Dan Gross: Pierre Robert marks 30th
IT COULD HAVE been last week, it might be this week, it may even be today, but sometime this month Pierre Robert will have been at 93.3 WMMR for 30 years.
IT COULD HAVE been last week, it might be this week, it may even be today, but sometime this month Pierre Robert will have been at 93.3 WMMR for 30 years.
Robert isn't sure of the exact date because he never thought he would need to remember it when he started in the music library and ended up on an overnight shift that same week in 1981.
"I came out here from San Francisco and I said I'll give it a year or two," said Robert, who can't believe he's been able to do what he loves for so long at a station he loves. WMMR has had a rock format for at least 43 years in a city where format flips are common.
Robert tells us his two radio heroes are Jerry Blavat and Sid Mark. "Sid just celebrated 55 years in radio. Those guys show no signs of slowing down. I'm 56 and I don't feel like I'm even close to being done," Robert said yesterday. And besides, he said, he has a contract for another three years. The radio host who calls his listeners "citizens" tells us, "It may sound corny but I really believe the listeners are part of the extended family. Radio still has the ability to have a personal connection."
Asked about whether he dyes his beard, which has a perfectly symmetrical gray patch in the middle, Robert, on air from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, spun a long tale of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in his youth and "a bolt of lightning hit me and I woke up and a mountain goat was lapping at my face and it's been white ever since. That's my story."
We asked Robert, who worked at San Francisco's KFAN before moving to Philadelphia, why he thought 'MMR has survived so long as a rock station. "They don't f--- with it too much," he said of the formula and roster.
Regardless of when his 30th anniversary is, Robert will celebrate it Friday along with the 30th anniversary of one of his favorite local groups Beru Revue in a sold-out show at World Cafe Live.
OUT AND ABOUT * Kanye West crashed in one of the Borgata's Residence Suites after playing Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall Saturday night with Jay-Z. After the show, West hung out with his friend DJ Samantha Ronson, who was DJ at mur.mur. * Boxer Chuck Mussachio may have been knocked out in the 12th round at the USBA title fight at Bally's, but he came back strong to party at C5 at the Chelsea. He held his fight after-party there and partied with 50- plus friends into Sunday. Food Network Star Daisy Martinez also stayed at the hotel, and ate at its Teplitzky's diner while in town to catch Kathy Griffin at the Borgata.
Influence man
Wired 96.5's Chio is one of the area's "most influential Latinos," and will be honored by the Most Influential Latinos Foundation Dec. 1 at the Hyatt Regency Penn's Landing. Last year Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. was an honoree.
Run, Cecily, run
6ABC's Cecily Tynan won the masters division of the 8K race at Sunday's Philadelphia Marathon. Tynan finished the course in 30 minutes, 4 seconds. She'll be back on the Parkway Thursday, co-hosting the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
* Tween artist Zack Montana will join Radio Disney AM-640 Philadelphia aboard the Radio Disney float and perform (a/k/a lip sync) his single "Serious." Other guests include "Good Morning America" co-host Sam Champion, chef Carla Hall of ABC's "The Chew" and Charlie McDermott of "The Middle."
Nostalgia fan
Filmmaker Barry Levinson just ordered T-shirts from RetroPhilly.com and RetroJersey
Shore.com. We're told that the Baltimore-based director looks forward to launching Retro
Baltimore.com in January.