Many years ago Rufus Harley, a Germantown musician who was often referred to as the nation's only jazz bagpiper, told me in an interview, “Philadelphia's most important jazz personality is not a musician at all. It is Bob Perkins, the radio deejay who has devoted his entire adult life to helping Philly musicians in their careers. I can't even tell you how much he has done for us. Every time he opens his mouth, it is to boast about one of our great Philly musicians. He is a wonderful human being. I hope he lives for a long, long time.”
He did. Perkins, 91, of Wyncote, a legend in Philadelphia radio who worked as an on-air host in broadcasting for more than 50 years, died Jan. 21 at Jefferson Abington Hospital after a brief illness. Perkins suffered a stroke in 2019 and retired in 2023 from WRTI-FM, the Temple University radio station where he was known as "BP with the GM," (Bob Perkins with the Good Music).
Perkins' distinctive deep voice and progressive points of view became an on-air signature. In addition to WRTI-FM, he worked for stations including WDAS AM and FM, and WHYY. Widely respected by his peers, Perkins was elected president of the Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcasters Association, serving in the 1990s.
A virtual encyclopedia of human interest stories about jazz musicians, Perkins often shared little known facts about the genre. The great Ella Fitzgerald who was orphaned as a teenager, Perkins once told me, donated large sums of money to nonprofits that helped orphaned children. She “did it quietly because she didn’t want the attention.” Overlooked trumpeter Robert “Red Rodney” Chudnick, who played with Dizzy Gillespie, had a bout with drugs and later served 27 months in prison, Perkins said. Chudnick went on to earn a law degree, but his prison record stymied a legal career, so he continued performing and turning out great albums.
One of five children, Perkins grew up in South Philadelphia. He was first exposed to jazz at the age of 5 when his older brother, Joe, took him to a concert at the Fays Theater at 40th and Market Streets, Perkins said during a 2023 talk with the nonprofit, Jazz Bridge. He made up his mind then that he wanted to become a radio jazz deejay when his father, DeForrest, began tinkering with an AM radio and antennae, allowing him to hear stations in Detroit and Chicago.
“I'd sit up late at night listening to those stations,” Perkins said. “That was my training. My father passed in 1955, nine years before I got into radio. I would sit in my bedroom with a tape recorder and microphone and pretend I was a deejay. I'd say to my mother, 'How's that sound, Mom?' and she would say 'very good' to encourage me … I can remember what happened 84 years ago, when I was 5, like it was yesterday. But don't ask me about something that did happen yesterday.”
Perkins broke into the radio business in 1964 when he landed an on-air job in Detroit. He later said, “I was almost born into radio.” In 1969, Perkins returned to Philadelphia when he was offered a job at rhythm-and-blues station WDAS, where he worked for the next 19 years. After a longtime gig at WHYY, he joined WRTI in 1997, becoming their evening drive-time jazz radio personality. In addition to his job as jazz host, Perkins wrote columns and commentaries on jazz for Philadelphia-area publications. He also hosted concerts at jazz clubs and regional festivals.
Perkins briefly served as editorial director for The Philadelphia Tribune, where he wrote columns on government, society and public affairs. He also wrote editorials and other articles for the former Philadelphia New Observer, and he independently produced a radio documentary on the life of African American giant Paul Robeson, who was born in the region and spent his last years living in Philadelphia.
Perkins received numerous awards for his contributions to Philadelphia music and culture including the 2002 Mellon Jazz Community Award. In 2007, he was honored with a proclamation for his outstanding contributions to Philadelphia's jazz community from Mayor John Street, Philadelphia City Council and the House of Representatives in Harrisburg. In 2016, he was awarded a bronze plaque on Philadelphia Music Alliance's Walk of Fame on the Avenue of the Arts.
“There could never be another Bob Perkins,” said the Rev. Joe Williams, pastor of the Mt. Airy United Fellowship Church and a friend of Perkins. “That's because the radio stations are now owned by big corporations, and the deejays cannot simply play the music they like. Those decisions are now made by computers and algorithms, not by human disc jockeys.”
Perkins is survived by his wife, Sheila. A memorial is being planned for spring.
Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com
