Robert “Bob” Perkins (born December 6, 1933) is an American radio personality. He is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

program host and DJ for

WRTI WRTI (90.1 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a service of Temple University. The Temple University Board of Trustees holds the station's license. The broadcast tower used by the s ...

. His radio career began in 1964 in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. He went on to work for WDAS and while in Philadelphia, in 1997, he joined WRTI-FM

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

Radio. He was known for his laid-back and mellow style. Perkins was also one of Pennsylvania's favorite night-time jazz listeners, in the Philadelphia area. One of his well-known sayings is "This is BP with the GM!". Meaning "Bob Perkins with the good music." He is also an accomplished radio news journalist and a First Call Master of Ceremonies for regional jazz music events. He has earned well over forty different honors and awards from major government, artistic, journalistic and community organizations. Information about his on-air schedule may be found at WRTI's website.

Radio career summary

Perkins is the PM drive time jazz radio personality and host for WRTI-FM

Radio in Philadelphia. He has been with the station since 1997. 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. Perkins started his radio career in Detroit over five years, from 1964 to 1969. After breaking in as a DJ and announcer at WGPR-FM, he then expanded to news at

WCHB WCHB (1340 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Royal Oak, Michigan, and serving the Detroit metropolitan area. It broadcasts an urban gospel radio format and is owned by Crawford Broadcasting. The station is a reporter to Billboard' ...

-AM while also working as jazz program director for its twin,

WCHD WCHD (99.9 FM, "Channel 999") is a commercial radio station licensed to Kettering, Ohio, and serving the Dayton metropolitan area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and airs a Mainstream Top 40 (CHR) radio format. Its studios are locate ...

-FM. He continued to grow, working as newsman and assistant director at

WJLB WJLB (97.9 FM) is a radio station in Detroit, Michigan. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts an urban contemporary format. WJLB's studios are located in Farmington Hills. WJLB's transmitter is located in Highland Park near the intersection of ...

-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; after another year he also became the Editorial Director. 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. From 1988 to 1997 he hosted a well-known jazz program on Saturday nights on

WHYY-FM WHYY-FM (90.9 MHz, "91 FM") is a public radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its broadcast tower is located in the city's Roxborough neighborhood at () while its studios and offices are located on Independence Mall in Cen ...

before moving to WRTI. Perkins is also a first-call jazz MC. 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. Perkins is currently engaged for the annual Cape May Jazz Festival Concert Series and the Tony Williams Jazz Festival Concert Series.

Print media and other projects

Perkins had a five-year relationship with ''

The Philadelphia Tribune ''The Philadelphia Tribune'' is the oldest continuously published African-American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1884 when Christopher J. Perry published its first copy. Throughout its history, ''The Philadelphia Tribune' ...

'', where he wrote commentary on government, society and public affairs. He also wrote editorials and other articles for the former ''Philadelphia New Observer''. Perkins also independently produced radio documentary on the life of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

history icon,

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...

, who was born in the region and spent his last years living in Philadelphia.

Personal life

Perkins was born on December 6, 1933. He credits his love for radio to his father who repaired radios as a hobby when he was young. He got his first job in radio during a trip to visit his two brothers in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

in 1964. Perkins wandered into the station at WGPR-FM and got a position as on-air DJ and Announcer. He has attended two

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

Presidential news conferences - one of

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

's and one of

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

's. Perkins was born and raised in South Philadelphia and currently lives in Glenside,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, with his wife Sheila.

Honors and awards

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); Inducted to the Philadelphia Broadcast Hall of Fame, 2003 and the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphi

Hall of Fame (Enshrined with Philadelphia Broadcast Legends

John Facenda John Thomas Ralph Augustine James Facenda ( ; August 8, 1913September 26, 1984) was an American broadcaster and sports announcer. He was a fixture on Philadelphia radio and television for decades, and achieved national fame as a narrator for N ...

Larry Kane Larry Kane (born October 21, 1942) is an American journalist, news anchor and author. Kane spent 36 years as a news anchor in Philadelphia, and is the only person to have anchored at all three Philadelphia owned and operated television stations ...

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...

, Herb Clarke and

Ed Bradley Edward Rudolph Bradley Jr. (June 22, 1941 – November 9, 2006) was an American broadcast journalist and news anchor. He was best known for his reporting on ''60 Minutes'' and CBS News. Bradley began his journalism career as a radio news repo ...

, to name a few); City of Philadelphia Proclamation by Mayor John Street for Outstanding Contribution to Philadelphia Jazz, 2007; 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 Chaka Fattah (born Arthur Davenport; November 21, 1956) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House for from 1995 to 2016. The district included portions of North Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, and West Ph ...

for Outstanding Contribution by a Pennsylvania Resident to Jazz, 2007 (pictured above). Philadelphia honored him in 2017 when he was inducted in Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame.

References

External links