NoTV: 'The Last DJ' Dies at 75

[Mark Jeffries]

In an over 50-year career in radio, most of it at album rock stations in Los Angeles, Jim Ladd fought to be able to play the music he liked when he wanted to as album rock radio moved away from its pioneering "free form" days to tighter researched playlists, often going head-to-head with his bosses and listeners and inspiring Tom Petty to write his song "The Last DJ" as a tribute to him--after getting laid off from KLOS (in his second stint there) in 2011, he spent the last twelve years of his life at SiriusXM with a nightly live show on the Deep Tracks channel, getting the sort of freedom he rarely got elsewhere:

https://www.dailynews.com/2023/12/18/jim-ladd-legendary-dj-for-kmet-and-klos-dies-at-75/

A tribute from radio consultant Fred Jacobs, who had his battles with Mr. Ladd over the years (including his refusal to play Elton John songs):

https://jacobsmedia.com/there-goes-the-last-dj/

[Kevin M.]

Jim Ladd was integral to my childhood, and continued to be a fixture of my adult life as well. I was a young KMET (“little bit of heaven, 94.7, KMET … tweedle dee”) listener and remember the pain when they became “The Wave”. I remember the joy of rediscovering him on KLOS, and then the pain returned when he was fired.

I sensed something was wrong with his health when he sold is home in the Canyon and his satellite radio show was cut back to one day a week. 

I have cassette tapes of shows where I’d call in and request a single song, and Jim Ladd would build on it with a thematic set of songs that he would play long into the night. In terms of disc jockeys, Jim Ladd and Dr Demento genuinely shaped my musical sensibilities. 

I have an autographed copy of his book, but his legacy is the music he played and the community he built, formed of people who would never meet but were united in song. 

The tribal drum is silent. But the spirit lives on. 

Kevin M. (RPCV)

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[Jim Ellwanger]

I read his book years ago and found it very entertaining, although a bit annoying to read because he used fake call letters for all the radio stations, and fake names for pretty much everyone (understandable in particular because of things he said about most of the corporate folks he worked with). These days, I’m sure there’s a translation guide out there somewhere.

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