BP broke into the radio business in 1964 when he landed an on-air job in Detroit. 1. In 1969, his hometown of Philadelphia beckoned him back with a gig at rhythm-and-blues station WDAS, where he worked for the next 19 years. Jazz host Bob Perkins in his office at WRTI. WRTI (90.1 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, . Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, she has studied piano, voice, guitar, saxophone, and music theory at Granoff and Settlement Music schools, and PCPA - now University of The Arts, and continues private instruction with her husband Leon Mitchell - composer, arranger, vocal coach, and musical director of The Philadelphia Legends of Jazz Orchestra. Perkins, known to listeners as "BP . Perkins wandered into the station at WGPR-FM and got a position as on-air DJ and Announcer. He wanted to share his obsession. 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. In 1969, WDAS offered him a news and editorial position and asked if he might be interested in moving back to Philadelphia. He goes way back and he studied by listening to some of the great commentators and broadcasters over the years, he said. Melinda Whiting, Courtney Blue, Bobbi I. Booker, Susan Lewis and Maureen Malloy are familiar voices on WRTI. The once well-known jazz, Have you ever discovered that a famous person once lived very close to you? They were a great family of jazz artists. Eventually, they changed their format to Jazz and Classical music. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. I did what I could, he told The Inquirer in 2020, because I didnt know a thing about writing editorials. So when I came back I got these emails saying, Oh, were glad youre back. I save all my emails. TN: People staying at home have been listening more to the radio and less to streaming services. ", BP going one on one with the audience shows a very strong kinship, said Craig, himself a 40-year veteran of local radio. WRTI's legendary jazz host, Bob Perkins, is surrounded by his cd collection of jazz recordings in his home in Wyncote, PA on December 19, 2019. Its a rallying cry. A lot of people, at least in my experience as an artist, associate this music with their grandparents' music or their parents' music. But the idea stayed in the back of my mind., To work in radio, I was told Id have to go work in the boonies (the boondocks) and get the mistakes out, Perkins continued. Maybe its one of the high points in their life. It has to be accurate. But I didnt really visualize the response that I got. His Sunday 'Jazz Brunch' show will continue. His father built homemade antennas that could pick up broadcasts from hundreds of miles away and the two would sit and listen together. 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. Im just playing music. 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 Ive helped keep jazz music alive in Philadelphia, and beyond.. I looked around, and I found a station that wanted a newsman. 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. Mr. Bob Perkins ("BP with the GM") WRTI jazz host extraordinaire turns 80 years old today. He went on to work for WDAS and while in Philadelphia, [2] in 1997, he joined WRTI-FM Temple University Radio. All the girls belong to me!". Ive been in radio for quite some time. 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. And he knows the history of the music so well. 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. Previously, Bob was a Board Member at Jazz Bridge and also held positions at Data Site, Unisys, WDAS Fm. Remember, I came up as a war baby. Music they danced and romanced to when they were young people.. Happy Birthday BP! Targa Resources 20 years . Experience Board Chair Orennia 2021 - Present 2 years. His show will come to an end June 30, but he says this wont be the last his fans hear from him. He has attended two White House Presidential news conferences - one of Gerald Ford's and one of Jimmy Carter's. But BP programs his own. 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. I couldnt leave Mom Perkins to go chasing after radio, he said. He was too ill to work; he had rheumatoid arthritis. [citation needed]. You had to sit around the radio and visualize. It took Perkins a little while to break into radio. He currently hosts from 6 pm to 9 pm Monday through Thursday, and from 9 am to 1 pm Sundays. We love your GM("Good Music")and you! At the same time, I started writing for the Philadelphia New Observer newspaper owned by Hugo Warren. TN: Have you made any changes to your playlist, in light of whats happening? What Bob does, it makes people feel like youre coming home, she said. 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. That petered out, but I was still at WHYY playing jazz music and loving it. Some of the management of that station listened to me on WGPR and they liked what they heard, he said. 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. Radio started I think, in 1920 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 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. Liked by Joe Bob Perkins. NPR news updates every hour. I guess along with fast food came fast everything fast cars, fast thoughts, fast relationships. He credits his love for radio to his father who repaired radios as a hobby when he was young. The estimated net worth of Joe Bob Perkins is at least $6.75 million as of November 2nd, 2022. "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. Lets sit around and gab, whatever the case may be. Longtime jazz radio host Bob Perkins will retire from full-time hosting on WRTI-FM/Philadelphia in June, the public radio station of Temple University in Philadelphia announced Tuesday. Beginning in June, he will end the weekday program and continue with the Sunday broadcast on90.1 FM. BP means a great deal to listeners of all ages. Perkins recalled that his father, at the age of about 40, had such severe arthritis that he could barely walk. Bob received a Master of Science degree degree from Nazareth College. 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. He is genuine, a real original.. Maureen Malloy, the director of jazz programming at WRTI, says there was an insane amount of listener response to Perkins unexplained absence. 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. He currently hosts from 6-9pm Monday through Thursday, and from . Lets have fun; lets have a beer. I wrote for Hugo Warren for 20 years. Domain Insight 2/27: The First Audacy Atlas Divestiture Will Go To. We had great announcers back then. BP broke into radio in Detroit on WGPR/WCHB/WCHD in 1964. Or Tony Bennett singing My Foolish Heart accompanied by pianist Bill Evans. In September of 1969, I started working at WDAS as a newsman. Black Music Month means heritage, he said. Classical 6am-6pm, and Jazz 6pm-6am. And hopefully its working. In 2016, he was awarded a bronze plaque on Philadelphia Music Alliance's Walk of Fame on the Avenue of the Arts. 27206. Lance Venta is Owner and Publisher of RadioInsight.com. 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. He began his career at WGPR Detroit. Listen to BP's last weeknight shift on Thursday, June 30th from 6 to 9 PM. Temple Public Radio 90.1 FM is amazing! 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. As of 1997, Perkins landed at WRTI-FM. Information about his on-air schedule may be found at WRTI's website. 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. 1 photo. The thing I liked about what Bob did was that he didnt call it a jazz show. I had been selling insurance in North Philadelphia at the time, knocking on doors. 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. Im just about 90% recovered and the letters that they sent, it was embarrassing to me because of the flattery that they gave me. They were doing quite well, raising their families, Perkins said. Read more MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer He wasn't doing well at, Classical Events Calendar Submission Form. Bob Perkins, age 8. Who knows what lies behind that smile? This music conjures up some beautiful memories. Last Update. I listened to all the magnificent voices that they had during the second world war: Edward R. Murrow and all those, Bob said in an interview in 2020. Music has brought us through some very challenging times.. 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. I went to a radio school through my father. Bob Perkins, a legendary DJ at the radio station WRTI, spun everything from Duke Ellington to Miles Davis. 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, WRTI Your Classical and Jazz Source | Moving back to Philadelphia, had such severe arthritis that he could barely walk after. Great deal to listeners of all ages with fast food came fast everything fast,! 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