Hooray for the Paraquats!

In honor of the surging, second place Human Paraquats I thought I'd take some time to introduce you to the wonderful world of paraquatery.

As Aaron pointed out, the paraquat is a highly toxic chemical (thanks CDC). Commonly it's used to destroy plants by infecting the unsuspecting foliage at the roots, then quickly rotting away the exposed plant goodness. As far as Mr. Jeff Lebowski goes, well it was the most common herbicide used to destroy marijuana (sorry guys).

However, there is yet another Paraquat that deserves a mention. Legendary KMET DJ Pat "Paraquat" Kelley.

The original Human Paraquat

From 1977-1987 Paraquat Kelley ruled the airwaves of Los Angeles, pioneering a comedic style that went on to influence much of modern "shock" radio. Kelley maintained a vital radio presence in Los Angeles until the unfortunate arrival of major corporate radio shut down the old timey D.J.

For those of you that remember, Tom Petty's "The Last DJ" was written about KMET DJ Jim Ladd, a contemporary of Kelley's. Apparently Ladd ran the song into the ground up on it's release, but wouldn't you do the same if Tom Petty wrote a song about you?

Kelley, however, was no stranger to the songwriting craft himself. In 1985 he penned the Dr. Demento classic, "Fish Song" with a pre Van Halen Sammy Hagar. The song was essentially a flop, playing once on KMET (07-07-1985) but that spin caught the right ears and eventually landed him a gig on the station.


The last known whereabouts of Paraquat Kelley were still Southern California where he works in real estate and has started several screenwriting projects. What could the future hold? Only time will tell. But I say let's go out there tonight and win one for Paraquat Kelly! GO TEAM!