“Jed The Fish” Gould, the quirky, influential Los Angeles radio DJ who lorded over KROQ-FM’s drivetime slot for 34 years, died Monday of lung cancer at his home. He was 69. The news was announced on his Instagram page and social media.
“The world lost one of its most unique and brilliant personalities,” the IG post reads in part. “The world will never be the same.”
Born Edwin Jed Fish Gould III on July 15, 1955, he joined the Pasadena-based KROQ in 1978 as its musical director while punk rock and new wave were gaining momentum. He moved to the night shift in 1979 and was a big part of the station’s “ROQ of the ’80s” push early in that decade. He moved to San Francisco in 1985 to join KQAK-FM for three months before doing a brief weekend stint at Bay Area rival station KRQR before returning to KROQ and taking over the 3-6 p.m. afternoon-drive slot.
During his tenure, KROQ went from also-ran to influencer and leader in the busy L.A. rock radio market. He and the station embraced the changing rock landscape — while rivals including KMET, KLOS and KWST were playing what later in the decade would be labeled “classic rock” and heavy metal, KROQ focused on the burgeoning modern rock scene. Its “ROQ of the ’80s” format also spread, first in California at 91X San Diego and KQAK “The Quake” in San Francisco.
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As the outlet’s listener base and cultural impact grew, Jed the Fish led the way. Funny, often snarky and always listenable, he spun tracks from the likes of The Smiths and Depeche Mode — cementing those bands in particular as Los Angeles favorites before many other markets caught on. Those two in particular remain wildly popular in the City of Angels. He often broke new songs and/or bands by playing them as his “Catch of the Day.”
One memorable moment came in 1994, as Green Day’s breakout album Dookie was dominating the airwaves and charts. As the band’s ubiquitous hit “Basket Case” began with the lyric, “Do you have the time to listen to me whine?,” Gould used the scratching-vinyl sound effect, cut the record off, yelled “No!” and moved on to the next song.
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The station’s popularity and influence continued to expand during the ’80s, and KROQ was bought by Infinity Broadcasting for a record $45 million in 1986. During the era, it also launched the careers of many other personalities including Rodney Bingenheimer — who’s Sunday night fixture “Rodney on the ROQ” was a sought-after spin for alternative bands — Richard Blade, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Jim “Poorman” Trenton, Adam Carolla and Kevin Ryder and Gene “Bean” Baxter aka Kevin and Bean.
Rolling Stone readers named KROQ as Radio Station of the Year in 1992 and 1993, and Gould was named Billboard’s Modern Rock Personality of the Year in 1997 and 1999.
Gould’s 1989 arrest on heroin charges made headlines, and he went into recovery treatment. He and ex-KROQ jocks Chuck Randall and April Whitney created a two-hour radio show called Clean and Crazy. “We wanted to remind people that you can still have fun and be creative, and be clean.”
Gould also hosted the long-running nationally syndicated countdown show Out of Order –– playing America’s top alt-rock songs of the week out of order. After leaving KROQ, Gould worked at KCSN from 2012-18 and had a brief stint at KLOS Los Angeles. He returned to host the 6 p.m.-midnight Sunday slot on KROQ’s HD channel in 2019.
Gould also had acting credits as a radio announced in the films Surf II (1983) and Night Angel (1990) annd appeared in the 2003 Bingenheimer documentary Mayor of the Sunset Strip. He also is featured — with a pistol pointed at his head — on the cover of Reel Big Fish’s 1996 album Turn the Radio Off, which featured the ska punk band’s hit single “Sell Out.”
Here’s Jed the Fish in action during an episode of Out of Order:
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