Kraddick (David Peter Cradick) was originally from Napoleon, Ohio, and grew up in Dunedin (FL). He decided he wanted to be in radio while serving as president of his high school 10th grade class. Since they didn’t have enough money to hire a deejay to emcee a dance the class was sponsoring for the seniors, he snuck his dad’s stereo out of the house and did it himself. From that point on, he was hooked. 

 

David’s first radio job was running the Sunday preacher tapes for Miami’s Y100 while going to the University of Miami. He dropped out after a semester and enrolled in a 10-week broadcasting class, then landed an overnight shift at Sarasota’s WKXY using the air-name Dave Dees. In the late 1970’s, at the age of 18, he was hired at Tampa’s Q105. Eventually, PD Mason Dixon convinced him to pick a first name that would emphasize how young he was and to use his real last name. The end result became “Kidd Kraddick”.

 

After stints as a night jock at various stations, he moved to Dallas’ Kiss-FM KHKS in 1992 and transitioned to mornings. In 2001, his show, “Kraddick in the Morning,” went the syndication route to hundreds of cities across the country and worldwide on American Forces Radio.

 

David “Kidd” Kraddick passed away from cardiac disease July 28, 2013 while at a golf tournament in New Orleans for his “Kidd’s Kids” charity. He was 53.