33 Facts About Alison Steele

Alison Steele amassed a large and loyal following on her night shifts on WNEW-FM in New York City during the late 1960s and 1970s.

Alison Steele's show featured progressive rock and artists associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, combined with listeners' calls and Steele's own unique brand of mellow DJ patter, peppered with poetry and mysticism.

Alison Steele returned to WNEW in 1982 for another three years, and then joined New York's WXRK in 1989 for another six.

Alison Steele was honored with the Billboard award for FM Personality of the Year, and she was the first woman to receive it.

Alison Steele was born Ceil Loman on January 26,1937, in Brooklyn, New York.

Alison Steele told an interviewer that her childhood had been comfortable until a sudden and drastic reversal of the family's fortunes.

Alison Steele credited the situation for creating a lifestyle of hard work and a lasting ambition for success.

Alison Steele developed her career by working for various New York City television and radio stations, eventually becoming a production assistant and associate producer.

Along the way she worked for bandleader Ted Alison Steele's television show, The Ted Alison Steele Show, on WOR-TV, and by 1954 she was a regular cast member.

At the age of 19, she married Alison Steele and got her first taste of radio broadcasting with their husband and wife music show, Ted and the Redhead.

Out of the 800 women who applied, Alison Steele was one of the team of four who were hired.

When WNEW abandoned the format after the eighteen-month trial to the increasingly popular progressive rock format, Alison Steele was the only host who was asked to stay at the station.

Alison Steele thought of a new air name, based on gender and her night owl hours of work, and chose The Nightbird.

Alison Steele would begin her night show by reciting poetry over music, before introducing her show in her distinctive soft and sultry voice, aided by her preference of smoking small cigars.

Alison Steele often hosted with her dog, a French poodle named Genya.

Alison Steele's show always began with a bit of Andean flute music and some variation of her regular introduction:.

Alison Steele then transitioned to recordings of some of the more exceptional and experimental music being recorded at the time, as well as featuring the best of the familiar favorites of her audience.

Alison Steele favored mystical and romantic writing for her recitations, and sometimes offered up her own writing as well.

Alison Steele was a supporter and promoter of prog-rock bands like Yes, Genesis, Renaissance and the Moody Blues, as well as hippie favorites like Santana and the Grateful Dead.

Alison Steele's show was a major success for its timeslot, and when DJ John Zacherle left for another job in June 1971, WNEW sought to maximize her exposure by placing her in his 10pm to 2am shift, six nights a week.

Alison Steele became known as "The Grande Dame of New York Night".

Alison Steele was on the credit committee of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Alison Steele was a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Alison Steele did a substantial amount of voice-over work for radio and television commercials, and she provided the narration for one of Howard Stern's popular radio bits, "Larry Fine at Woodstock", featuring impressionist Billy West.

Alison Steele did frequent charity work and was a member of the board of the New York City chapter of the Epilepsy Foundation.

Alison Steele helped raise funds for cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy charities, as well as the Humane Society.

Alison Steele was a member of the Science of Mind religion.

Alison Steele had a daughter, Heather, who attended a private school in upstate New York in the 1970s.

In June 1995, Alison Steele was forced to leave WXRK due to illness from stomach cancer.

Alison Steele died on September 27,1995, at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, aged 58.

Alison Steele is interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson.

Alison Steele was long recognized as a primary force in making overnight radio a notable medium, as well as developing the progressive rock radio format.

Alison Steele was a female pioneer in a field traditionally dominated by men.