I held my second Air Personality Plus+ seminar in Dallas, Texas, in 1988.
Among the 90+ attendees were two very good disc jockeys from KEGL/Dallas.
One was Jimmy Steal, now the longtime program director of Power 106/Los Angeles. The other was Kidd Kraddick.
During that weekend, Kidd was hard to miss. Rather, the sound of his large portable computer was hard to miss; he sat in the back row, constantly inputting notes into the only computer in the room.
During a break during the first day, Kidd came up to me and said, “Do you remember when I came over to your house?”
“You came over to my house?”
“Yeah. Ten years ago I was working in Fresno. I called you up and you invited me to come over, and we spent an entire afternoon on the floor of your living room, sitting in front of your stereo while you played me a bunch of airchecks. That afternoon changed the way I looked at radio.”
I still didn’t quite remember. But I knew it must have happened; I’ve always had the annoying habit of telling friends and acquaintances, “You’ve got to hear this.”
That would’ve been during Kidd’s first radio job, at KYNO-FM. He was 19 years old.
The “changed the way I looked at radio” remark staggered me.
Lest anyone mistakenly think I’m taking credit for any of Kidd’s success: No way. Kidd had everything you need to succeed as a radio personality: Intelligence. Self-awareness. Passion. Dedication. Vision. Strong work ethic. Resiliency.
He also had compassion and humor and genuinely liked people; not all successful radio jocks have those qualities, but in this biz those attributes really come in handy.
Kidd (Dave) was a natural entrepreneur.
(To me, “entrepreneur” doesn’t mean “someone who makes money.” It means “someone who has an idea, works hard to bring it to life…and possibly makes money as a result.”)
As I recall (he told me this that day in Dallas), when he was 19 he already was earning more money doing disco gigs than he was at his full-time radio job.
Fast forward to when the Internet turned the world upside down: Kidd quickly launched one of the first online show prep services. Just as later he entered the world of radio syndication, I don’t believe his primary motivation was money. It just seemed like a good idea to him, so he made it happen.
Until Rusty Humphries reminded me of this on Facebook this weekend, I had forgotten that Kidd (along with Rusty) also attended my Air Personality Plus+ seminar in Los Angeles a year later, in 1989. Among my guest speakers were Mark & Brian of KLOS.
Sometime after the seminar, I had a phone conversation with Kidd in which he related how he had approached the KLOS morning team after their session.
Mark Thompson had been cordial and courteous to him. Brian Phelps, on the other hand, “treated me like something you’d scrape off your shoe.” (I forgot the incident had occurred, but when reminded of it I immediately recalled Kidd’s report.)
Kidd really was shaken by that encounter. I remember how surprised I was by his reaction, because he so obviously was a talented, immensely likable guy who already was successful.
From what Kidd and a couple of other people told me over the years, Phelp’s shabby treatment of him made him consciously aware of the way in which he, as a celebrity, treated other people on an individual basis could have a profound effect on the other person.
Some radio people meet a rude “successful” jock and think, “Oh, so that’s how you’re supposed to act when you hit the big time.”
Kidd was smart and sensitive enough to think, “I never want to make a fan — or a colleague — feel as bad as that guy made me feel.”
Both in Dallas and in the radio industry itself, there probably are a thousand individual stories of how Dave went out of his way to make someone feel special. I doubt you’ll hear even a single tale of his playing the role of Big Shot Jerk.
Kidd, you knew I liked your work. But I wish I had thought to tell you:
I was a big fan of yours.
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Dan, thanks for a wonderful insight into what made a brilliant radio star shine. Thanks, from Enda.
I think this is a brilliant summation of his personality. I can attest and verify what you say about Kidd being one of the nicest guys is broadcasting. When I first started in radio I asked for his advice…not expecting to get a reply. Not only did he reply (to a guy he didnt know an had never met), but he offered alot of advice and tips happily and freely, he seemed genuinely interested in my goals and dreams. I will never ever ever forget that. It meant so much to me. This is a GREAT article Dan…and you are SO right on.
Dan –
Great story.
There is, however, a footnote to the Mark & Brian story that’s important. In Rusty Humphries’ video, Kidd relates that story, adding in an important postscript. After the Brian incident happened, Kidd went on the air and talked about it. He asked his audience if something like that – someone you admire is rude to you – had ever happened to them.
A caller said, Yes … you did it to me!
Kidd was surprised and asked for more details.
Kidd was at a remote, the caller came up to him and asked how to get into radio. Kidd’s response was something like, take off the back and hop in.
I’m working off memory here, so check out Rusty’s video for the exact story. But … I think seeing Brian’s behavior in himself made the experience even more salient and probably impacted how he treated people in the future.
Kidd was a great talent and he will be missed.
Awesome! Thx.
Great story! Thanks Dan!
Very well said Dan!
KIdd was amazing, learned so much from him…
Dan – I never knew Kidd but now feel as though I missed out on something special. Thanks for putting your unique touch on a story of a guy who seemed to love doing radio, and did it well.
I met Kid once at a boot camp back when I did mornings under the name Bob Gnarly. I said to him upon our meeting “Can you imagine having a radio name like Bob Gnarly?”.. he laughed and said “Can you imagine being a full grown man working the rest of your career being called Kid?”. A very talented and cool guy for sure.
Very nice Dan. I only met Kidd once, but he was gracious and took the time to talk to me like a human and not a “celebrity”. He will be missed.
Thanks for sharing the story. Its a good reminder for every Air Talent to remember they all put their pants on the same way…. One leg at a time. Be nice to the people you come across when you are on top, because you may find that person on top one day.
Great story, Dan… Thank you.
Dan, I saw you once at a seminar in Scotland and you made me change the way I look at radio too. I’m sure you have bad that effect on many, many other radio people. Nice piece.
Excellent story Dan. I did some work at KEGL and Kidd was never anything but nice to me,…the young guy who did overnights. He was such an inspiration. May he rest in peace. Thank you for sharing.
I never met Kidd, but respected his talent. I have met Mark & Brian and didn’t have the same experience. They came to Bakersfield to do their show and were fun to work with.
Dan, I was at that seminar in Dallas! I won a “The Bobs” cassette from you. The night of the seminar, Dave asked if anybody wanted to go up to the station to see the studios. I jumped at the chance and he let me ride with him. It was a blast seeing the nice studio compared to the one in which I had to work. I remember feeling intimidated, but Kidd really made me feel at home. It was his example and a great presentation from Ross Britain that afternoon, and of course your informative seminar that set me on pace to being a radio “personality” and not an announcer.
Kidd was a young guy at KYNO when he called me about an opening we had at the time at KSTT in the Quad Cities. He wanted so much to do mornings. He told me how he’d posed as a high school-aged person just to be able to relate to their lifestyle & reflect it on the air. I’ve never been more impressed by an air talent’s will to understand audience audience.
@ Greg Gawronski: To be perfectly clear: I’ve known Mark Thompson (of Mark & Brian) from the time he subscribed to my comedy service when he was in Montgomery, Alabama. (O’LINERS didn’t really help his career, other than, perhaps, to make him realize one-liners weren’t his radio forte.) I never experienced Mark as anything but friendly, courteous, and an altogether decent guy.
@Andy: Wow, thank you. I really appreciate your sharing that with me.
Do you have any more written stories of him? I miss kidd, I wish I could’ve been a fan of his longer, I’m still stuck listening to past episodes of kidd kraddick in the morning.