In Praise of WRTI
Note: This post was originally posted in February of 2020. We’re posting it again in light of some recent news: After an epic and illustrious career in broadcasting, WRTI DJ Bob Perkins will do his last regular shift on June 30th. Congrats on a great career, Bob, and thanks for the vibes!
BY JOEY SWEENEY
WRTI legend Bob Perkins, aka BP with the GM, who’s been holding it down on one radio or another since 1964.
These are dark days for things in our lives that are free, and even more for so the subset of things that are free and offer moments of respite and contemplation. In that light, fellow citizens of Philadelphia, I’d ask you to consider WRTI, 90.1 on your FM radio dial. Because, for this writer at least, WRTI is a balm to the public that operates on the same spiritual level as a library or a park. In some ways, it actually offers more: It’s open 24/7, it directly invites you to reverie simply by turning it on, and you can take it with you wherever you go.
For the uninitiated, WRTI operates out of Temple University and broadcasts jazz and classical music exclusively; it’s been this way since 1997 -- the station played exclusively jazz before that, all the way back to 1969. (It is not student-run; WHIP is Temple’s more traditional “college radio” station, though it’s internet-only.) Whereas other public stations in Philly, like WHYY or WXPN, offer a brand and vibe that is aspirational and in one way or another almost completely centered on either news or music that is happening now, WRTI is what I’ve come to appreciate as “confidently stodgy.” You will hear jazz and classical music that has been made recently, but it is always balanced against a tendency towards the classics, the standard, that lends everything it touches a warm authority that.... Honestly? That just makes you feel good. A radio station can’t love you or care for you, but the overall affect of WRTI’s unrelentingly warm and woody tones feels like as close as anyone could get with something like that.
Do you like sighing? Do you like it when your head can go places? Is there a secret part of you that would like your quiet moments to be absolutely cinematic because as a human being you know that this is what you deserve? If you answered “yes” to any of these, then my friend, have I got the radio station for you. It’s WRTI FM.
WRTI, where Bob “BP With The GM” Perkins has been at it with some of the finest bebop and soul jazz since before the Internet!
WRTI, where at any moment during the day, if all else in your world is trash, you can tune in and, if you’re lucky, hear a flugelhorn solo!
WRTI, where late on each and every rainy night, you know you can tune in and hear music that is both physical and emotional weather!
WRTI, where they have been playing the same Houston Person and Charles Earland records since the weeks they came out and the groove only gets deeper and richer with time, like the rings on a tree!
WRTI, where one night I awoke from a dream in the middle of the night as they were playing “Be Good” by Gregory Porter, and it sounded so actually heavenly that at first, I didn’t even realize the radio was on and thought it was the voice of some/any god, only to listen long enough to scribble the name down and wake up the next day to find out that this was correct!
WRTI, where your better self wishes to have a conversation with you, whenever you are ready. Whenever you are available to the sound.
WRTI is currently in the midst of a fund drive. Learn more here.
