I never knew exactly how my father came to love radio so much, but he was an avid radio listener, Perkins recalled. He is a gentleman, a kind soul, and every bit as nice in person as you hear on-air. TN: It sounds like being a DJ is something you were always meant to do. His salvation was radio, Perkins said. A lot of people, at least in my experience as an artist, associate this music with their grandparents' music or their parents' music. By Bob Perkins | WRTI-FM (Philadelphia, PA) One November night in the year 1934, a 17-year-old girl was about to take the stage at the Apollo theater's Amateur Night program and planned to do a dance routinebut changed her mind and decided to sing a song instead. Perkins was born on December 6, 1933. 2023 WWB Holdings, LLC. His show will come to an end June 30, but he says this wont be the last his fans hear from him. What makes history so important is it has to be true. They just let me have my own way and they seem to like what I play. And in 2007, he was honored with a proclamation for his outstanding contributions to Philadelphia's jazz community by Mayor John Street, Philadelphia City Council, and the House of Representatives in Harrisburg. The 88 year old Perkins has been on the air in Philadelphia since 1969 with stints as News Director at WDAS-FM and a Jazz host at WHYY before joining WRTI in 1997. BP with Dave Brubeck in 1983 - backstage at the Academy of Music. In 1977, Perkins, 88, started up a side gig with a public radio Saturday night jazz show at 90.9 WHYY-FM the station where he coined his BP with the GM moniker. Listen to BP's last weeknight shift on Thursday, June 30th from 6 to 9 PM. Mr. Perkins is stepping away from his shows on weekday evenings, but WRTI listeners will still be able to join him for Sunday Jazz Brunch, from 9 AM to 1 PM. Friday evenings at 10 PM, veteran WRTI jazz host J. Michael Harrison presents The Bridge, exploring the merging platforms of popular music and jazz. It took Perkins a little while to break into radio. I look forward to you lending me your finely tuned ears very soon.". Which is a hard thing to do. It gives you a feeling of a time gone by, a past era where jazz was the music of the day.. But I had some qualifications, too, because my dad got into radio back in the 1920s, when radio was in its infancy. A stroke survivor from three years ago, Perkins is still kicking and hes still ticking, playing some of the best jazz music you ever want to hear on WRTI-FM. What makes Bob so incredibly important to our music history and the history of Philadelphia is: he was there. But I mimicked what I thought the great guys Id grown up with would do, and I got away with it for years., READ MORE: Talking all that jazz with WRTI legend Bob Perkins. They had hired me for all the wrong reasons in the first place. Music, said BP about the GM. BP: Well, I still like it. WRTI, this 600th review is for you! Im the only one thats doing this thing on regular radio and I enjoy very much what Im doing, and the feedback that I get from people who enjoy it. It comes out of the head, out of the heart and out of your soul. All rights reserved. They can take you away. His show is an oasis, a source of comfort as listeners cope with the challenges of life during a pandemic. When Bob Perkins was growing up at 19th and Gerritt Streets in South Philadelphia during the Great Depression, his father, Deforrest, was stricken by arthritis at age 39 and could no longer work at his job as a freight elevator operator. The once well-known jazz, Have you ever discovered that a famous person once lived very close to you? He grew up in South Philadelphia and fell in love with radio as a child. After a longtime gig at WHYY, he joined WRTI in 1997. Perkins, a longtime jazz DJ, will continue hosting his weekly "Sunday Jazz Brunch show. I got on the payroll, and Ive been there, ever since. TN: Have you made any changes to your playlist, in light of whats happening? But what are you going to do? Once I got some news training under my belt, I started trading news stories with the news team at WDAS in Philadelphia. June is observed nationally as Black Music Month, and so it seems fitting that someone who has worked in radio for almost six decades the last 20+ years playing jazz music would close out their career in June. 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Over the last 20-some years, BP with the GM has become an icon of the Philadelphia airwaves, holding down a prime, three-hour early evening time slot Monday through Thursday on WRTI. Scroll down to see recent playlists. Fifty-seven years after his voice first graced the airwaves, Perkins, best-known for his weeknight jazz show at WRTI, is entering semi-retirement after 25 years at the station. Dave and Bob share the same birthday! In turn, news reporters from WDAS would report via radio, in Detroit, about what was happening of importance in the city of Philadelphia., The management team at WDAS liked my work very much, and one day they asked me the question, Do you want to come home and work in Philadelphia radio? Not really fair to the jazz side, IMO, since most people sleep 8 hours of that half, but if you hook yourself up through the website, you can get streaming of whatever . Perkins is the PM drive time jazz radio personality and host for WRTI-FM Temple University Radio in Philadelphia. Domain Insight 2/27: The First Audacy Atlas Divestiture Will Go To. Bob Perkins at home at WRTI-FM studios. His distinctive deep voice and progressive points of view became an on-air signature for the fast-growing FM and AM operations at WDAS over 19 years during the 1970's and '80's. When WHYY dropped its music programming to concentrate on news and information, Perkins moved uptown. WRTI has not yet put a new DJ in Perkins usual weeknight spot, which will temporarily be filled by station associate general manager Josh Jackson, KYW Newsradio reported. ", BP going one on one with the audience shows a very strong kinship, said Craig, himself a 40-year veteran of local radio. People call me and tell me, I didnt like jazz till you played it, Perkins told The Inquirer in 2016. In September of 1969, I started working at WDAS as a newsman. Maybe were getting back to that today. The music that appeals to BPs old noggin is what he calls the melodic stuff with no expiration date, most of it recorded decades ago. Classical 6am-6pm, and Jazz 6pm-6am. Bob Perkins, WRTI DJ has been spinning music in Philadelphia since 1969. He is one of the few DJs at WRTI, or any radio station in existence nowadays, allowed such a luxury. After establishing himself on Detroit radio in news and jazz, Perkins returned to Philly in 1969 and became WDAS-FM's news/editorial director while hosting a jazz show at WHYY-FM. Have Your Say - WRTI's Bob Perkins 97 views Aug 17, 2020 4 Dislike Share Save MLTV - Main Line Network 2.72K subscribers Hosts Anne Minicozzi and Diana Robertson welcome radio personality. But he played the radio, that was his only salvation from the pain. I stayed over there about two years, but it really wasnt a good fit. But I didnt really visualize the response that I got. Perkins was also one of Pennsylvania's favorite night-time jazz listeners, in the Philadelphia area. PublishedDecember 6, 2013 at 5:49 AM EST. I know Ive been very blessed. I told the general manager about the job offer I had just received from the insurance company, and he replied, Take whichever job comes first., The general manager called me a couple days later and offered me the job, he said. We have a father right now and that's Bob Perkins.. Radio was saturated into me like a sponge thats put in water, Perkins said. He has attended two White House Presidential news conferences - one of Gerald Ford's and one of Jimmy Carter's. I always felt like they hired me because they wanted to get back at WDAS. I went in and knocked on the door and they said, we listened to you on WJLB, and we liked your work there, but you dont know news. The 88 year old Perkins has been on the air in Philadelphia since 1969 with stints as News Director at WDAS-FM and a Jazz host at WHYY before joining WRTI in 1997. Please let Bob know in the comments section below. His selections are like a familiar hug from Jazz Land featuring your favorite standards and vocalists such as Sarah, Ella, and Nat, some Big Band legends including the Duke and the Count . About to host his talk show on WDAS in the mid '70s. Perkins, 88, has been at the station since 1997 and has a media career that has spanned nearly six decades. I met him when he was a frequent visitor to the 900, One November night in the year 1934, a 17-year-old girl was about to take the stage at the Apollo theaters Amateur Night program and planned to do a, Many years ago, a group of teenage musicians decided to form a small jazz band in South Phillythey went on to become high-profile players in the jazz, WRTI's own jazz legend Bob Perkins sat down with Kile Smith in December, 2012 for a wide-ranging interview about Dave Brubeck the man, his music, and his, I believe the year was 1983 when I was asked if Id like to emcee a concert at the Academy of Music, headlined by Dave Brubeck and his sons and the Modern, Some folkseven jazz fanswouldnt know that 'Robert Chudnick' was the real name of the musician whose handle was Red Rodney. "[4] He is also an accomplished radio news journalist and a First Call Master of Ceremonies for regional jazz music events. We listened sometimes to WGN in Chicago that was like 650 miles away. They were a great family of jazz artists. If you, WRTIs Bob Perkins joined the 2016 Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame class on October 19th. I [then] looked up and I saw a sign that read WGPR-FM. Bob Perkins: I do itand Im not trying to be funnybut I do it really by braille, a feel. He currently hosts from 6-9pm Monday through Thursday, and from . Joe Bob Perkins Director Former Executive Chairman, CEO, and Founding President of Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) since 2003 (took Targa Public) Held a variety of executive and business development roles with Reliant, Coral Energy, and Tejas Gas, and also worked for McKinsey and Company and Mesa Petroleum; Serves on the Targa Resources Board, is a . Saxophonist Larry McKenna has been listening to him for 40 years. That petered out, but I was still at WHYY playing jazz music and loving it. How does it connect with them in a way other things dont? His older brother had introduced him to the music of Duke Ellington, which sparked a lifelong love of big band and jazz music. And for 50 of those years he's been on the radio to the, Our very own "BP with the GM" shared his story, going back to childhood, with a large audience at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia on Feb. 22, 2019. I remember saying, I dont know how to write editorials. LeBaron Taylor said [to me], You take the job and if you mess up, well get somebody else. I did that for 13 years pretty good. Since I turned 65, he reports with a tone more of irony than self-pity, its been one thing after another. He regularly serves as master of ceremonies for major annual and special concert events in the region, such as the previous and very popular Mellon Jazz Festival Concert Series. BP was awarded the 2002 Mellon Jazz Community Award. And Ive been a newsman, editorial writer, disc jockeyI guess just about everything with the spoken word in radio. Liked by Joe Bob Perkins. Im thrilled hell continue to host Sunday Jazz Brunch after he retires, because we all need some GM (good music) with our toast and jam!. New Temple Press book celebrates Philadelphias Italian legacy, Hundreds of Temple community members gather to celebrate the life of Sergeant Christopher Fitzgerald with his family, Temples Lenfest Center increases job opportunities for the North Philadelphia community, Globally connected campus: A presidential visit to Temple Rome, Whats the best way for an athlete to build their brand? Melinda Whiting, Courtney Blue, Bobbi I. Booker, Susan Lewis and Maureen Malloy are familiar voices on WRTI. On the set of his jazz cable TV show at the old Greater Media Cable in South Philly in the early '90s with guest vocalist Paula Johns. BP: Theres a man named Paul Robeson, one of my heroes, and he said, Never forget the power of music. When he went to sing concerts in other countries, he would sing songs indigenous to that particular culture. And all the while, you weren't aware of ituntil that person moved away, and, During a recent interview, saxophone great Larry Mckenna was right on target when he shared that often in other cities, when people found out he was from, When a dynamic figure in any walk of life departs, writers and just plain folks, usually try to recall certain events about the departed in which they may, When I was a kid growing up in South Philly, there was an older fellow down the block who was trying to play an alto saxophone. In addition to his job as WRTI jazz host, Perkins has written numerous columns and commentaries on jazz, and has hosted a multitude of concerts at jazz clubs and festivals. The Philadelphia Sunday SUN - P.O. He is a part of that time when jazz was juke joints and Friday night fish fries. WRTIs legendary jazz DJ Bob Perkins retires at age 88, Police find ancient mummy in delivery mans cooler bag in Peru, At least 36 killed after passenger and freight trains collide in Greece, Florida 19-year-old accused of killing three, including reporter, in shootings, Lori Lightfoot concedes mayors race in Chicago, European space agency pushes for lunar time zone, College students turn to influencing as new side hustle. ABOVE PHOTO: The Legendary BP with the GM (Photo courtesy of WRTI-FM). He has a very comforting presence on the air. 2/17/2019. BP talks about Charlie Parker back in 2020 with WRTI's Susan Lewis: His presence is felt throughout the city. Bob Perkins, a legendary DJ at the radio station WRTI, spun everything from Duke Ellington to Miles Davis. A mainstay of the jazz music and radio community, Perkins has been on-air at WRTI since 1997. ), I remember telling my friends about it, McKenna adds. Last edited on 21 February 2023, at 01:44, promotes the subject in a subjective manner, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Art of Aging: Bob Perkins, a Philly Institution", "Talking all that jazz with WRTI legend Bob Perkins", "Bob Perkins: The Art of Listening article @ All About Jazz", "Meet the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame's Class of 2017", Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia website, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Perkins_(radio_personality)&oldid=1140642424, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 01:44. Lance Venta is Owner and Publisher of RadioInsight.com. Jazz host Bob Perkins in his office at WRTI. In celebration of Women's History Month, we're shining a spotlight on the female hosts of WRTI. But dont fret, you can still lend him your finely tuned ears every Sunday from 9 AM to 1 PM for Sunday Jazz Brunch on WRTI 90.1. 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