On The Passing Of Jim Ladd

Paul Rogers, Jim Ladd, Neal Schon / photo: Cris Cohen

Jim Ladd, another radio legend and mentor, has died. Here is the obituary in the Los Angeles Times.

I was Jim’s assistant at KLSX in Los Angeles from 1992 – 1994. I met him when I was interning at KRLA, the oldies station that operated out of the same office. First, I just asked Jim questions. Then I started answering the phones during his show. By the end I was booking guests. Eventually I left because I got my own shift at a station in Santa Barbara.

I don’t have a photo of me with him. But I did find the shot above, which I took when Paul Rodgers and Neal Schon stopped by the studio for an interview with Jim.

Jim was one of the few remaining deejays in the United States allowed to choose what songs he played. Everyone else had to follow the list printed out for them.

He would cross-fade songs, add in short spoken word pieces from people like Timothy Leary, weave together thematic sets around philosophy, politics, exploring the open road, etc. As he described it, it was theater of the mind.

He had a once-a-week segment called “Headsets,” where he really let loose, creating immersive audio experiences. When that became syndicated, I co-wrote an episode called “The Struggle Within.”

If you can find a copy, check out Jim’s autobiography, “Radio Waves: Life And Revolution On The FM Dial.” It is a fun, interesting look at the early days of rock radio.

Jim definitely had some impressive career high points. Tom Petty wrote the song “The Last DJ” about him. That’s Jim you hear throughout the Roger Waters album “Radio K.A.O.S.” When I saw the Eagles perform a concert at The Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, Glenn Frey changed the lyrics for “Heartache Tonight,” singing “Some time before the sun comes up, Mr. Jim Ladd’s going to play our song.”

But really the best thing about Jim was his genuine love of music and the potential for radio to be an artform and not just the audio version of a fast-food drive-thru window.