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Longtime morning radio disc jockey J.D. Barber, whose real name was Edward Tisdale, had a fatal heart attack, said former Z104 program director Jonathan Little. He was 65.
Barber, born in Viroqua, Wis., decided on a radio career after serving a tour of duty in Vietnam with the Navy. He attended the Brown Radio Institute in the Twin Cities and got his first radio job at WISM Madison in 1969, Little said.
A year later, he took a job as a program director in Two Rivers, Wis., where, according to Little, he made a name for himself as a “very funny morning man and a hitmaker.” He proved his ear for hits when, the story goes, he became the first person in the country to play the Bellamy Brothers’ “Let Your Love Flow.”
In 1980, Barber returned to Madison to host the Z104 morning show. With Barber at the microphone, it was the No. 1 morning show in the Madison market, Little said.
“It was one of the most entertaining radio shows I’ve heard since I’ve been the business.” Little said. “First of all, he was a really good DJ. He knew the music. But he was also a funny guy. He did one-liners. He was a comedy writer.”
Barber, who often joked about the struggle of getting up at 3:30 a.m., became the morning DJ at Country Q106 in 1991. He semi-retired five years ago, Little said, continuing some radio work.
Barber was diagnosed with lymphoma about a year ago, Little said, but was in remission.
He is survived by wife Ruthann, of Middleton, Wis., and two daughters. Funeral arrangements are through Gunderson Funeral Home.
Deborah Ziff is a reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison.
