4 thoughts on “WDRQ-FM BACK ON THE RADIO WITH: BILL BAILEY!”
Bill Bailey died today. June 13, 2013. Loved this guy! I grew up listening to Bill Bailey and he is a one and only. Later in life he hired me to work for him in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and he was still a one and only. And over those 40 years of getting to know this wonderful man, listening to when I was a little girl when he did mornings on WDRQ, calling him on the request line, finally working for him, and the mentoring continued, Bill still is a one and only. Bill, I owe so much of my success and longevity in this career to you. So many program directors have told me “You must have grown up listening to some really great radio to have picked up such good technique”. And repeatedly I would say, “There was only one radio station I listened to and that was WDRQ (when Bill Bailey was programming it). I listened to the station daily for at least 9 hours a day and slept with the radio on throughout the night. When was the last time you heard a kid say he or she was that passionate about a radio station or radio personality? Enough said. These will be the conversations I miss having with Bill Bailey, my mentor and my friend. I will miss his laughter, his sense of humor, his compassion, his caring, his intelligence, his stories, oh yes, his stories, and his wonderful ability to teach. I told him he did inherit that from his mom, who was a teacher. He taught well. Oh yeah, and his obsessive relationship, and passion for, bubble wrap;-) It made me crazy! Pop, Pop, Pop. God Speed Bill, R.I.P. Blessings to Sandy, his wife and Brandy, his daughter. I’m sitting here listening to some old air checks of you, man, you always had it! Just like your fashion sense, you always, always had it.
I’ll always remember Bill on ‘DRQ in the morning. His sincere delivery, the occasional sips from the coffee mug made it much easier to ease into the morning. Add to that the “March Around The Breakfast Table” and the nominations for “The All Gone Plant”–where people would make suggestions of things or people that should be fed to the equivalent of the Venus Fly Trap from “The Little Shop of Horrors”–and you could head out the door laughing. Thanks Bill!! You weren’t just a radio morning man to many of us. You were a friend. RIP.
I was Bill Bailey morning show producer in the early 1990’s at WMXD 92.3. This man help a 19 year old young man understand the radio industry and help me with my first air check. It gives me great pride that working with him in the mornings, we took the morning show number one in the 25-54 demo for two years. This man was a true friend and Im going to miss him. RIP Bill.
I could cry.
I was Bill’s newscaster, going by the name Daniel Abernathy in Detroit at WDRQ. I loved the guy. My PD said it was hero worship. He just seemed like the most big time jock I had ever met and I got to work with him-a privilege. I remember he told me he had a radio announcer job at KMOX, the CBS owned and operated stations in St. Louis. He was so frustrated because he was so creative but he only got to say the station ID at the top of the hour “This is KMOX, St. Louis.” So he quit CBS! His father thought he was crazy that one day he’d end up in the big time. Bill lived his life the way he wanted to and was in the big time. I hope his wife is doing OK. So sad to see him go. Daniel Abernathy WDRQ and WOKY Milwaukee where I also worked with Bill.
I remember calling him when I saw an older publicity photo of him. “Gee Bill, as you get older, you look more phillipino!” His wife is of european heritage. He laughed when word got out that he and she were having a baby. A DJ friend called him and said, “you have a zebra or something?”
Bill Bailey died today. June 13, 2013. Loved this guy! I grew up listening to Bill Bailey and he is a one and only. Later in life he hired me to work for him in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and he was still a one and only. And over those 40 years of getting to know this wonderful man, listening to when I was a little girl when he did mornings on WDRQ, calling him on the request line, finally working for him, and the mentoring continued, Bill still is a one and only. Bill, I owe so much of my success and longevity in this career to you. So many program directors have told me “You must have grown up listening to some really great radio to have picked up such good technique”. And repeatedly I would say, “There was only one radio station I listened to and that was WDRQ (when Bill Bailey was programming it). I listened to the station daily for at least 9 hours a day and slept with the radio on throughout the night. When was the last time you heard a kid say he or she was that passionate about a radio station or radio personality? Enough said. These will be the conversations I miss having with Bill Bailey, my mentor and my friend. I will miss his laughter, his sense of humor, his compassion, his caring, his intelligence, his stories, oh yes, his stories, and his wonderful ability to teach. I told him he did inherit that from his mom, who was a teacher. He taught well. Oh yeah, and his obsessive relationship, and passion for, bubble wrap;-) It made me crazy! Pop, Pop, Pop. God Speed Bill, R.I.P. Blessings to Sandy, his wife and Brandy, his daughter. I’m sitting here listening to some old air checks of you, man, you always had it! Just like your fashion sense, you always, always had it.
I’ll always remember Bill on ‘DRQ in the morning. His sincere delivery, the occasional sips from the coffee mug made it much easier to ease into the morning. Add to that the “March Around The Breakfast Table” and the nominations for “The All Gone Plant”–where people would make suggestions of things or people that should be fed to the equivalent of the Venus Fly Trap from “The Little Shop of Horrors”–and you could head out the door laughing. Thanks Bill!! You weren’t just a radio morning man to many of us. You were a friend. RIP.
I was Bill Bailey morning show producer in the early 1990’s at WMXD 92.3. This man help a 19 year old young man understand the radio industry and help me with my first air check. It gives me great pride that working with him in the mornings, we took the morning show number one in the 25-54 demo for two years. This man was a true friend and Im going to miss him. RIP Bill.
I could cry.
I was Bill’s newscaster, going by the name Daniel Abernathy in Detroit at WDRQ. I loved the guy. My PD said it was hero worship. He just seemed like the most big time jock I had ever met and I got to work with him-a privilege. I remember he told me he had a radio announcer job at KMOX, the CBS owned and operated stations in St. Louis. He was so frustrated because he was so creative but he only got to say the station ID at the top of the hour “This is KMOX, St. Louis.” So he quit CBS! His father thought he was crazy that one day he’d end up in the big time. Bill lived his life the way he wanted to and was in the big time. I hope his wife is doing OK. So sad to see him go. Daniel Abernathy WDRQ and WOKY Milwaukee where I also worked with Bill.
I remember calling him when I saw an older publicity photo of him. “Gee Bill, as you get older, you look more phillipino!” His wife is of european heritage. He laughed when word got out that he and she were having a baby. A DJ friend called him and said, “you have a zebra or something?”