Colleagues mourn longtime valley disc jockey Culotta

Sadness and even silence quieted the usual rock 'n' roll ruckus Friday on two local stations that bid farewell to a longtime Las Vegas disc jockey.

"I would like to offer a moment of silence for Mike Culotta," an emotional Craig Williams told his listeners on KOMP-FM, 92.3, stopping several times to compose himself. "He was my friend and mentor for many years."

A Las Vegas radio stalwart with nearly three decades on the air -- 19 with KOMP and 10 with sister station KXPT-FM, 97.1 -- Culotta died Thursday from respiratory failure caused by myocardial infarction. He was 48 and had been off the air at KXPT since late July. February would have marked his 30-year anniversary.

"He was with Lotus Broadcasting his whole career, 29 years, which is unheard of," said John Griffin, operations manager of Lotus, which owns both stations. "He was your every-guy guy. What Mike put on the air was what Mike was in real life. There wasn't a Mike Culotta on the radio and a Mike Culotta in his personal life. He gave you the real deal on the air."

Tributes from his former colleagues filled the airwaves of both stations Thursday and Friday and was expected to continue through the weekend for the announcer who held court from 2 to 7 p.m. with Lorrin Bond on KXPT.

"Mike rocked Las Vegas," said KXPT morning man Chris Foxx in his on-air tribute. "When I moved to Vegas over 20 years ago, Mike took me under his wing. He went to the program director and he said, 'Man, you've got to get that Chris guy on the air more, he's too good to be on weekends.' I'm glad I took the opportunity to tell Mike when he was around how much I appreciated that and how much it meant to me. He went to bat for me."

Sometimes overcome by emotion, Williams at KOMP recalled meeting Culotta in 1986, when Williams was still a KOMP listener, and he went to a remote broadcast Culotta was hosting at the corner of Flamingo Road and Eastern Avenue.

"There's Mike standing there in the parking lot handing out drinks and giving out prizes," Williams remembered. "He was larger than life, just the coolest dude I ever met. I stood there and talked to Mike ... I just thought, 'Man, that guy's a star. I decided shortly after that -- that's what I was going to do. ... I wanted to be just like him."

At press time, no details on services were available.