Jim Ladd, Radio Veteran and SiriusXM Personality, Dead at 75
He was the inspiration for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “The Last DJ"
I used to hear him on KMET.
Was just about to post this.
The voice of Radio KAOS is stilled. That’s a substantial bit of my growing up.
Little bit of Heaven, 94.7
KMET…tweedle dee
The name sounded familiar, and it turned out he did “Innerview”, where he interviewed popular artists. I loved that program, which aired on Sunday evenings when I was in high school and college (the first time).
I listened to innerview (syndicated) growing up in Wisconsin. Then when I moved to LA it was quite the surprise to hear him regularly on the radio.
I liked the show a lot…except he really was an appeaser to Roger Waters. Never asked any hard questions, accepted everything. Yes, you’re on Radio KAOS. Was it worth it?
I bet he loved Talk Like A Pirate day.
Not haveing grown up in an American media market, I knew Jim Ladd only from his Roger Waters connection. How quaint it seems now that back in 1987 he and Waters were railing against “format radio” and now with satellite and streaming, there’s nothing but format radio out there. Still, Radio K.A.O.S was a pretty cool concept and the tour shook up how concerts could be presented.
If you can find a copy of Ladd’s book on the early days of FM radio, it’s worth the read.
Jim was also the inspiration for the character Jeff Dugan in the movie FM.
I used to listen to “The Seventh Day” on Sundays. I remember being disappointed in him when he didn’t play side 4 of All Things Must Pass, saying something like “we weren’t ready for it”. 
I always hear this when I hear mention of KMET.
And the infamous Billboard Stunt. Back when you could be driving around an Orange County beach with the radio on, stop at a light on PCH and the car in front of you and beside you are listening to the same station - The Mighty Met. The Five O’Clock Funnies (they told one of my jokes once!). The Fish Report With A Beat.
Good times.
Me too.
That was most likely Uncle Joe Benson on KLOS. 6-10 Sunday nights KMET featured 4 hours of Dr. Demento live (not the 2 hour nationally syndicated show unless the Dr. was on vacation). “The Seventh Day” was on KLOS and before that on K-WST before they switched from “Album Oriented Rock” (AOR) to Top 40.
Damn. This one hurts. Jim Ladd was my platonic ideal of a DJ, what with the thematic connections and grouping songs to tell a story. Sure, he was little too obsessed with Pink Floyd, The Doors and Led Zeppelin (at high school poker nights our drinking game was chug the rest of your drink if Ladd played one of those 3 - we were usually wasted by 11 pm).
His voice got me through Dec.8, 1980, the night John Lennon was murdered. Out of the West Coast the news broke around 8:45 pm. Jim came on at 10 just as bewildered and pissed off as the rest of us. It was the first time I heard “Working Class Hero” without any bleeping on the air, and he played it multiple times during his shift.
One of his best InnerViews was the two-parter with Roger Waters where they went through “The Wall” song by song with Roger telling us what he meant after Ladd gave his interpretation as a listener.