Fm Innovator Turns Attention To Radio Site On Internet

A media revolution? Why not? It worked once.

Legendary DJ Jim Ladd and crew defined what music should be on the FM radio of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Now Ladd has turned his attention to the Internet.

The result? Radio 2000, a page on the World Wide Web unlike any other. Talk and music you can’t find anywhere else - on the radio or the Internet - is now on-line at http:/ /radio2000.com.

“The page is a worldwide radio station,” Ladd said. “It’s a way to do FM radio that you don’t hear much anymore.” Using a combination of Web sites and RealAudio sound files, Ladd has put together a place where you can check in for the kind of programming that FM radio long ago abandoned.

Ladd does the music and history. Partner L.D. Glover handles the technical details.

Editions of his legendary “Headsets” radio program are archived at the page and updated weekly. Live concert broadcasts and music specials are on tap as well.

With a modem, RealAudio and a sound card, you can plug in.

The site went up six weeks ago with Ladd’s plan firmly in place.

In a way, the Internet is much like FM radio was years ago. It’s in the hands of a few people who are operating creatively with few rules and no “that’s how we’ve always done it” mentality.

“It is what FM radio was at the beginning, where nobody knew what to do with it,” Ladd said. “What I’m trying to do is bring all the things we learned from FM radio the good parts of it - to the Internet.”

And unlike an FM radio signal’s limitations, there are no boundaries.

“That’s the beauty of this. You can do this and listen in Bangkok or in Torrance. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Orange County or London,” Ladd said. “I had to get my mind around the fact that I’m not broadcasting just to Los Angeles. This is literally to the world.”

With any luck, Radio2000 will go live 24 hours a day, with a handpicked crew of “radio artists - not just announcers” from Ladd.

“I don’t want somebody just feeding the machine,” Ladd said. “I’m looking for somebody who can actually construct a radio show.”

They just did a live Styx concert through the Web page July 4 from Dallas. Coming shows include one from Bad Company on Aug. 4 and Peter Frampton on Aug. 15.

“You can do this and you don’t even have to be in the same state,” Ladd said with a chuckle. “I love the ‘90s.”