Leo became obsessed. He recorded the broadcasts on crackly cassette tapes. The station had no call letters, no commercial breaks, just Casey’s voice and the music: deep album cuts, lost 45s, and one time—a full seventeen-minute synth instrumental that Casey claimed was “the sound of a mainframe computer falling in love.”
The station didn’t play the usual Casey Kasem material—no American Top 40 from 1973. This was different. It was as if someone had found a secret vault of unreleased shows he’d recorded in a fever dream between his America’s Top 10 TV gig and his later Adult Contemporary countdowns.
“1840 FM. You’re not dreaming. And you’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. You’re in the deep cut. This is Casey Kasem, and on today’s ‘Long-Distance Dedication,’ we’re going from the bayou to a boardroom in Tokyo. But first… the story of a song that almost wasn’t.” Iheart Radio Station With Casey Kasem 1840 Fm
But on the last tape Leo ever made, just before the hiss swallowed it whole, you can hear Casey whisper one more thing:
“This is Casey Kasem, 1840 FM. And don’t forget… the frequency doesn’t die. It just waits for the next set of ears.” Leo became obsessed
It was the summer of 1986, and the only thing that cut through the humid, static-heavy air of a teenager’s basement bedroom in Indiana was the glow of a clock radio dial. The station was, improbably, – a phantom frequency that didn’t officially exist on any FCC chart. But if you spun the analog tuner just past 103.5, where the classical station faded into a hiss of white noise, there it was: Iheart Radio’s “Retro Flashpoint,” hosted by the one and only Casey Kasem .
The teenager, a boy named Leo, had discovered it by accident while searching for a Cubs game. Instead of baseball, he heard that unmistakable voice—warm, conversational, suddenly serious, then buoyant. This was different
“Leo. Yes, I know you’re listening. You’ve got the tuner set to 1840. Don’t ever spin that dial, kid. Because the music you need… isn’t on any chart. It’s in the space between the stations. Keep listening. Keep believing. And keep your feet on the ground… but keep reaching for the stars.”