Jim Ladd

Jim Ladd
Ladd in July 2012
Born	(1948-01-17) January 17, 1948 (age 69) United States
Occupation	Disc jockey, radio personality, writer
Spouse(s)	Helene Hodge-Ladd

Jim Ladd (born January 17, 1948), an American disc jockey, radio producer and writer, is one of the few notable remaining freeform rock DJs in United States commercial radio. Ladd first gained national prominence as host of the hour long, nationally syndicated radio program Innerview, which aired weekly on over 160 stations nationwide for twelve years. Ladd has interviewed the likes of John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Rush, U2, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Eagles and Led Zeppelin.

Ladd selects the songs he plays on his Nationwide SiriusXM Deep Tracks Freeform Radio show, transforming them into Freeform rock. He often invites listeners to participate on the air. Most of his music sets are organized on a theme or story-line, such as Old West outlaws, beautiful women, fast cars, or politics. He also takes listener requests; sometimes such a request will inspire an entire set.

He had three theme-based shows every week, on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday nights. On Monday, Jim featured the Blues on 'MOJO MONDAY' from 10PM PST to 11PM. On Wednesday at midnight, he performed an hour-long, uninterrupted segment called "Headsets." This is a theme-based collage of music blended seamlessly together, with one song leading into the next, incorporating sound effects such as voice overs and quotes from movies relating to the theme. On this program Ladd creates what he calls the "Theater of The Mind" (headphones are recommended). In addition to music, the weekly "Headsets" show featured poetry performed and written by spoken word artists such as Helene Hodge and Victoria Cyr. There have been two "Headsets" albums released, both done in collaboration with Billy Sherwood.

Sunday night began at 9PM PST (to Midnight), a theme show called "Theme of Consciousness", where Ladd played listeners' requests for songs based on a single word or phrase, such as "colors", "fire", "dance". This show recreates what Ladd calls the "Tribal Drum", describing the communal effect of radio in his pioneering days of FM radio. His repertoire combined classic rock standards by artists like The Beatles, The Doors and Led Zeppelin with songs and artists not normally heard on commercial radio. As was once standard in radio, most of his broadcasts end with a long song, such as The Doors' "When the Music's Over", Led Zeppelin's "Achilles Last Stand" or even Pink Floyd's 23-minute-long "Echoes".