RIP Jim Ladd

[BigAl84]

It was announced yesterday that longtime Los Angeles radio host Jim Ladd had passed away. His interviews with Stevie over the years are classic!

https://www.dailynews.com/2023/12/18...os-dies-at-75/

[Macfan4life]

He was really good and I grew up listening him to interview all the rock stars. He loved Stevie, probably a little too much. His RAL interview he kissed her butt so much. He had egg on his face because he was praising her for writing the lyrics to Talk To Me and gushing about a certain line in the song. Stevie had to come forth and tell him....Jim, I did not write Talk To Me

[David]

Sad to see Jim Ladd pass. Jim was Fleetwood Mac’s biggest ally in radio. To commemorate his passing, we should post all his Mac (and solo) interviews here in this thread. He interviewed them in the wake of the white album success.

In later years, he DJ’d late into the night on various underground radio stations. “Sisters of the Moon” was a staple in his playlist. He says he loved its “totemic power.”

I think if Stevie ever felt she was in Dylan’s class as a songwriter, it was because Jim told her.

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

He was really good and I grew up listening him to interview all the rock stars. He loved Stevie, probably a little too much. His RAL interview he kissed her butt so much. He had egg on his face because he was praising her for writing the lyrics to Talk To Me and gushing about a certain line in the song. Stevie had to come forth and tell him....Jim, I did not write Talk To Me

I was intrigued by this, because as you know, Talk to Me is one of my favorite songs, so I looked for the interview on YouTube, and I think you may have misheard or misunderstood Jim- he said pretty much right from the beginning he wanted to discuss Talk to Me even though she hadn’t written the song. So he did know Stevie didn’t write it, but he still wanted to ask her about it, specifically about the line “a wound gets worse when it’s treated with neglect.”

This was the first time I’d ever listened to one of his interviews, and he was really good. I presume he was knowledgeable with all his interviewees? Thanks for bringing this up.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by bwboy

I was intrigued by this, because as you know, Talk to Me is one of my favorite songs, so I looked for the interview on YouTube, and I think you may have misheard or misunderstood Jim- he said pretty much right from the beginning he wanted to discuss Talk to Me even though she hadn’t written the song. So he did know Stevie didn’t write it, but he still wanted to ask her about it, specifically about the line “a wound gets worse when it’s treated with neglect.”

This was the first time I’d ever listened to one of his interviews, and he was really good. I presume he was knowledgeable with all his interviewees? Thanks for bringing this up.

I have solved the mystery. My memory was an early phone interview with Stevie when Talk To Me was released. I remembered it for 2 reasons. It was where I learned Talk To Me was not written by Stevie and for the awkwardness of the interview when Stevie corrects Jim that she did not write the song.
I went and found the Jim Ladd interview that you did where they discuss Talk To Me and he acknowledges she did not write the song. But there are clues in that interview that it was a mop up job. Jim starts with Talk To Me and profoundly proclaims that Stevie did not write the song. I found that odd and knew there must have been a reason he seemed to be over correcting himself. Sure enough I found the interview. My memory was her on the phone from Australia but its from her home in Phoenix right before she goes. And sure enough he starts praising her for the writing on Talk To Me and then asks her how she came to write the song. There is phone silence and then Stevie says "Jim, I did not write it." Clearly embarrassed Jim says "Thanks alot Stevie" Then Stevie fires back in a funny way "well you asked the question Jim" In Jim's defense Stevie was a prolific songwriter and she always wrote her own songs. But this was a new era for Stevie in more ways than one.
My chiffon may be worn out, tattered and stained but my idol worship memory holds.
This is why when she shows up in the studio many months later he starts right away about Talk To Me and goes out of his way to point out that she did not write it. I found that interview hysterical how Stevie over embellishes and says its a song she would have written anyway. I personally hate the professional empty pop songs that she sings. IMHO it would be like giving one of those songs to Bruce. Its like nails down the chalkboard: Talk To Me, Everyday, Cry Wolf. Stevie's songs usually have mystery, hidden meanings, metaphors. I think she feels the same way which is why she does not do them in concert.
Hold on to your chiffon. Here we go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJyOaOEiOcU

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

My chiffon may be worn out, tattered and stained but my idol worship memory holds.

I personally hate the professional empty pop songs that she sings. IMHO it would be like giving one of those songs to Bruce. Its like nails down the chalkboard: Talk To Me, Everyday, Cry Wolf. Stevie's songs usually have mystery, hidden meanings, metaphors.

I’m glad you didn’t think I was trying to be a know it all- your chiffon is still intact! It didn’t occur to me there would have been several interviews with Jim Ladd for Rock a Little.

While I agree with you that often times, songs not written by Stevie don’t sound as inspired when she sings them, Talk to Me is an exception. I appreciated this interview because she elaborated how she recorded it, which backed up what she had said elsewhere- she was having trouble getting the vocal she wanted, just about everyone else went home, and some guy in the next studio came in and was her audience while she sang it, and she finally got the vocal she wanted. The fact that she was trying so hard to get the song right shows how passionate she felt about the song, I think. I can almost guarantee she didn’t spend four months off and on working on Everyday or Cry Wolf.

Anyway, thanks for digging this interview up!

[David]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJyOaOEiOcU

I was the guy who taped that interview off the radio (the phone call). Ladd gave about thirty minutes’ notice that he was going to be on the phone with Stevie. Plenty of time to grab a blank cassette (unlike those Mary Turner Off the Record snippets, which just appeared out of nowhere on KMET).

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by David

I was the guy who taped that interview off the radio (the phone call). Ladd gave about thirty minutes’ notice that he was going to be on the phone with Stevie. Plenty of time to grab a blank cassette (unlike those Mary Turner Off the Record snippets, which just appeared out of nowhere on KMET).

Really cool. He really loved Stevie.

[David]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Really cool. He really loved Stevie.

Is anybody up for a designated thread for posting all the Ladd interviews with Mac people over the years? Should I start such a thread? Some of them can be just links to YouTube so we can find them all.

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by David

Is anybody up for a designated thread for posting all the Ladd interviews with Mac people over the years? Should I start such a thread? Some of them can be just links to YouTube so we can find them all.

I'd vote yes.

I think it's good to build an archive of actual interviews and capturing what was really said and done over her career.... because there's a whole new generation of people who were not around during that era who have begun putting all sorts of weird and often nonsensical versions of her career out there... it's becoming like The Crown..totally bogus made up crap.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by David

Is anybody up for a designated thread for posting all the Ladd interviews with Mac people over the years? Should I start such a thread? Some of them can be just links to YouTube so we can find them all.

That would be great! I read on a very old thread here that he interviewed the band in 1982 and asked Chris what older Mac song she would like to re-record with the newer line up and she supposedly said Prove Your Love.
I don't think he interviewed Chris for her solo album which is a shame. That would have been a great interview. Many of these radio guys who were or claimed to be big Fleetwood Mac fans went off the radar when Chris's solo album came out. I loved Dick Clark. He always proclaimed his love for Fleetwood Mac and especially Chris and called her one of his favorite song writers. When her solo album came out he immediately booked her on American Bandstand to introduce the world to her new music and her band. She even got to perform 2 new songs on the same show! His praise of Chris on that show was genuine saying the same things to her that he said without her in his presence. Us fans waited and waited for Rockline and other radio guys to feature her and the new album but it never happened
**still bitter after all these years**

[sleepless child]

Wow! I didn't realize Dick Clark loved Chris that much. Awesome

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by sleepless child

Wow! I didn't realize Dick Clark loved Chris that much. Awesome

Can you imagine the big talent Dick met over his career. When he had Chris on, he is gushing and told everyone what a big fan he was. He even says "I never get mushy" praising someone but he was so honored to meet her. He is like a teenager meeting their idol telling her how many records of hers he has bought. Chris responds "I am flattered"

In the 1980s Dick had a radio top 40 countdown show that was not as popular as Casey Kasem's. But when a solo Fleetwood Mac artist or a Mac song charted, he always reminded the audience was a huge fan he was of the band. Later on he had an adult contemporary countdown radio show that featured lots of As Long As You Follow and Skies the Limit with lots of praise for the band and little tid bits of knowledge.

Check it out at 3:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXVYJAk8MYA