Heres an untold (up-to-now) story about that Snuggles outtake. Casey found out about it being circulated publicly on a CD directly from Don Bustany who found out from ME. Several years after my employment with AT40 had ended, I was in the Princeton (NJ) Record Exchange store and I had some extra spending cash. I was in a happy mood and decided to buy a couple of comedy CDs. I noticed one that was called Nick Bougas Presents - Celebrities At Their Worst. I read the names of the first batch of celebrities: they included John Wayne, Jack Palance, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Orson Welles and Carol Burnett. I said to myself this looks interesting and I bought it. When I got home I played it and got many laughs out of it. Then all of a sudden I heard something that was a total shock. Yes it was Casey and what weve discussed at length in the past few hours. I listened to it a couple of times, wondering if it was for real. But it sure sounded like Casey. The following day, from my job at AT&T, I called up Don Bustany. I told him about this and, if I recall, he asked if I could play it for him. But I couldnt because of where I was. I did tell him about the contents and asked him if it was really Casey. Don said he did not know. He thanked me for the information and he asked for my phone number (which he probably had misplaced) and I gave it to him. I expected him to call later on asking me for more information. About an hour later, my wife Iris called me. She sounded very excited. She said theres a message on the machine and you are not going to believe who it is. I said tell me and she said its CASEY KASEM! The message was simply Alan, its Casey Kasem. I want to talk to you. I guess youre not home. Ill try you again this evening. Casey called at around 8 PM EST as I recalled. Thre was little small talk if any. I recall he said something like Alan, hi its Casey. Don told me you called him today. Whats this all about? I explained and then he said do you have it there? Could you play a little of it over the phone? I asked him how much and he said just the first few seconds. I did. I told him that I wasnt sure if it was really him or a prank and he simply said no, that was me. It was an outtake (or words to that effect). He added Alan, could you do me a favor? Could you put it on a cassette and send a copy to me, along with all the information that you have about the company that put it out. This is totally unauthorized. I told him that I would do what he asked by the next day. I did not have Caseys phone number at the time and I did not ask for it. But I did ask him to call me when he received it. He closed the conversation by thanking me and indicating that he definitely intended to consider taking legal action. A few days later he called back with confirmation that he received what I sent and he thanked me again. I did not speak to Casey again until a few years later. When I asked him about it he told me that it was decided not to take legal action and I did not pursue the matter further. I do know that publicly when asked about it his response was generally three words: I got mad. If Don Bustany reads this, he may recall the day that I called him and provided HIM with the information that he gave to Casey. Or he may not recall it. But I sure do and my wife sure does as well. I will close this by telling you that it was truly surreal making the cassette for Casey and having to listen that entire thing! Yes, Im sure that he would have found out from someone else about Celebrities At Their Worst but, as fate had it, he found out idirectly from Don and indirectly from me. And the countdown rolls on .....
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 04:55:28 +0000
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