Bill Gavin was a native of Chetek, WI. He graduated from the University of California-Berkeley.
He began his radio career as a baritone vocalist on KPO. He also performed in local theater productions. After working for the government during World War II, Gavin returned to there station (now known as KNBC) and spent time writing commercial jingles for the station’s clients.
In 1955 he and the McCann-Erickson advertising agency created Lucky Lager Dance Time, a popular-song countdown show heard on nearly 50 stations. Gavin would create the music playlist and each participating station’s local talent would voice the program.
His lasting legacy was The Gavin Report, a publication he launched in 1958. Its “Top 40” listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The publication was also responsible for running the Gavin Seminar, a convention for radio industry members.
Bill Gavin died in 1985 at age 77.