Bill Drake, 1937-2008
You may not know Bill Drake...but you know Bill Drake.
If one person singularly defined rock and roll radio - for better or worse, depending on the listener - Drake was that guy. On May 3, 1965, this radio programmer launched a phenom called "Boss Radio" on Los Angeles' KHJ.
Until that point, rock radio was a mishmash of DJ-speak, records, jingles, commercials and fascinating monologues about how nice the weather is.
KHJ gave everything purpose. The jingles were reduced to "More Music" and the station name. They were played ONLY into songs, never into anything else. Commercial breaks were limited to 70 seconds. DJ talk was limited to song intros and into commercials - no darting in and out of everything. The music was relentless. It was the beginning of the "we play more music than anyone else" era.
The reaction was astounding. KHJ's success spread throughout the company, RKO General, and was implemented and successful on their stations in Boston, New York, Detroit, Memphis and San Francisco.
It was Drake's formula. And it was Drake's voice that introduced every hour on every station.
That's how you know him.
You either loved what he did for streamlining radio into an exciting forward-moving medium, or you hated it for taking away a lot of radio's spontaneity and warmth. Either way, May 3, 1965, is still the basis for most of radio today.
Drake passed away yesterday at 71. Ken Levine, who worked with him, has a great tribute today.
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