'Late Late Show' voice remembers UA fondly
By Gerald M. Gay
ggay@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.08.2009
For the last several years, radio trailblazer and voiceover personality Shadoe Stevens has been the voice of the "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" on CBS.
So it's not surprising that the announcer had plenty of things to say about the Scottish-American television host in a recent phone interview with Caliente.
"He is one of the smarter people I have known," said Stevens, a 61-year-old University of Arizona alumnus.
"He is not as wacky as he is on television, but he is that witty. He says things that are so funny that you want to go and write them down."
Had Ferguson talked with Caliente to preview his upcoming Rialto Theatre performance, we would have picked his brain about Stevens, a man whose career has included:
● Breaking new ground in radio as program director for the Los Angeles stations KRLA and KROQ.
● Hosting "American Top 40" from 1988 to 1995, the wildly popular, internationally broadcast radio program co-founded by Casey Kasem.
● Appearing in a number of television shows through the 1980s and '90s including as a regular on the Harry Anderson television series "Dave's World" from 1993 to 1997. Stevens also appeared on and announced for two incarnations of the popular game show "Hollywood Squares."
On attending the University of Arizona: "I loved everything about the University of Arizona and everything about Tucson. When I came from North Dakota to Tucson, I stepped into the big time. It was a clean, open city with a really attractive environment. It was big enough to be interesting and exciting and small enough not to be overwhelming. You could go up to the mountains to go skiing or go to Sabino Canyon to hike. You could go to the desert and see saguaro cactus. When I was there, I thought I could easily live there forever."
On his time with KRLA: "They gave me the job as program director and I had never been one before. I had to figure out what it was about radio entertainment that pulled people in. I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. I created a station that nobody had ever heard before. It was way over the top. It was bigger than life. It was full of unpredictables. It was different from the kind of music played to the way it was played to the landscape where it was played. When it went on the air, it was huge."
Then with KROQ: "KROQ was the next step. That was all cutting-edge music, all the time. It was really revolutionary. Before that, you had to keep it kind of calm during the day. The morning had to be kinder and gentler, and those little old ladies listening couldn't take the loud, exciting music midday, so you had to keep it kind of calm until late afternoon.
"Once I figured out what I was doing, it was like, 'What else can I do?' I had to come up with other ideas. Do a new character. Bring out new jingles. I always had to do something so the station was always growing, changing or evolving. I had to do whatever it took to make it unpredictable. And that required constant attention."
On "American Top 40": "It was exciting because it was a high-profile position. There were more than 1,000 people auditioning for it, including actors and television people. I was on a roll at that moment so I got the job. It wasn't easy. They were paranoid I wouldn't be as good as Casey and people wouldn't accept me. They insisted on writing for Casey, and I wouldn't talk like that. I had to rewrite everything.
"They sent me to vocal coaches and all kinds of humbling things because they were so anxious I wasn't going to be any good. My first four-hour show took 18 hours to record. I was full of anxiety, but I was being paid well so I dragged myself through it. It turned out to be successful."
How he ended up on the "Late Late Show": "That was one of those magical things. I knew Craig socially and always liked him. Then he became host of this show and he was so good I couldn't believe it. I used to TiVo him so I could watch his monologues. I was a huge fan.
"All of a sudden my agent in New York said we got a call from the "Late Late Show," and they wanted to know if I could be the voice of the show. I asked when they wanted me down there. It is a great job. There are no demands and I do so little. Most of it is being there when they need me. It gives me time to sit in my dressing room and work on all my other projects."
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