I help a friend of mine quite often run his bread route and we have to get up pretty early in the morning to get out on the road. We get to warehouse around 4am and the small radio is playing as we try to wake up and get ready to do the job for the day. Every single day one thing that kick starts the day was Awake With Drake which is hosted by Bill Drake. As long as I can remember from the days of my Grandfather who worked for the city for 35 years would listen and speak highly of Bill Drake’s contribution to the city as well as how big of a celebrity he was. In Junior high there are a select few students who make up the Battle of the Brains team which is a triva of anything and everything and hosted by none other than Bill Drake. His voice was clear and direct as he would read you everything from the news to what was on the menu for your kids school for the day. He was a human Wikipedia that would feed you information long before the internet was at your fingertips. I recall many times he would plug local business and use actually people’s names then say “Go see them and tell them Bill Drake sent you”.
The guy was a legend and everyone knew of him from his morning show to all he did for historical Spartanburg SC. SInce the early 1980’s he been the Producer & Executive Director of the annual Bill Drake Christmas Music Festival in which included skits, comedy and music from local churches and schools was held at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium for free admission. Another memory I have of Drake was waking up on snow days here in the south and turning on the radio and he would be the first with the news to let us know we had no school that day. Anyone will tell you Bill Drake and the historical town of Spartanburg South Carolina go hand and hand. Much like The Marshall Tucker Band and The Beacon he was always mentioned in the same sentence if you was to speak about the town to someone who never been here.
I had the honor to meet him on two different occasions and had one phone call with him. The first was at my small home town of Pacolet SC at its annual Indian Summer Festival where he was the MC for the day. I shook his hand and told him been a fan of his since far as could remember and I was doing a podcast at the time and wanted to do something with him in the future. He didn’t even think about it and said “You tell me the place and time and we do it” . I called him up one day to try to set up and he was busy that day as he was volunteering at the local soup kitchen. He was always doing something and he always said he was doing what he always he wanted to do. My last time seeing him was at a local Jam in the Park concert series where the local library was there and so was he to promote his book about his life. I spoke with him briefly and he remember me. I didn’t get around to interview him like I hope to that day and he seemed like he was real busy with promoting the book so I left him alone.
I emailed him sometime in early January to get a email back from an assistant saying he was sick and couldn’t be reached to be interviewed at the time. On Friday July 11th 2014 I learned he lost his battle to cancer and passed on from this life. He was 73 years old. It is a end of era for sure here now. They don’t make DJ’s like him anymore. He came from a golden era of radio and did every show with grace and passion. His contributions to the community are unmatched. We have lost a voice and a beacon of light in historical Spartanburg SC. The warehouse won’t be the same in the morning any more. I don’t use the word “Legend” lightly but he was and always will be. I have prayers for the family and wanna thank him for living by example. You were a class act Mr. Drake. Thank you for all you did in your time here and Godspeed.
Here is the awesome resume of some of the things he did:
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He was a fraternity brother of actor Harrison Ford in college.
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He sang in a barbershop quartet with jazz singer Al Jarreau.
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His brother directed major TV shows like Golden Girls, Night Court and Sanford & Son.
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He covered sports during the Vince Lombardi era in Green Bay, WI.
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He’s a three-time winner of the SC Radio Personality of the Year award.
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In 2004 he was presented with The Order of the Palmetto, SC’s highest Award.
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Since 1959, this Chicago native and die-hard Cubs fan has been a Radio & TV personality, interviewer, sports play-by-play announcer (he was on the Gamecock Football Network for two years), after-dinner speaker, lay preacher and the man who invented the 36-hour day!
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Arriving in Spartanburg in 1976, Bill has been involved not only on the local airwaves, but in many community activities, including serving as Board Chairman of the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium.
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Since 1980, Bill’s been the Producer & Executive Director of the annual BILL DRAKE CHRISTMAS MUSIC FESTIVAL, bringing singing and instrumental groups from area churches and schools to sold-out performances at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium.
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Bill invented and conducts the BATTLE OF THE BRAINS, an annual awareness/current events/academic knowledge quiz bowl involving teams of 7th and 8th graders from 36 schools in Spartanburg, Greenville, Cherokee and Union counties.
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Bill was an adjunct professor of Public Speaking at the University of South Carolina Upstate for over 27 years.
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Bill & his wife Judy, an RN at Gibbs Cancer Center, are parents of three children and have four grandchildren.
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Among his many honors, Bill was chosen Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by his alma mater, Ripon College in Wisconsin in 1994.
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He attended St. John’s Lutheran Church, where he sang once a month.
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Bill took great pride in being dubbed “Spartanburg’s Goodwill Ambassador”!
- Finally…Bill liked to say he had not worked a day since 1959, as his job was also his passion and hobby.
