"Four people are sitting around a table, talking about baseball. Five minutes of it, very dull. Suddenly a bomb goes off, blows people to smithereens. What does the audience have? Ten seconds of shock. Now take the same scene. Tell the audience there is a bomb under the table and it will go off in five minutes. Well, the emotion of the audience is very different. Now the conversation about baseball becomes very vital because the audience is saying: 'Don't be ridiculous. Stop talking about baseball, there's a bomb under there.' You've got the audience working. You can't expect the audience to go into any kind of emotion without giving them some information"

Hitchcock - on how to create suspense

Steve Dahl is a media icon. To say Stever is a Chicago radio star, while certainly true, would leave much, too much, unsaid. Against all odds, Steve has created a unique, original, enduring, and very successful media property - The Steve Dahl Show. One of the first who dared to pull back the curtain inviting listeners to vicariously participate in his show, his career and in his personal life, Steve is an estimable, legendary performer. Moreover, he is one of the influential architects of what we have come to take for granted on the radio. Before Howard introduced his daily ensemble drama, Steve was the apostate who threw the FM music format overboard electing to preside over a reinvention of the radio theater company. But wait...there's more. Steve has also achieved success in music, television and the printed word. The man has created an extensive body of original work and he's just now reaching the top of his game. Show business, entertainment is Steve's metier.

Ever the savvy EP, Steve consistently demonstrates a rare acuity for the moment at hand. Writing in his web log this morning Steve says...

Fred “Fried” Winston will be filling in for Buzz on Friday. Buzz is going in for a tummy tuck and butt lift. He’s donating some flesh to me so I can have that wrist enhancement surgery I’ve always dreamed about. I’ve known Fred forever, and I think he’s a really talented and funny guy. I’m hoping I can help launch his talk radio career. Not that he hasn’t always been a talker, but with no music format to hamper him.

Others would see it as one of the cast taking the day off, Steve understands it to be an opportunity for great theater. Fred is, as Steve has written, a talented and funny guy. Further, Fred, in his own right, is a performer that has also earned and deserves the title of legend. Steve and Fred this afternoon, priceless, don't miss it if you can. Bravo Stever!

It is CBS Radio's good fortune to have signed killer talent the likes of Steve and Fred. Thanks to Joel Hollander you may listen in live and stream today's Steve Dahl Show here (rr). If you are a performer or member of one of media's crack management teams please let me suggest you spend a moment to review a proper web site - Steve Dahl has done a great job with his site, check it out here. Congrats and kudos also to Steve for his venture to help Chicago Ed, buy Steve's CD and help Ed here