Robert
Lee "Bob" Steele (July 13, 1911 – December 6, 2002) was with WTIC
Radio for
more than 66 years, and dominated the morning radio scene in Southern
New England for most of that time.
He was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1911. After working as a
newsboy, salesman, motorcycle messenger and professional boxer, he was
invited to Hartford by a race promoter to announce a motorcycle race.
On his last day in town, he walked into WTIC-AM on a whim and asked to
audition for a vacant announcer position. He became a junior staff
announcer at WTIC in Hartford on Oct. 1, 1936.
He took over The G. Fox Morning Watch radio show on WTIC Radio in 1943
when Ben Hawthorne joined the armed services.
(In a day when businesses sponsored entire programs, the prominence of
the business was a reflection of the show's popularity. G. Fox was the
premier department store chain in the greater Hartford area.) In 1950
it was renamed The Bob Steele Show. By the time he retired from the
daily radio show in 1991, he had created one of the longest running
radio shows in the country. But he never fully retired; he continued to
host a Saturday morning radio show on WTIC-AM until shortly before his
death.
For much of his time at WTIC, while the stations were owned by the
Travelers Insurance Company until 1974, he also did the evening sports
program on
WTIC radio and television -- no mean feat since he had to be on the air
at 5:30 AM. For years, Steele broadcast six days a week and told the
occasional incredulous interviewer that the show was his pastime, not a
job.
The show was easy-going and comfortably predictable. Segments comprised
weather (including world temperatures), sports (Steele was longtime
sports director for WTIC), birthdays (only over 80), anniversaries
(only over 60), local and national news, storytelling for children.
Nothing brightened up a winter morning more for generations of
school-age kids than when Bob Steele announced that there would be no
school that day. A favorite segment was "Tiddlywinks from the Teletype,
little stories of little importance..." that wrapped up each day's
show, ending with the final bars of the 2nd Connecticut Regiment March
leading into the 10:00 AM news.
Quick with a pun (and a corny joke or two..."my full name is Robert L.
Steele - the 'L' stands for Elmer"), Steele’s respect for the
spoken
word was renowned. He regularly shared with his audience tips and
lessons on grammar and pronunciation, including his Word for the Day,
an always popular part of his show. His unparalleled popularity was
matched by a very responsive audience. He regularly received hundreds
of letters a week from listeners, including, reportedly, letters from
listeners "Down Under." Due to the 50,000-watt power of the WTIC
transmitter, atmospheric conditions would occasionally allow his show
to be heard as far away as Australia.
He often told folksy, punny stories about his numerous relatives,
including his uncles Coldrolled and Stainless, and his aunts Bessemer
and Amalgamated.
Throughout the 1960s, Steele vowed to not play music by the Beatles and
other rock and roll acts on his show. By the 1980s, however, oldies
from the sixties, including songs by the Beatles and others, worked
their way into his playlists. Steele was more famous, however, for the
obscure novelty songs he often played on his show, especially Rolf
Harris' "Two Buffaloes," Mitch Miller's "The Yellow Rose of Texas,"
and, annually on May 20, a song appropriately entitled, "(I'm Getting
Married on) The 20th of May." He also was very fond of "Tulips in
Amsterdam" and "Any dream will do."
Steele's son, Robert H. Steele represented Connecticut's 2nd
Congressional District in the early 1970s and was the Republican
candidate for Governor in 1974.
In 1980, Steele published a book entitled "Bob Steele: A Man and His
Humor." A second book celebrating his 50th anniversary on radio was
published in 1986 and his last, "The Word for the Day," written with
son Phil Steele, was published in 2002.
The Bob Steele Reading Center at the Literacy Volunteers of Greater
Hartford facility on Arbor Street in Hartford, dedicated in 1989,
honors his years as an advocate of literacy.
On
December 12, 2011, the Hartford city council voted unanimously to
support a proposal to rename in Steele's honor a section of the city's
Grove Street (between Prospect Street and Columbus Boulevard) in
recognition of his iconic status and the 100th anniversary of his
birth. Bob Steele Street was officially dedicated in a special ceremony
on January 4, 2013. A bronze plaque honoring Steele's career was
installed on the east side of the Travelers Insurance building at the
intersection of Bob Steele and Prospect streets on May 19, 2015. The
plaque, created by sculptor Michael Keropian, was unveiled in a
ceremony on May 29, 2015.
Bob
Steele On the Record
In the mid 1970's,
WTIC indroduced an LP album called "Bob Steele On the Record," procuced
by
Chuck Albert. Bob Scherago was the engineer in the WTIC studio.
It sold millions of copies, I'm told. Here it is:
(Note: Cuts 1-11 are from the record; the rest are extra
"Steelisms" from his live broadcasts.) |
