Californian singer/songwriter Jim Wagner is continuing his quest prove that he was the originator 'The Last DJ', made famous by Tom Petty.
Wagner wrote the song 'The Last Great Radio DJ' about KLOS DJ Jim Ladd, a close friend of Petty's.Ladd told Wagner that he planned to use the song on his program, but instead, by October 2002, Petty had a similar song, with similar lyrics and about the same person.
Wagner is sticking to his claim that Ladd was in somehow involved with introducing the song to Petty, although he refuted the accusation in a letter to Wagner, dated December 4, 2002.
Ladd claimed in the letter than the Petty song was "written well before you sent me your song" and that "Tom had been working on the album for several years".
No mention of a song titled 'The Last DJ' by Tom Petty surfaced until just before the release of the album in 2002. Just one month earlier, Rolling Stone magazine was calling the Petty album 'The Golden Circle'.
In Ladd's letter to Wagner he says "the Tom Petty song is not about me as a person, but it was written about a fictional character".
However, at Ladd's official website jimladd.com, it states "Or as Tom Petty calls him 'The Last DJ'.
Wagner is after recognition of his work.
