aka
The Nitebyrd; Ceil Loman
1937 ~ 1995
Best known at KNEW-FM/New York
(Interview with
sister, Joyce Loman)
Night owl? Nightjar? No … Alison was a refreshing song of the nightingale in a flock of nighthawks.
So thought her mostly male legion of listeners on the midnight shift, and restless, chronic insomniacs. Known predominantly for her role in all-night radio shows, Alison played her part to the hilt.
Only a handful of
brave and assertive women graced the radio airwaves in the mid-Sixties.
Forward-thinking New York station, WNEW-FM, made a statement in 1966 with a
lineup of pioneering all-women Rock
& Roll Radio DJs.
Alison Steele, along with Rita Sands, Ann Clements, Nell Bassett, Arlene Kieta, Pam McKissick, and Margaret Draper, made Rock radio history. (Though it was done on Jazz station WSDM/Chicago a few years earlier.) Only Alison, Rita, and Nell had any broadcast experience! Talk about gutsy gals.
During their teen years, Alison and sister, Joyce, followed their musical favorites like millions of ardent fans. “It was a ritual every Saturday to listen to the Top 40,” said Joyce.
Alison also listened to and learned from her radio idols, Martin Block (creator of the Make Believe Ballroom show), and well-known BFYP New York DJ, Cousin Brucie.
The Brooklyn native targeted entertainment as her career from her first taste of New York television, at fourteen. The glamorous industry was exciting and mysterious to the impressionable teen, drawing Alison to its bright lights like a moth to a flame.
Alison, nee Ceil Loman, picked up the perfect kid job to get your foot in the entertainment door—running errands for WCBS. Her interest in entertainment at that time was purely teenage excitement.
Shuffling between TV and radio studios during the early to mid-Fifties, the pretty teen attracted the attention of Ted Steele, an experienced Disc Jockey at WCBS-FM.
Her sister, Joyce, recalls Alison’s wistful adoration. Marrying the much older Steele seemed an ideal life to Alison.
Steele programmed his own music list and Alison assisted, learning the radio biz as they mixed and matched personal and professional lives. But once married, the twenty-year age difference ultimately took its toll, and they eventually divorced.
Alison became a single mom to daughter, Heather, when it was less accepted by society, and thrived through it.
Reveling in her independence, by the time WNEW-FM saw her potential, she had spent several years in the industry. Testing the all-girl format at the station didn’t last long though, and they flipped to all guys again in October of 1967—with the exception of Alison.
“She was the only girl they wanted to keep,” said Joyce. A new Progressive Rock format soon made WNEW-FM an influential station that was emulated across the industry.
After establishing the day shift with Bill “Rosko” Mercer, Jonathan Schwartz, and Scott Muni, Alison “was offered the overnight shift,” said Joyce, “obviously, because none of the guys wanted it.”
The night air was good for Alison as she spread her late night wings and flew into the hearts of her listeners. On January 1, 1968, the Nitebyrd took flight.
Ah—you noticed the contrary spelling? Even Wiki refers to Alison with two “L’s” and her personality name as the “Nightbird.” Right off the top of our interview, Joyce corrected my spellings—and that of practically every source I referenced. “Alison spelled it ‘Nitebyrd,’” said Joyce, “and her production company was Nitebyrd.” So there you have it. All other citations are incorrect and I shall do my part for historical accuracy.
More hysterical than historical, when you work the midnight shift in any industry, you often find the world can be a little wacky and weird. Eternally spooky, the midnight hour can be especially fun when paired with the personalities of Halloween.
As the progressive Rock format invaded WNEW-FM, a peculiar fella preceded Alison’s show, spreading his unique, skewered view of the world in the 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. shift.
Before John Zacherle’s WNEW stint, you may remember his rise to freaky fame as a TV horror movie host in Philadelphia and New York City. His penchant for the macabre suitably rooted him in the horror and Halloween niche—especially after Dick Clark tagged him with “The Cool Ghoul” nickname in the late 1950s.
At KNEW, if John spooked his listeners and ruffled their feathers, Alison alleviated their fears and soothed their souls, ‘til dawn. He was the perfect lead-in for her, and they became fast friends.
Too attractive to remain behind a radio microphone, Alison was back and forth between radio, television, and live shows throughout the late 1960s. Her fame, however, was in the sultry sound of her voice in the wee hours of the morning on WNEW-FM.
From the opening notes of her show, as she recited poetry in a voice that melted over your ears, backed by the soft strains of Andean flute music, you knew you were listening to the avant-garde sounds of FM radio—and the Nitebyrd. Men wanted her love, and women wanted to be her.
“The flutter of wings, the shadow across the moon, the sounds of the night, as the Nitebyrd spreads her wings and soars above the earth, into another level of comprehension, where we exist only to feel. Come … fly with me, Alison Steele, the Nitebyrd, at WNEW-FM, until dawn.”
Alison’s show wasn’t all mind-bending music. While she had your attention, she asked serious questions. After the last strains of “Mistaken Identity,“ (Janis Ian 1968) she oozed out a heady observation. “That’s really one of the problems we all have today—to know who we are. Who are you? Do you know who you are and where you’re at? It’s a big order.”
Stay tuned—we’ll catch up with Alison as she soars through the night in the Psychedelic Seventies!
Today: Alison’s accolades include the first woman to be awarded Billboard Magazine’s FM Personality of the Year (1976). Sadly, the lovely Nitebyrd was silenced much too soon, and soared heavenward in 1995. Alison left an inspiring legacy for women in broadcasting.
¯Âº¯
Copyright 2016 – LinDee Rochelle
Blast From Your Past, Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties
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