Part of the Weekly Top 40's appeal in the '80s - and how it differentiated itself from the more sober AT40 - was Rick's colorful, signature use of goofy sound effects and comedy voices, often at the end of each segment before commercial breaks.
Characters heard on the Weekly Top 40 through the '80s and beyond included "talent booking agent" Bernie Shelley of "Possessive Artists" and his ditzy receptionist; countdown "technician" and wino Willard Wiseman; snide gossip columnist Groanin' Barrett; snappy workout guru Jane Fondle with her Radio Aerobics; call-in airhead John Revolting; salivating agony aunt "Crabby"; tittering sex therapist Dr. Rude (a spoof of popular radio and TV sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Dr. Ruth)); and "Joan's Clone", a take-off of comedian Joan Rivers.
Facts (inspired by Lionel Richie's reaction to Prince at the 1985 American Music Awards), and "News of the Offbeat", a punchline gag introduced by Rick quoting from bizarre supermarket tabloid stories.
Dees Sleaze, a jokey recycling of an item of Hollywood gossip, was often accompanied by the lisping voice of Rick's "boss" at the radio station.
In the '80s, the countdown would open with John Williams's theme to the 1978 film Superman, with Dees reciting an alternative version of the classic Adventures of Superman opening narration: "...and who, disguised as Rick Dees, mild-mannered disc jockey, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the pursuit of loose women."
Other commonly heard sound effects were Little Richard's throaty belly laugh, Michael Jackson's falsetto squeal, James Brown's lines "Believe me that's bad" and "I feel good", and the Joan's Clone exclamations "Yuck!"
After ABC Radio Networks pulled AT40 from American stations in July 1994, it picked up the Weekly Top 40 for national syndication.
In January 2000, Weekly Top 40 moved to Premiere Radio Networks (the same company that owned AT40) until 2005, when Dees left KIIS-FM and its owner Clear Channel Communications, which owned Premiere (Dees had apparently been passed over as Casey Kasem's successor at AT40 in favor of current host Ryan Seacrest, which may have played a role in his departure).
[3] Reruns of the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 from the 1980s began airing on the TKO Radio Network in 2010 after a trial run on WQMA in Marks, Mississippi.
As of 2020, KZOY in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, WBAF in Barnesville, Georgia, WFXY in Middlesboro, Kentucky, WFHK in Pell City, Alabama, KXGL in Amarillo, Texas, KQEO in Idaho Falls, Idaho, WIGY-AM in Lewiston, Maine, WKVI in Knox, Indiana, WZON in Bangor, Maine, KWFM in Tucson, Arizona, and WBRX in Cresson, Pennsylvania are the only notable stations to air reruns of the 1980s versions.
Occasionally, select songs (mostly in the hip-hop/rap genre at the request of Hot AC-leaning affiliates) would be omitted and "replaced" by those peaking under the top 40 on whatever chart source at the time.
Notable “replacements” have included "El Baile Del Gorilla" by Melody, "Shot of Laughter" by Sugar Ray, "Vamos al Mundial" by Jennifer Peña, "Word Up!"