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. Black Music Month means heritage, he said. Perkins career in radio has spanned nearly 60 years, with the South Philadelphia native having landed his first on-air gig at a small, Black-owned Detroit radio station in 1964. I would do reports on Philadelphia radio about what was happening in Detroit. I program most of the music on the station, said Maureen Malloy. 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 couldnt leave Mom Perkins to go chasing after radio, he said. Every Saturday, I was there.. Perkins was honored with a bronze plaque in the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame on the citys Avenue of the Arts in 2016 and was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 2003, among other awards and accolades. Perkins had a five-year relationship with The Philadelphia Tribune, where he wrote commentary on government, society and public affairs. You should hear this guy.. Apple Tea Whats Cookin? Bob Perkins will retire from his full-time position hosting nights at Temple University Jazz 90.1 WRTI Philadelphia. 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. Perkins credits his father for being the one who gave him the love for radio. 2/17/2019. But you try to always put that best music forward. Its almost like were trying to do too much. 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. Michael Tanenbaum It was always in the back of my mind, like a latent dream, that maybe one day, Id get into radio.. 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. The South Philadelphia native has been one of the greatest voices of the citys airwaves since 1969, when he joined R&B station WDAS in an influential news and editorial position after working in Detroit radio for five years. BP with jazz pianist McCoy Tyner at WRTI in 2015. Discovery, curation, community, performance, preservation. #WRTImusic Bob Perkins' Recollection of the Late Sam Reed, BP Tells a Little Story About Ella Fitzgeralds Connection to Orphaned Children, Bob Perkins Reflects On Oldtime Philly Legends, Including 2021 NEA Jazz Master Albert "Tootie" Heath, Bob Perkins Talks About Dave Brubeck's Legacy Back in 2012. Bob Perkins's Phone Number and Email. You can never know. He grew up in South Philadelphia and fell in love with radio as a child. In celebration of Women's History Month, we're shining a spotlight on the female hosts of WRTI. But I mimicked what I thought the great guys Id grown up with would do, and I got away with it for years.. Lance Venta is Owner and Publisher of RadioInsight.com. He makes it interesting and inclusive for everybody.. They had hired me for all the wrong reasons in the first place. It took Perkins a little while to break into radio. 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. "People say, You ought to give it up, man, go retire somewhere. Why? BP: Yes, it really did. Hes speaking their language especially people who have been listening for years and years.. His Sunday 'Jazz Brunch' show will continue. Im waiting for my doc to give me clearance to return to work so that I can keep putting out that good GM . About to host his talk show on WDAS in the mid '70s. He was known for his laid-back and mellow style. I think hes been very good to all the local jazz musicians who have recorded music, McKenna said. William Johnson, General Manager of WRTI said, Bobs contributions to jazz are innumerable. I had an insurance license and they told me, Youre going to start in a week. I walked out the door and I was very happy. And I do it by feel what should follow this piece of music and is my next piece of music as good or better than the previous piece of music that I played? July 1, 2022. Bob Perkins: I do itand Im not trying to be funnybut I do it really by braille, a feel. He later joined WHYY with a weekend jazz show before landing at WRTI. My gerontologist tells me, Keep moving.. I guess I couldnt help but love radio, because from the time I was a little boy, radio was very much a part of my day every day growing up in South Philadelphia.. His father built homemade antennas that could pick up broadcasts from hundreds of miles away and the two would sit and listen together. Five days a week, on WRTI, "BP with the GM" (that's Bob Perkins with the Good Music), plays jazz with a connoisseur's ear and an infectious sense of joy. He is a gentleman, a kind soul, and every bit as nice in person as you hear on-air. They just let me have my own way and they seem to like what I play. 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. Perkins will continue to host his Sunday show from 9am to 1pm. I think in some way, Bob is able to bridge that gap, King said. ", BP going one on one with the audience shows a very strong kinship, said Craig, himself a 40-year veteran of local radio. 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. Beginning in June, he will end the weekday program and continue with the Sunday broadcast on90.1 FM. BP with Dave Brubeck in 1983 - backstage at the Academy of Music. 1 photo. Electronics and technology are magnificent. Information about his on-air schedule may be found at WRTI's website. I was out for almost four months. I think it would be silly to have me programming for a jazz historian.. He went on to work for WDAS and while in Philadelphia, [2] in 1997, he joined WRTI-FM Temple University Radio. Radio has changed dramatically over the years, [particularly] with all the new technology, he said. [1] His radio career began in 1964 in Detroit, Michigan. His stories are not secondhand.. Thats our savior, man.. We have a father right now and that's Bob Perkins.. Like the theme song from the 1944 film Laura, played by saxophone legend Coleman Hawkins. 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. Robert Bob Perkins (born December 6, 1933) is an American radio personality. I dont know how they do it. Mr. Perkins owns 88,692 shares of Targa Resources stock worth more than $6,747,687 as of February 16th. We all need that role model, that patriarch to keep it going. READ MORE: Two Philly jazz masters celebrate their birthdays (and their best-friendship), Perkins had suffered a stroke. BP broke into the radio business in 1964 when he landed an on-air job in Detroit. 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. At 90.1 FM. Music, said BP about the GM. Hear Bob on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Sunday Jazz Brunch. 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. 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. Not only with his actual speaking voice, but also with the music he selects, Block said. Especially jazz music. Jazz also captivated Perkins at a young age. Courtney Blue, KLN '12, hosts Late Evening Jazz, The Jazz Request Show and Nouveau Jazz Showcase. [citation needed], Perkins started his radio career in Detroit over five years, from 1964 to 1969. I got on the payroll, and Ive been there, ever since. He is a jazz program host and DJ for WRTI. But his well-honed approach to the music would remain unaffected. 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. 1. They don't think that it's accessible to younger people. Perkins, 88, has been at the station since 1997 and has a media career that has spanned nearly six decades. 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 . The radio station was owned by the Black Masons of Detroit. Im just about 90% recovered and the letters that they sent, it was embarrassing to me because of the flattery that they gave me. 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. He announced his retirement from weeknight shows in April. BP broke into the radio business in 1964 when he landed an on-air job in Detroit. We listened sometimes to WGN in Chicago that was like 650 miles away. We cant eat our dinner without you. He was the youngest child and when his mother became ill, he felt responsible to stay and care for her. 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. Temple Now: How do you choose the music that you play? Maureen Malloy, the director of jazz programming at WRTI, says there was an insane amount of listener response to Perkins unexplained absence. During his short life, he became one of the, Mr. Bob Perkins ("BP with the GM") WRTI jazz host extraordinaire turns 80 years old today. [3] One of his well-known sayings is "This is BP with the GM!". Melinda Whiting, Courtney Blue, Bobbi I. Booker, Susan Lewis and Maureen Malloy are familiar voices on WRTI. If you, WRTIs Bob Perkins joined the 2016 Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame class on October 19th. Over the years, he met the likes of President Jimmy Carter and touched the lives of everyday listeners and renowned musicians. 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. Talking all that jazz with WRTI legend Bob Perkins, Two Philly jazz masters celebrate their birthdays (and their best-friendship), California residents do not sell my data request. Bob Perkins has been instrumental in establishing WRTI as one of the premier jazz stations in the country since 1997. Be silly to have me programming for a jazz program host and DJ for WRTI bob perkins wrti illness reasons in the place! Mccoy Tyner at WRTI in 2015 need that role model, that patriarch to it... 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