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Shadoe Steele
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Saturday: 7:00 PM - 12:00 AM
Every Saturday from 7pm-12m Shadoe Steele play the hits of yesterday and features exclusive interviews that can't be heard anywhere else.
Every Saturday Shadoe Steele plays the hits of yesterday and features exclusive interviews that can't be heard anywhere else.
Voice heard around the globe
KRZ�s Shadoe Steele reaches international audience
By Alan K. Stout
Weekender Editor
He has interviewed everyone from Michael Jackson to Billy Joel. He's caught up with one-hit wonders such as Falco and Marcia Griffiths, and he is heard every week on KRZ-FM when he hosts his widely popular "Saturday Night Live at the Oldies" radio show.
But what most people might not know about NEPA's own Shadoe Steele is that his work is heard not only here in this region, but also around the entire nation and parts of Europe. He is an international DJ, heard on the Westwood One radio network and even on the BBC.
Steele says the success of his work is simply reflective of the time he puts into it. Landing big interviews with some of pop music's biggest names is no easy task, nor is it easy to track down a one-hit wonder who's been out of the limelight for decades. But Steele says he enjoys all of it, and enjoys bringing such insightful conversations to those that tune in.
Ultimately, he says, he just wants to give his listeners something unique.
"I'm really not a big fan of interviews," says Steele. "I really find a lot of them boring, because they usually all ask the same questions. I try to ask different questions. If I think I could listen to one of my interviews, and if I think that it's relatively amusing, than I'm pretty pleased, because I'm a really tough critic."
Steele's show, which airs on Saturdays from 7 p.m to midnight on KRZ-FM, features interview segments mixed with music in the first two hours and pop gems from the past for the remainder of the show. The interview segments, which when syndicated are titled "Inside Profiles with Shadoe Steele," are available to 250 radio stations nationwide through the Westwood One radio network. They are also heard on the BBC, which serves 20 million listeners, and can also be heard on www.madpod.com.
Steele's list of A-list interviews also includes Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond and Diana Ross. His one-hit wonder list includes Falco (�Rock Me Amadeus"), David Geddes ("Run Joey Run"), Marcia Griffiths ("The Electric Slide") and C.W. McCall ("Convoy").
Whether it be a big star or a name from the past, Steele says he enjoys challenging himself to conduct strong interviews, and that even after a show airs, he'll still ask himself if he could have asked better questions. Still, with a list of more than 4,000 interviews on his resume, a solid reputation with record labels and artists' publicists and a listenership that spans the globe, it's clear Steele has honed his craft well. He's been hosting "Saturday Night Live at the Oldies" since 1986, and here in NEPA, he's long been the king of his timeslot.
"Our last ratings, which just came in a couple of weeks ago, had a 57.1 in certain demographics, which is truly incomprehensible," he says. "We're No. 1 everywhere, and have been for just about the entire 20 years."
Steele, who does his interviews by phone at the KRZ studios over a special high-tech stereo line, says tracking down and getting interviews with one-hit wonders is often just as difficult as getting someone like Michael Jackson.
"A lot of them are out of the business, they've had their 15 or 20 minutes of success back in the '60s, '70s or the '80s, and they've moved on," he says. "They might still maintain their own publishing rights, which means they still get a few bucks through royalties and copyrights every year, but a lot of them don't want to be found. Some artists take
20 years to get an interview with. Some take one e-mail. It really depends on who it is."
Steele says that most artists, even if their fame was short-lived fame, can provide an insightful interview. Sometimes, he says, the one-hit wonders have the best stories to tell.
"If you can convince them that you're going to do a serious interview about the music, about their projects and about their life, they are extremely glad to come on and talk to you," he says. "I enjoy, immensely, talking to the obscure, one-hit wonder artists. They truly have more to say, more fascinating information, and a better outlook on life."
One of Steele's favorite more recent big interviews came from Don McLean, whose "American Pie" remains and American pop classic. Steele was granted one of just five radio interviews with McLean, which were his first since 1988. Another favorite was Neil Diamond.
" He has an incredible link to this area," says Steele. "He got his start when he was in a talent contest back in 1963 at San Souci Park in Hanover Township. He was actually beaten by Brian Hyland, who gave us 'Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.' He remembers than Sunday afternoon really well, and he really got his start in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area back in the '60s, when he was a fledgling songwriter."
In addition to music-related interview specials, Steele has produced shows for international syndication on the space shuttle Challenger disaster, the Amityville slayings and the Charles Manson murders. In 2003, he took a First Place Associated Press Award for "Best News Documentary" for his special titled "Apollo 11/Summer of '69."
Up next for Steele on the music beat is an interview with the elusive Carly Simon, who granted Steele her first radio interview since 1988. Simon will do the CBS's "Late Night with David Letterman," NBC's "Today" show, ABC's "Good Morning America" and - of course - KRZ's "Saturday Night Live at the Oldies." Steele says he's proud to have
snagged the pop icon for a conversation and feels listeners will be enlightened by what they hear. "We're not only going to talk about her limited tour, which is sold out, but she's also going to talk about her new CD, and her bout with breast cancer," he says. "It's basically a 30-minute no holds bared interview, which is truly incredible. Once again, it proves that if you e-mail her management twice a year for 19 years, they'll eventually wear down and say "You know what, let's get this guy off our back and do an interview.' "
Though Steele doesn't know the exact number of listeners that tune into his show, he does know that when he puts on his headset and leans towards the microphone, he's taking his conversations with the stars and the former stars to listeners around the globe, and that he could be reaching millions.
Not bad from a studio in Pittston, Pennsylvania.
"Rather than just play 'American Pie' and 'Brown Eyed Girl' every week, we try to do something different with these interviews, and we have been incredibly successful in syndicating them not only around the country, but around the world," he says. "And that's been pretty unbelievable."
If you listen ...
WHAT: "Saturday Night Live at the Oldies," with Shadoe Steele
WHERE: WKRZ-FM, 98.5 and 107.9
WHEN: Saturdays, 7 p.m. to midnight.
Interview segments run from 7-9 p.m.
KRZ-FM�s Shadoe Steele, the host of �Saturday night Live at the Oldies,� can also be heard nationwide on the Westwood One radio network and in parts of Europe on the BBC.
Shadoe Steele
"Saturday Night Live at the Oldies" 7:00pm - 12:00am
98.5 KRZ's resident 'musicologist' and human encyclopedia of entertainment trivia hosts "Saturday Night Live at the Oldies" since Labor Day weekend 1987 turning a 'hobby' into a tradition! Boasting well over 2000 interviews (and counting) ranging from ABBA to Zappa, our staff 'oldie' has monopolized the nighttime airwaves for the past 2-decades with this retro-hallmark!
On a side note, Shadoe holds a Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Duke University Durham North Carolina. For the past 20-years he has managed 'space divisions' within the aerospace/satellite engineering industry working for both the CBS and NBC Television Networks (including MSNBC in Secaucus, New Jersey) in New York City, and AT&T Global Satellite Systems at the former World Trade Center before turning a weekend 'hobby' into a radio tradition!
Steele began his on-air broadcast career as a newswriter/anchor with a stint at WVIA-FM 89.9 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in July 1973, Top-40 nights (10 PM - 2 AM) at WAZL-AM/WVCD-FM Hazleton, then producing and hosting "Sinatra & Friends" a 5-hour vocalists program broadcast Sunday afternoons over WWAX-AM Olyphant/Scranton and talk-show host on 3-different occasions at WARD-AM 1550 Pittston/Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during the 70s and early 80s.
Professor Emeritus of KRZ's "College of Musical Knowledge", Shadoe "... sends it out!" every weekend on "... the most listened to radio show on Saturday night since 1980!" Drop him a request... man!
Shadoe recently took the 2003 1st Place Associated Press Award for "Best News Documentary" out of 385 submitting radio stations for his "Apollo 11/Summer of '69" special which ran on several Entercom outlets.
Email Shadoe at: ShadoeSteele@wkrz.com
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