Bob Lewis

Bob Lewis, known as Bob-a-Loo, was a charming and sweet person who possessed a very unique and natural delivery with a little show business, which is a style people liked.

A native of Queens, Bob began doing the overnight show which he called The All-Night Satellite - at Musicradio77 in 1962 after making stops at WNHC in New Haven, Conn; and WMGM and WINS in New York City.

Eventually Bob insisted on being taken off the demanding all-night shift and spent much of the rest of his tenure at the station, which lasted until 1969, doing weekends and fill-in work.

November 3, 1962

WABC January 4, 1964

This (below) is a "Bob-a-Loo" aircheck from December 30, 1962. Bob did the overnight show known as "The All Night Satellite". Bob talks to his overnight listeners as "nightnicks" and "nightchicks" and sings his way through a couple of songs.

At the time of this aircheck there was a newspaper strike in New York and, as usual, WABC was capitalizing on the situation by promoting itself as "your extra news station". Interesting also on this aircheck is a Dan Ingram promo for WABC-FM as a continuous news station. This was apparently a temporary format during the strike. [ LISTEN ] (17:10)

Bob also spent some time working at WABC-FM in the late 1960s, which is now WPLJ-FM, and was among the first wave of progressive air personalities in the Big Apple. FM offered an opportunity, and he was the kind of person who could adapt very easily. He loved all kinds of music. Bob later worked at WCBS-FM, before it adopted an oldies format, and then went to WNEW-FM as it emerged as a leader in the progressive rock movement.

Bob Lewis was one of the best jocks ever to work for WABC. Bob wanted his freedom and he wanted to be on his houseboat, which was docked near 72nd Street. Bob wasn't interested in being a superstar. He was happy with what he was doing with his radio work and with his voiceover career. He became one of the top voiceover artists, handling work for clients like Certs, Volkswagen and IBM.

Here's a short WABC aircheck that aired in June, 1965. [ LISTEN ] (4:49), and here is Bob in April, 1967. This is after Bob gave up the overnight show. [ LISTEN ] (4:08)

Bob plays White Album tracks

In November, 1968, weeks before the Beatles released the White Album, WABC-FM played selections from the album on air. Bob gives misinformation about the album because little information had been released.

The source of the selections is in question, since actual pressings would not have been available. Bob was possibly playing metal acetate recordings of the songs.

Bob had a very rich voice. It was not a quickly recognizable voice. It was the kind of generic voice, like Les Marshaks voice, former Musicradio77 overnight air personality who was a leading voiceover announcer for decades. Bob was a very good businessman.

Bob-a-Loo surveys

He knew how to greet people and stayed in touch with the people that were giving him the commercial voiceover work. Bob Lewis was best known as one of the “All Americans” on 77 WABC (AM). Lesser known was the fact that he was also heard on the FM side. WABC-FM 95 1/2 was a Progressive Rock station.

The format was called “Love”. It featured tons of album cuts from all the heavys of the time, Hendrix, the Doors, the Who, and many more which would become the staples of AOR and later, Classic Rock stations.

In 1970, this format sported jingles, and full newscasts on the hour and half hour from the ABC FM Network. Its obvious that ABC corporate was building for the future and knew even in 1970 that the future was with FM.

WABC-FM Bob Lewis broadcasted on October 11, 1970. [ LISTEN ]. (16:14)

What you hear on this aircheck is a radio station that was WAY ahead of its time. When 95.5 changed call letters to WPLJ, the Album Rock format continued to evolve, minus the jingles and ABC FM News until it changed to CHR in the early 1980s. This is a true rarity. Its an original recording from longtime Contributor Steven Green, encoded from the original source reel.

In August of 1984 WCBS-FM ran its first "Reunion of the Rock and Roll Radio Greats" weekend in New York. The weekend was magic. Bob, as part of his show, did a terrific interview with former WABC program director Rick Sklar. Bob and Rick spoke of themselves and both WINS and WABC in their Top 40 heydays.

Part 1: Bob Lewis introduces Rick and speaks of how he got his first job in New York City radio at WMGM. [ LISTEN ]

Part 2: Bob and Rick talk about WINS, Alan Freed, Murray the K, and the evolution of Top 40 radio. [ LISTEN ]

Bob died from pneumonia on January 23, 1987 at age 49.

In this tribute following Bob's passing, WNEW-FM's Dennis Elias speaks about meeting Bob, his radio and voice over career and his own admiration for a terrific talent. Included are airchecks from the stations Bob worked at, some of his voice-over work and his own comments about his career. [ LISTEN 1 ] (15:06)

WHERE DID BOB WORK? Here is the list: WNHC, WMGM, WINS, WABC, WABC-FM, WCBS-FM, and WNEW-FM.

Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Musc Radio 77, Airchexx, New York Radio Archive.