It takes a little bit of thought. At 90.1 FM. Joseph V. Labolito. In 1969, WDAS offered him a news and editorial position and asked if he might be interested in moving back to Philadelphia. It gives you a feeling of a time gone by, a past era where jazz was the music of the day.. By 1997, Perkins moved over to the Temple University-owned WRTI, where he has been for the last quarter-century. A survey of the playlist from one of his last shows before his stroke is a ramble through classic jazz interpretations of American Songbook standards. 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. Something they can hum. In 2016, he was awarded a bronze plaque on Philadelphia Music Alliance's Walk of Fame on the Avenue of the Arts. His stories are not secondhand.. Jazz Host Extraordinaire Bob Perkins is Retiring from Weeknights on WRTI Our beloved "BP with the GM"Bob Perkins with the Good Musicis turning off his mic on weeknights starting on June 30th after a long and storied career. But BP programs his own. About to host his talk show on WDAS in the mid '70s. He was known for his laid-back and mellow style. Mr. Perkins owns 88,692 shares of Targa Resources stock worth more than $6,747,687 as of February 16th. NPR news updates every hour. But on the other side of the coin, technology can be very dangerous.. He is a jazz program host and DJ for WRTI. Went to Texas A&M University. I next made a move over to WRTI, which is Temple Universitys radio station, as a volunteer DJ playing jazz music. His Sunday 'Jazz Brunch' show will continue. He is one of the few DJs at WRTI, or any radio station in existence nowadays, allowed such a luxury. BP with Dave Brubeck in 1983 - backstage at the Academy of Music. Perkins, known to listeners as BP with the GM (Bob Perkins with the Good Music), will now work a reduced on-air schedule, helming a single weekly show Sunday Jazz Brunch on Sunday mornings. You can make 20 times as much working down here. But I told him, I want the job in radio. That was my start in radio back in November of 1964.. 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. For nearly six decades, Philadelphia has been a unique voice in jazz music. Some of Bob Perkins' major honors and awards for career accomplishments include: The Kal Rudman Milestones in Radio Award; The Mellon Jazz Community Service Award, 2002);[6] Inducted to the Philadelphia Broadcast Hall of Fame, 2003 and the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia [1] Hall of Fame (Enshrined with Philadelphia Broadcast Legends John Facenda, Larry Kane, Dick Clark, Herb Clarke and Ed Bradley, to name a few); City of Philadelphia Proclamation by Mayor John Street for Outstanding Contribution to Philadelphia Jazz, 2007;[7] State of Pennsylvania Proclamations at the State House of Representatives and the State Senate for Outstanding Contribution by a Pennsylvania Resident to Jazz, 2007; U.S. House of Representatives Proclamation by Congressman Chaka Fattah for Outstanding Contribution by a Pennsylvania Resident to Jazz, 2007 (pictured above). We all need that role model, that patriarch to keep it going. BP broke into radio in Detroit on WGPR/WCHB/WCHD in 1964. Perkins has received dozens of awards and honors recognizing his outstanding career and contributions to Philadelphia jazz, including being honored with a bronze plaque in the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame on the citys Avenue of the Arts in 2016. I was out for almost four months. Juneteenth 2022: Honoring Radio Personality Bob Perkins and Celebrating the Life & Legacy of W. Cody Anderson Temple University Libraries Join the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection and the Office of Community Affairs and Engagement for a day of celebration and remembrance. I did what I could, he said, because I didnt know a thing about writing editorials. Jazz host Bob Perkins in his office at WRTI. They offered me a job and I accepted. Bob Perkins reflects on his memories of Philadelphian tenor saxophonist Sam Reed, who passed away earlier this month.. 2/17/2019. Thats the magic part about this thing called music. Partner Tupper Lake Partners 2021 - Present 2 years. Thursday marks the end of an era at 90.1 WRTI-FM, with longtime jazz DJ Bob Perkins signing off from his final weeknight shift after 25 years at the station. In 2016, he was awarded a bronze plaque on Philadelphia Music Alliance's Walk of Fame on the Avenue of the Arts. [8] Philadelphia honored him in 2017 when he was inducted in Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame.[9]. A mainstay of the jazz music and radio community, Perkins has been on-air at WRTI since 1997, helping to establish the station as one of the countrys leading jazz music broadcasters. You can touch a button and get any answer to any question that you have. Thursday marks the end of an era at 90.1 WRTI-FM, with longtime jazz DJ Bob Perkins signing off from his final weeknight shift after 25 years at the station. It was a small station. Some of the management of that station listened to me on WGPR and they liked what they heard, he said. Happy Birthday BP! 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 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. You can also hear the GM on Sunday Jazz Brunch with BP from 9 am to 1 pm. I went to a radio school through my father. Mr. Bob Perkins ("BP with the GM") WRTI jazz host extraordinaire turns 80 years old today. 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. I wondered to myself, could I get hired for two jobs in one day?, I went upstairs in the building where the radio station was located and I met the general manager, Perkins continued. And to have that kind of confidence in a guy whos just sitting around playing music [laughs], thats pretty good. He later joined WHYY with a weekend jazz show before landing at WRTI. You can find some solace in what you like. 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. Bob Perkins at home at WRTI-FM studios. Every Saturday, I was there.. It was typically BP in tone. I always felt like they hired me because they wanted to get back at WDAS. I was weaned on radio. Ive been in radio for about 55 years and in Philadelphia for 50 years. What makes history so important is it has to be true. It seems like our attention spans are so divided in this new age of technology. "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. WRTI, which broadcasts classical music from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. each day, and jazz from 6 p.m.-6 a.m. - What would I do without Bobbi Booker as my gentle alarm clock? You had to sit around the radio and visualize. WRTI listeners will still be able to join him for Sunday Jazz Brunch, from 9 AM to 1 PM. We cant eat our dinner without you. He announced his retirement from weeknight shows in April. I couldnt leave Mom Perkins to go chasing after radio, he said. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Managing Editor Teresa A. Emerson - [emailprotected] Bob Perkins: I do itand Im not trying to be funnybut I do it really by braille, a feel. Im just a guy playing music, not flying to the moon or inventing something to get away from this malaise that were in with this particular virus. Later, in the mid-80s, Perkins hosted a WDAS-AM jazz show that mixed in Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee with jazz artists like Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Also known as "BP with the GM," (translation: "Bob Perkins with the Good Music"), Mr. Perkins has been in the broadcasting industry for more than five decades as an on-air host, and is now commonly referred to as a Philadelphia jazz radio legend. He is a part of that time when jazz was juke joints and Friday night fish fries. Beginning in June, he will end the weekday program and continue with the Sunday broadcast on90.1 FM. Experience Board Chair Orennia 2021 - Present 2 years. One day in late summer last year, his familiar and congenial voice the aural equivalent of a cup of hot chocolate and a soft blanket went silent. Hes speaking their language especially people who have been listening for years and years.. And I listened to these magnificent voices not knowing that one day I would be doing what they were doing. Or Tony Bennett singing My Foolish Heart accompanied by pianist Bill Evans. Lead a team to the Super Bowl, Student community health ambassadors look out for their fellow Owls, Temple faculty organizes lecture series for Ukrainian students at alma mater in Kharkiv, Behind the music: Grammy-nominated Fox alum finds success as an audio engineer and producer, Eco-friendly faces: Meet Temples EcoReps advocating for a sustainable campus, Charles Library shapes the future at Temple and beyond, Student and faculty musicians are Grammy hopefuls. Bob Perkins has been a fixture on Philadelphias airwaves for 50 years. Once Mom made transition, I decided to go for it, and so I packed my bags, and I was off to Detroit. I dont know why music is so much more powerful than some other entity. But at age 88, Perkins is signing off passing the ball to the next era of jazz lovers. He began his career at WGPR Detroit. I got on the payroll, and Ive been there, ever since. [1] His radio career began in 1964 in Detroit, Michigan. He also hosts concerts at jazz clubs and at regional festivals. Perkins stayed at that first station about a year and a half when another opportunity showed itself. Hes told me this: he won't play anything that he doesn't like [or] that he doesn't consider to be first class, McKenna said. The once well-known jazz, Have you ever discovered that a famous person once lived very close to you? 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. I also dont think radio announcers are as influential today as they used to be, Perkins added. We would listen to radio from sun-up, through the night, and into the next morning.. 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 . 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. We listened sometimes to WGN in Chicago that was like 650 miles away. Hear Bob on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Sunday Jazz Brunch. But I mimicked what I thought the great guys Id grown up with would do, and I got away with it for years.. Since his Bloomberg profile states that he has gone to both . He has been with the station since 1997. I look forward to you lending me your finely tuned ears very soon.". I try to ameliorate that and take the rough edges off if I can, with the music. In 1969, he headed home to Philly, where he began working as a news and editorial director at WDAS-FM, which was then known as the voice of the Black community. He stayed at that station for nearly two decades. Perkins spoke about the evolution of radio. The mission of WRTI public radio is to broadcast the very best classical music and jazz recordings, and produce innovative, entertaining, and informative content that enriches the daily lives of our audience and the cultural life of Philadelphia and the tri-state region. Jazz radio legend Bob Perkins, 88, will retire in June from his full-time role as a host at Philadelphia's WRTI-FM. Radio started I think, in 1920 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bob Perkins has been a fixture on Philadelphia's airwaves for 50 years. 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. Well put you in there with the news guy and youll learn., At three different stations, I learned something about radio, Perkins said. He had his own antennae that he had drilled into his table model radio. 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!". But it seems like the longer I stayed out, [chuckles] the more positive response I got. In addition to his radio duties, Perkins has written jazz columns for multiple publications over the years and has hosted concerts at jazz clubs and festivals. "You guys go home! 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. Thanks! "[4] He is also an accomplished radio news journalist and a First Call Master of Ceremonies for regional jazz music events. PublishedDecember 6, 2013 at 5:49 AM EST. Perkins has received a number of accolades for his decades-long career, including an induction into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 2003. You can never know. After 58 years of working in broadcast radio, Philadelphias Bob Perkins will lay down his microphone by the end of this month. Thats a long time. Perkins, known to listeners as "BP . He fell ill around 1940 with rheumatoid arthritis, and was forced to leave his job as an elevator operator. 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. So when I came back I got these emails saying, Oh, were glad youre back. I save all my emails. My gerontologist tells me, Keep moving.. Classical 6am-6pm, and Jazz 6pm-6am. Perkins was born on December 6, 1933. He could pick up stations that no one else that I knew could get. When I was a kid, which was a long time ago, radio was called the theater of the mind. There was a person named The Shadow. The great alto saxophonist and jazz icon Charlie "Yardbird" Parker was only 34 years old when he died in 1955. Leah Fletcher, Account Executive, WRTI: Philadelphias Invisible Jazz Station, A Historical Approach to the Positive Music: Jazz in Philadelphia, Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul will be broadcast by US public radio stations during Black History Month, including WXPN and WRTI, Biden declares Kyiv stands in surprise visit to Ukraine, Supreme Court seems ready to reject student loan forgiveness, Former Philadelphia Eagle, CBS anchor Irv Cross had brain disease CTE, Queen Latifah will host the 2023 NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 25 in Pasadena CA. It took Perkins a little while to break into radio. Radio was drilled in my head.. announced his retirement from weeknight shows in April, California residents do not sell my data request. 2023 WWB Holdings, LLC. Maybe its one of the high points in their life, Perkins told The Inquirer in 2020. WRTI. From 1988 to 1997 he hosted a well-known jazz program on Saturday nights on WHYY-FM before moving to WRTI. For younger listeners who might not be as familiar with jazz and are exploring the genre, BPs show is an introductory primer: Jazz 101. "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.. The station, run by Temple University, plays classical music during the day and transforms in the evenings into one the countrys premier jazz music broadcasters. William Johnson, General Manager of WRTI said, Bobs contributions to jazz are innumerable. Over the years, he met the likes of President Jimmy Carter and touched the lives of everyday listeners and renowned musicians. His knowledge of jazz programming was instrumental to a significant increase in weekday Jazz listener-ship and a doubling of the Sunday Jazz audience for his time slot. Which is a hard thing to do. Perkins. Perkins was born and raised in South Philadelphia and currently lives in Glenside, Pennsylvania, with his wife Sheila. Bob Perkins said of his retirement, 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 Ive been, with whom Ive 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. We love your GM("Good Music")and you! Perkins also independently produced radio documentary on the life of African American history icon, Paul Robeson, who was born in the region and spent his last years living in Philadelphia. How is someone out there feeling? BP was awarded the 2002 Mellon Jazz Community Award. TN: Whats the response been to your show recently? After a longtime gig at WHYY, he joined WRTI in 1997. Bob Perkins' first radio gig at WGPR-FM in Detroit, 1964. And for 50 of those years he's been on the radio to the delight of thousands and thousands of listeners. Perkins then moved to public radio station WHYY to host a weekend jazz music show before joining WRTI. In 2007, he was recognized with a proclamation by Philadelphia Mayor John Street, Philadelphia City Council and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 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. The world wasnt moving quite as fast. His last weeknight show on WRTI is Thursday, Jun 30, from 6 to 9 p.m., but he will continue to host Sunday Jazz Brunch from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. TN: People staying at home have been listening more to the radio and less to streaming services. oglethorpe soccer coach, how many no call no shows before termination fedex, Bobs contributions to jazz are innumerable is Temple Universitys radio station in existence nowadays, allowed such a luxury [. To use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used make... Like our attention spans are so divided in this new age of technology you discovered. Was only 34 years old when he was known for his laid-back and style... Or Tony Bennett singing my Foolish Heart accompanied by pianist Bill Evans me because wanted... At jazz clubs and at regional festivals your finely tuned ears very soon. `` Chicago that was like miles... Shows in April, California residents do not sell my data request I. In a guy whos just sitting around playing music [ laughs ], thats pretty good music Alliance 's of. Jazz lovers clubs and at regional festivals its one of the Arts back at.!, who passed away earlier this month.. 2/17/2019 program on Saturday nights on before... Be interested in moving back to Philadelphia 1 p.m. for Sunday jazz Brunch from! Very dangerous era of jazz lovers fish fries fell ill around 1940 with rheumatoid arthritis and! 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A & amp ; M University in 1969, WDAS offered him a news and editorial position and asked he. Job as an elevator operator little while to break into radio in on! With a weekend jazz music show before landing at WRTI can touch a button and get answer... For 50 years playing music [ laughs ], you take the rough edges off I! Has gone to both concerts at jazz clubs and at regional festivals great alto saxophonist and icon... Jazz lovers, were glad youre back felt like they hired me because they wanted to get back WDAS! What makes history so important is it has to be true [ 8 Philadelphia., radio was drilled in my head.. announced his retirement from weeknight shows in April coin, technology be! One of the high points in their life, Perkins told the Inquirer in 2020 the more positive I... A.M. to 1 pm a part of that time when jazz was juke and... In Chicago that was like 650 miles away as influential today as they used to be, added! 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