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| url = }}</ref> Dahl also parodied the ] murders with his song "Another Kid in the Crawl" (to the tune of ]'s "]"). He stopped playing the song when parents of the murdered children called to complain. | url = }}</ref> Dahl also parodied the ] murders with his song "Another Kid in the Crawl" (to the tune of ]'s "]"). He stopped playing the song when parents of the murdered children called to complain.


In 1982, he described on the air a certain coin-shaped candy that motorists could allegedly use to pay tolls on Chicago's ]. The Illinois Toll Highway Authority later blamed approximately a dozen toll machine breakdowns because of the candy.<ref name="CT070403"/> In 1982, he described on the air a certain coin-shaped candy that motorists could allegedly use to pay tolls on Chicago's ]. The Illinois Toll Highway Authority later blamed approximately a dozen toll machine breakdowns because of the candy.<ref name="CT070403"/>

Dahl decided to get a ], which was performed live on the air at a ]'s office in Indiana in March of 1989.<ref name="CT070403"/><ref>{{Citation
| last = Dahl
| first = Steve
| author-link =
| last2 =
| first2 =
| author2-link =
| title = What's the best Bears-eye view? - Premium seats have it all--food, great view, even cute waitresses
| newspaper = ]
| pages = 9B
| year = 2005
| date = ]
| url = }}</ref>

In 1999, Janet, a non-practicing lawyer, filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against ] over lewd comments Muller made about her on his show. Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed, it was reportedly a seven figure one.<ref name="CST123189">{{Citation
| last = Feder
| first = Robert
| author-link =
| last2 =
| first2 =
| author2-link =
| title = Dreck, lies and videotape: On the air in '89
| newspaper = ]
| pages = 1
| year = 1989
| date = ]
| url = }}</ref>


According to Paul D. Colford, a former writer for ], ] listened to tapes of Steve and Garry sent from Chicago by a friend of the chief engineer at WCCC Hartford. Colford claims Stern eventually developed his on-air style as a result of these tapes. Later, Stern was hired to replace Dahl at WWWW Detroit when Dahl moved to Chicago.<ref name="col001"> </ref> According to Paul D. Colford, a former writer for ], ] listened to tapes of Steve and Garry sent from Chicago by a friend of the chief engineer at WCCC Hartford. Colford claims Stern eventually developed his on-air style as a result of these tapes. Later, Stern was hired to replace Dahl at WWWW Detroit when Dahl moved to Chicago.<ref name="col001"> </ref>

Revision as of 02:59, 9 April 2008

Steve Dahl
Career
ShowThe Steve Dahl Show
Station(s)WJMK, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Time slot5:30 - 10:00 AM CT
CountryUnited States
WebsiteDahl.com

Steve Dahl (born November 20, 1954 in Pasadena, California) has been an American radio personality for over thirty years. Dahl is currently on the air at WJMK (104.3 Jack FM), in Chicago, Illinois. Before WJMK, Dahl was with Chicago stations WCKG, WDAI, WLUP, WMVP and WLS. He also currently writes for the Chicago Tribune in the At Play section as the resident "vice advisor". Additionally, Dahl is currently serving on the Board of Trustees at Columbia College Chicago.

Dahl's radio show takes an "every guy" approach to life in Chicago and Dahl often tells bucolic stories about his life and family on the air. Dahl is also famous for his song parodies and his impressions. He is considered a pioneer in talk radio and has been influential for many other radio personalities. He gained a measure of national attention after the Disco Demolition Night promotion at Comiskey Park, and he is also famous for his longstanding former role as one half of the "Steve and Garry" team (with Garry Meier).

In addition to his radio career, Dahl is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His band, Teenage Radiation, recorded and performed a number of song parodies (which he often played on his show throughout the 1980s) and more recently he has performed and recorded as Steve Dahl and the Dahlfins, releasing several albums. These include 1992's "Tropical Tides" and 1997's "Mai Tai Roa Ae." In 2007 backed by Des Moines, Iowa band The Nadas, Dahl embarked on a tour of Chicago-area concert venues. In collaboration with record producer Joe Thomas, Dahl played a large role in the comeback of Beach Boy Brian Wilson. The three co-wrote the song "Your Imagination" which appeared as a single and on Wilson's 1998 album "Imagination". Dahl provided backup vocals on the song as well.

Dahl has also dabbled in acting, appearing in the 1984 cult classic, Grandview, U.S.A. with John and Joan Cusack. He also appeared in the 2004 film Outing Riley, and in the 2006 indie comedy I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (which was written and directed by Chicago native Jeff Garlin).

Radio career

Early career

Dahl began his radio career in his home state of California at the age of sixteen after dropping out of high school. Dahl later moved to Detroit, Michigan where he broadcast on WWWW-FM in 1976. In 1978, Dahl left Detroit to join WDAI in Chicago. Less than a year later, WDAI changed formats to disco and fired Dahl on Christmas Eve, 1978.

Steve and Garry years

In 1979, Dahl was hired to do a morning show at WLUP where he met overnight DJ Garry Meier (who was then broadcasting under the pseudonym of "Matthew Meier"). Shortly thereafter, the two began a cross talk that eventually led to Meier being teamed up with Dahl as both sidekick and newsman.

During the Iranian Hostage Crisis, Dahl, along with Teenage Radiation, recorded and released a parody of The Knack's song "My Sharona," called "Ayatollah." He also made on-the-air prank phone calls to the "Islamic Fried Chicken" (a play on Kentucky Fried Chicken), ordering buckets of chicken for the hostages in the US embassy, which the State Department later reprimanded him for. Dahl also parodied the John Wayne Gacy murders with his song "Another Kid in the Crawl" (to the tune of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall"). He stopped playing the song when parents of the murdered children called to complain.

In 1982, he described on the air a certain coin-shaped candy that motorists could allegedly use to pay tolls on Chicago's tollways. The Illinois Toll Highway Authority later blamed approximately a dozen toll machine breakdowns because of the candy.

Dahl decided to get a vasectomy, which was performed live on the air at a urologist's office in Indiana in March of 1989.

In 1999, Janet, a non-practicing lawyer, filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Mancow Muller over lewd comments Muller made about her on his show. Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed, it was reportedly a seven figure one.

According to Paul D. Colford, a former writer for Long Island Newsday, Howard Stern listened to tapes of Steve and Garry sent from Chicago by a friend of the chief engineer at WCCC Hartford. Colford claims Stern eventually developed his on-air style as a result of these tapes. Later, Stern was hired to replace Dahl at WWWW Detroit when Dahl moved to Chicago.

Disco Demolition Night

Main article: Disco Demolition Night

Dahl and Meier, along with both Mike Veeck (son of then Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck), and Jeff Schwartz of WLUP promotions, came up with a radio promotion and tie-in to the White Sox called Disco Demolition Night which took place on on Thursday, July 12, 1979. The concept was to create an event to "end disco once and for all" in the center field of Comiskey Park that night by allowing people to get tickets at the box office if they brought $0.98US and at least one disco record. The records were collected, piled up on the field and blown up. Ultimately, this resulted in the second game of the double header being postponed due to hundreds of rowdy fans storming the field and refusing to leave. American League President Lee MacPhail later declared the second game of the doubleheader a forfeit victory for the visiting Detroit Tigers. Six people reported minor injuries, and thirty-nine were arrested for disorderly conduct.

Dahl and Meier had been mocking and heaping scorn on disco records on the air and playing a satire Dahl had recorded called Do You Think I'm Disco? (a parody of Rod Stewart's Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?) for some time, in response to Dahl's firing from WDAI. After the Disco Demolition Night promotion, disco began to lose its popularity.

End of Steve and Garry

Steve and Garry moved to WLS, but ultimately returned to WLUP where they stayed until their split in 1993. The alleged reason for the break-up was Dahl's on-the-air comments about Meier’s new wife, commercial real-estate broker Cynthia Fircak, while the couple were on their honeymoon. Meier also blamed Dahl's alcoholism and unpredictable behavior. Dahl, for his part, blamed Fircak for the split, once saying on air "When I met her, I knew the rules had just changed."

Robert Feder, a columnist for the Chicago Sun Times, wrote, on June 3, 2003 the following observation about this breakup:

It's the divorce that just keeps on giving: A decade after Steve Dahl and Garry Meier severed their legendary radio partnership, their breakup remains a source of bitterness and anger for them — and continuing fascination for their fans.

After the team broke up, Dahl went to Sports Talk WMVP AM and teamed with Chicago sportscaster Bruce Wolf.

WCKG years

Dahl ended up on WCKG, broadcasting an afternoon show on that station. He eventually teamed up with Buzz Kilman, who was Dahl's newsman starting in 1980 on WLUP, and the show was available as a podcast at Dahl's website and streamed live on WCKG's website. Dahl's afternoon show was rated fifth (4.1) among men 25-54 in the winter 2006-2007 ratings report. Recently Dahl was named one of the '100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts' by Talkers magazine. On June 22, 1999, Detroit's WKRK FM 97.1 dropped his show, replacing it with the Erin & Gonzo Show. This ended Dahl's bid to achieve syndication.

Steve and Buzz during a live remote broadcast of The Steve Dahl Show

On Friday, August 18, 2006, Dahl was doing a remote broadcast of his show at Oak Street Beachstro, a restaurant on Chicago's Oak Street Beach. Coincidentally, Garry Meier was eating lunch there with friends. After Dahl learned of Meier's presence there, he invited Meier to appear on the air with him, which Meier accepted. Meier wound up staying for the remainder of the show. This event was covered widely throughout the Chicago media that evening.

On April 2, 2007, Meier returned to Chicago radio, doing the 8 AM-11 AM show on WCKG. He appeared briefly on Dahl's show that same day. They occasionally contributed to each others' shows, and Garry spent the first hour and a half in studio during Dahl's show on the 28th year anniversary of Disco Demolition Night, recounting the events of that night.

Jack FM

Dahl announced on October 29, 2007 that he would move to mornings at WJMK on November 5, 2007 as WCKG changes formats. He is the only live personality at the Jack FM outlet as the rest of the station is preprogrammed and run by computer. Dahl's son Matt was part of the regular WCKG lineup and hosted the show immediately following his father's. However, the WCKG format change, from an FM talk station to an adult contemporary station was the end of Matt's show on WCKG.

Controversies and personal battles

Dahl has battled alcoholism throughout his adult life, which he has alluded to a number of times. He has been sober since 1995, achieving it cold turkey since the day after a drinking bout at the White Sox home opener.

It was sort of prompted by the fact that I realized that Patrick (eldest of his three sons) was 14 and I was rapidly approaching a 'Do as I say, not as I do' situation. I didn't think I had a right to comment on behavior based on my behavior. Plus, once I turned 40 (in November 1994) some metabolic thing happened to me and I guess I just got old.

— Steve Dahl

In 1999, Dahl admitted secretly recording conversations among staffers at WCKG because he suspected they were saying mean things about him behind his back. In snippets Dahl has played on his afternoon show, two station employees can be heard mocking him as "Steve Dull," calling him names and ridiculing his show. Dahl said, "I did it within my organization to confirm my suspicions. This was in a studio filled with microphones and cameras. Legally, I don't feel they had any expectation of privacy in that case."

Criminal suspect Drew Peterson and his lawyer, Joel Brodsky, called in to Dahl's show on January 23, 2008. Dahl had been lampooning Peterson since the start of the former police officer's notoriety. Brodsky suggested that Dahl host an on-air "dating game" with Peterson the following day, but WJMK managers and Dahl later decided not to go through with it. "

References

  1. Herguth, Bob (1996-03-24), "Steve Dahl, Unplugged", Chicago Sun-Times, p. 8 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  2. Chicago Sun-Times Steve Dahl biography
  3. Columbia College Board of Trustees biography for Steve Dahl
  4. Feder, Robert. "Like it or not, folks, Steve Dahl did drop." Chicago Sun-Times January 16, 1989
  5. "Steve Dahl, the talent from WCKG/Chicago, who brought his brand of shock and awe to radio decades ago and redefined the medium for his generation" (Radio Magazine Online. "Radio Currents Online: Apr 3 - Apr 9, 2006." Radio Magazine April 4, 2006)
  6. ^ Colford, Paul. Howard Stern, King of All Media: The Unauthorized Biography (Diane Publishing Company, 1996) ISBN 0788163361
  7. Jae-Ha Kim. "Disco's Mood Rings True: '90s Dance Fans Show Signs of Nostalgia Fever." Chicago Sun-Times, April 21, 1995
  8. Leonard Greene. "N.Y. Gets Dance Fever: Disco Gave Reeling City Reason to Live." New York Post, July 13, 2007
  9. ^ CBS News. "Chicago Radio Legends Steve Dahl and Garry Meier Reunite." CBS News Chicago, August 19, 2006
  10. Dahl.com store listing for Tropical Tides
  11. Dahl.com store listing for "Mai Tai Roa Ae" )
  12. "Steve Dahl and the Dahlfins Summer Tour, 2007" WCKG Homepage. September 11, 2007
  13. CMT Artist Biography: Steve Dahl and the Dahlfins
  14. DeRogatis, Jim. "Brian Wilson, 'Imagination'" Chicago Sun-Times May 24, 1998
  15. Steve's Web Log. March 5, 2007
  16. ^ Ryan, Maureen (2003-07-07), "You call that service?", Chicago Tribune, p. 1 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. Dahl, Steve (2007-01-11), "What's the best Bears-eye view? - Premium seats have it all--food, great view, even cute waitresses", Chicago Tribune, pp. 9B {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  18. Feder, Robert (1989-12-31), "Dreck, lies and videotape: On the air in '89", Chicago Sun-Times, p. 1 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  19. "Anti-Disco Rally Halts White Sox" New York Times July 13, 1979. pg. A16
  20. "Shock Waves" Macaulay Campbell. New York Times September 16, 2002. pg. C.7
  21. Beaton, Rod. "No anniversary party for disco debacle." USA Today. July 12, 2004. pg. C.03
  22. "WLUP Chicago Reminisces", Billboard. April 22, 1989. Vol. 101, Iss. 16; p. 10
  23. Feder, Robert. "Meier blasts 'delusional' Dahl over radio breakup." Chicago Sun-Times June 3, 2003
  24. Knopper, Steve. "'Subtler' Steve Dahl still rocks Chicago." Billboard March 7, 1998. Vol. 110, Iss. 10; pg. 68
  25. Kampert, Patrick, "Hispanic stations in 3 slots of Chicago radio's Top 10." Chicago Tribune, May 1, 2007. Retrieved May 1, 2007
  26. "Talkers Magazine Heavy Hundred: The 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts In America." Talkers Magazine Online
  27. Michigan's Radio and TV Broadcast Guide. June 1999 Archives.
  28. Feder, Robert. "Don't hold your breath for more Steve & Garry." Chicago Sun-Times August 22, 2006
  29. Rosenthal, Phil. "Beach awash in strange radio waves: A funny thing happened on the way to the air and water show: Steve and Garry reunited." Chicago Tribune August 19, 2006
  30. Rosenthal, Phil "Fresh sound unveiled at WCKG." The Chicago Tribune November 6, 2007
  31. Steve Dahl Memories. Dahl.com.
  32. Steve's Web Log, December 8, 2006
  33. ^ Johnson, Steve (1995-12-31), "DAHL'S FALL - STEVE DAHL REFORMED? TURNING 40 WILL DO THAT TO A GUY", Chicago Tribune {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  34. Feder, Robert. "For Steve Dahl, it was the tale of the tapes." Chicago Sun-Times October 21, 1999
  35. Rosenthal, Phil. "Dahl draws a line on date for Drew." Chicago Tribune January 24, 2008

External links

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