MEET THE NEW BOSS LITTLE STEVEN TAKES QUALITY RADIO PERSONALLY.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

IT'S RADIO the way it used to be - varied playlists, knowledgable DJs and a presentation that doesn't hurt your head.

Or just maybe ``Little Steven's Underground Garage'' is radio the way it never was. The two-hour weekly garage-rock blow-out is hosted by a bona fide star - Steven Van Zandt, longtime guitarist and stage foil for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and the sneer behind nightclub owner Silvio Dante in HBO's ``The Sopranos.''

Van Zandt decided to launch his own program, ``Underground Garage'' (heard locally from 10 p.m. to midnight Saturdays on KLSX-FM 97.1), last April. He said he was disappointed his favorite music - vintage punk, obscure Brit blues-rock, raucous '60s soul - was getting little or no airplay.

``Today's commercial radio aims for the lowest common denominator, and I found out years ago that we as music lovers can really do nothing about it,'' said Van Zandt, who was home in New York for Thanksgiving a few days before the Springsteen tour resumes Monday in Atlanta. ``What I want to do is get that personal relationship with the listeners back.''

In less than a year, the accolades are rolling in for the radio work of the easygoing New Jersey native. MTV calls Van Zandt ``the coolest DJ in the country.'' Rolling Stone just named him one of its People of the Year 2002.

``I'm a very mainstream guy doing a very mainstream show,'' he said. ``The thing is, this is the greatest music ever made and nobody's playing it.''

Van Zandt, 52, is hands-on about producing the program from wherever he finds himself on the road. When he was in Los Angeles in August for a Springsteen date at the Forum, he spent 10 hours at KLSX's studios putting together the show, which is first recorded, then syndicated throughout the country to stations in more than five dozen cities. When he's on the road, Van Zandt digitally records his intros on a mobile studio that travels with him. Along with the KLSX broadcast, you can find the show archived on Van Zandt's Web site (www.littlestevensundergroundgarage.com).

Where else are you going to hear the Yardbirds, the Hollies, the New York Dolls, the Animals, Davie Allen & the Arrows, the MC5, the White Stripes or the Byrds under one glorious roof?

``We're getting a great response from the audience,'' says KLSX program director Jack Silver. ``KLSX is a talk station that rocks but doesn't play much music. But between 'Underground Garage' and (Sunday morning's) 'Breakfast With the Beatles,' we actually do play a lot of music.''

After 25 years as a producer, songwriter and musician, Van Zandt was already a well-known face in music circles before his profile skyrocketed in 1999 after he was cast as the Al Pacino-inspired Dante, owner of Tony Soprano's hangout, the Bada Bing Club. Because of his fame in the award-winning cable TV series, Van Zandt endures fans shouting for Silvio during appearances with Springsteen.

At the Forum, an amused Boss explained to the audience in the kind of patient but exasperated tones reserved for toddlers: ``Silvio is a TV personality. This is Little Steven. I know it gets blurry out here.''

Van Zandt's ``Underground Garage'' - which is sponsored by Guitar Center and the Hard Rock Cafe - began seven months ago with 20 classic-rock affiliates and grew to 65 after the musician essentially went station-to-station promoting the concept to broadcasters.

``He's one of the hardest-working radio hosts I've ever met,'' KLSX's Silver said. ``He works harder preparing one two-hour show each week than some people do for a daily morning talk show.''

Music afficionados have come to appreciate Van Zandt's dedication to the sometimes lesser-known talents behind the spotlight. For example, one program was devoted to the work of the late Jack Nitzsche, who did groundbreaking work with the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and others. Other shows have focused on the film music of Martin Scorsese, the British Invasion, Mexican Independence and Halloween.

``I think the reason the show is growing in popularity is in this era of radio consolidation and corporate ownership, this is an actual rock 'n' roll street guy piloting the plane,'' said Sherman Oaks author and record producer Harvey Kubernik, who first met Van Zandt in 1975. ``We're lucky as listeners to have a host who's there to serve the music without a lot of ego. And talk about multitasking - he's got 'The Sopranos,' the E Street Band, his own solo work and now 'Underground Garage.' It's pretty incredible.''

LITTLE STEVEN'S UNDERGROUND GARAGE

Where: KLSX-FM (97.1).

When: 10 p.m. to midnight Saturdays.

On the Web: www.littlestevensundergroundgarage.com

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Photo:

no caption (Little Steven)