Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
One of the biggest morning shows from the early 1990s through the mid-2000s was Star 94's Steve & Vikki show.
Now Steve McCoy and Vikki Locke have reunited in podcast form to reignite their magical chemistry. UPDATE: 10/10/14: McCoy has joined Spreaker, just like Doug Stewart. You can sign up here. They do it weekly in McCoy's basement and have started picking up sponsors.
Here's the latest one they did that debuted Oct. 10:
McCoy's humor (still evident in his daily Facebook observations) and Locke's sweet sensibility combined to draw a huge soccer mom contingent that made Star the top pop station of its era. Sidekick Tom Sullivan added an extra dose of goofiness. But at the end of 2007, with ratings slipping and Q100's Bert Show on the rise, Star decided they wanted to go younger and dumped Steve & Vikki.
B98.5 picked them up in 2008 for a spell but McCoy felt hamstrung by the station's tighter formatics and soon he and Locke were split up in 2010. Locke went on without him for three more years but for her, it was never the same and she retired last year.
But the trio remained steadfast friends. "Vikki, Tom and I see each other socially all the time," he wrote via Facebook, "and usually close down any restaurant we're at and we laugh. (Did you know Zesto's is open til 11 p.m.?) So I missed that with them so I wanted to get together. Plus, so many people keep asking us to please get back on air. As far as the net goes, it is changing so rapidly, that it will become the new broadcast frontier."
Sullivan was on at 94.1 for more than three decades and said he has missed radio since he left in 2008. "I still dream about radio," he said. The trio did a test run a few weeks back and taped a second one last week that went live last Friday. "We still have great chemistry," he said. "I'm not doing this for money, just for fun."
McCoy, who made the podcast available on YouTube and I Heart Radio, said reaction so far has been terrific and he already has had two advertisers approach him. So there could be money here for the taking.
The three amigos are taping a second podcast this week that should be available Friday.
In the first one made available to the public, the trio replay and reminisce about past bits and tackled some current events such as William and Kate's second baby, the Joan Rivers death, memories of Robin Williams, "Saturday Night Live" and their favorite new songs. Steve likes Maroon 5's "Maps." Vikki's favorite? Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off."
For fans, listening to them, it's like they never left. Cristy Macias-Allen, on Facebook, wrote: "I loved this! Funny as heck, you guys go together like hot chocolate and marshmallows on a snowy Sunday morning . Put a big smile on my face and warmed my heart."
Check it out here:
Is there any chance a station in town will ever pick them up again? Q100 is fully entrenched with the Bert Show. Power 96.1 skews way too young and their current hosts are in their late 20s/early 30s. B98.5 already tried them and are aiming for a more current feel although current co-host Jeff Elliott is only slightly younger than McCoy, who spent nearly three decades in Atlanta radio.
That leaves their original home Star 94, which is struggling in fourth place among four pop stations. They just dumped Jimmy Alexander earlier this month as host.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
About the Author
