The Concert Room celebrates the life of legendary Philly DJ, Pierre Robert! "Ramble on Rose" by the Grateful Dead at JFK Stadium 07/07/1989

0:06 SPEAKER_00: Hey everybody, welcome back to the concert room. Inside the Philly Concert Experience. I'm your host, Bob Hill. The Concert Room is a podcast session dedicated to all the great performances and performers who played on the stage at the legendary Philadelphia Spectrum Arena. The Spectrum held numerous events and concerts over its 40 plus years of existence, earning the nickname America Show Place. The Spectrum was a special place for music fans and bands. Greetings citizens.

0:38 SPEAKER_01: If you lived anywhere near the Philadelphia area over the last 40 years, that greeting probably sounds really familiar. And uh today we're going to dive into the life and voice and the vibe of one of Rock Radio's most enduring legends, our very own Pierre Robert. If you're anywhere near social media uh within the last week, uh uh Pierre Robert passed away on October 29th at the age of 70, was found in his home. And here in the Philadelphia area, we're still uh still in shock and still uh you know processing it.

1:15 SPEAKER_01: Um but uh I thought today with in our podcast session I would uh go over his legacy and just dive into uh what kind of band uh uh Pierre was. I think it's really important because he was part of our musical life here in the Philadelphia area uh for over 40 years. Um so um yeah, I think it's really important that we uh celebrate him. So a little background on Pierre Robert. He was born William Pierre Robert on August 1st, 1955, in Truckee, California. He grew up surrounded by the sounds of the 60s, uh folk, psychedelic rock, the California counterculture.

2:03 SPEAKER_01: After college, Pierre landed his first radio job at KSAN FM in San Francisco. Uh that at the time was a pioneer pioneering progressive rock station, kind of mirrored his love for uh, you know, authentic freeform broadcasting, which uh is important because he would bring that over to Philadelphia. Uh when KSAN switched formats in the early 80s, Pierre packed his belongings and his trusty Volkswagen microbus, Minerva, and uh drove across the country. Minerva is legendary here in the uh Philadelphia area.

2:42 SPEAKER_01: We'll go over that a little bit later. Uh his destination, of course, was uh Philadelphia. Uh now in 1981, Pierre walked into the studios of 93.3 WMMR and found his home for the next four decades. Uh at first, he uh in the early days he worked uh odd shifts, helped out in the music library. Before long, his deep love for rock and music and his laid-back conversational style won over listeners. Uh he made greetings, citizens, his signature hello, a phrase that came to represent his connection to the to the city.

3:22 SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, Pierre wasn't just spinning records, he was sharing stories, moments, and uh memories with his audience. And the great thing about one of the great things about Pierre Robert as a disc jockey is that he brought a really, as I said, a conversational style. He uh he took calls, he would talk to people, he would take requests, he was just an old school rock DJ. And it it it just helped us connect to a time when that's when all the DJs did this in this uh day and age of uh automated formats and commercials and um you know, he was just an old school rock DJ that we just grew up listening to.

4:10 SPEAKER_01: Um and he never changed that. And it was just this the same style for 40 years, it was amazing. And that's uh that's one reason why this kind of hits hard uh for us here in the filly area, his death, because it is kind of a finality of that connection that we have with a disjockey. Um but his style was just such old school as I mentioned, his show. So Pierre's midday show became a Philadelphia ritual. Um everyday fans tuned in for his vinyl cut. You know, he was a album collector, vinyl album collector, so he would uh he would do a vinyl cut and he dropped a needle on something rare and dusty, uh uh deeply loved, uh maybe something you haven't heard before, and it was just again old school.

5:07 SPEAKER_01: Um then came his workforce blocks, and this was a great segment because this was a three-song set from classic artists. Um and the cool thing about workforce blocks is that he would feature uh an artist or a band, as I said, for three songs, but he would read out uh all the companies or individuals who have sent in the request for that that artist. Kind of cool to hear your company or your name shouted out. You tuned into a show, you're listening to Pierre's Midday show. Uh, because he just played great music and he just talked to you like you he was a normal uh person that you're just sitting next to, and you he's just spinning records.

5:55 SPEAKER_01: He just had a really nice warmth, he was humble, he genuinely loved the music that he played. Um Pierre stayed true to himself. Um he was never slick, he was never phony, he was just always Pierre. And that kind of brings me to the other great thing among uh others and numerous things about Pierre Ribere is you would listen to his midday show and if there was a concert that night, ninety percent of the time he would have the interview on his midday show of the artist or the band, they would call in and uh you know, he would do the interview, so he would promote the show at at night.

6:36 SPEAKER_01: Uh, and that is the reason why that if uh all the tributes and memories and condolences have come across on social media from all the artists that have ever played in the Philadelphia area who have ever uh called into his radio show to promote the show or just to chat, maybe they're promoting something else and they're calling in. And that's like really, really special. As far as fans, you know, you're listening to the promotion of the concert. If you went to that concert that night, like the chances are you saw Pierre Romere at the show.

7:15 SPEAKER_01: Regardless of where you're sitting, maybe walking around concessions. There he is. You're on the floor. He could be right next to you.

7:26 SPEAKER_01: A little wave high, he waves back. You want a picture? A little selfie later. More than obliged. Uh he was just such a nice guy. He was approachable. And uh he was he was just so much fun to talk to. Never put on airs, never uh high-hatted anyone. Um he was just really a nice, nice guy. I loved talking to people. We again he just felt like a friend. You're just watching the concert next to a friend. So I'm gonna guess there's probably about 80% of the people in this area, the Philly area, have a picture of Pierre with them.

8:06 SPEAKER_01: Um whether they're out and about or mainly from a shelf. Now, for myself, I met him twice. I met him the first time back in uh 2012 up in the Poconos. We were skiing. WMMR had a uh an event, they would hold uh an event up there every year. Pierre came up, I believe he snowboarded at that time, also casual snowboarder. Um, so we were skiing when those events came came up on WMR. He would come up. Met him a few times at those events, uh mainly at the uh in the bar after the event. Super nice guy again.

8:43 SPEAKER_01: The most recent time that I met him is my wife and I went down to see the Rolling Stones at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. This is 2013. We actually snuck into a media park lot, which was uh close to the Wells Fargo Arena, and who pulls up next to me, uh next to us is Pierre Robert. Gets out of his car, uh comes over and says hi. Uh he what called his attention, the reason why he came over is because I was wearing a pretty cool t-shirt that he recognized, and my t-shirt was the uh uh Rolling Stones at JFK Stadium 1981.

9:24 SPEAKER_01: That's actually the last time I saw the Stones. And uh he came up and he said, He just really liked my shirt. He's like, that's just you know, he was reading the back of it. And uh, you know, we talked, got a picture with him, my wife had a picture with him, and then he just went on his very way. It's just great. Uh I I'm gonna say a good eighty, eighty-five percent of people have a Pierre Robert story where they met him, took a picture with him, and uh it was always, always just a cool story that somebody has.

9:57 SPEAKER_01: It's been uh really kind of uh heartwarming and you know, seeing these uh stories over the last uh week on uh social media, the people posting uh their memories and as far as the honors, in 2019 Pierre Robert was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame. Uh two years later in 2021, the city officially declared Pierre Robert Day, celebrating his 40 years of his voice on the airways. And uh off the air, Pierre championed a lot of community causes. Um he was just a constant supporter of local music and charity events.

10:36 SPEAKER_01: So you have a more studio in the city skyline. We're filled with tributes this week. It's been a really tough listen. It's been very bittersweet. Um, artists, fans, and colleagues remember them as a man who lived uh for music and for people. And as I mentioned, uh everybody's got a story. His legacy uh is simple but very powerful. Stay true to the music, stay true to yourself. And for more than 40 years, he was the uh heartbeat of Philadelphia. He was uh rock radio. Just a gentle voice, a believer in the magic of music, and a living reminder that passion can can become purpose.

11:16 SPEAKER_01: Um as Pierre always said when signing off. Thank you for listening, citizens, rock on. And uh I think what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna play a uh Grateful Dead song um just to kind of take us out. Uh just to listen to The Dead was uh one of his favorite bands uh growing up in the San Francisco area. Um of course, you know, The Dead played the Spectrum 53 times. Um so I uh pretty sure that he was probably at all 53 at this spectrum. Um I'm gonna try and cue up a song. I'm not sure which one yet.

11:56 SPEAKER_01: So I'm not gonna introduce it. I'm just gonna play it on the outro. Um again, it's been a really uh rough week. And uh if you're uh if you're listening, you know, go out on the uh go out on the web and and dive a little deeper into the life and and uh career of uh Pierre River. We're gonna miss him greatly, but we thank him very much for the memories. And uh it's it's just been uh you know his legacy will live on. And uh we appreciate uh everything that he has given us here in uh the Philadelphia area.

12:33 SPEAKER_01: So uh gonna play a little dead to take us out. So let's celebrate the life and and love of uh Pierre Robert. Thanks again for uh tuning in, I appreciate it, and uh rock on, good citizens.