Don Steele

Don at KHJ on September 11, 1968

He was born Donald Steele Revert on April 1, 1936. Steele was one of the most popular disc jockeys in the United States, from the middle of the 1960s until his retirement in May 1997.

He was known as "The Real Don Steele," a name given to him by his program director, Steve Brown, in Omaha, Nebraska, who hoped the moniker would click with listeners and make him stand out from other radio personalities. It did. But so did his antics behind the mic.

Raised in Hollywood, California, Steele graduated from Hollywood High School, served in the United States Air Force and then studied at a local radio school, the Don Martin School of Broadcasting, where he also taught for a short time.

July, 1964

The Emperor

Shortly thereafter, Steele began his radio career working outside of L.A. at a small station, KBUC in Corona, CA then moving on to KEPR Kennewick, KIMA Yakima and KXLY Spokane, all in Washington, KOIL Omaha, Nebraska,
KISN Portland, Oregon, and KEWB San Francisco before returning to Los Angeles to help kick off what would become one of the most influential radio stations in the country, 93/KHJ, Boss Radio, in April 1965.

Steele became nationally-known as a DJ on radio station KHJ in Los Angeles, where he helped to promote the "ultrahip" top-40 Boss Radio format which began at 3pm on April 27, 1965.

He also appeared on TV as host Boss City and The Real Don Steele TV Show, a show which ran from 1965 to 1975 on KHJ-TV channel 9 in Los Angeles. When the popularity of AM radio gave way to FM stereo in the 1970s, Steele continued to remain a popular personality at the station.

Steele also gained additional notoriety due to an ill-fated promotion which KHJ undertook on behalf of his show during the summer of 1970. The promotion was dubbed a “Super Summer Spectacular” and involved Steele driving around the Los Angeles-area in a flashy red car.

Side 1 of the vinyl LP 1971 V-Disc for the U.S. military serving in Viet Nam.

Throughout the day, KHJ would broadcast clues about Steele’s location, and listeners who successfully tracked him down would receive cash prizes of about $25. On July 16, 1970, two teenagers attempting to track Steele by car at speeds of roughly 80 miles per hour forced another car into a highway center divider, causing a death. The victim's family sued various parties, including KHJ, asserting that the tragedy was a foreseeable consequence of the recklessness inherent to the nature of the "Super Summer Spectacular" promotion. The family's lawsuit eventually reached the Supreme Court of California, which held for the plaintiffs.

KEWB

DON STEELE: ON HIS WAY TO KHJ: Here's Don on-the-air at KEWB in Oakland CA on Sunday, August 16, 1964. [ LISTEN ] This gently 'scoped aircheck has much of the music edited out, but manages to show both Steele and KEWB at their very best. (22:09)

Steele was never one to analyze the evolution of rock radio. In a 1995 interview, he insisted, "Look, you take the Motown sound and the British Invasion and you throw in Elvis and Roy Orbison, and you have a music mix that's hard to beat at any time or any place."

"Robert W. Morgan was the first one hired for Boss Radio," RKO program consultant Bill Drake said. "He recommended Steele. He flew down from San Francisco. I was a little leery because I had heard he was kind of a crazy man, but it turned out he was very dedicated to his work."

KHJ 1968

A poll seeking the top 10 disc jockeys in Los Angeles from 1957 to 1997 rated Steele second (behind Gary Owens) among the 232 personalities nominated. The ballot was printed by Don Barrett in his 1994 book, and results are published in the second volume of his book. Rick Dees said of Steele in Barrett's book, "Pure, raw energy and focus. And he still has it every day. That's amazing!"

After Don reappeared on Los Angeles radio in the early 1970s on K100, Drake-Chenault produced the “The Real Don Steele Top 20/20” syndicated show for him.

Boyd R. Britton, who worked with Steele in the late 1970s at KTNQ said, "He educated me in star quality, in energy and focus. He epitomized energy on the air."

Steele had the habit of using very high headphone levels, as Very early on he was extremely hearing damaged. It was very difficult for him to hear in a group. And that made his natural speaking voice almost as loud as his on-air voice.

One of Steele's ongoing on-air bits was the refrain, "Tina Delgado is alive, alive!" Legends grew as to the meaning of the phrase, but Steele never did reveal what it really meant, or who the girl was who uttered the words.

The Real Don Steele stayed at KHJ until June 1973, then moved on to L.A. radio stations KIQQ, KTNQ, KRLA, KODJ, KCBS-FM and arrived at KRTH in July 1992. He recorded commercials, and at one time had a successful, nationally syndicated radio show.

That show, "Live From the 60's", was created by Steele along with friend and contemporary M.G."Machine Gun" Kelly, who followed Steele at KHJ-AM, then D.J'd with him in the '70s at 10Q. "Live From the 60's" was a three-hour program that exclusively featured 1960s oldies.

Hollywood Walk of Fame May, 1995 with Bobby Sherman & The Real Don Steelers.

Each hour of the show profiled a certain year from that decade. It was written and performed in present tense, and peppered with audio clips of news events, presidential speeches and TV shows that correlated with that particular year. The show was marketed and aired by over 200 radio stations with an "Oldies" format from 1988 until 1993. Repeats of earlier shows aired in some markets as late as 1996. In July 2015, "Live From the 60's with The Real Don Steele" was placed back into three hour re-run syndication for AM/FM radio stations.

Don received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995, located at Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.

Don is working the turntable at 1020 KTNQ Los Angeles on July 5, 1977. [ LISTEN ] (1:18:32)

In 1993, from KRTH, Steele told the Los Angeles Times: "I don't think I'm any different now. I've never stopped. I've never changed. I never did anything else."

Crazy kids in crazy clothes, this is a segment of the Real Don Steele Show on May 11, 1974.

Riding his popularity at KHJ, Don made a guest appearance (:28 seconds!) on TV's Bewitched.

He had his own weekly TV dance-party show, The Real Don Steele Show, on KHJ-TV. He appeared in several films, many times playing a disc jockey, in films such as Death Race 2000 (1975), Grand Theft Auto (1977), Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), Eating Raoul (1982), and Gremlins (1984). He also appeared as himself in KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978). On TV, Steele had appearances in a 1966 episode of Bewitched, and in an episode of Here Come the Brides in 1970.

WHERE DID THE REAL DON WORK? Here is the list: KBUC, KIMA, KOIL, KXLY, KISN, KEWB, KHJ, KIQQ, KTNQ, KRLA, KODJ/KCBS-FM, and KRTH.

Steele passed away, following a long illness, on August 5, 1997, at the age of 61.

Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Bay Area Radio, Airchexx, DJ Master Control, Bob Meadows.