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Robert "Bob" Bassett was born May 19, 1929 in Norwood, Massachusetts, and raised and educated in Needham, graduating from Needham High School in 1948. He served 3 years with the United States Army, receiving the Purple Heart for wounds received in the Korean War. Bob began a 36 year career in broadcasting as a part-time announcer with WKOX in Framingham, MA in 1952. He was fired for playing Dizzy Gillespie's recording of "Ooh-bop-Sh-Bam" between two Sunday morning church services. "I suppose I upset the station manager," Bob often chuckled in years to follow. He spent the next 4 years with WPEP in Taunton, MA, to which he attributed his "basic knowledge of the industry". He joined WHIM in Providence, Rhode Island in 1956, followed in turn by WWRI in West Warwick, RI, WSAR in Fall River, MA, and in 1959, Bob took his broadcasting to WRVM in Rochester, New York, where he discovered the then unknown Chuck Mangione and featured his sextet "live" each Saturday evening on his program. IN 1961, Chuck wrote and recorded "The Bassett Sound" for Bob. "It was one of the genuine thrills in my career", Bob later recalled. That same year, he became a charter member of the new WLKW operation in Providence, leaving after 10 months to enter television with WPRO in the same city. Hosting the late movie, he was noticed by the management of the soon-to-be new TV station, WTEV Channel 6. Bob became an original with the station and spent his next 18 years with the outlet, while freelancing radio jazz with two radio stations in New Bedford as well as WSAR in Fall River. Within 3 months of Channel 6's launch, he was made "temporary" host of a new half-hour daily talk program "Community". Seventeen years later, he was still the host. It was the longest continuous show of its type in New England at that time and earned Bob countless awards, citations and honors. IN addition to hosting "Community", Bob became Sports Director and broadcaster the same year, and continued in that role for 15 years. He co-produced, wrote and narrated "More Than A Champion", a half-hour special he conceived on the life of his friend, boxer Rocky Marciano. The program received a New England Emmy nomination. In 1970, with drugs ravaging the land, WTEV, in collaboration with both New Bedford radio stations and the Standard Times newspaper, presented an 18-hour non-stop telethon to raise $150,000 (a princely sum in those days) to combat drug abuse. The event was titled "Countdown to Freedom", and Bob emceed every hour, beginning with an interview with Otto Preminger. Comedy was always a main ingredient in Bob's life. He turned what could have been a simple Channel 6 giveaway feature into a daily highlight, giving away to viewers everything from mini-television sets to bicycles. Bob was dubbed "Bobby Bicycle". The first commercial on-camera that Bob ever did was for Marshmallow Fluff and peanut butter, and immediately he was "The Fluffernutter Man". "I never took any one thing too seriously, and I was able to bring smiles to a lot of people", he frequently said. His career to this point was nationally featured in Radio-TV Mirror magazine and numerous other publications. "More than anything else, I was most proud to be recognized for my work with retarded citizens", something he performed for years through his broadcasting position. Bob left WTEV in 1981 and moved to Maryland, re-entering radio with WEAM in Washington and finding immense popularity with creations unique to him. He began playing a different version of "Stardust" each afternoon and soon it became the talk of the town, with listeners sending in version Bob didn't have, from as far away as Switzerland, after the feature had been profiled in Billboard. He conducted a nightly jazz program and served as one of the emcees at the Kennedy Center for the Kool Jazz Festivals. He hosted Benny Goodman's birthday party at the Sheraton in 1983. In September of 1987, Bob joined WITH in Baltimore. Once again, he programmed jazz and Big Bands with his mid-day show, enjoying the second highest rating for its time period. Almost a year to the day after joining WITH, Bob retired from broadcasting. Bob Bassett became stricken with ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS eventually robbed Bob of his voice and his ability to move. Bob Bassett died on July 6, 2000 at his home in Maryland at the age of 71. At his request, his body was donated to Johns Hopkins Hospital for ALS research. | |
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Stories We Heard
A number of the stories here are from letters written by Bob Bassett to various friends over the years, as well as other writings. After Bob passed away, his widow Joanie sent these writings and numerous pictures to Frank Clynes after he told her about this web project. Bob had intended to compile his writings into a book tentatively titled "Due To Circumstances Beyond Our Control...". We honor Bob by using his title on this website.
Letter to Ira, August 26, 1994
Bobby Bicycle The Fluffernutter Man Bob Bassett Gets Bullied By A Boxer The "Community" Program The Missing Venus de Milo Statue Edith Quaglin's Last "Community" Appearance The Heifer And The Greyhound eMail From Joanie Bassett - January 8, 2001 The Origin of "Kak" Link to a Bob Bio on UltimateOldiesRadio.com Standard Times Bob Bassett Obit About "Mr. B" Courage and Resilience | |
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from Les Brown, Apr 24, 2022
I first met Bob when I was in high school in Swansea. He was working at WHIM (daytime AM in Providence) at the time and was doing a record hop at the school. After it was over he found his beat-up car with a flat tire - I helped him change it. Since I had been hanging out with Pete at WALE he arranged an audition for me at WHIM - one I failed miserably - but our career paths kept crossing. It took about 10 years for me to figure out that his approach to life might be………..well……what it was. |
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Pictures Loads of pictures can be seen in the picture archives. Please send eMail to:  if you have pictures! | |
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