Category: 6 Music
Date: 09.11.2005
Printable version
91Èȱ¬ 6 Music goes underground on Christmas Day, when rocker-turned-actor Steve Van Zandt takes over the digital airwaves.
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Known to music fans as the bandana-wearing guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band - and to fans of The Sopranos as gangster Silvio Dante - Steve Van Zandt has a third, less visible, presence as a cult radio DJ, preaching the gospel of rock'n'roll to North America on Little Steven's Underground Garage Show.
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Since its debut broadcast on 7 April 2002, the show's innovative playlist and unique commentary have attracted enthusiastic listeners and critical acclaim.
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Rolling Stone called Little Steven's Underground Garage Show "mind-blowingly great" and it has grown rapidly in just three years to broadcast on more than 142 North American radio stations.
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Steve is a passionate and knowledgeable champion of music, who defines garage rock as back-to-basics rock'n'roll with a direct connection to the Sixties: "I truly believe that real rock'n'roll music is universal and timeless; it transcends trends and fashion.
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"The fact that rock'n'roll has been driven into the underground these past ten years - and really is no longer part of the mainstream culture - is something that needs to be corrected to some extent. And that's why I started to do this."
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Steve believes that "good radio, like good rock'n'roll, has personality," and over the course of two hours he takes his listeners on a high-energy journey of enlightenment to the centre of rock'n'roll.
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His playlist spans the decades, from Chuck Berry and Fats Domino through the Yardbirds, The Kinks and the Rolling Stones; to The Velvet Underground, Ramones and Patti Smith; arriving at the present day with Foo Fighters, The White Stripes and new bands like Mando Diao and The Mooney Suzuki.
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Other festive highlights include a Christmas Day show presented by Martha Wainwright (with special guest Beth Orton); the 6 Music debut of irreverent Essex comic Russell Brand; a music review of 2005 from The Queens of Noize; The 6 Music Chart of The Year; and the return of the New Year's Eve Disco, where 6 Music's DJs battle for turntable supremacy.
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Notes to Editors
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Little Steven's Underground Garage Show will broadcast on 6 Music at 6.00pm on Christmas Day.
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6 Music is available on DAB digital radio, digital satellite (channel 870), digital cable (channel 865 or 909), Freeview (channel 707) and online at bbc.co.uk/6music.
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For further details of Steve or his show please see www.littlestevensundergroundgarage.com.
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For interview requests and sampler CD, please contact 6 Music Publicity.
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