The Real Don Steele Went Hollywood in “Death Race 2000,” Co-Starring a Young Sylvester Stallone

This popular deejay found a new audience with his film roles, such as this outrageous b-movie, co-starring a future Hollywood legend.

by Rich Watson 

This post is part of the Favorite Stars in B-Movies Blogathon, a blog event. At the end I’ll tell you where to find more posts like this.

After a tour of duty up and down the radio stations of the Pacific Northwest and the Bay Area during the fifties and sixties, Don Steele found a home in Los Angeles, at KHJ. Their new “Boss Radio” format, the same one Tom Donahue forsook in San Francisco, turned Steele into a star on TV as well as radio.

In 1975, he appeared in the first of a handful of films, albeit a B-movie. He shared the screen with an up-and-coming actor who was one year away from superstardom.

Tom Donahue’s Sideline As a Record Producer

The pioneer of progressive rock on the radio was also a producer in sixties San Francisco, during his Top 40 days.

by Rich Watson 

Tom Donahue, the San Francisco deejay who created a revolution in rock and roll radio through the progressive, or freeform, format, also helped develop the local music scene during the sixties as a record producer.

The bands he signed paved the way for the musical explosion in the Bay Area during the Summer of Love and beyond.