# Bill Gavin

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**Bill Gavin** (November 6, 1907 – January 27, 1985)[1] was an American radio personality and publisher of the influential *[Gavin Report](/source/Gavin_Report)*.

## Life and education

Gavin was born in [Chetek, Wisconsin](/source/Chetek,_Wisconsin) in 1907. He attended the [University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire](/source/University_of_Wisconsin-Eau_Claire) and the [University of California-Berkeley](/source/University_of_California-Berkeley).[2][3] Before his radio career, he was a teacher, [pianist](/source/Pianist) and singer. He briefly traveled with an all-male vocal group called *The Blenders.*[4] He died of cancer in 1985 at the age of 77.[2][3]

## Career

He created the *[Lucky Lager](/source/Lucky_Lager) Dance Time* radio show in 1955 with the [McCann-Erickson](/source/McCann-Erickson) advertising agency.[5] Gavin founded the [Gavin Report](/source/Gavin_Report) in 1958 with information from the show. It was a publication that "monitored air play for [Top 40](/source/Top_40) records, and later expanded to other categories; it [was] used as a [programming](/source/Radio_programming) aid by radio stations and record companies."[3] The publication gathered information from various [radio stations](/source/Radio_station) and was used to measure song popularity. Gavin was called the "most powerful man in the business." It was also said that "every [record company](/source/Record_company) subscribed to and quoted the [Gavin Report](/source/Gavin_Report)...Everybody copied him, but he originated the thing."[4] In 1983, after being diagnosed with cancer, he sold the Gavin Report to the staff and became publisher emeritus.[5]

Gavin is also noted for his progressive stance in regards to [race relations](/source/Race_relations). He worked to help [African-Americans](/source/African-American) break into the radio business by playing black artists and hiring black [Disc-Jockeys](/source/Disc-Jockey) at a time when it was unpopular to do so.[6]

## References

1. ["William Slocum Gavin SSN: 534107350 - Death Records"](https://web.archive.org/web/20171228215042/http://death-records.mooseroots.com/l/213539947/William-Slocum-Gavin). Archived from [the original](http://death-records.mooseroots.com/l/213539947/William-Slocum-Gavin) on 2017-12-28. Retrieved 2016-03-18.

1. ["The University of Wisconsin Collection: The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire: a history, 1916-1976: Chapter I: "That you, the sons and daughters of the commonowealth, might have better educational service""](http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/UW/UW-idx?type=turn&id=UW.UWECHist&entity=UW.UWECHist.p0030&q1=gavin). Digicoll.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2012-02-04.

1. ["Bill Gavin, the Founder in '58 of List on Air Play of Records - Obituary"](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/30/arts/bill-gavin-the-founder-in-58-of-list-on-air-play-of-records.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. 1985-01-30. Retrieved 2012-02-04.

1. Fong-Torres, Ben (2001). [*The Hits Just Keep on Coming: The History of Top 40 Radio - Ben Fong-Torres - Google Books*](https://books.google.com/books?id=8qreFRzhjyIC&q=bill+gavin+radio&pg=PA59). Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780879306649. Retrieved 2012-02-04.

1. "Obituaries". *[Variety](/source/Variety_(magazine))*. 6 February 1985. p. 134.

1. Stanley Crouch, Quincy Mccoy. [*No Static: A Guide to Creative Radio Programming - Quincy McCoy, Stanley Crouch - Google Books*](https://books.google.com/books?id=1aAYI_gRFqYC&q=bill+gavin+radio&pg=PA264). Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9781617744907. Retrieved 2012-02-04.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bill Gavin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gavin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gavin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.