WHND ‘ALL-OLDIES’ 560 AM! BACK ON THE RADIO: FEBRUARY 1979

_____________________

When WHND AM first launched in April 1976, its jingle package for the station’s new automated format was produced by Drake/Chenault. Bill Drake provided the taped voiceover between song sets, and stamped the time (on the hour) and the ID introduction, “This is WHNE Birmingham, WHND Monroe,” as part of a rollout for the new “all oldies” format, which was also used by Greater Media stations in Pasadena (KRLA 1110) and Philadelphia (WPEN 950).

In the early 1970s, as AM and FM stations of all sizes began adhering to FCC rules and adopting large market models, Drake-Chenault significantly expanded into radio syndication. They started offering taped formats to non-RKO stations and established a studio (under Drake-Chenault) at 8399 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Canoga Park, CA. Their early format offerings included Classic Gold (for KHJ-FM, later KRTH), Solid Gold, Hit Parade, and Great American Country. They also made the original 48-hour History of Rock and Roll, initially created for KHJ, available nationwide, followed by other syndicated “special” programs.

_____________________

NEW! A special THANK YOU to Mark Yurko, of Langhorne, PA., for his recent WHND aircheck contribution for our Motor City Radio Flashbacks airchecks repository.

AUDIO REMASTERED! This audio recording was digitally enhanced by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.

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CKLW BIG 8 JINGLE HEARD! BILL DRAKE PRODUCTIONS

 

CKLW ‘Bill Drake’ Jingles on MOTOR CITY RADIO FLASHBACKS

 CKLW * Drake Production Beds (5) * DRAKE/CHENAULT PRODUCTIONS

 

 

 

DRAKE-CHENAULT PRODUCTIONS; FRESNO, CA

 

*****

These short, 5 classic CKLW Bill Drake Production pieces was conceived, created and was produced by Drake/Chenault productions for the RKO Radio Network and CKLW (RKO) in 1967.

(Note: The last two sound beds served as ‘openers’ for the CKLW 20/20 news segments).

 

 


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DRAKE BLASTS RECORD MEN LABELING HIM TIGHT-PLAY ADDICT . . . AUGUST 12, 1967

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK — Bill Drake, programming consultant who has just been hired to guide all of the RKO General radio stations, lashed out at the record men who would tag him with the image of a tight playlist addict.

Drake, who scored ratings successes with both KFRC in San Francisco and KHJ in Los Angeles, was in New York last week trying to work his magic on an FM station – WOR-FM, a stereo operation that had already made a sizable dent in New York ratings with a rock ‘n’ roll format.

One of the first moves of Drake was to install Gary Mack, formerly of KHJ, as program director of the station, replacing Art Wander.

As for other changes in the station, Drake said he would try to improve the presentation of the music and the content. “The station will continue to play a lot of diverse album music, aiming at the 18 -35 age group. It’s going to be rock, using every type of LP cut. Oldies would have a lot of influence, a lot of Motown product, for example.”

He said that other stations under his banner had been playing album cuts, “but to take an album and put it in the control room and say the deejay can play from it is the same fallacy a lot of stations make in saying that Sinatra is a super star. You don’t play Sinatra for the sake of Sinatra; he’s had some bad cuts, too. You don’t play Dylan for the sake of Dylan, Sinatra for the sake of Sinatra, Motown for the sake of Motown.

“The object is to play the good Dylan, the good Sinatra,” he said. And a lot can determine this. People working at the various stations guided by Drake listen to every cut of every LP, every single. Drake credits his success to “hard work and the good people working with me.”

Swap Information

Information between the stations is exchanged in writing, there are conference telephone calls on the music itself, they all exchange playlists. “But the music lists at various stations vary an awful lot. This actually gives us the opportunity, contrary to opinion, to expose and test nine times as many records as anyone else. If a radio station plays three new different records each week that the other stations are not playing, this would run to 27 new records each week.”

Basically, he felt his radio station policy isn’t just to play the top few records. . . but he does advocate not playing “losing” records. “The object is to play winners. Its good for us, it’s good for the record companies. If you have a weak record on the air, it’s obviously going to limit the amount of exposure you can give a strong record.

“I could never understand why record companies wouldn’t be irritated because their good product was being hurt by the amount of weak product sometimes played.”

Fresh Product

Drake does believe definitely in playing new records, saying his stations were spinning LP cuts by the Jefferson Airplane before the group hit pay-dirt with the single. “You’ve always got to have fresh new product on the air, good new records. . . whether by a new or known artists. Otherwise your station winds up with a staleness.”

Playing records by and for the hippies will not lead to a successful radio station, he felt; he believes the whole of San Francisco movement is a myth. Request radio is also too narrowly aimed . . . “what’s wrong is that these stations get the teen-tween listeners. You want them, too, but not exclusively. Younger kids are the only ones, however, who have the time and patience to dial. They aren’t going anywhere anyway.”

The object of winning radio is to please everybody without going after them. “You play ‘Happy Together’ by the Turtles. ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ by the Supremes. . . those are monster records that everybody likes.”

Still, aside from the “monster” policy, Drake’s stations do have some leeway. Tom Rounds, he said, picked up on “Ode To Billy Joe” early and began playing
it under the assumption it was going to become a monster.

The record hit the chart a week ago like gangbusters and it’s still climbing. So, obviously, is Drake. END

 

 

— Initially posted on Motor City Radio Flashbacks, August 10, 2016 —

 

___

Information and news source: Billboard; August 12, 1967

 

 

BILL DRAKE

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BILL DRAKE, REDUX: THE RADIO PROGRAMMER SPEAKS


RADIO & RECORDS Bill Drake THE TOP 40 STORY (1977)

RADIO & RECORDS Bill Drake THE TOP 40 STORY (1977)

RADIO & RECORDS Bill Drake THE TOP 40 STORY (1977)

RADIO & RECORDS Bill Drake THE TOP 40 STORY (1977)

RADIO & RECORDS Bill Drake THE TOP 40 STORY (1977)

 

BILL DRAKE

The Top 40 Story

 

In this special edition we have interviewed the key programmers that helped shape the direction of the format to its present state. Our sincere thanks to Gordon McLendon, respected as the most creative radio programmer in history. Almost every format heard on the radio today has been influenced by this man. We are also indebted to Rick Sklar, VP ABC Radio, who has guided the ABC stations to dominant market positions,

Bill Drake, who had the most dramatic effect on the format and is still today the most successful programmer
with over 200 stations currently under his guidance.

Paul Drew, who until recently was VP Programming for RKO, and Kent Burkhart, a man who has been taught by the best and has since added quite a bit to the format himself.

If it were not for these people and the many others involved in the creation of this publication, taking the time to share their knowledge, the opportunity to learn from history might still not exist.

 

RADIO & RECORDS

 

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.

It was later at KYNO in Fresno, California that he met Gene Chenault, who became his business partner. Together, the pair developed highly influential radio programming strategies and tactics, as well as working with future “Boss Jocks” (their new name for on-air radio talent).

Drake-Chenault perfected the Top 40 radio format, which had been created by Todd Storz, Gordon McLendon and other radio programmers in the late 1950s, which took a set list of popular songs and repeated them all day long, ensuring the widest possible audience for the station’s music. Jingles, news updates, traffic, and other features were designed to make Top 40 radio particularly attractive 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 quickly swept much of the Western world.

 

(Source: WiKipedia)

 

RADIO & RECORDS Bill Drake TOP 40 1977

 

A MCRFB VIEWING TIP

ON YOUR PC?To fully appreciate this Radio & Records feature click on image 2x and open to second window. Click image anytime to return to NORMAL image size.

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On your mobile device? Tap on chart image. Open to second window. “Stretch” chart across your device screen to magnify for largest print view.

 


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DRAKE SEES DEMISE OF THE ‘TOP’ CONCEPT WITHIN NEXT 3 YEARS . . . MARCH 29, 1969

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1969

Consultant See Radio Top Playlists Out in Near Future

 

 

 


 

NEW YORK – “Within the next three years the basic concept of playing a top 30 record or a top 40 or a top 60 will go out the window, according to Bill Drake, programming consultant. Stations just won’t be doing that sort of thing anymore . . . at least not those stations that want to appeal to a mass audience. In my opinion, there are again going to be many radio stations where the records played will be a matter of judgment.” To survey record stores is great; it’s possibly the only base you have of determining whether a record is popular or not in your market, he said. But some of the albums today are selling whether they get played on the air or not. He felt that some stations with a small audience are going to make a larger impact on record sales than some stations with larger audiences.

Many radio stations today are not reaching the full potential of the possible mass audience . . .  just as record sales on many records are not meeting their full potential.

“As far as reaching a mass audience is concerned, you have to have some sort of foothold at a broad base of appeal. When your music approach or the approach
of your personalities is too hard or too soft, the broad base of audience is going to dwindle.” he said.

No Danger Flags

“There are no real danger flags to tell when a station is slipping or not doing its job right. It’s almost intuition. It’s more of a feeling than anything else. It may be a lack of interest in the sound or it may be that you feel you’re not really stimulating any more. Actually, I guess it’s a lot of little things.”

And there’s no magic wand to correct things. Every station has to control its own destiny. You can’t operate a station by remote control.

Bill Drake

“What we have going for us, to tell the truth, is a brain trust. Any time any of the stations we consult have difficulty, I can bring almost a dozen top-notch radio men into the market to analyze the situation, starting with Bill Watson, who’s over-all national programmer for our firm. But we also have such minds as Ron Jacobs and Gary Mack on tap. I’ve never gone out and shouted about any ratings we’ve achieved because you first have to substantiate it. I’ve always taken the attitude that you can have a fluke success in a ratings book, but all of the ratings firms will agree over a long period of time. This is why it’s so stupid to fire a deejay because his ratings dropped. I feel it’s my duty to constantly go back and improve and if something bad does happen, then it needs special concentration on it – like KFRC in San Francisco where no Top 40 station has a very good ratings picture at this time. Four members of the braintrust went into the market to study the situation. This, again, brings you back to the music problem: You have to reach for that broad appeal. So many people in radio are afraid they will miss the latest fad. But it’s a sad state of affairs if you have to depend on the latest fad in radio or records like the Beatles or Elvis because when the fad changes you’ll be left with egg on your face and find your audience has disappeared.

One Secret

“I think one of the secrets in mass appeal programming is related to the fact that Motown Records doesn’t want to produce r&b records – they want to turn out records that are both pop and r&b. Country artists are now trying to be both pop and country.

“Part of our KFRC situation was as a result of paying too much attention to a fad. I was told: ‘But this type of music is drawing 3,000 kids a night into the Avalon Ballroom.’ And I said: ‘Great. But you should hang around the Cow Palace when Billy Graham is there. He’ll pack that place. Yet this is not exactly the best reason I know for rushing back to a radio station and putting on your George Beverly Shea records.”

The character of the people has changed in the world, he said. Everybody talks about the generation gap. There has always been one, but it’s probably wider today than ever before. If you admit that the gap does exist, then you have to consider that Fats Domino today is middle-of-the-road. This is why in “Parade ’69” syndicated programming “we went after the largest possibly audience available to FM-the 18 to 34 age group that we felt would own FM sets.

“WOR-FM in New York, one of the stations we consult, just ranked fifth in a January/February ARB -among all stations. And in adults 18-34, we were second by WABC in the 6 a.m.- midnight Monday through Sunday period. What this survey also showed was that WOR-FM had a cume of 1,880,000 during a week, reaching 146 per cent more listener impressions than the next highest FM station in New York.

“If you had to compare the programming on WOR-FM, I guess you’d classify it as a little more rocky and r&b than our ‘Parade’ programming. Bot ‘Parade’ is already showing threes and sixes in some of the markets where it’s on the air. We’ve signed agreements for 25 stations and it’s now on the air on 15 of these.

“Personal judgment plays a major role in the selection of the music for this programming – we might only be playing 17 of the top 20 records of the time. And personal judgment was a key factor in the 48 -hour “History of Rock ‘n’ Roll” special that we put together. Like many people, I’m a record buff and when I get some friends over to the house I’ll put one some albums and would find myself telling everybody: ‘Did you know that Berry Gordy wrote nine of the songs on this album?’ That led me to thinking what a groovy thing it would be to do this on radio. You can’t tell me that people would have been as interested in the special, which gathered astronomical ratings everywhere. if we’d just played the records because we play 80 per cent of them anyway. It was the information about the artists and the interviews with the artists and record producers that created a special kind of excitement about the show. A major auto manufacturer now wants to buy the show to introduce its new cars with this September. Two TV producers are thinking of transferring the concept to television. We’ve had countless requests for the show and it’s now in syndication.”

Collective Effort

Programming, in general, has to create a collective effect, he said. There’s not any individual record that can make you a success. And this is where personal judgment in the records a station plays will be more and more significant in years to come. END

___

 

Information and news source: Billboard; March 29, 1969



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CKLW NUMBER ONE IN DETROIT! . . . NOVEMBER 4, 1967

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967

CKLW New Detroit Singles Champ

 

 

 


 

NEW YORK — CKLW, 50,000-watt Hot 100 format station in Detroit, has taken over as the leading influence on sales of singles records in the market, according to a Radio Response Survey just released by Billboard for publication.

WKNR lead last year by a wide margin. This year, CKLW had 55-per cent of the votes of record dealers, distributors, one-stop operators, and local and national record company executives — all whose business depends on record sales. The survey depicts not only a leading ability to influence sales of products, but a large teen and young adult audience. WKNR had 45 per cent of the votes.

Tom Shannon of CKLW was the leading deejay influencing singles sales, according to a Billboard survey dated October 2. WJR lead WXYZ by a thin margin in ability to influence sales of albums, indicative of a large younger adult and adult audience combined, as well as an ability to influence them to buy product. Bill Drake, RKO radio consultant, was hired by CKLW earlier in the year.  END

___

(Information and news source: BillboardNovember 4, 1967)


A MCRFB Note

Besides playing the national Hot 100 hits, CKLW also was playing some of the greatest hit records that ever came out of Detroit (including Bob Seger) besides Motown — here’s just 4 from the CKLW BIG 30:

For the week of August 29, 1967, “Heavy Music” by Bob Seger is at the #4 spot, after just two weeks on the guide… “To Share Your Love” by the Fantastic Four is at #6, only three weeks after its debut on the BIG 30 survey… “You Gotta Pay The Price,” the instrumental by Ric-Tic’s own Al Kent, is just below at #7, another fast-climber after just three weeks… “If This Is Love” by Detroit’s very own Precisions, climbed to the #13 spot overall, after just two weeks on CKLW…

On the national pop and R&B music scene: “Some Kind Of Wonderful” by the Soul Brothers Six was on the CKLW playlist for eight-consecutive weeks… “Little ‘Ole Man,” by Bill Cosby, and “Never My Love,” by the Association, had just debuted a week earlier on the CKLW BIG 30 guide…

“Ode To Billy Joe” by Bobbi Gentry was the No. 1 song for the second-week in a row… and that’s just some of the BIG 30 hits that were played on CKLW 800 during the week of August 29, 1967.


CKLW August 29, 1967 (click on image 2x for largest chart view)


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BILL DRAKE RIPS RECORD REPS . . . AUGUST 12, 1967

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967

Drake Blasts Recording Reps for Tabbing Him Tight-Play Addict

 

 

 


 

NEW YORK — Bill Drake, program consultant who has been just hired to consult all RKO General radio stations, including CKLW in Windsor/Detroit, lashed out at record reps who would tag him with the image of a tight playlist artist.

Bill Drake circa 1962

Drake, who scored ratings successes at KFRC in San Francisco and KHJ in Los Angeles, was in New York last week trying to work his magic on an FM station — WOR-FM, a stereo operation that had already made a sizable dent in New York ratings with a rock ‘n’ roll format. One of the first moves Drake did make was hire Gary Mack, formerly at KHJ, at WOR as program director of the station, replacing Art Wander.

As for other changes at the station, Drake said he would would try to improve the presentation of the music and the content. “The station will continue to play a lot of diverse album music, aiming at the 18-35 age group. It’s going to be rock, using every type of LP cut. Oldies would have a lot of influence…. a lot of Motown product, for example.” He said that other radio stations under his banner have been playing album cuts, “but to take an album and put it in the control room and say the deejay can play from it, is the same fallacy a lot of stations make in saying Sinatra is a super star. You don’t play Sinatra for the sake that he’s Sinatra; he’s had some bad cuts too. You don’t play Dylan for the sake he’s Dylan, Sinatra for the sake he’s Sinatra, Motown for the sake they’re Motown,” Drake concluded.

“The object is to play the good Dylan, the good Sinatra,” he said. And a lot can determine this. People working at the various stations guided by Drake listen to every cut of every LP, every single. Drake credits his success to “hard work and the good people working with me in striving for total success.”

Swap Information

Information between the stations is exchanged in writing, there are conference telephone calls on the music itself, as station personnel all exchange playlists. “But the music playlists at various stations vary an awful lot. This actually gives us the opportunity, contrary to opinion, to expose and test nine times as many records as anyone else. If a radio station plays three new different records each week that the other stations are not playing, this would run to 27 new records each week.”

Basically, he felt his radio station policy isn’t just to play the top few records . . . but he does advocate not playing “losing” records. “The object is to play winners. It’s good for us, it’s good for the record companies. If you consistently have weak records on the air, it’s obviously going to limit the amount of exposure you can give a strong record.”

“I could never understand why record companies wouldn’t be irritated because their good product was being hurt by the amount of weak product sometimes played.”

Fresh Product

Drake does believe definitely in playing new records, saying his stations were spinning LP cuts by the Jefferson Airplane before the group hit paydirt with their recent single, “Somebody To Love.” “You’ve always got to have fresh new product on the air… good new records… whether by some new or known artists. Otherwise your station winds up with a staleness.”

Bill Drake circa 1971

Playing records by and for hippies will not lead to a successful radio station; he felt. he believes the whole of the San Francisco movement is a myth. Request radio is also too narrowly aimed . . . “What’s wrong is that these stations get the teenage listeners. You want them too, but not exclusively. Younger kids are the only ones, however, who have the time and patience to dial for a particular song they want to hear on the radio. They aren’t going anywhere anyway. Because they have more time on their hands than older people have.

The object of winning radio is to please everybody without going after just them. “You play ‘Happy Together’ by the Turtles, ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On,’ by the Supremes . . . those are monster records everybody likes.”

Still, aside from the “monster” policy, Drake’s stations for the most part, do allow for some leeway. Tom Rounds, he said, picked up on “Ode To Billie Joe” early and began playing it under the assumption that it was going to become a monster hit on the chart. The record hit the chart a week ago like gangbusters and is still climbing.

Obviously, so is Bill Drake, currently rising fast with WOR-FM in New York and CKLW-AM in Detroit. END

___

(Information and news source: Billboard; August 12, 1967)



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DRAKE TO GUIDE ALL RKO PROGRAMMING . . . JULY 15, 1967

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967

 

 

 

 

 


LOS ANGELES — RKO General Broadcasting has hired Bill Drake, its programming consultant for two Coast stations, for its remaining radio properties, according to reliable sources.

Drake, who currently guides the programming of top 40 stations KHJ locally and KFRC, San Francisco, will immediately take up the assignment to oversee and modify: CKLW, Detroit; WRKO, Boston; WOR-FM, New York; WGMS, Washington, D. C., and WHBQ Memphis.

Drake will initially concentrate on Detroit and Boston first. He has yet to visit and study the two markets, hence immediate personnel changes at the two stations is questionable.

Save for WTMS in the nation’s capital, all the stations are rockers, with WOR-FM an all stereo operation. Drake will also become involved at a later date with WOR-AM, the city’s leading all- conversation money and middle-of-the-road operation which apparently has been doing fairly well.’

Known for his “subliminal” approach to programming, whereby ingredients are strategically pieced within the broadcast hour. Drake will come up against WKNR in Detroit and both WBZ and WMEX in Boston. In Memphis he faces Plough’s WMPS plus a strong r &b operation -WDIA. END

___

(Information and news source: Billboard; July 15, 1967)



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CKLW ROCK AND ROLL REVISITED: THE BIG 8! 03/01/69


A ‘BIG 8’ PRESENTATION * THE HISTORY OF ROCK and ROLL * 02/28/69 (HR. 01-01)

A ‘BIG 8’ PRESENTATION * THE HISTORY OF ROCK and ROLL * 02/28/69 (HR. 01-02)

A ‘BIG 8’ PRESENTATION * THE HISTORY OF ROCK and ROLL * 02/28/69 (HR. 01-03)

A ‘BIG 8’ PRESENTATION * THE HISTORY OF ROCK and ROLL * 02/28/69 (HR. 01-04)

A ‘BIG 8’ PRESENTATION * THE HISTORY OF ROCK and ROLL * 02/28/69 (HR. 01-05)

A ‘BIG 8’ PRESENTATION * THE HISTORY OF ROCK and ROLL * 02/28/69 (HR. 01-06)

A ‘BIG 8’ PRESENTATION * THE HISTORY OF ROCK and ROLL * 02/28/69 (HR. 01-07)


48-YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

___

In conjunction with KHJ Boss Radio (Los Angeles), RKO General, and Drake-Chenault Enterprises, CKLW presentedThe History Of Rock & Roll this week in 1969. This seminal, historic rockumentary comprised of 48 hours of programming from start to finish. Covering the first and second generation of rock, the program traces the early roots of rock ‘n’ roll from its origins in the early ’50s, of its influence impacting the hits of the ’60s. For four days, CKLW aired the Bill Drake HRR program in 12-hour blocks — 12 noon to 12 midnight — beginning Sunday, February 28 through Wednesday, March 3, 1969.


BILL DRAKE. The producer, the voice behind the landmark rockumentary, ‘The History of Rock & Roll.’ 1969.

THE HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL * TIME SWEEP (A.)

THE HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL * TIME SWEEP (B.)

THE ORIGINAL CKLW SURVEY February 18, 1969

Motor City Radio Flashbacks presents today the first hour of ‘THE HISTORY of ROCK & ROLL’ as aired on CKLW 12 noon — 1:00 p.m., Sunday, February 28, 1969.

 Original program concept conceived and created by Ron Jacobs, KHJ. Produced by Bill Drake and Gene Chenault.

___

Above CKLW music chart courtesy of Mrs. Patty Griggs and the George L. Griggs estate.



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DRAKE BLASTS RECORD MEN LABELING HIM TIGHT-PLAY ADDICT . . . AUGUST 12, 1967

Motor City Radio Flashbacks logo (MCRFB)From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK — Bill Drake, programming consultant who has just been hired to guide all of the RKO General radio stations, lashed out at the record men who would tag him with the image of a tight playlist addict.

RKO General 1962-1991 BW logo (mcrfb)Drake, who scored ratings successes with both KFRC in San Francisco and KHJ in Los Angeles, was in New York last week trying to work his magic on an FM station – WOR-FM, a stereo operation that had already made a sizable dent in New York ratings with a rock ‘n’ roll format.

One of the first moves of Drake was to install Gary Mack, formerly of KHJ, as program director of the station, replacing Art Wander.

As for other changes in the station, Drake said he would try to improve the presentation of the music and the content. “The station will continue to play a lot of diverse album music, aiming at the 18 -35 age group. It’s going to be rock, using every type of LP cut. Oldies would have a lot of influence, a lot of Motown product, for example.”

He said that other stations under his banner had been playing album cuts, “but to take an album and put it in the control room and say the deejay can play from it is the same fallacy a lot of stations make in saying that Sinatra is a super star. You don’t play Sinatra for the sake of Sinatra; he’s had some bad cuts, too. You don’t play Dylan for the sake of Dylan, Sinatra for the sake of Sinatra, Motown for the sake of Motown.

“The object is to play the good Dylan, the good Sinatra,” he said. And a lot can determine this. People working at the various stations guided by Drake listen to every cut of every LP, every single. Drake credits his success to “hard work and the good people working with me.”

Swap Information

Information between the stations is exchanged in writing, there are conference telephone calls on the music itself, they all exchange playlists. “But the music lists at various stations vary an awful lot. This actually gives us the opportunity, contrary to opinion, to expose and test nine times as many records as anyone else. If a radio station plays three new different records each week that the other stations are not playing, this would run to 27 new records each week.”

Basically, he felt his radio station policy isn’t just to play the top few records. . . but he does advocate not playing “losing” records. “The object is to play winners. Its good for us, it’s good for the record companies. If you have a weak record on the air, it’s obviously going to limit the amount of exposure you can give a strong record.

“I could never understand why record companies wouldn’t be irritated because their good product was being hurt by the amount of weak product sometimes played.”

Fresh Product

Drake does believe definitely in playing new records, saying his stations were spinning LP cuts by the Jefferson Airplane before the group hit pay-dirt with the single. “You’ve always got to have fresh new product on the air, good new records. . . whether by a new or known artists. Otherwise your station winds up with a staleness.”

Playing records by and for the hippies will not lead to a successful radio station, he felt; he believes the whole of San Francisco movement is a myth. Request radio is also too narrowly aimed . . . “what’s wrong is that these stations get the teen-tween listeners. You want them, too, but not exclusively. Younger kids are the only ones, however, who have the time and patience to dial. They aren’t going anywhere anyway.”

The object of winning radio is to please everybody without going after them. “You play ‘Happy Together’ by the Turtles. ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ by the Supremes. . . those are monster records that everybody likes.”

Still, aside from the “monster” policy, Drake’s stations do have some leeway. Tom Rounds, he said, picked up on “Ode To Billy Joe” early and began playing
it under the assumption it was going to become a monster.

The record hit the chart a week ago like gangbusters and it’s still climbing. So, obviously, is Drake. END

(Information and news source: Billboard; August 12, 1967)

___

RKO GENERAL BILL DRAKE Radio Consultant
RKO GENERAL BILL DRAKE Radio Consultant

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