Terry Gross & Alison Steele -- Radio Birds of a Feather

Perhaps my favorite radio show/podcast is NPR's Fresh Air, the daily hour-long interview show hosted by Terry Gross. It's been on the air almost as long as I've been alive (so a lonnnggg time) and is a radio institution. Gross is an amazing interviewer and she's interviewed nearly every famous and important person alive. 

It's also one of the longest running shows ever hosted by a woman and, in this #MeToo era, that's certainly significant. 

In this (also very long) interview with New York magazine, Terry Gross talks about her career, her show, and her interviewing style. But what I loved most of all is that she gives a shout-out to Mr NYC favorite, Alison Steele the Nightbird, the deceased legendary overnight DJ and subject of one one Mr NYC's most popular blog posts ever.

Gross says, about the early days of her career, ""... I'd only heard one woman on the radio, Alison Steele, the Nightbird." Gross doesn't say if Steele was inspiration (and the interviewer is probably too young even to know who Alison Steele was) but it's awesome to see Alison Steele (who's been dead for more than twenty-years) get this kind of tribute. Steele never had the fame or success of Gross but she was the forerunner, the inspiration, and, in this time, more important than ever before.   

Howard Stern - September 28, 1995: A Tribute to Alison Steele plus Siskel & Ebert

One of my most popular blog posts is my 2007 tribute to the late NYC DJ Alison Steele. Nicknamed "The Nightbird", she ruled the overnight rock radio airwaves in this town throughout the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s until she died of cancer in September, 1995. Her distinctive voice gave thousands of listeners of joy, including yours truly. Her death at age 58, almost 20 years ago, was and is a great loss.

I listened to Alison Steele back in high school, sometimes when I was up late at night, but usually in the very early morning, towards the end of her shift. I would usually listen to the music on her show in the shower and then, when I got out, I'd be toweling off as Alison Steele would end her show, usually with a quote from a great poet (Blake, Wordsworth, or Shakespeare) or she would share an insight or some words of wisdom before she would "fly away." Then, usually about five to ten minutes later, Howard Stern would take the air and new day would have officially begun. 

It was a great way to wake up. It's a great memory to have. 

In the 6 1/2 years since I first posted my tribute to her, several Mr NYC have posted their memories of listening to Alison Steele back in the day. Their tributes, more than mine, I think show what a touching legacy she left.

So it was great to find Howard Stern's September 28, 1995 show that was broadcast the day after she died. The tribute that he gives her is pure Howard: wild, funny, offensive, and curiously touching. Apparently, she was very popular with her fellow DJs. And she loved cats. And she was hot. And she was also a radio pioneer.

This is also a great show because the movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert made an appearance on this show and are hilarious. In this episode, they even review the movie "Showgirls" and it's a hoot.

These were great talents and are sorely missed. But thanks to technology, the live on. So not only can we remember them, but still enjoy.    

Remembering Alison Steele, "The Night Bird"

“The flutter of wings, the shadow across the moon, the sounds of the night, as the Nightbird spreads her wings and soars, above the earth, into another level of comprehension, where we exist only to feel. Come, fly with me, Alison Steele, the Nightbird, at WNEW-FM, until dawn.”

With those angelic words, Alison would begin her overnight broadcasts. She would then play some of the greatest rock n'roll ever: the Stones, Dylan, Led Zeplin, The Who, The Doors - you name it. Her silky voice, seductive in its maturity and wisdom, reassured you that there was someone kind out there, making you feel safe during the small hours. She was the grand dame of the New York night, her gentility soothing and smoothing the edges of a rough city. Her gracious audio presence would nurse her listeners through the darkness, into the first blushes of day.

In her later years, Alison migrated to 92.3 K-ROCK, going off the air at 6 AM, right before the raucous Howard Stern would rouse the city. I first encountered Allison's voice in the early 1990s when I was in high school. I would wake up around 5:50 or 5:55 AM in order to listen to Howard and Allison would usually be closing out her show. As a song by Yes or The Police would end, Alison's lovely voice would come on, wishing listeners like me a good morning. Then she would leave us with a parting thought, a little piece of wisdom, usually conveyed in a quotation from one of the great poets like Edgar Allan Poe or William Wordsworth. And then the Nightbird would fly away, leaving us to our usually tumultuous days.

What a great, sweet memory.

Sadly, Alison is no longer with us. All the greats leave before their time. She passed away on September 27, 1995 from cancer. I remember that I had just started college and this news was one of the first things I learned on this then new Internet contraption. It's so hard to believe that she's been gone more than twelve years because it feels just like yesterday that I was waking up to her voice. Like Jean Shepard, she was a genuine radio artist. And in this era of radio consolidation and voice-tracking, it's doubtful we'll ever see her likes again.

But at least we had her when, a small burst of light in a dark place. Let's remember and thank Alison Steele for the comfort she brought this city. In this bitter world, even a decade on, let's remember someone pretty sweet.

Tribute pages:

The First Lady of Rock & Roll
A Page for Alison Steele
Alison's Wikipedia Entry

Alison Steele: Origin of the Nightbird

My adoration for the old-school NYC radio DJ Alison Steele "the Nightbird" knows no bounds -- she's been the subject of multiple Mr NYC blog posts over the last 16 years.

Her show was like therapy for me as a 1990s teenager -- a kind, soothing voice piercing thru the dark lonely nights, connecting with so many similar lonely souls.

So where did the "the Nightbird" come from -- how did Alison Steele create her moniker and become the voice of the New York City while it slept?

In this clip Alison herself talk about how her show and career came to be -- or as Alison might put it, she talks about how "the Nightbird" first took flight.

You'll fly on forever in our hearts, Alison -- even 30 years after you flew away forever. 

Alison Steele Returns to WNEW, October 18, 1982

Something was in the air in NYC in the fall of 1982 -- literally. The voices of Howard Stern and Alison Steele took flight in the ears of the city's radio listeners, and things were never quite the same afterwards.

Howard was very young at the time and had just started at the now defunct WNBC radio in NYC. It was a legendarily bad run for him but, in 1985, he was fired and went over to 92.3 K-Rock where he would soar into legend.

Alison Steele was a different but nonetheless interesting case. She had started out in rock radio in the late 1960s at WNEW and then, in the late 70s, left. For a while she did voiceover and commercial work, and even DJ'd for an airline (I think it was TWA). But in the fall of 1982 she returned to WNEW -- the Nightbird flew again for the grateful listeners of NYC. She would remain at WNEW until 1989 where she would then move over to overnights at K-ROCK -- and would go off the air just before Howard came on. She would stay at K-ROCK until her untimely death in 1995.

But all of that was to come. Here is Alison's first show back at WNEW in October, 1982, exactly 44-years ago today:

And hey, if you want to, here's a lil' bit of Howard's first day at WNBC -- and in NYC radio! -- in September 1982, before Howard and Alison's fates intertwined:

Alison Steele @ 25

One of my most popular posts, and one of my personal favorites, is also one of my oldest -- my fall 2007 post about the late great radio DJ Alison Steele, "The Night Bird."

Alison's hypnotic voice, her reassuring words, plus the great music she played, kept insomniac New Yorkers soothed and happy for many years. A bigtime talent in the era of the great radio DJs (the 1960s to '80s, even the early '90s), Alison was one of the few female DJs of the era, and one of the most beloved. She was also an influence on other radio talents, as NPR's Terry Gross has attested.

Alison died 25 years ago on September 27, 1995.

As I wrote earlier, I specifically remembering hanging out in a friend's dorm room during my freshman year of college, browsing the Internet which was still a new fangled contraption at the time that I was getting used to, and seeing this news. The idea of getting news outside of TV or the papers was relatively new, and seeing this post about her death shocked me -- not only was I learning about it in a then-unconventional way, but I had just  been listening to Alison a few months earlier, when I would wake up early to listen to the end of her show, just before Howard Stern hit the air. She was a part of my high school years, of a life that I had just left behind, and her death, in a way, ended that chapter of my childhood. And I was surprised at how sad I was by this, and how I would probably never hear another voice like her's again -- and, after 25 years, I haven't.

You can read my complete Alison Steel coverage here. But you should also check out her original obituary where she was, quite rightly, called a pioneer.

You may be gone, Alison, but never forgotten. Fly on!

The Soothing Kindness of Alison Steele

In these deeply troubled, confusing, weird times, there's nothing like the soothing, calming voice and wisdom of the late, great Alison Steele -- proof that humanity is better than we think, and that the world is, in fact, a great place we should be grateful to be alive in. 

We miss you Alison - but your voice and kindness will live forever. 

Alison Steele, the Nightbird, on February 14, 1977

Valentine's Day 1977 was a Monday.

I was a new born baby, six weeks old.

Jimmy Carter had been president for three weeks. Abe Beame was mayor. 

The #1 song in the country was Manfred Mann's cover of  Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light". 

New York City had just begun one of its most historically important, consequential year's ever. 

And Alison Steele, the Nightbird, was in all of her radio glory, broadcasting on WNEW FM ("in ... stereo ..."). On this night/morning, she had dubbed herself the "Lovebird" and played romantic songs upon request and recited poems about love. She was at the top of her game, her voice confident, smooth and soothing, the greatness of her "theater-of-the-mind" on full display. 

Even almost thirty years after her death, and fifty years after this specific broadcast, she sounds as fresh and wonderful as ever, her voice truly timeless.

And she really touches your heart when she talks and plays music about love. A classic. 

"Howard Stern All Morning, Classic Rock'n'Roll All Day": K-Rock Memories

My previous re-post about Alison Steele, and a comment by the great blogger Zen Denizen, triggered a flood of nostalgia in me for the old 92.3 K-Rock. It was the only radio station I listened to in high school during the early 1990s, and it used to be the classic rock station in NYC. While everyone else in my school listened to Z-100 or Hot 97, I was one of only a few who listened to K-Rock all the time. I even remember the line-up:

Howard Stern, 6-10AM
Pete Fornatel, 10 AM-2 PM
Dave Herman's Afternoon Rock'n'Roll Show, 2-6 PM
The Greaseman, 6-10 PM
Maria Molito or Dea Snee, 10 PM-2 AM
Alison Steele, the Night Bird, 2-6 AM

I don't know why I still hold such affection for, of all things, a radio station line-up. Maybe it's just part of getting older and something like this reminds me of a simpler time in my life. Or maybe it was just that it had Howard Stern and my favorite kind of rock music on the same station. But I think what I liked about it most was that Pete, Dave, Allison, and Maria were classy DJs who you could tell really loved the music they were playing and seemed to respect their audience. And in this time of radio consolidation and voice-tracking, etc. they were people who made radio an art form and a community ... the way it used to be.

We'll Always Have Alison Steele

Even though I wrote it almost ten years ago, one of my most popular blog posts remains the one about Allison Steele, the legendary radio DJ who ruled NYC overnights for decades. She died more than 20 years ago but, amazingly, people who listened to her back in the day still remember that gentle, beautiful voice. In tribute to that post, I've decided to give Mr NYC readers yet another listen to the wondrous sound and soul of Allison Steele.

Classic Mr NYC

This is probably my favorite blog post of all. A year about I wrote about Allison Steele, an old-school New York radio DJ who did overnights on the old WNEW and K-ROCK for over 20 years. She was a phenomenal talent who had a voice that was truly magical. She died of cancer in 1995 but I've never forgotten her.

Remembering Alison Steele, "The Night Bird"

Remembering "Beyond Vaudeville"

Long before YouTube and the Internet allowed everyone to become a "content creator", the only place where you could find oddballs and fringe characters producing weird and uncommercial stuff was on public access TV.

In NYC, on Manhattan Public Access, there was a show that merged the amateur and fringe with the more mainstream -- called Beyond Vaudeville, it ran from 1986 to 1996, and was hosted by an Andy Kaufmanesque guy named Frank Hope. It was a talk/variety show where a number of randomly assorted guests would talk while Frank and his hyper sidekick David would say or do outrageous things that got amazingly cringey reactions from their guests.

Although Beyond Vaudeville was on for ten years, it only aired 75 time. The show did not have a regular schedule, it would just pop-up every so often, and its guests were beyond eclectic -- they included the dwarf from Twin Peaks, Barry Williams from The Brady Bunch, NYC talk show host Joe Franklin, WNBC news anchor Sue Simmons, actor Fred Williard, Grandpa Al Lewis, Tom Arnold, Oscar-winners Shirley Jones and Kim Hunter, Tiny Tim, as well as strange comedians, dancers, jugglers, and others. 

Others who appeared on the show were Mr NYC favorite Alison Steele and as well as Mr NYC interviewee Michael Musto.

I've posted a few episodes below -- watch them and take a peak at this memorably weird show at a time when NYC was still memorably weird.

Ten Years of Mr NYC

Well, it had to happen sometime: ten years ago today, yes, a full and complete decade, Mr NYC debuted here on the interwebs. 

Can you believe it? Neither can I.

If you'd like to read the first, inauspicious blog post, you can go here to get all nostalgic. 

I could get all boring about this so I won't. I could go on and on about what ten years of Mr NYC "means" but I don't kid myself -- it probably doesn't mean all that much. I will, however, note the following ten things about this blog in its ten years of existence:

1. Most blogs don't last very long but this one has lasted a decade -- not a bad achievement.

2. This blog has been viewed over 300,000, more than a quarter of a million, times. That's roughly the population of Iceland. Pretty cool, huh? (Pun intended.) The blog is regularly read by over 1,100 a month. That's a good "traffic" jam."

3. There have been more than 1600 posts all written, for better or worse, by yours truly.

4. This blog has been read all over the world -- the United States, Germany, France, Ukraine, China, Russia, the UK, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Poland, Turkey, Canada, and others.

5. This blog has survived three presidents, three governors, and two mayors.    

6. We have done interviews with all sorts of NYC characters like Kenny Kramer, Kurt Anderson, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Richard Bey, and others. 

7. Since this blog started, I got married, had two kids, and bought a house.   

8. The most popular blog posts around about Alison Steele, Film Forum, and Rao's. I've never been able to figure out what makes a popular post.

9. Readership for this blog seems to spike in the middle of the month for some reason. Still don't know why.

10. I've made some money from this blog but still need a day job.

So I hope you've enjoyed the ten years of Mr NYC. I hope they'll be ten more.

To be continued!