Augusta GA Radio: Mag Profiles Retired Programmer Harley Drew

Harley Drew at WGAC (Augusta Chronicle photos)

Harley Drew spent more than half a century in radio, and now in retirement, he spends a lot of time in books. “I’ve probably read 600 books in the past two years,” Drew told Augusta Magazine this month, kicking back in the recliner on his screened-in back porch. Sure, there a lot of books here, but I mostly read on my Kindle. That thing is a wonderful development. I rarely go to sleep without spending at least 30 minutes on my Kindle.”

Even as a child Drew loved to read, and that piqued his interest in radio. It was the 1950s, and 9-year-old Drew spent lots of time listening to the radio and reading magazines and books to see how things worked. “I decided then I wanted to work in radio, though probably as a technician, not an announcer,” he said.

That decision led to a 58-year career, during which he was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame and led Augusta’s WBBQ to the top of the national ratings charts. He signed off and hung up his headphones for the last time on Sept. 28, 2017, as a talk show host on Beasley's N/T WGAC 580 AM.

Drew began his radio career at age 15 with WBRO in Waynesboro, Ga. He mopped floors, burned trash and picked up some occasional weekend airtime. Before long, he was on the air before and after school.

While working at WBRO, Drew would read about new radio stations getting their FCC licenses in Broadcasting Magazine. One was WFNL 1600 AM in North Augusta, and he applied for a job. In 1963, Drew was the first voice heard as WFNL went live.

“I was in the booth, and everyone else was in the parking lot, listening on their car stereos to see how the station sounded. The first song I played was Number One Man by Bruce Channel. That was appropriate since I was the Number One Man on that station!”

It turns out, he was Number 1 in another way. At the time, everybody in radio paid a lot of attention to the Pulse ratings, which measured a radio station’s listening audience. “Well, when we got the first Pulse ratings in, I was No. 1 right out of the box for my afternoon show.”

That caught the attention of WBBQ General Manager Ed Dunbar and Owner George Weiss. “They said they wanted me to come work for them. I told them I just got here and didn’t want to turn around and leave. They said, ‘Well, if you ever want to leave, drive on up the hill, and we’ll put you to work!”

Around the spring of 1964, Drew decided to drive on up the hill. He joined WBBQ 1340 AM and after a few weeks in the mobile news department and filling in on-air, Drew was made a full-time DJ. Many on-air personalities had a cool nickname, so Drew decided to pick one for himself. And so was “Handsome” Harley Drew.

Drew was quickly promoted to WBBQ’s program director, a position he held for the next 25 years. During that time, WBBQ became one of the top 10 highest rated radio stations in America by share of audience.

In 1989, Drew left WBBQ to become the national program director for Arrow Communications Group, which owned WZNY – Sunny 105.7—in Augusta. “I would fly around to their seven stations and advise on ways to generate buzz in the community and tighten up their programming and make it more interesting.”

When Benchmark Communications bought WZNY, Drew became the station’s general manager, and he held that position until 1995, when he joined Beasley Broadcasting Group as operations director for WGAC, WGOR and WRDW. Drew stayed with Beasley until he retired in September.