End of an era at KLOS: Jim Ladd out

Legendary Los Angeles radio personality Jim Ladd has reportedly been dropped at KLOS (95.5 FM), Gary Lycan reports in the Orange County Register, citing a "reputable radio online newsletter." Lycan describes the exit of Ladd as "part of the first cuts Cumulus Media is making since it took over Citadel stations KLOS and KABC/790 AM." According to Lycan, KLOS program director and afternoon host Bob Buchmann also is out, plus other staffers at KLOS and KABC.

"Ladd was doing late nights at the station and was considered the last truly freeform DJ in the country. Ladd joined KLOS in 1997," says the site FMQB. Here's what KLOS' own site says about Ladd:

Unlike most of his contemporaries whose playlists are strictly regulated and delegated, Jim personally selects every song he plays on his show. Station management gives him complete control over the show's content. He combines music with atmospheric sound samples and social commentary, often inviting listeners to participate on the air. Most of his music sets center around a theme or story-line....

Jim began his career in 1969 at KNAC a rock oriented Long Beach station. In 1971 he moved to Los Angeles station KLOS. 1974 would find him leaving KLOS and joining KMET, a free form rock and roll format where he stayed through most of the 80's. At that time he was also hosting and producing Innerview, an hour-long nationally syndicated interview program.

Free form rock and roll all came to a screeching halt when the plug was pulled on KMET in 1987. With free form all but gone, there were very few options left in radio for free form deejays. Fortunately, for Jim, at about the time that KMET was pulled off the air, he got a call from his old friend Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame to appear on Roger's second solo album "Radio K.A.O.S.". For the album, Jim played the part of the rebel DJ and performed this role for the world tour and MTV videos.

In 1991, Jim became a "real" DJ again on the classic rock station, KLSX. That same year, his book "Radio Waves" hit the bookstands. The book was written to both commemorate free form radio and recount how it came to an end.

Ladd received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 7018 Hollywood Boulevard) in 2005.

KLOS photo