• Recent sign on contemporary Christian WHEY FM 88.9 North Muskegon received its license for the new station. WHEY is owned by Muskegon Community Radio and started operations in early November.

The members of Canadian power-pop crew the New Pornographers are keeping plenty busy these days. Singer-guitarist Carl “A.C.” Newman will release his second solo album, Get Guilty, on January 20th. And in March, singer Neko Case will put out her latest set of country-pop tunes. Titled Middle Cyclone, the disc features an all-star crew of guests including the Band’s Garth Hudson, M. Ward and many of her New Pornographers bandmates, in addition to her five-piece backing band. “Whenever I’d hear a musician was in town, I’d be like ‘Get ‘em down here!’ ” says Case.

Case also tells Rolling Stone that the New Pornographers are prepping their follow-up to last year’s Challengers. The group plans to start recording early next year. (There is no tentative release date slotted, however, according to the band’s label, Matador Records.) “Carl told me the other day he’s got a bunch of demos for the new record,” she says, “So I’ll be getting those pretty soon, and we’ll probably start working on that in the new year.”

Related Stories:

• New Pornographers Live at All Points West

• Album Review: New Pornographers, Challengers

• Pornographers Get Rolling

Commentary by Art Vuolo, Jr.

He truly charged the face of Top 40 radio in the 1960's, when he decided that teens would rather hear "much more music" rather than lots of DJ chatter. Personally I thought he was killing "personality radio" which today is available primarily in morning drive or on talk stations....period.

His real name was Philip T. Yarbrough, but when he worked in Atlanta on WAKE, he chose the name Bill Drake to rhyme with the station's call letters. He really did represent myth and reality--a mix of rumors, contradictions and power. He lived 71 years and passed away last Saturday, November 29th of lung cancer in Los Angeles. Ironically, legendary radio local radio personality Tom Clay, who worked at CKLW prior to the "Drake format" when it was The Big 8, also died on the exact same day, the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, but that was back in 1995. It was a bad year for local losses. In 1995 we lost; Byron MacGregor (CKLW-WWJ-WLLZ) in January, Nick Arama (WOMC) in April, Fat Bob Taylor "The Singing Plumber" (WJR) in July, J. P. McCarthy (WJR) in August and Tom Clay (CKLW-W4) in November.

Another strange twist to this story is that two of the jocks out in Los Angeles who were popularized by Drake and his "shut up and play the hits" format were Robert W. Morgan and The Real Don Steele, both of whom also died of lung cancer within a year of each other. Steele died August 5, 1997 and Morgan on May 22, 1998. Morgan's old shift today is handled by Gary Bryan and Steele has been succeeded by Shotgun Tom Kelly. Kelly always says that he succeeded Don because nobody can "replace" the Real Don Steele.

In early September 2004, L.A. oldies station K-Earth 101 (KRTH-FM) broadcast the legendary documentary "The History of Rock and Roll" with a rare interview with Bill Drake, in which he spoke of the importance of that famous radio format named "Boss Radio" which he developed at KHJ-AM back in 1965, "There were some people who thought they were quote 'personalities.' If somebody was a 'personality,' we said fine. Robert W. Morgan certainly was, as was The Real Don Steele. The thing is: Even they [Morgan and Steele] didn't have something to say every time. And they learned that. Do it when you got it and keep your mouth shut otherwise, and keep the forward momentum going. People tune in to hear the music."

In 2006, Drake said "The REAL key to radio programming, is what you DON'T play...Anybody can come up with a list of songs to play...those lists are everywhere...What to leave IN and what to leave OUT is the REAL secret...and few people have that gift." Those words are true to this day. He was called an "all-business bachelor" by Time magazine in 1968, and his power and influence was the subject of many trade magazines and the mainstream media.

It was often written that Bill Drake was the most powerful man in American radio. He was also the most powerful figure in American popular music. Record companies all depend on 'air play' to make their wares into hits. Drake said that he didn't play favorites...he programmed only records that the public wanted and that fit into his format.

The "real" Bill Drake--was a very tall, well-groomed, polite, Southern gentleman, unlike his well-crafted corporate persona. He played up his image as a "rock and roll radio recluse" with a telephone at his side which he used to place calls to the radio stations he consulted. At the radio stations, whenever the "hot line" lit up, it could strike fear into the hearts and souls of the employees who wondered, "What if that's Bill Drake calling me?" At many stations, that type of fear still prevails when the hot-line strobe light flashes!

Some people compared Bill Drake as the Howard Hughes of radio, powerful, strange, talented, hard-to-read, a bit eclectic and certainly mysterious. It was his tight format that made CKLW a North America radio dynasty back in 1967. We have lost many of the great programmers who made radio a hard to top entertainment medium.

Often I have wondered what some of these people, who were so good at what they did many years ago, would do today. Would their techniques work, would the ratings be as high, would the buzz on the street be as loud? Probably not. The world has changed radically. As the lyrics once stated "not even the song has remained the same."

Whether you agreed with what Bill Drake did for the Top 40 music radio scene or not, one cannot deny his impact on this business, which today, could certainly stand an injection of fresh new blood and creative ideas. Regardless what the future holds, one thing is certain, as Bill Drake would say....."Ladies and Gentlemen....the beat goes on!"

Philip T. Yarbrough died on November 29, 2008 at age 71. When he worked as a DJ at Atlanta's WAKE, he chose the air-name Bill Drake since it rhymed with the station's call letters. From 1965 until 2006, he was a prominent radio programming consultant. As the 60s decade came to a close, his Drake formats dominated the airwaves and became the model for much of what radio has today become.

Those of us hard-core Keenerfans like to blame Bill Drake for WKNR's demise. It wasn't his fault.

From the start Keener had one and a half hands tied behind it's back. Part of our ongoing attraction is the romance associated with how a small owner group took a deficient signal in a marketplace filled with cutthroat competition to the top of the zigarut. It's still a case study on how success is possible in any environment. It was also only a matter of time before someone would clone enough of the Keener vibe to mount a serious challenge.

Bill Drake was in the right place at the right time to help shape CKLW into a top-40 powerhouse that put modified pieces of the Keener formatics onto a 50,000 watt platform. It was a formula that was born as "Boss Radio" on KHJ in Los Angeles. In modified form, it made The Big 8 the dominant rock radio flame thrower in the Midwest until the combination of FM and Canadian Content restrictions drove the station into anachronism.

Drake built on the brilliance of Todd Storz, Gordon MacLendon and hundreds of other practitioners, who studied the science of our radio listening habits and created a product to fit. He realized that there were few real personalities on the air, and even the best of them didn't always have something to say. So he worked to distill the essence of what worked for an increasingly mobile, attention deficient generation. He further tightened the rules of the game to create a reliable product that sounded the same whenever you tuned in.

Some will say that the Drake format strangled the concept of "intelligent flexibility" that quickly evolved Mike Joseph's initial guidelines for the new Keener brand into a home run that forever changed the landscape of Detroit radio. That it was the precursor to the homogenization that threatens radio's very existence as new generations turn to their IPods.

Others believe that it was inevitable that someone would take an objective look at the subjective nature of the art. Like any business, broadcasting is a stimulus / response thing. Identifying the common threads that attract and retain the largest market share of listener-customers made perfect sense. "Do this and you'll be more profitable," has long been the mantra that attracts proprietor attention. With the rise of FM and an ever more crowded field of competitors, looking for the secret sauce became a matter of survival.

Whatever your opinion about the efficacy of Bill Drake's formula, there's no argument that, in its time, the concept worked. We could all sing the two second Johnny Mann jingle hooks. The "much more music" slogan was backed up by as many as 14 records each hour. Jock talk was simplified and focused on drilling the brand into our brains. And everyone recognized that Bill's voice, intoning "And now ladies and gentlemen..." was the set-up for a well tested tune that every one of us knew by heart.

Those fundamentals still work. Colleen and I were on a scenic rail trip in the Colorado mountains this fall. At a stop along the way we picked up a crew of young zip-liners came aboard, still charged with the adrenalin rush of their ride across the top of the tree line. "Good times," shouted one. ".. and great oldies," reflexively answered a chorus of others. I admit to subconsciously thinking those same words, associating them with the Cool FM brand.

Scalable, low risk, high margin radio that attracts listeners and gets results for advertisers. Bill Drake helped to sharpen it's execution. And we still hear its descendants wherever modulated carriers exist.

Link: A Bill Drake Remembrance from Woody Goulart's Boss Radio Forever blog.

Detroit Free Press:

If you have any interest in the Feb. 24 Detroit mayoral primary, you'll want to tune in to WADL, Channel 38 (14 on Detroit Comcast cable) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. The station may not be one of the regular stops on the clicker, but it hopes to be starting with the viewing audience expected for the first of four scheduled live, 90-minute debates among the candidates for mayor, this one featuring incumbent Ken Cockrel Jr., businessman Dave Bing and former deputy mayor Freman Hendrix. The Free Press and WCHB/Radio One Detroit are cosponsors for the first debate; the subsequent ones may involve other partners. So far, though, this makes WADL the only local television station to dedicate this kind of significant air time (six hours in all) to the race for one of the biggest political jobs in Michigan. This is a big attention-getter for a station that only recently went to a 24-hour commercial broadcast format, and has no news staff or programming. It instantly casts WADL as a serious player in local public affairs... Tune in to expanding WADL for Detroit mayoral debates (Sun, 11/30)

AllAccess.com / Wikipedia:

Radio legend BILL DRAKE has died from lung cancer at age 71 in LOS ANGELES. DRAKE, born PHILIP YARBROUGH 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, writes WIKIPEDIA. Later, BARTELL BROADCASTING, who owned WAKE -- that he had programmed to number one, transferred him to KYA in SAN FRANCISCO, which also became number one. It was later at KYNO in FRESNO 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."

DRAKE-CHENAULT perfected the Top 40 radio format, which had been created by TODD STORZ, GORDON MCCLENDON 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.

DRAKE streamlined the Top 40 format, using modern methods, such as market research and ratings demographics, to maximize the number of listeners. He believed in forward momentum, limiting the amount of disc jockey chatter, the number of advertisements and playing only the top hits, as opposed to less-organized programming methods of the past. DRAKE created concepts such as 20/20 News and counter programming, by playing music sweeps, while his competitors aired news. DRAKE-CHENAULT controlled everything from the specific DJs that were hired, to radio contests, visual logos, promotions and commercial policy. DRAKE essentially put radio back into the hands of programming, instead of sales. DRAKE hired the JOHNNY MANN SINGERS to produce the BOSS RADIO jingles, ensuring a bright, high-energy sound that engaged the listener, while providing a bridge from song to song, as well as a smooth transition from songs to commercials.

In the Spring of 1965, Drake-Chenault were hired to turn KHJ in Los Angeles, from a financial and ratings loser into a success. Drake hired Ron Jacobs as program director, Robert W. Morgan in the mornings and Don Steele in the afternoons. KHJ quickly jumped from near-obscurity, to the number one radio station in Los Angeles. "Boss Radio" moved faster and sounded more innovative than the competition, making it the #1 choice over competitors in Southern California.

Bill Drake also programmed KFRC in San Francisco, WOR-FM in New York, KAKC in Tulsa, WHBQ in Memphis, WRKO in Boston and 50,000 watt CKLW, in Windsor, Ontario, across the Detroit River from the city of Detroit. (Sun, 11/30)

Ann Arbor News:

The folks at Ann Arbor radio station 107one (WQKL, 107.1 FM) plan to spend Dec. 3-7 "freezin' for a reason." DJs and guests will offer their annual "Rockin' for the Hungry" partnership with Food Gatherers in front of Busch's, 2240 S. Main St. Stop by between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. next Wednesday-Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. next Sunday to help them reach their goal of 170 tons of non-perishable, nutritious food for families in our community... 'Rockin' for the Hungry' starts Dec. 3 (Sat, 11/29)

MarketWatch.com/PRNewswire:

WXYZ-TV completed the November 2008 sweep with an impressive number of First-Place finishes: WXYZ-TV topped all other competitors Sign on-Sign off, finishing #1 in Household ratings and key female and adult demographics; WXYZ's Action News finished on top at Noon, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm and 11pm, in Households and key demographic groups, especially Women 25-54; WXYZ's 7pm Action News is number one among all early news programs in Households and all adult, female and male demo categories; 7pm Action News is among the strongest of all newscasts in the market, for reaching key male viewers... WXYZ-TV Remains Detroit's Most-Watched TV Station During the November 2008 Sweep (Fri, 11/28)

Daily Tribune:

A hand-made Raggedy Ann doll was the first toy for a tot donated to the U.S. Marine Corps. Sixty-one years later, the tradition continues with a live radio show kicking off the metro Detroit drive at the Royal Oak Music Theater. Jim Harper and the Magic Morning Show hit the road Monday to promote the need for new, unwrapped toys for children this holiday. Harper is inviting the public to stop by the theater, 318 W. Fourth St., from 6-10 a.m. to drop off a toy and join the fun. "The rowdiness helps to make for an exciting show," said Harper, a Birmingham resident who has urged his listeners to help Toys for Tots for 30 years. "We want people to come by wearing their reindeer antlers and Christmas sweaters. We look at it as a huge party." Over the decades, Harper and crew have relayed touching accounts of donors who have found creative ways to buy toys for little ones who otherwise would celebrate Christmas without gifts... Radio show launches Toys for Tots drive at downtown theater (Fri, 11/28)

Ann Arbor News:

For the last couple years, the television and radio production class at Ann Arbor's Huron High School has been heavily weighted toward television. That's about to change. By the start of the second semester, a group of students working in independent study classes hope to launch an Internet radio station, run by Huron students and full of Huron-related content. And then, the television and radio production class Robert Fox teaches will be more equally divided between the two mediums. "This is a great opportunity for students to have a voice," Fox said. "It's a great opportunity for them to learn skills to work in radio." Before that happens, there's a lot of work to be done... Huron High students gearing up for an online radio station (Thu, 11/27)

Here at Rock Daily, there’s plenty of things we’re thankful for. Chinese Democracy. The Jesus Lizard reunion. Johan Santana’s left arm. To pay homage to those pilgrims who came to America to escape oppression and slaughter turkeys, this long weekend’s Rock List is dedicated to “thankful” songs. Tell us which thankful songs you’re most thankful for, and on Monday we’ll work off all those yams we ate by counting the votes and revealing the readers’ list. Before you start feasting or battling the Black Friday shopping crowds, here are our faves:

• Led Zeppelin - “Thank You”
• Fall Out Boy - “Thnks fr th Mmrs”
• Sly & The Family Stone - “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”
• Alanis Morissette - “Thank U”
• Talking Heads - “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel”

Guns N’ Roses are threatening Dr. Pepper with legal action over what the band calls “a complete fiasco” of a publicity stunt. Dr. Pepper promised every person in America a free can of soda if Guns N’ Roses released Chinese Democracy this year; on November 23rd, the day Democracy was released, fans were told they could get a coupon for a free can at its website. According Axl Rose’s lawyer Alan S. Gutman, things went terribly wrong: Yesterday he sent a letter to Dr. Pepper CEO Larry Young saying that the soda company’s website crashed and that “the redemption scheme your company clumsily implemented for this offer was an unmitigated disaster which defrauded consumers and, in the eyes of vocal fans, ‘ruined’ the day of Chinese Democracy’s release”. The band is seeking a public apology via ads in newspapers, plus more time for people to claim their free soda and monetary damages. In the words of the letter: “Now it’s time to clean up the mess.” The letter continues, “As we all now know, Dr. Pepper created an expansive and highly-publicized advertising campaign based solely on the exploitation of my cleints’ legendary reputation. In and of itself this campaign brazenly violated our clients’ rights in numerous respects. Unfortunately, Dr. Pepper has now magnified the damage this campaign has caused through its appalling failure to make good on a promise it made to the American public.”

Other highlights from the letter: “Our clients are outrated at your treatment of their fans and the American public in general. After it became clear that Chinese Democracy would be released in 2008, Dr. Pepper executive Tony Jacobs proudly proclaimed that Dr. Pepper would make good on its promise to give a free soda to everyone in America. It turned out that Dr. Pepper did not define ‘everyone in America’ the same way as ‘everyone in America’ defined ‘everyone in America.’” It concludes, “Had you wished to engage in a commercial tie-in with our clients, you should have negotiated a legitimate arrangement instead of hijacking their rights without payment. Rest assured, this misappropriation will not be free.”

Related Stories:

• Album Review: Guns N’ Roses, Chinese Democracy

• Guns N’ Roses Bring In Huge MySpace Numbers

• Dr. Pepper Reveal Free Soda Plan