The satcaster's vp of music programming talks picking hits for the service's pop channels, recounts his colorful radio career & reveals that it might be time to retire his long-running syndicated '80s/'90s show "Backtrax USA."
"I was inspired by the friendship of the original social media," says Kid Kelly, that social media being radio. "I was inspired by the art of how things were presented."
On the latest episode of the Chart Beat Podcast, SiriusXM's vp of music programming chats with host, and Billboard co-director of charts, Gary Trust, about his early love for radio and how it continues to inform his programming philosophy for the satellite broadcasting service's paid subscribers.
Kelly also traces the chapters of his impressive career, which has included multiple turns at New York's Z100, where it took repeat opportunities for him to land a regular shift (as he explains through his uncanny impression of legendary former Z100 program director Scott Shannon, now morning host at New York's WCBS-FM). That arrival followed stops at more than 30 radio stations (including one where a flea collar might've made for the most appropriate compensation).