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| '''Steve Dahl''' (born ], ], and currently still a living person) has been an ] ] for over thirty years. Dahl is currently ] at ] Radio, in ], ]. Before WCKG, Dahl was with Chicago ] ], ], ] and ]. | |||
| Steve is known for his "every guy" approach to life in Chicago where he often tells stories about his life and family on the air. Dahl is also famous for his song ] and for the many impressions that he does. He is considered a pioneer in talk radio and has been influential for many current and upcoming radio personalities. | |||
| ==Early career== | |||
| Dahl began his radio career in his home state of ] at the age of sixteen. He then moved to ] and was on the air on WWWW in Detroit in 1976. In 1978, Steve left Detroit to join WDAI in Chicago. Less than a year later, WDAI changed formats to ] and fired Steve on ], 1978. | |||
| ==Steve and Garry== | |||
| In 1979, Steve was hired to do a morning show at WLUP where he met up with overnight DJ, ] (under the ] of "Matthew Meier"). Shortly thereafter, Steve and Garry began a cross talk that eventually led to Garry being teamed up with Steve as both ] and newsman. | |||
| During the ], Dahl, along with his band Teenage Radiation, recorded and released a parody of ]'s song '']'', called '']''. He also made phone calls to the ] ], and ordered a few buckets for his friends in the ]. Dahl also parodied the ] murders with his song ''Another Kid in the Crawl'' (to the tune of ]'s '']''). | |||
| According to "King of All Media: the Unauthroized Biography of Howard Stern," by 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 that it is possible Stern eventually developed his on-air style as a result of these tapes. In an ironic twist of fate, Stern was hired to replace Dahl at WWWW Detroit when Dahl moved to Chicago. | |||
| ==Disco Demolition Night== | |||
| {{main|Disco Demolition Night}} | |||
| Dahl, along with both Mike Veeck (son of then ] owner ]), and Jeff Schwartz of WLUP promotions, came up with a radio promotion and tie-in to the White Sox called ] which took place on on Thursday, ], ]. They decided to end disco once and for all in the ] of ] that night. This resulted in the second game of the ] being postponed due to hundreds of rowdy fans storming the field and refusing to leave. ] President ] later declared the second game of the doubleheader a ] victory for the visiting ]. Six people reported minor injuries, and thirty-nine were arrested for ]. <ref> "Anti-Disco Rally Halts White Sox" '']'' New York, N.Y.: ], ]. pg. A16 </ref> | |||
| <ref>"Shock Waves" Macaulay Campbell. ''New York Times''. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: ], ]. pg. C.7 </ref> | |||
| Prior to Disco Demolition Night, disco had been quite popular. Steve had been 'destroying' disco records on the air, along with recording his own satire, ''Do You Think I'm Disco?'' (a parody of ]'s, '']''), due to the 'fact' that he believed that 'disco sucks'. After this promotion, disco soon began to lose its popularity.<ref>"No anniversary party for disco debacle;" Rod Beaton. '']''. McLean, Va.: ], ]. pg. C.03</ref><ref>"WLUP Chicago Reminisces", '']''. New York: ], ]. Vol. 101, Iss. 16; p. 10</ref> | |||
| ==End of Steve and Garry== | |||
| Steve and Garry went to WLS, but ultimately returned to WLUP where they stayed until their split in 1993. The reason for the break-up was Steve’s on the air comments about Meier’s new wife, commercial real-estate broker, Cynthia Fircak, while the couple were on their ]. Meier also blamed Dahl's ] and unpredictable behavior. Dahl, for his part, blamed Fircak for the split, saying on air once "When I met her, I knew the rules had just changed." | |||
| In a column, by , a ] for the '']'', wrote, on ], ] the following observation about this breakup: | |||
| <blockquote> | |||
| 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." | |||
| </blockquote> | |||
| After the team broke up, Steve was shipped off to ] WMVP AM and teamed with Chicago ] and funny man Bruce Wolf. Various factors caused his ratings to suffer. | |||
| ==Current== | |||
| Dahl ended up on ], doing an afternoon show, on that station. <ref>"'Subtler' Steve Dahl still rocks Chicago." Steve Knopper. ''Billboard''. New York: ], ].Vol.110, Iss. 10; pg. 68</ref> | |||
| He is currently teamed with ], who was Dahl's newsman starting in 1980 on ]. Dahl's show is available as a ] at his ] and live streaming on Free FM's website. | |||
| On Friday, ], ], Steve was doing a remote broadcast of his show at Oak Street Beachstro, a restaurant on Chicago's ]. Coincidentally, Garry Meier was eating lunch there with friends. After Steve learned of Garry's presence there, he invited Garry to appear on the air with him, which Garry accepted. Garry wound up staying for the remainder of the show. This historic event was covered widely throughout the Chicago ] that evening. A portion of that broadcast can be found | |||
| Dahl's son Matt is now part of the regular WCKG lineup. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| <references/> | |||
| ==Trivia== | |||
| * Steve currently writes for the '']'' in the ''At Play'' section as the resident "vice advisor". | |||
| * Steve has dabbled in acting. Steve was in the 1984 ], '']'' with newcomers ] & ]. | |||
| * Recently Steve was named one of the '100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts' by '']''. | |||
| * His favorite football player is ], who was an offensive lineman on the 1985 - 1986 ] Champion ] team. His second favorite football player is ], a guard out of ] who went in the NFL record books with then-fellow ], ]. | |||
| * Steve is currently serving on the Board of Trustees at Columbia College Chicago. | |||
| ==External links== | |||
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| *{{imdb name|id=0196974|name=Steve Dahl}} | |||
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| ] | |||