Bob Seivers passes

[Oliver's Army]

I recall vividly as a kid listening to WOWO and waiting for the school closures during heavy snow days.

These lyrics are forever burned into my mind...

In a little red barn on a farm down in Indiana,
Let me lay my back on a stack of new mown hay.
'Round the barnyard where the farmyard folks are pally,
Let me dilly-dally all the live-long day.


RIP Bob.

You were a huge element of my childhood and the last of a passing breed.



Doc West...you now hold the lantern.

[Silencio]

I worked with Bob at WOWO in the late 70s, when it was him and Jay, Underwood, Roberts, Gregory, Art Saltsberg and Linda Losch in the news room.... my first real media gig, and some good times, I'll tell you.

Last time I saw Bob was when he was the anchor for the Renaissance Radio Theater's "Big Broadcast of 1988" at the Embassy... we brought him out of retirement for that gig. He was still the same humble showman he had always been.

I won't be adding anything to the discussion by saying what others will surely say: that Bob was exactly the same guy on the air that he was in life. I will never forget hearing him say....

"Friends... you know I announce lost pets, and the management has told me that it violates some regulations, and that I have to stop doing it... but gosh darn it, there's a little lost dog out there this morning, a mixed breed that answers to the name Wiggles..."

[Steel String Bender]

Doc West...you now hold the lantern.

Charlie Butcher can hold the wet candle!

[WBOB]

RIP Bob.

Was listening to some of the information on him and caught
one that surprised me.

Apparently somewhere in the mid 50's a mother called in and
told him Bob she was sending him an acetate of her son singing
"How Great Thou Art". She begged him for some air time.
After listening to it, he decided to play it every 2-3 weeks
on his Sunday morning Gospel hour for approx. 6 months.
Later he discarded it and forgot about it. A while later after
Bob had totally forgotten about it, the mother called and thanked
him for playing it and that it helped her son get into recording and he was starting to have some real success.

Her sons name??

Elvis Aaron Presley.

WOW, a Fort Wayne connection through Mr. Sievers.

[WBOB]

RIP Bob.

Was listening to some of the information on him and caught
one that surprised me.

Apparently somewhere in the mid 50's a mother called in and
told him Bob she was sending him an acetate of her son singing
"How Great Thou Art". She begged him for some air time.
After listening to it, he decided to play it every 2-3 weeks
on his Sunday morning Gospel hour for approx. 6 months.
Later he discarded it and forgot about it. A while later after
Bob had totally forgotten about it, the mother called and thanked
him for playing it and that it helped her son get into recording and he was starting to have some real success.

Her sons name??

Elvis Aaron Presley.

WOW, a Fort Wayne connection through Mr. Sievers.

Here's the link.
http://www.wowo.com/Programs/BobSievers ... fault.aspx

click on the picture on the far right. About a 1/3 of the
way through he mentions this.

[Silencio]

You know, Bob was fond of that story, but there's no record of Elvis recording "How Great Thou Art" before he was famous. His first recording was done privately as a gift for his mother, a single acetate containing "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" with Elvis accompanying himself on guitar. This was in the summer of 1953, and he was recording hits for Sun within a year of making that demo. within two years, he was already with Tom Parker and RCA, and well on his way to mega-stardom.

Also, if Elvis's Mom had an acetate of Elvis singing "How Great Thou Art," she would have had only one copy... why would she push it on a morning DJ in Fort Wayne, Indiana, instead of plugging it to local Memphis DJ's?

I loved Bob for sure, but I never believed that story for a second.

[bassjones]

Sure sounds like a whopper to me. Did Elvis ever mention it??? Or just Bob. Not that it matters, he was an entertainer after all.

[=^-..-^=]

I went by for the viewing today. I thought there'd be a long line; but there were only a couple dozen people in there. I sure hope the funeral is packed!

I wasn't sure what to say to Mrs. Sievers, other than, " I met Mr. Sievers a few times, I listened to him often, and I feel like I've lost an uncle or something." She was gracious and said, "Everyone was like a big family to Bob."

RIP Bob Sievers, and RIP old-skool WOWO. It was the big personalities BETWEEN the songs that made that station great back then - and not even one boob joke or sexual inuendo .

[Silencio]

I loved working there (writing and producing radio spots, etc).

Two stories stick in my head, both from Chris Roberts. Chris created an illusion of dozens of people working with him, by referring to real and imaginary people as "Chris and The Afternoon Crew." I got dubbed "Jim From The Front Office."

I was given this goofy oversized fedora that I took to wearing around the station... walking by the big window in the air booth (and hearing it on the ceiling speakers that broadcast the station continually throughout the offices), Chris says, "Hey, there goes Jim from The Front Office, on his way to the Chuck Mangione Look-alike Contest..."

And another, based on the fact that everybody in the station knew I was trying to be a rock star of some kind... Chris wrapped up John Stewart's "Gold" ("People out there turning music into gold"), by saying. "Ah yes, there are such people out there... but as Jim from The Front Office will tell ya, before you can turn music into gold, you have to have some gold."

[=^-..-^=]

Remember 'young' Chris Roberts and the afternoon 'onesy-twoseys? I used to call in with the answer all the time.

Ron Gregory would just have listeners call in at night and say whatever - no topic of discussion or anything.

Chris Underwood would have listeners play 'stump the staff.'