Born in Omaha, Nebraska on December 6, 1939, Steve Alaimo was a teen idol who eventually became a well-respected record producer, label owner, and TV host best known for his work on the music program Where the Action Is, a show he co-produced with Dick Clark. Steve Alaimo got his musical start in Miami, Florida in the late 1950s when he joined his cousin’s band, The Redcoats. Signed to label owner Henry Stone’s Marlin Records. The band was hired to provide musical assistance to the artists featured on the Miami leg of Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars tour. After The Redcoats broke up, Steve Alaimo worked behind the scenes in the promotional department for Tone Distributors, where he learned the inner workings of the music business. In 1961, he signed a solo deal with Checker Records and began releasing singles and albums that focused on popular dance crazes including the Twist and the Mashed Potato. His biggest chart hit was 1962’s “Every Day I Have to Cry,” which reached number 46 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. In 1965, Steve Alaimo began hosting the show Where the Action Is, an entertainment show geared towards teenagers. The show, which he co-hosted with Linda Scott, aired on weekday afternoons until 1967. When the show ended, he turned to producing other artists – including Sam & Dave and Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes – and acting in films like Wild Rebels (1967) and The Naked Zoo (1970). In the 1970s, he began working with label owner Henry Stone again, a partnership that led to Steve Alaimo playing a big role with TK Records and the disco success of artists like George McCrae and, more importantly, KC & the Sunshine Band. After TK Records’ collapse in 1981, Steve Alaimo struggled for several years but by the late 1980s, he returned to producing and set up the Vision Records label. Steve Alaimo died on November 30, 2024, at the age of 84.
