Bob Mongold, better know to Middle Tennesseans as Bob Randall is featured in a story of page 1 of the B section of the Tennessean today. Unfortunately, Bob who is 87 and retired from WSM years ago, has lung cancer and is not doing well. If you get the chance read the story. If you know Bob, you can hear him telling the story. Bob could pick up a news story cold...and read it like no one else -- never making a mistake. Okay -- maybe that one time when the word Chattanooga was followed by another and it threw him. Bob is a good man....who always speaks his piece and tells it like he belives it. But when reading news...his opinion was never there. He was a news guy.
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Bob Randall - Voice of Authority
- Thread starter olebud
- Start date
Here's the connector to the story in the Tennessean. If cutting and pasting doesn't work...got to Tennessean.com and it's in the local section under 'facing his last Christmas.
It has color pictures that show Bob hasn't changed much.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...st+Christmas++man+reflects+on+life+well+lived
It has color pictures that show Bob hasn't changed much.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...st+Christmas++man+reflects+on+life+well+lived
Buddy - a belated Merry Christmas to you and everyone else here on the Nashville board.
Leave it up to you, sir, to post something so touching and special as the Bob Randall article.
I saw it, and meant to go back and read it when I was taking the usual 15 seconds to scan
that paper and didn't make the connection until you brought it up. Like Bill Berlin and Allen Dennis
etc. voices of the past you never forget, Bob Randall... Wow. Thank you!
Did Bob work ever work at WLAC? I seem to remember hearing him quite frequently back in
the mid to late 70's and into the 80's, but I never listened to WSM-AM that much. I know
he wasn't at 92Q/MAK (or am I really just that damn forgetful???) Was he always just in news?
Buddy,you never stop delivering the important, touching and top stories! Even on here.
Leave it up to you, sir, to post something so touching and special as the Bob Randall article.
I saw it, and meant to go back and read it when I was taking the usual 15 seconds to scan
that paper and didn't make the connection until you brought it up. Like Bill Berlin and Allen Dennis
etc. voices of the past you never forget, Bob Randall... Wow. Thank you!
Did Bob work ever work at WLAC? I seem to remember hearing him quite frequently back in
the mid to late 70's and into the 80's, but I never listened to WSM-AM that much. I know
he wasn't at 92Q/MAK (or am I really just that damn forgetful???) Was he always just in news?
Buddy,you never stop delivering the important, touching and top stories! Even on here.
N
NashRadio
Guest
Does anyone else find it strange that the article never mentions "Bob Randall"? (If it did, I missed it.)
D Dean said:Does anyone else find it strange that the article never mentions "Bob Randall"? (If it did, I missed it.)
Not really...since Bob Randal was his "radio name" and didn't really pertain to the article. I never heard the man, since I didn't grow up in the area, but I thought the story was very well done. Seems like I missed a great broadcasting legend
Wow, I haven't thought about him in ages. Used to love to hear him and his fishing reports on WSM TV. I never met the man, but my wife worked with his wife back during the first run of Channel 17 (around 1969). Which brings up thoughts of another deep voiced man, Ed Shuffman (Sheppard) who managed the station then. I believe he passed several years ago.
I didn't recall Gloria, Bob's wife working at WZTV and thought she was a housewife. Interesting bit of news.
I had the pleasure of working with Bob and unlike the nickname "grump" given to him he was a daily pleasure, a total pro, and was the best "cold read" talent I'd ever seen. News wrote the copy and got it to him never more than 2 minutes before airtime. One great trait of Bob was a mature realization that there were 2 sides to every story and he never got caught up in the drama of daily news nor became an adreneline junkie like many in local newsrooms. He just read it, and knew tomorrow there would be more stuff to read. The TV thing was the weekly fri fishing report on ralph emery's tv show.
Bob probably had more ability than WSM used him for but most of their talent fit a box and stayed in it. I don't recall Bob ever even taking a sick day.
Ed Shepherd was in several places in town and you're correct that he passed. One of the stations that went largely unnoticed was his time as GM of WWGM, 1560am. Having transistioned from WLVN which flopped, the "wonderful world of great music" was a high end high brow format better suited for FM. Somehow in their modest operation in the Metro Towers apartment building on James Robertson just up from channel 5, every person on their staff was deep voiced...Ed. THe incredible Lyle Dean who went to WLS Chicago from there.
Tom Bryant, Ken Bramming. I think even the lady who answered the phone sounded like someone at the bail bonds office down the street. It was a class group. Probably too classy in retrospect. As radio survived from ads for used cars from Jim Reed, and Elm Hill Meats, and Coca Cola, they sounded more like they should have been given a grant from a foundation. But the intentions were good.
I had the pleasure of working with Bob and unlike the nickname "grump" given to him he was a daily pleasure, a total pro, and was the best "cold read" talent I'd ever seen. News wrote the copy and got it to him never more than 2 minutes before airtime. One great trait of Bob was a mature realization that there were 2 sides to every story and he never got caught up in the drama of daily news nor became an adreneline junkie like many in local newsrooms. He just read it, and knew tomorrow there would be more stuff to read. The TV thing was the weekly fri fishing report on ralph emery's tv show.
Bob probably had more ability than WSM used him for but most of their talent fit a box and stayed in it. I don't recall Bob ever even taking a sick day.
Ed Shepherd was in several places in town and you're correct that he passed. One of the stations that went largely unnoticed was his time as GM of WWGM, 1560am. Having transistioned from WLVN which flopped, the "wonderful world of great music" was a high end high brow format better suited for FM. Somehow in their modest operation in the Metro Towers apartment building on James Robertson just up from channel 5, every person on their staff was deep voiced...Ed. THe incredible Lyle Dean who went to WLS Chicago from there.
Tom Bryant, Ken Bramming. I think even the lady who answered the phone sounded like someone at the bail bonds office down the street. It was a class group. Probably too classy in retrospect. As radio survived from ads for used cars from Jim Reed, and Elm Hill Meats, and Coca Cola, they sounded more like they should have been given a grant from a foundation. But the intentions were good.
onetake said
I know Bob had more ability....but...when management decided it wasn't in the budget to have someone who did no more than read the news, we had to tell Bob he'd need to stay in the news room, answer phones, do interviews and write stories. His comment....they didn't hire me to answer the @#%*ing phone, write the @#%&ing news or do @#%&^ing interviews. They hired me to read the news and I think I'm going to retire. He did.
Bob and I worked closely together and he could be one of the most humerous people ever. One of those with a dry-wit..and a very infectous laugh.
I heard that Bob gave himself the name 'grump' and enjoyed using it. Totally agree on the 'cold read' talent. He could read the phone book and you'd listen.I had the pleasure of working with Bob and unlike the nickname "grump" given to him he was a daily pleasure, a total pro, and was the best "cold read" talent I'd ever seen.
Bob probably had more ability than WSM used him for but most of their talent fit a box and stayed in it. I don't recall Bob ever even taking a sick day.
I know Bob had more ability....but...when management decided it wasn't in the budget to have someone who did no more than read the news, we had to tell Bob he'd need to stay in the news room, answer phones, do interviews and write stories. His comment....they didn't hire me to answer the @#%*ing phone, write the @#%&ing news or do @#%&^ing interviews. They hired me to read the news and I think I'm going to retire. He did.
Bob and I worked closely together and he could be one of the most humerous people ever. One of those with a dry-wit..and a very infectous laugh.
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