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scholarship. His major was P.E., with the intention of teaching and coaching after graduation. While attending college, Yarbrough worked the evening shift at WWNS in
Statesboro. After a knee injury in 1956, he lost his scholarship and left college for good. With no other good alternative, he continued to work at WWNS for the next few years. Briefly moving back to his hometown with wife Roberta, Yarbrough returned to WMGR for a short time. Wisely searching for career advancement, he gained employment with Bartell Broadcasting, at their newly acquired Atlanta station, post-purchase christened WAKE (a pairing with their Birmingham station, WYDE..."the wide awake stations"). Management proposed changing his name to Bill Blake (rhyming with 'wake'). Yarbrough protested. He proposed Phil Drake (his mother's maiden name). They settled on Bill Drake, and the rest is history.
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Phil
Yarbrough began his broadcast career in 1953, working part-time at WMGR in Bainbridge, Georgia (near his hometown of Donalsonville, Georgia). Following high school graduation, he attended Georgia Teachers College (Georgia Southern University today) in Statesboro, Georgia, on a basketball
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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
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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". Disc Jockey voices heard on those formats included
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234:("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.
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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
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in the afternoons. Though "Boss Radio" was criticized, KHJ quickly jumped from near obscurity to the number one radio station in Los
Angeles. Drake also programmed
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Drake-Chenault was sold and eventually dissolved in the mid-1980s. In 1973, Drake left KHJ, along with Steele and Morgan, to program
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Goulart, Elwood F. 'Woody', "The
Mystique and Mass Persuasion: Bill Drake & Gene Chenault’s Rock and Roll Radio Programming
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and other radio programmers in the early 1950s. The format took a set list of popular songs and repeated them all day long.
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Inc., marketing the format via similar customized Johnny Mann jingle packages used on KHJ. These
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Bill Drake dies at 71; 'Boss Radio' inventor spread less-talk format across country.
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jingles, which were bright, high-energy transitions from song to song.
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337:"The Reel Top 40 Radio Repository - The History of Rock and Roll Demo"
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on
November 29, 2008. Gene Chenault died at 90 on February 23, 2010.
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In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Drake and
Chenault formed
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The Hits Just Keep On Coming: The
History of Top 40 Radio
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Bill Drake, 71, Dies; Created a
Winning Radio Style.
319:(April 5, 1969). "'Rockumentary' Radio Milestone".
132:Drake used these methods at Fresno's KYNO and then
259:Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination,
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29:(January 14, 1937 – November 29, 2008), born
427:"The Amazing and Adventurous Gene Chenault"
285:The Development of the Top 40 Radio Format
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212:and others. Additionally, they marketed
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19:For other people named Bill Drake, see
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274:, San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 1998.
16:American radio personality (1937–2008)
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481:Radio personalities from Los Angeles
382:Grimes, William (December 1, 2008).
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86:Drake-Chenault streamlined the
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403:. Radioink.com. Archived from
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365:McLellan (December 2, 2008).
287:, New York: Arno Press, 1979.
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471:American radio personalities
429:. Laradio.com. June 12, 1919
261:New York: Times Books, 1999.
219:The History of Rock and Roll
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21:Bill Drake (disambiguation)
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237:He died of lung cancer in
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125:Singers to produce the
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93:originally created by
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148:as program director,
40:who co-developed the
407:on February 27, 2012
401:"Radio Ink Magazine"
226:After Drake-Chenault
152:in the mornings and
283:MacFarland, David,
154:The Real Don Steele
388:The New York Times
270:Fong-Torres, Ben,
160:in San Francisco,
81:Fresno, California
48:via their company
33:, was an American
371:Los Angeles Times
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455:Biography portal
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257:Douglas, Susan,
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210:Charlie Van Dyke
206:Robert W. Morgan
190:Windsor, Ontario
184:and 50,000 watt
150:Robert W. Morgan
107:British Invasion
31:Philip Yarbrough
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197:Drake-Chenault
118:advertisements
71:Drake-Chenault
69:Main article:
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431:. Retrieved
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409:. Retrieved
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56:Early career
44:format with
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491:2008 deaths
486:1937 births
239:Los Angeles
142:Los Angeles
123:Johnny Mann
114:disc jockey
465:Categories
245:References
168:in Tulsa,
146:Ron Jacobs
127:Boss Radio
95:Todd Storz
75:Later, at
42:Boss Radio
38:programmer
27:Bill Drake
174:WUBE (AM)
306:", 2006.
300:Archived
351:June 8,
232:KIQQ-FM
103:Jingles
201:jingle
182:Boston
162:WOR-FM
88:Top 40
216:like
188:, in
35:radio
435:2010
413:2010
353:2009
186:CKLW
178:WRKO
170:WHBQ
166:KAKC
158:KFRC
77:KYNO
180:in
140:in
138:KHJ
134:KGB
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