KROQ DJ Jed the Fish Dies at 69

Jed “The Fish” Gould, the pioneering Los Angeles DJ who spent 34 years on influential Los Angeles different radio station KROQ-FM as “Jed the Fish,” has died. He was 69; the trigger was lung most cancers, of which he had solely lately been identified.

Gould first joined KROQ in 1978, when it was nonetheless a tiny, struggling FM station in Pasadena, breaking punk rock, different and new wave bands earlier than anybody else — and continued there for many years, departing in 2012 after years as its afternoon jock.

“He is likely one of the kindest, funniest and essentially the most distinctive those who I’ve ever met,” stated good buddy and present KROQ DJ Megan Vacation. “He was so inspiring and endlessly inventive, and he had an infectious power. He may mild up an enviornment. I simply cherished him very a lot and was grateful for the time we received to spend collectively.”

After his time at KROQ, Gould frolicked at noncommercial California State Northridge AAA station KCSN, the place he did shifts till final fall. After a brief stint at KLOS, he additionally then briefly returned to KROQ, as a bunch on the station’s HD-2 “Roq of the ’80s” feed.

“My many years at KROQ are the core of my radio expertise,” he wrote on his LinkedIn web page. “Proper place on the proper time. We have been main the way in which however had no concept. Trying again, it’s plain the affect of this powerhouse reached past radio. TV, motion pictures and now the kinds of attitudes and intensities displayed on-line owe a lot of their processes to KROQ… Any music lover who grew up in SoCal will let you know KROQ was their buddy for a lot or most of their lives. You possibly can inform I now take satisfaction in what I did. However I actually tried to not whereas I used to be doing it… I did have some terse and morally contradictory episodes at KROQ, however I used to be handled effectively by executives and colleagues alike. I discovered little or no suggestions would stick in my head higher than the opposite approach. [Program director] Kevin Weatherly helped me be a greater me. This huge expertise raced by like all good issues. Driving to work, at the least 10 instances a month, I’d bear in mind how fortunate I used to be; that this might all be over any minute. Like the tip of the Sopranos.”

Born Edwin Jed Fish Gould III in 1955, in newer years Jed the Fish spent his time as a visible artist, working in combined media, sculpture and different varieties. Earlier than KROQ, he labored at stations together with KIQQ, KEZY and KORG. Throughout his KROQ run, he briefly left for contemporary rack KQAK and AOR KRQR San Francisco earlier than returning.

However he’ll eternally be greatest recognized for his legacy at KROQ, the place he received a number of honors, together with the Billboard Trendy Rock Persona of the 12 months award twice, in addition to the Radio & Information Native Trendy Rock Persona of the 12 months. He additionally appeared as himself in movies together with “Surf II” and “Evening Angel,” in addition to the doc “Mayor of Sundown Strip.”

As Jed the Fish, Gould’s on-air persona was recognized for a depraved, off-beat humorousness and quite a lot of loud, cackling laughs.

“It took me years of imitation earlier than I realized the simplicity of being myself on the air,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Seems this was a wacky place to take, however folks appear to love the honesty behind it. The chuckle? Individuals would usually say, ‘Jed, do your chuckle!’ I’d glibly reply, ‘Say one thing humorous.’ They usually would, and even now, in the event that they do, they get what they need. However what goes unrealized is the chuckle is definitely over a dozen laughs I subconsciously culled from members of the family in early childhood. The lingering satan chuckle was Uncle John. The low chuckle was my mother’s dad. The wheezy one, my very own dad. The giddy ‘hee hee’ from my first stepfather. I’ve a delicate, stuttering chuckle which got here from Eileen S. Corridor, mother’s mother and an incredible affect on me. The prolonged, energetic, open-throated ‘ha-haa’ that scares folks appears to be my very own, or maybe a hybrid of the above. I extremely suggest laughing at any time when attainable.”

Under, Vacation shared photographs from a David Bowie-inspired picture shoot she and Gould participated in final yr: