A voice and mind that shaped Augusta radio for decades has moved on. Harley Drew, who was 82, died Thursday.
Born at Fort Gordon and raised in Waynesboro, Drew got his start in radio at 15 at WRBO. By 1964, he was program director at WBBQ, a role he held until 1989. During that time, the station became one of the Top 10 U.S. stations by audience share.
From 1995-2017, Drew was operations director for WGAC and affiliated Beasley Broadcasting stations. In 2011, he was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame. In 2013, WGAC was named “Radio Station of the Year” by the Georgia Association of Broadcasters for the 12th year, for the first time in the largest market category.
WGAC host Austin Rhodes said Drew had been the “perfect host for his generation’s music” who was a major radio personality, but also a manager and skilled technician behind the scenes.
“When Harley leaves the world, he leaves as an accomplished manager and on-air personality. He was just all about communication and entertainment. He loved that aspect of it,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes said Drew was the only choice to replace the legendary George Fisher as longtime morning show host in 1992.
Drew was both a “cultural touchstone” who hearkened an earlier era but “was incredibly bright and had a technical knowledge.”
At 70-something, he talked people through their first computers and gave smartphone recommendations, Rhodes said.
WGAC News Director Mary Liz Nolan said Drew was “great fun” to work with. “His favorite was being on air, but he also loved the behind-the-scenes. If the engineer wasn’t around, he could fix it,” she said.
Drew hired her at Sunny-105, her first job in Augusta, over the phone. Laid off when she was pregnant, Nolan came to Beasley with a two-week-old at the urging of Drew’s longtime friend, Don McNeal.
“I think if you were to mention the name Harley Drew to most people in the community, they loved Handsome Harley Drew. They grew up listening to him and his Golden Hour,” she said.
“People related to him on so many levels. He was a brilliant man in all things having to do with the industry. His greatest legacy was his love for the community and his love for the audience. He loved giving himself to the community.”
Scott Hudson, the Augusta Press writer who worked with Drew in radio for five years, said he had nothing but fond memories about the man they called “Handsome Harley.”
Drew was “a perfectionist, but he was always looking to mentor new talent and he was a fair-minded boss. I really just adored him,” Hudson said.
Staff writer Susan McCord contributed.
