Kenny Scott and John Michael were the first Dead Air DJs.  The first show was broadcast on Sunday 12-11-83 from 4 to 6 PM.  Broadcasting a master -Healy patched- copy of the recent 9-11-83 Santa Fe show (that had been attended by many local Tucson "heads"). (Here is an interview with John Michael about the first "Dead Air" program in 1983 - recorded on 4-7-2000 in MP3 format.)

    Then Jim Lipson & Good-Time Charlie were pullin the load, & occasionally Hymo and Joel would sit in. George would handle the controls most of the time. Dead Air seemed to occupy the Sunday night 11 pm - midnight slot through many of those early days, nonetheless, a Tucson tradition was born and destined for bigger and better times at the new studio location on 4th Ave. Along with new equipment and energy, came new on-air volunteers including a recent transplant from Maine, Jim Blackwood.

    Still in high school at the time, Jim was recruited to take over the Sunday night show in December of 1988, playing what he could in one hour. In April 1989, Dead Air made its grand move to the Friday Midnight slot allowing Jim to play more material from his ever-multiplying tape collection. As time moved on, Jim still demanded more high-quality tapes to keep each show fresh and exciting. He acquired several co-hosts, including Paul "China Cat" Pfaff ,
Chris James, and Lorenzo Catlett, to provide additional tapes, insight, and personality to the late night Dead trip. These co-hosts have moved on but Jim, always looking to augment Dead Air with better copies of odd shows, continued to collect material. To help facilitate his collection habit, Jim happened across two more co-hosts, both of whom remain today.

    "Jack Straw" relocated to Tucson after many years in the Bay area to hear something on the radio that made his spine tingle - live Grateful Dead every week!!! After taping numerous Dead Air shows, Jack Straw finally committed to helping out in the late summer of 1991 by drawing on his experiences from hundreds of Dead shows dating back to 2-14-68. Additionally, Jack Straw (from Peoria, by the way) provided old, tasty treats including the killer Winterland 12-31-78 reels.

    John Bradford, the third voice of Dead Air, has resided in Tucson since 1979. Though first exposed to the Dead in 1980, his fascination with the band blossomed while attending Northern Arizona University in the late 1980's. From there, he re-connected with KXCI by volunteering time at the station. Eventually, completing the on-air class, John selected to take over the Thursday afternoon Music Mix slot. It was only natural for John to fall right into place as the third "J" in Dead Air.  On 3-13-99, John Bradford started Center Stage to fill a void created by the move of Dead Air from midnight to 9 PM.

    Along the way, there has been numerous folks that assisted in all forms and fashions including our compadre Charles (providing oxide support)and Diver(who designed our logo). With the help of great tapes, coffee, and conversation, Dead Air is here today.

    All three of Dead Air's current hosts share the same goal: to provide, not only an enjoyable evening of Grateful Dead music, but also a mass-trade of quality live tapes to all you collectors. Enjoy!!