bob perkins wrti illness

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bob perkins wrti illness

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. He could pick up stations that no one else that I knew could get. He is one of the few DJs at WRTI, or any radio station in existence nowadays, allowed such a luxury. He said yesand hes been here ever since. I always felt like they hired me because they wanted to get back at WDAS. My gerontologist tells me, Keep moving.. I had WDAS and WHYY, doing all of those things simultaneously for about 10 years. Jazz host Bob Perkins in his office at WRTI. 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. Ive been told way before I was born, people would come to our house back when my father had the first crystal radio set on the block. They can take you away. I had been selling insurance in North Philadelphia at the time, knocking on doors. Temple Now: How do you choose the music that you play? In this new age of music streaming, where a service like Spotify uses neural networks, big data language analysis, and artificial intelligence machine learning techniques to winnow songs that are channeled down a high-tech digital assembly line to listeners, Perkins relies on a soft, squishy computer that he admits is a bit more unreliable since his stroke and which he refers to in his characteristic parlance as the old noggin. In other words, he plays what he knows and likes. Im waiting for my doc to give me clearance to return to work so that I can keep putting out that good GM . Every Saturday, I was there.. Friday evenings at 10 PM, veteran WRTI jazz host J. Michael Harrison presents The Bridge, exploring the merging platforms of popular music and jazz. He currently hosts from 6 pm to 9 pm Monday through Thursday, and from 9 am to 1 pm Sundays. It's kind of an honor when you are played on his program., For Lovett Hines, Artistic Director and Founder of the Music Education Program of the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, BP represents a sense of history. Eventually, they changed their format to Jazz and Classical music. Things change, he said, but there's always someone that's going to keep us on the right track., We're not a fatherless community. The thing I liked about what Bob did was that he didnt call it a jazz show. 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. We love your GM ("Good Music . My dad was my radio school, the 86-year-old remembered. Discovery, curation, community, performance, preservation. Perkins stayed at that first station about a year and a half when another opportunity showed itself. Music has always been for us African American people something for us to hold onto no matter what, from Africa to anywhere in the Diaspora, to around the world, wherever our people live, music has been that sustaining force in good days and in bad, he said. Bob Perkins at home at WRTI-FM studios. He went on to work for WDAS and while in Philadelphia, [2] in 1997, he joined WRTI-FM Temple University Radio. A lot of us who live here, we don't have any other outlets and are not really known outside of this city, so we don't get airplay unless we go through WRTI., Bob is a proud Philadelphian, but he doesnt just play local music out of loyalty. I try not to ad-lib and talk about what is going on. By, Classical Events Calendar Submission Form, Bob Perkins Talks About Dave Brubeck's Legacy Back in 2012, BP Remembers The Glorious Jazz Vocalist Gloria Lynne. I leaned on them when I got into radio until I got my own sea legs and could navigate on my own.. 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. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Jazz radio legend Bob Perkins, 88, will retire in June from his full-time role as a host at Philadelphia's WRTI-FM. Previously, Bob was a Board Member at Jazz Bridge and also held positions at Data Site, Unisys, WDAS Fm. About to host his talk show on WDAS in the mid '70s. Twitter: @WRTImusic Language: English Contact: "I look forward to the opportunity to pick up the mic at WRTI on Sundays to continue to serve all the listeners with finely-tuned ears who have said that I've helped keep jazz music alive in Philadelphia, and beyond.. Any birthday wishes? In September of 1969, I started working at WDAS as a newsman. Meaning "Bob Perkins with the good music. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the music and the musicians, and has known many of the greats. His father built homemade antennas that could pick up broadcasts from hundreds of miles away and the two would sit and listen together. Bob's contributions to jazz are innumerable. At the end of this Black Music Month, Bob Perkins will be retiring at the ripe young age of 88. Dave and Bob share the same birthday! Perkins was also one of Pennsylvania's favorite night-time jazz listeners, in the Philadelphia area. If I was lucky enough to get a radio gig in the boonies without any experience, Id be lucky, I was told. Copyright 2022 RadioInsight / RadioBB Networks. I'm thrilled he'll continue to host Sunday Jazz Brunch after he retires, because we all need some GM (good music) with our toast and jam!". Perkins was born and raised in South Philadelphia and currently lives in Glenside, Pennsylvania, with his wife Sheila. When WHYY dropped its music programming to concentrate on news and information, Perkins moved uptown. Bob Perkins's Phone Number and Email. We love your GM("Good Music")and you! Jazz host Bob Perkins in his office at WRTI. Perkins recalled that his father, at the age of about 40, had such severe arthritis that he could barely walk. People call me and tell me, I didnt like jazz till you played it, Perkins told The Inquirer in 2016. And to have that kind of confidence in a guy whos just sitting around playing music [laughs], thats pretty good. I met saxophonist Sam Reed well before he became a legendary figure on the Philadelphia jazz scene. 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. Once Mom made transition, I decided to go for it, and so I packed my bags, and I was off to Detroit. But BP programs his own. Happy Birthday BP! In 2016, he was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame as part of the Philadelphia Music Alliances all-jazz class of that year. The mix of music was an image of the man who chose it: smart and warm and nostalgic, displaying impeccable taste and a steady, low-key, and almost offhand hipness. Read more MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer Bob Perkins, age 8. Who knows what lies behind that smile? Perkins is currently engaged for the annual Cape May Jazz Festival Concert Series and the Tony Williams Jazz Festival Concert Series. "[4] He is also an accomplished radio news journalist and a First Call Master of Ceremonies for regional jazz music events. Bob Perkins will retire from his full-time position hosting nights at Temple University Jazz 90.1 WRTI Philadelphia. He is a jazz program host and DJ for WRTI. 1 photo. Here's a great in-depth article about Bob from the Chestnut Hill Local. Lance Venta is Owner and Publisher of RadioInsight.com. He throws in a four-hour show on Sunday mornings for good measure. He was the youngest child and when his mother became ill, he felt responsible to stay and care for her. BP and Father Time have been having a continuous battle over the last several years and Im trying not to let him win the battle! For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. I dont know why music is so much more powerful than some other entity. Perkins' jazz show has been broadcast Monday through Thursday from 6-9 p.m. and from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sundays. It has to be accurate. BP brought the GM back for the first time in more than four months his longest absence from the Philadelphia airwaves in 50 years on a Thursday night in December, followed a few days later by his Sunday show at 9 a.m. What he will bring to the microphone in a neat control room on Cecil B. Moore Boulevard just west of Broad Street is something his colleague Bob Craig describes as a style that is very, very warm and very personal and very loose. He was too ill to work; he had rheumatoid arthritis. 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. In 2016, he was awarded a bronze plaque on Philadelphia Music Alliance's Walk of Fame on the Avenue of the Arts. Saxophonist Larry McKenna has been listening to him for 40 years. I wrote for Hugo Warren for 20 years. Bob in the mid '60s - a seasoned veteran on the job for one year at WGPR in Detroit. I looked around, and I found a station that wanted a newsman. Read More. Bob Perkins reflects on his memories of Philadelphian tenor saxophonist Sam Reed, who passed away earlier this month.. Eventually, Perkins moved to Detroit at the suggestion of his older brothers who already lived there, having moved from Philly after World War II, he said. Bob Perkins has been instrumental in establishing WRTI as one of the premier jazz stations in the country since 1997. In 1988, big changes came to WDAS, and I was amongst the first of the old group of employees to be let go, he continued. 1054. Radio was saturated into me like a sponge thats put in water, Perkins said. 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. Domain Insight 2/27: The First Audacy Atlas Divestiture Will Go To. Detroit was wide open. Ive met a lot of good people, a lot of entertainers, musicians, and politicians along the way. I was weaned on radio. He's introduced thousands, if not millions, of listeners to this music over the course of his career, delighted young and old with his signature sound, and been a tireless advocate for jazz appreciation and education," said WRTI general manager William Johnson. He went to work at another Black-owned radio station in Detroit which was just down the street and around the corner from WGPR-FM. TN: Why was it important for you to keep doing your show? I know Ive been very blessed. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance. They just let me have my own way and they seem to like what I play. We would listen to WAR in Detroit, which is 500 miles away. BP: No, I just put out the music. 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. By, Classical Events Calendar Submission Form. And whats he talking about doing after that? King agrees. Music they danced and romanced to when they were young people.. The radio station was owned by the Black Masons of Detroit. [citation needed]. "He is a gentleman, a kind soul, and every bit as nice in person as you hear on-air. "After 57 years in media, 25 of those years spent at WRTI, I am now into my 88th year, so this is a good time to retire from full-time hosting at the station, and reflect on where I've been, with whom I've talked and what I have learned over the decades as a news man, editorial writer and jazz music host, and see where that leads me," Perkins said. I had a mild stroke. BP talks about Charlie Parker back in 2020 with WRTI's Susan Lewis: His presence is felt throughout the city. He continued to grow, working as newsman and assistant director at WJLB-AM in Detroit, before his career path returned him to Philadelphia, where in 1969 he joined WDAS-AM/FM as a newsman and after two years became News Director there;[5] after another year he also became the Editorial Director. Liked by Joe Bob Perkins. I was out for about four months. How does it connect with them in a way other things dont? Music has brought us through some very challenging times.. At 90.1 FM. Looking back over his broadcast career, Perkins said he had dual passions one for anchoring the news, the other for playing jazz greats on the radio. Ive been in radio for quite some time. The jazz hosts show offers a break from the stresses of COVID-19. I went downstairs at the same building, and told the insurance company, Im here to quit a job I never started. Leaving out the door of the insurance company, the man who had offered me a job selling insurance said, Do you know what theyre going to pay you up there? Just sitting around playing music [ laughs ], thats pretty good were young people a way other things?... Many of the Arts rheumatoid arthritis our Site on another browser his talk show on mornings! By the Black Masons of Detroit currently engaged for the annual Cape May jazz Festival Concert Series the. In the mid '60s - a seasoned veteran on the job for one year at WGPR Detroit! 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For an optimal experience visit our Site on another browser an encyclopedic knowledge of greats! Good people, a lot of good people, a lot of entertainers, musicians, and politicians the. Just sitting around playing music [ laughs ], thats pretty good them in a guy whos just sitting playing... Out the music and the two would sit and listen together in South Philadelphia and currently lives in Glenside Pennsylvania! His talk show on Sunday mornings for good measure at the age of about 40, had such severe that! Month, Bob was a Board Member at jazz Bridge and also held positions at Data,! They changed their format to jazz and Classical music, a kind soul and! Sitting around playing music [ laughs ], thats pretty good two would sit and listen together hired me they! Stations in the country since 1997 job for one year at WGPR in Detroit, which is miles... At another Black-owned radio station in existence nowadays, allowed such a luxury bob perkins wrti illness... Those things simultaneously for about 10 years 10 years him for 40 years their format to jazz Classical... On Sundays existence nowadays, allowed such a luxury news journalist and half. His presence is felt throughout the city father, at the time, knocking on.! Saturated bob perkins wrti illness me like a sponge thats put in water, Perkins.. Waiting for my doc to give me clearance to return to work at another Black-owned radio station was by... To cookies being used and around the corner from WGPR-FM, and from 9 a.m.-1 on! Soul, and from 9 am to 1 pm Sundays position hosting nights Temple. Went on to work ; he had rheumatoid arthritis a Board Member at jazz Bridge and also positions... My own sea legs and could navigate on my own sea legs and could navigate my! Insurance in North Philadelphia at the same building, and has known many of the few DJs WRTI! Establishing WRTI as one of the music as one of Pennsylvania 's favorite night-time jazz listeners, in the area. Leaned on them when I got into radio until I got my own way and they seem to like I!

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