He was “the Godfather of Radio”… an absolutely amazing man with a heart of gold and the host of the “Kidd Kraddick in the Morning” radio show (a Dallas based show that is syndicated and plays all over the country).
This show that is linked below was on 7/22/13. He died on 7/27/13.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maCy7ZRqNNE
It makes me wonder if he knew he was having health problems and knew he might die soon but just didn't want to freak people out. What if this was his way "saying goodbye" in his own Kidd Kraddick way?
I have never cried over the death of someone I have never met until I found out Kidd Kraddick had died. The “Kidd Kraddick in the Morning” show helped me get through some serious homesickness and keep my sanity…..
The Kiss station where I grew up in NY was Kiss 98.5 and the morning show was Janet and Nicholas Pickle-as (not so sure on the spelling there). That morning show was what my bus driver had on the radio every morning from K-11th grade. 12th grade I drove myself to school and I listened to the same station out of habit. Ages 19-21….same station. At 21 I joined the Navy and left the Kiss 98.5 broadcasting area…
My first command after boot camp and training was in Fort Worth, TX. I missed music and the radio and driving and the very first thing I did after I got a car was start hunting for a decent music station that played the same music that Kiss 98.5 did. I was homesick and I didn’t know that “Kiss” was a common radio station name. The second I heard “One-oh-six-point-one… Kiss FM” I was hooked.
Every morning on the way to work I would listen to Kidd and the gang. Their show was so much better than the one I grew up listening to. Kidd wasn’t on the radio…he was in the passenger’s seat of my car making me laugh and cry as I drove to work. Listening to Kidd and the gang wasn’t like listening to faceless people on the radio….it felt like you were in your living room on a Friday night with friends laughing so hard your stomach hurt at some story that was being told.
Kidd founded Kidd’s Kids…an organization that raises money to send terminally and chronically ill children and their families to Disney World. He also did a segment on his show around Christmas time called Breaking and Entering Christmas. People would write in about a family that could use a little help around the holidays…they would pick one family and, while they were out of the house, Big Al and a bunch of other people would break into their house and set up a Christmas tree and pile presents under it. TV’s, game consoles, bikes, gift cards…. Then the family would come home and walk it their house filled with strangers and Kidd would talk to them live on the air while they cried and thanked everyone repeatedly.
Here are some more links to show clips for you to enjoy.
A clip from a Kidd’s Kids trip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJN1YajsJ10&feature=c4-overview&list=UU4Uog926aTE7WM-Oq8DNHYQ
Breaking and Entering Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3cLJlBfhSY
And here is a “Best of 2012” Montage so you can see what a typical drive to work was like…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVpqOEjk8hI
Kidd’s signature line was, “Keep lookin’ up… ‘cause that’s where it all is.”
R.I.P. Kidd. Keep lookin' down....that's where we all are.
Keep livin' the dream!
~Turtle
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