Disney World Show 1991
For a few years in the early 1990s, AT40 was recorded at Disney World
for Grad Night. This letter
lets affiliates know about the show in 1991.
Sneek Peek Feature 1991
The new weekly Sneek Peek feature debuted in October 1991. This memo explains the new feature to the affiliates.
AT40 Chart Change 1991
For the December 14, 1991 show, a letter was included that
explained that AT40 was now using a different chart.
Station ID Memo, 1992
This memo
lets affiliates know about new opportunities for the stations to insert
their local ID into the show.
Actualities Memo
AT40 included artist interview clips on cds during the
latter part of the original show's run (see below). This memo introduces them
to radio station program directors.
New Jingles Package
On the shows 22nd anniversary, AT40 began using new,
"hip" jingles. This memo
was sent to program directors informing them of the change.
Promo Memo
AT40 sometimes did "generic" promos for the show that
could be used anytime. This memo
highlights one such occurrance.
America's Top Hits Changes
Starting in 2003, "America's Top Hits" was sent to
stations as a separate cd. This memo
explains the changes.
Miscellaneous
Cue Sheets
In order for AT40 to play correctly on the radio,
station engineers had to know exactly what was contained on the AT40
recording. Included with each show was a set of cue
sheets, which lists in detail each segment of the show and the playing
time of each track. These sheets also indicated how much time the
station had to play commercials in between each segment of the
show.
Artist Actualities
From late May 1992 throug the end of its original run,
AT40 included more interview clips from artists in the show. AT40 also
made these interview clips available for stations to use outside of the
show. The interviews were included as separate tracks on a cd, and the
cue sheets included the text
of the clip as well as a possible introduction to the clip. This way, a
station could act like a DJ was interviewing the artist.
Proof of Play Affidavit
Radio station personnel also had to communicate back to
AT40s owners and let them know that they did play the show. One way
they could do this is by sending a proof-of-play
affidavit.
A Letter to AT40
In 1991 I wrote AT40 and asked them a question. "Doctor"
Rob
Durkee graciously wrote me back.
Chart Examples
Samples of the various charts
AT40 have used are posted on this page (no complete charts are
listed)
If any of this links are broken, or other problems are
encountered, please let me know.
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This page last updated November 7, 2007
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