The
"original" Bob Raleigh (Rolle
Ferreira)
and I started at WPGC the same day in March of '63. He was working
in West Palm Beach - I was in Frankfort, KY. He and I became best
friends, and we still are to this day - he is my son Bill's godfather.
Bob
left WPGC (was forced out), went to WWDC, then WEEL in Fairfax,
VA and then to WBZ in Boston. He retired after 20 years there.
I have really lost track of the other Bob Raleighs - there were
several "Dean Griffiths",
too.
General
Manager, Bob Howard was
big on nicknames...Big Ol' Fat
Ol' Dino...Loveable Jerry G....Tiger
Bob Raleigh....Pee Wee Reese...I
always said he hired me because of my nickname - in Frankfort,
KY I was using Harv Moore "The Boy Next Door. Another
Bob Raleigh was Paul Carmen".
"Bob
Raleigh" #1 (Raleigh Ferreira)
|
At
WWDC in mid '60's.
|
When
'Bob
Raleigh'
went to Boston, he spent the first few years doing middays (10-
2) at WHDH under Program Director and later General Manager, Al
Brady Law. Bob worked the same shift when he joined WBZ in July
of 1975. He later worked overnights, middays again, and back to
overnights in 1986 until he retired from WBZ on his 65th birthday
a few years ago. Sadly, he passed away after several strokes in March, 2022. Visit his memorial page:
https://sullivanfuneralhome.net/tribute/details/3357/Bob-Raleigh/obituary.html
Johnny
Dark writes:
The
original 'Bob Raleigh's' real name is Raleigh
Ferreira. I can attest to that since we were friends and classmates
at Cambridge High & Latin School in Cambridge, Massachusetts
in 1952. To be sure, I checked the spelling in our yearbook. As
a matter of fact, we had quite a conversation at our 50th high
school reunion in 2002.
All the best and thanks for the memories. I enjoyed battling 'PGC
in my two tours at WEAM and my 30 years at WCAO in Baltimore.
#2
Dale Tucker
|
Dale
Tucker, 1964
|
Dale
Tucker, 2008
|
Dale
Tucker assumed the 'Bob Raleigh' name at WPGC in 1964, despite
the fact that Raleigh
Ferreira continued to use the name at WWDC at the same
time!
Dale
writes:
I
was the first 'phony' Tiger Bob. Raleigh
Ferreira had gone over to WWDC doing
7-midnight. General
Manager,
Bob Howard was a
wreck -- he'd abused medication for weight loss and about ten
days after he hired me he was committed to St. Elizabeth's for
6 months. Six weeks later he got out and returned to 'PGC.
Bob
Howard was managing
by phone, sort of, and had Dean
Griffith (Big Ol', Fat Ol' Dino) instruct me to reference
the Tiger Bob show during a one week remote from a strip
mall. I was told a few days later to go ahead and just BE Tiger
Bob. In the meantime, the real Tiger Bob was on the
air nights at WWDC telling the folk 'don't believe an imposter,
I'M the REAL Tiger Bob Raleigh, etc'. Of course he was right!
Insanity.
I
was at WPGC about eight months and let go. Reflecting back, I
rather think that word got out that Marvelous
Marv Brooks and I were stumbling in the dark about contacting
AFTRA to unionize the place. I've never been a strong pro-union
guy but if a station ever needed AFTRA it was 'PGC.
I
started in July, '64 and left in late Nov., early Dec. Thank God
I was hired by Steve Brown at KOIL,
Omaha. That and (years later) WRKO,
Boston, were the two best stations and people I ever worked for
and with.
BTW,
I was ‘Dale Kirby' for a few years prior to ‘PGC.
When I was hired at KOIL,
Randy Sparks and the Back Porch Majority had a turntable
hit, Old Dan Tucker. Not the same as the classic old folk
song BUT it was enough of a hit to be played and noticed. The
guy who hired me suggested that for an airname. I quickly agreed
and used it for years.
I
went from KOIL
to WABB, Mobile, from there to WRKO,
Boston. I was hired by GE Broadcasting to program KOA-AM/FM, Denver,
and was there just under four years. I
was ‘downsized in ’71, wound up with an ad agency who’s
late owner Sam Arnold was a mentor and a great friend. During
that period I divorced my first wife.
Based
on my desire to get back into radio I wound up in Aspen and was
the ‘Sales Dept.,’ then Manager for 3-1/2 years. One
day I’m walking down Main Street in Aspen and a very attractive
woman stops me and says, “I know you.” I blanked
– no idea who she was. This was probably ’74 or ’75.
Are
you ready? After all those years she recognized me though I’d
only met her once and very briefly – she was Marvelous
Marv Brooks' ex-wife! ‘Charlie Brooks.’ She
worked for the Aspen Ski Corp. ‘Tis
a small world indeed.
Ours
is a huge industry but at the same time a very small and incestuous
one! People move, things change, life goes on. The players
largely remain the same. That's
my story, etc!
Dale
Tucker passed
away of cancer at age 73 on 09/14/14.
#3
(Todd T. Taylor)
|
Todd
T. Taylor today.
|
'Triple
T' writes:
I
was the umpteenth Tiger Bob Raleigh and was so disgusted
when I had to assume the name that I always signed autographs
as 'Tiger Bob Rolli'. I did the 10-2pm show by request
as I had a gig to do in both MD and VA. I had connections with
each fire dept. and we held dances at their firehouses which were
larger than high school gyms. This is really where I would make
all my weekly income.
Because
I had the privilege to M.C. most all the soul shows, Motown Revues,
at the Howard theatre, I would request each group coming in to
make a small cameo appearance at one of my weekly dances. I had
a limo pal who would pick up Smokey and his crew and race them
to the firehouse in Bladensburg and they would do 2-3 songs.....(lip
sync) and then then we would speed them back to the Howard theatre.
I
figure I had every Motown group plus James Brown at least
twice in a 9 month period. Also the Real McCoys, the Vogues
etc.....I used to really break a ton of records for Bill Gavin
for more than 8 years.....Neil Bogart was a super friend as were
many other respected honest promoters. The honest ones were hard
to come by.....
Today,
I am President of the
Radio/Television
Broadcasters Hall of Fame of Ohio. We have a state of the
art brochure and induction ceremony. It's first class and I am
proud to say we operate on zero funding. It's called begging......
More
recently, I have been singing a "Tribute to ALL the Oldies"
and doing more than 127 Oldies concerts yearly while also singing
in 47 parades yearly. Check out my website at ToddTTaylor.com.
You can see photos by clicking, 'Gallery'
or hear me sing by clicking, 'Hear
Todd'.
I
have 37 CD's and more than 200 songs on the site. Please keep
in mind that when I record, I only do each song with ONE TAKE.
I use the CD's for gigs but believe it or not, I end up selling
a good number of CD's at all my concerts.
Todd T. Taylor.......aka Tiger Bob Ralli or Raliegh from WPGC.......same
name but spelled 50 different ways and that was the way Bob
Howard
wanted it!
"Bob
Raleigh" #4 (Paul Carmen)
Skip
McCloskey, (The
Great 98 WRC site) contributes this story:
The
original "Bob Raleigh" (Raleigh
Ferreira)
who
was also known as Tiger, came to WPGC about the same time
Harv Moore did in 1963.
The jingle "Tiger on your radio" was actually Jerry
G singing in the studio. Bob was only there maybe a
year to year and a half before moving onto WWDC. He always
hated management...no matter what station he was at and he always
admitted this. He was a believer that they were always out
to screw the DJs.
Bob
Howard who was General
Manager at WPGC (Mr Soundoff)
was at the top of Raleigh's list as hated GMs....and probably
with good reason. That aside, Bob left WPGC after asking
for a raise and went to WWDC.
There he made more money, played music he was more in tune with
and, most important, became a member of a union (AFTRA).
At least there he was protected somewhat in pay structure and
security.
He later worked at WEEL as
my Program Director in the early 70s (late 72-73). I'm not
sure if he actually worked anywhere in radio between WEEL
and WBZ / Boston since Bob did numerous voice overs and TV commercials
as a freelancer. But WBZ was his next radio stop.
Now
as far as the name goes: Bob
Howard liked to keep the same names on air even though the
person changed. The guy who eventually inherited the "Bob
Raleigh" air name was Bill Miller in 1966. He did some fill
in DJ work and weekends but mostly did news during the week as
I recall. I know he went to WPOC (country) in Baltimore
after being fired from WPGC (after the strike
in '77).
But
wait! The plot thickens! While Bill was using the "Bob Raleigh"
name, WPGC hired a mid-day guy to replace Bob
Peyton #2 (Bob Burian). His REAL name was ....you guessed
it....Bob Raleigh. He would not let Bob
Howard change it. Howard must have really wanted
this guy because he allowed him to use the moniker Bob Raleigh,
Jr while the other name changed to Bob Raleigh, Sr.
It all got very messy.
"Bob
Raleigh Sr." #5 (Bill Miller)
Bill
Miller first came to WPGC in 1966 from KOIL in Omaha for nights.
By 1968, Program
Director, 'Cousin'
Warren Duffy promoted him to Morning
News duties with Harv
Moore as well as Production Director when Marv
Brooks left the station to launch the automated Oldies format
on WMOD.
Bill
was the very definition of the consummate Pro, handling air shifts,
the news and producing spots with aplomb. He was noted for his
character voices, often bringing to life station promotions such
as the 'Missing
W' in which he personified the mysterious, 'Dr. Strangeletter'
who had stolen the 'W' from PGC.
Bill
had inherited the WPGC house name, 'Bob Raleigh' upon his arrival
at the insistence of General
Manager, Bob
Howard. This, despite the fact that the original 'Bob Raleigh'
at WPGC (Raleigh
Ferreira) was still using the name at WWDC concurrently and
the fact there had been three other jocks at WPGC who used it
before Bill!
Things
were taken to the absurd when in late 1969, a new midday jock
arrived at the station whose real name was (wait for it.....),
Dewitt
Robert Raleigh, aka, 'Bob Raleigh'. Bob
Howard, ever the showman, concocted the notion that the two
were related as father and son (nevermind they were very close
in age) and ordered they be known on the air thereafter as 'Bob
Raleigh, Sr.' and 'Bob
Raleigh, Jr.' When Dewitt left the station in 1971, Bill quickly
lost the suffix to his air name.
Mr.
Miller's long tenure at WPGC was second only to Harv
Moore's by a year, spending a remarkable 11 years there through
the 'Great
Strike That Struck Out' in May of 1977. After the strike,
he landed on his feet, doing mornings in Baltimore at WPOC (as
the jock, not the news guy). Years later upon his retirement he
moved to Frederick and pursued his other passion, model railroading.
He became a noted authority on the hobby, appearing in enthusiasts'
magazines and videos in which he'd take patrons on a tour of his
layout patterned after an actual railroad in the 1800's.
Few
on air performers had the long reaching impact that Bill Miller
had. His was a voice indelibly associated with WPGC during its
greatest years of glory, not the least of which was being the
voice of 'Sound
Offs' when 'Mr.
Sound Off' himself, Bob
Howard left the station in 1974.
Bill
Miller passed away due to complications of pneumonia at age 78
on 01/29/18. Read his obit
in the Frederick News Post.
Ken
Mezger writes:
Bob
Raleigh (Bill Miller) was filling in for
Harv Moore
one morning and locked himself out. As his record was ending,
he jumped up into the ceiling (drop ceiling) and pushed himself
over and fell down into the lobby and broke many fingers! Then
he called Dino
Del Gallo at home (lived close) and begged him to "bring
a vacuum cleaner quickly" to the station. Then they
robbed some drop ceiling tiles from other parts of the building
and replaced the broken ones. When Dino told me about this I couldn't
stop laughing ... every time I saw Bill Miller with splints on
most of his fingers!
BD
Howard writes:
I
remember hearing about that episode when Bob Raleigh (Bill Miller)
crawled through the roof after locking himself out of the studio.
After that, my dad (General
Manager, Bob
Howard) always liked to call him 'Tiger Dumb Raleigh'.
Chuck
Hunter writes:
Worked
with Bill Miller, who always impressed me as a hard working guy.
Constantly on the go. Hyperkinetic. During AFTRA negotiations
he spent a lot of time on the phone with the union, mostly speaking
to my wife, who worked as an administrator, when AFTRA was located
at 4706 Wisconsin Avenue, in DC. Very
sorry to hear of his passing. Condolences to his family.
Jack
Rabbit writes:
While
I did middays 10 to 3, Bill Miller and I had a lot of laughs.
He commented that “hey, they’re paying us to have
this much fun? He was a kind person and true, professional credit
to the radio broadcasting industry.
Bill
Prettyman writes:
Bill
Miller told me he used to try out for the Senators. Must have
been a decent athlete. Great production; could make galloping
horses or helicopter sounds by pounding on his chest, etc. Pre-strike,
did morning news for Tim
Kelly who dubbed him “The Bobber”. I spent 15
years of some of the best radio time of my life at WPGC. Like
Bill Miller, started there in 1966.
Marty
Dempsey writes:
One
night I was working 10p-2a on WPGC and they gave me a concert spot
to record. (I believe it was Yes coming to the Capital Centre).
Well in those days I had all tape recorders and cart machines
loaded with audio, and Iworked all night to get the perfect mix.
Bill Miller came in around 6am and the spot still wasn't done.
I was frustrated. So he grabbed it from me (muttering under his
breath) and did it himself.
I
remember driving home telling myself that's it ...I'm going to
work at Production until I'm good. So that night is one of the
reasons why I read and produce thousands of commercials a year
with state of the art studios in my house. I guess sometimes you
need a good kick in the butt to move forward! I would have loved
to tell him that story, and thank him for making me better.
Rest
in peace Bill, you were a true Broadcasting Professional.
Keith MacDonald writes:
He lived quite a life. He was a bronk rider at the rodeo in Cowtown NJ, studied at the Ringling Brothers Clown College, and several times his model railroads were featured in Model Railroad Craftsman magazine. He was an expert with an airbrush, and used that talent to design the paint scheme used for the Spirit of 76 diesel that was made for the Bicentennial. I was in a Model Railroad hobby shop not long ago and Bill's name came up. That's where I found out that his widow makes brass locomotives by hand. So he wasn't the only talent in the family. He was a good friend.
Bob
Raleigh #6, aka 'Jr.' (Dewitt Robert Raleigh)
WPGC
Air Personality, 'Mergatroid' remembers:
Bob
Raleigh #6's real name was Dewitt Robert Raleigh. I
was there when he was hired. It was really funny to see what Ho-Ho
(our pet name for Bob Howard)
was going to call him. Obviously he used 'Bob Raleigh'
on the air at his previous stations. Ho-Ho I think wanted to call
him "Johnny Danger" or something equally as insipid,
but came up with the brilliant idea of keeping Bill
Miller as Bob
Raleigh, Senior, and the new
Dewitt as Bob
Raleigh, Jr. Meanwhile over at WWDC, the original 'Bob Raleigh'
(Raleigh
Ferreira) was billing himself as the real Bob Raleigh.
It was hilarious!
Roddy
Freeman adds:
Bob
Howard was indirectly responsible for Raleigh
Ferreira's very successful run at WBZ, first as the
midday jock and then as the overnight talk host. One day while
he was PD at WEEL, Bob Howard
walked in to check out the place. That was when he was shopping
for a station after being outbid for WPGC, before he bought WYSL
in Buffalo. When he spotted Howard, just the possibility of Howard's
buying the station prompted him to put together a tape to send
to WBZ that very day! And the rest is history.
Photos
#1
Raleigh
Ferreira
#2
Dale Tucker
#4
Paul Carmen
#5
- Bill Miller
#6
- Dewitt Robert Raleigh (aka 'Jr.')
