Headsets

Oh My Gosh! Headsets! The ultimate Jim Ladd head trip!

Jim Ladd used to do this new-age-spoken-word-tone-poem late-night radio show on KLOS back in what, the early 90's?

I have a bunch on audiotape, which I've been thinking of transferring to MP3 when I get the chance. But of course leave it to Ladd to be ready for the new Millennium and come out with new Headsets on CD. The only thing better would be an ongoing Podcast.

This guy's voice is a time machine for me, taking me back to late night driving along Mulholland with that sonorous timbre practically vibrating my little car. Even then I knew the show was really aimed at a different crowd, one surrounded by a certain tangy smoke. But even without chemical enhancement, it was consciousness-altering, slowing my pulse and widening my perspective in a life largely filled with rush and focus. In other words, "Oh wow, look at the moon."

I first discovered Jim Ladd through his syndicated rock interview show -- I listened over and over to his interviews with the guys from Styx. Moving to LA where he was a local DJ was like finding an old friend. One of my favorite obscure treasures is Roger Waters' album, Radio KAOS, an apocalyptic rock opera in which the DJ is played by.... Jim Ladd.

I found out about Headsets.com by pulling up next to a parked SUV in Burbank that had a "Jim Ladd Headsets" graphic painted on the rear wheelcover. Maybe I should have stalked that car to see if Jim Ladd was driving it. No reason it couldn't have been....

Click through to his myspace page to hear a sample. *happy sigh*