Bill Drake

Bill Drake (January 14, 1937 – November 29, 2008), born Philip Yarbrough, was an American radio programmer who co-developed the Boss Radio format with Gene Chenault via their company Drake-Chenault.[1]

For other people named Bill Drake, see Bill Drake (disambiguation).

Early career

Bill Drake received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Music from Columbia University. He chose his last name from among his relatives' surnames, because it rhymed with "WAKE", the station in Atlanta, where he worked as a programmer and disc-jockey in the late 1950s.[2] During his time at WAKE, the station moved to #1 in the rankings; later, Bartell Broadcasting transferred him to KYA in San Francisco, which also became number one.

Drake-Chenault
Main article: Drake-Chenault

Later, at KYNO in Fresno, California, he met Gene Chenault, who became his business partner. Together, the pair developed influential radio programming strategies and tactics, as well as working with future "Boss Jocks" (their name for on-air radio talent).[3]

Drake-Chenault streamlined the Top 40 radio format originally created by Todd Storz, Gordon McLendon and other radio programmers in the late 1950s. The format took a set list of popular songs and repeated them all day long. Jingles, news updates, traffic, and other features were designed to make Top 40 radio appeal to car listeners. By early 1964, the era of the British Invasion, Top 40 radio had become the dominant radio format for North American listeners and swept much of the Western world.[4]

Drake applied modern methods such as market research and ratings demographics to the format to increase the number of listeners. He advocated limiting the amount of disc jockey chatter, the number of advertisements and playing only the top hits. Drake's concepts included 20/20 News and counter-programming with music sweeps. Drake-Chenault controlled aspects including the DJs that were hired to radio contests, visual logos, promotions, and commercial policy. He hired the Johnny Mann Singers to produce the Boss Radio jingles, which were bright, high-energy transitions from song to song.

Drake used these methods at Fresno's KYNO and then KGB, which moved from 14th to 1st in San Diego. In the spring of 1965, Drake-Chenault were hired by the then-financially-struggling KHJ in Los Angeles, after KGB's owner, Willett Brown, suggested to his fellow RKO board members that Drake could improve the station's performance Drake hired Ron Jacobs as program director, Robert W. Morgan in the mornings and The Real Don Steele in the afternoons. Though "Boss Radio" was criticized, KHJ quickly jumped from near obscurity to the number one radio station in Los Angeles.</ref> Drake also programmed KFRC in San Francisco, WOR-FM in New York, KAKC in Tulsa, WHBQ in Memphis, WUBE (AM) in Cincinnati, WRKO in Boston and 50,000 watt CKLW, in Windsor, Ontario.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Drake and Chenault formed Drake-Chenault Inc., marketing the format via similar customized Johnny Mann jingle packages used on KHJ. These jingle packages were sold across the US and overseas. They also marketed "automated" radio format packages such as "Hit Parade", "Solid Gold", "Classic Gold" and "Great American Country".[5] Disc Jockey voices heard on those formats included Robert W. Morgan, Charlie Van Dyke and others.[6][7] Additionally, they marketed documentaries like The History of Rock and Roll, a 10-episode, 52-hours-log series on which Drake worked as a writer and narrator.

After Drake-Chenault

Drake-Chenault was sold and eventually dissolved in the mid-1980s. In 1973, Drake left KHJ, along with Steele and Morgan, to program KIQQ-FM ("K-100") in Los Angeles. Bill Drake was a member of the nominating committee of the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame in 2007.

He died of lung cancer in Los Angeles on November 29, 2008.[8][9] Gene Chenault died at 90 on February 23, 2010.[10][11]

References
  1. Douglas, Susan, "Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination," New York: Times Books, 1999.
  2. Lycan, Gary (2008-11-30). "Radio pioneer Bill Drake dies at 71 | drake, radio, khj, top, boss - Entertainment - OCRegister.com". OCRegister.com<!. Archived from the original on 12 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
  3. Fong-Torres, Ben, "The Hits Just Keep On Coming: The History of Top 40 Radio", San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 1998.
  4. MacFarland, David, "The Development of the Top 40 Radio Format", New York: Arno Press, 1979.
  5. Goulart, Elwood F. 'Woody', "The Mystique and Mass Persuasion: Bill Drake & Gene Chenault’s Rock and Roll Radio Programming ", 2006.
  6. Hopkins, Jerry (April 5, 1969). "'Rockumentary' Radio Milestone". Rolling Stone (30). p. 9.
  7. "The Reel Top 40 Radio Repository - The History of Rock and Roll Demo". Reelradio.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  8. McLellan (December 2, 2008). Bill Drake dies at 71; 'Boss Radio' inventor spread less-talk format across country. Los Angeles Times
  9. Grimes, William (December 1, 2008). Bill Drake, 71, Dies; Created a Winning Radio Style. The New York Times
  10. "Radio Ink Magazine". Radioink.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  11. "The Amazing and Adventurous Gene Chenault". Laradio.com. 1919-06-12. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
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