Columnist Kate Maddox: KOMP jocks trump maritally troubled Stern

Kate Maddox

Sunday, Oct. 31, 1999 | 10:09 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, only in the Las Vegas Sun. reach her at . Reach her at kmaddox@vegas.com or 259-2309.

Some local DJs have socked it to the King of All Media. The morning guys from KOMP 92.3-FM, Craig Williams, "Sweet" Al Miller and Andy Kaye, toppled shock jock Howard Stern for the first time since the world famous DJ landed in Las Vegas in 1992.

Stern, usually in a commanding position in his radio markets across the country, was finally outdone by the guys from the "Rock 'n' Roll Morning Show." The local DJs beat Stern in their quarterly ratings in the 25-49 and 25-54 demographics range. Ratings and demos are the word in radio, making and breaking shows all over the country throughout the year.

The KOMP DJs, together for about two years, are certain that this is the start of a trend, and they concur that Stern seems to have lost his edge. According to the competition, his show is starting to fizzle.

It seems like most things in Stern's life recently have gone from hot to simmer. He and his wife of 25 years, Alison, recently announced their separation. Stern attributed most of his professional success to the loving support of his wife in his famous best-selling book and hit movie "Private Parts." But rumor has it that Alison is finally giving up on her raunchy husband. He spends time on his show "evaluating" naked women and being visited by strippers. All in good fun, of course, but the missus has had enough.

Stern has spent hours on the air lamenting the split, but he has turned down the option of a leave of absence or of cooling his show's content. He does claim that this is the saddest chapter of his life and that he hopes that he and Alison will work things out.

In the meantime, if the self-proclaimed King of All Media's show suffers because of his personal troubles, the guys from KOMP are ready to pounce and capture the 5 to 10 a.m. drive time slot once and for all.

Nightclubs are taking Vegas by storm and not the ones featuring lounge singers. The casino megaclubs like Ra, Studio 54, the Venetian's new C2K, and Club Rio are conquering late-late night after-hours fun.

The competition to draw the biggest and coolest crowds is growing stiffer every week, with clubs adding special theme nights and famous DJs in an attempt to beat one another.

Not to be outdone, the Hard Rock's dance club, Baby's, will host the hottest club night to come out of NYC. Beige night, long a staple of the hip Bowery Bar in New York City, has recently branched out to Los Angeles, Miami and, coming soon, right here to Las Vegas.

Beige night is described as "an eclectic mix of '60s lounge music fused with '70s electronic influences." It was lauded by NYC's glossy guide, Paper, as "fashionable fabulosity," possessing a "tongue-in-cheek chic."

Beige night is expected to launch here at Baby's sometime in early December, with a celebrity-studded party that will bring out kings/queens of the nightlife including drag queen Billy Erb, a k a Billy Beyond. Billy has the distinction of being known as the first male supermodel -- well, male as female supermodel. Big-name fashion designers, including Todd Oldham, Thierry Mugler and Marc Bouwer, have all done work with Billy.

The Vegas opening of Beige will likely draw these famous fashionistas. Film stars and notables Parker Posey, Debbie Harry, Francis Ford Coppola, Benizio del Torro and many others have all attended Beige night at one time or another, and so have more big-name models than you can shake a Revlon contract at.

Expect to meet and shake your tailfeather with the "fabulous" crowd when Beige lands exclusively at Baby's.

Rumor has it that Mirage Resorts' Treasure Island, not to be left behind in the race for the biggest and hottest dance club in town, is planning to open one in the near future. Stay tuned.

Joshua Jackson, the hot young actor who plays Pacey on the WB network's "Dawson's Creek," was caught in a hot liplock on Thursday night after the WB Radio Music Awards. Jackson was busted making out with his blond girlfriend at the House of Blues Foundation Room. By the way, the blonde just happened to be Britney Daniel, his co-star on Dawson's Creek.

Jackson is not the shy type. When asked by a press person what designer made his awards show attire and what material it was made of, Jackson immediately began taking off his shirt in front of the press gallery, photogs and all, to check the tags for the answers to the questions.

One of France's most beloved stars, Line Renaud, was in town last week to open her new boutique at Paris Las Vegas. Renaud's shop, called Paris Line, will have exclusive French pieces from designers such as Nina Ricci and Yves Saint Laurent. The shop is the only one in America carrying these one-of-a- kind, purely French creations. Unfortunately, Renaud couldn't stay long at her opening party -- she had to jet back quickly to France to start a new movie shoot. Ooh la la.

Injured L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant was shopping at the Forum Shops last week, prior to the Suns/Lakers matchup at the Thomas & Mack Center. He didn't seem to be in a rush to warm the bench ... he was spotted just an hour before tipoff strolling alone under the blue skies of Caesars. Bryant is out with a broken hand.

And finally, some sad news for gossip lovers everywhere. The E! Entertainment Channel's "Gossip Show" has run out of scoop. According to the New York Post's Page Six, execs at E! will pull the plug on the chat-fest in January.

Some of the regulars will jump ship to a new show in development at Comedy Central. The channel with all the laughs will spoof E!'s version of gossip with a more "breezy and smart-ass" version, tentatively titled "Grapevine." What a comfort to see cable TV rescue the skinny.