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Milwaukee radio legend Bob Reitman announces retirement, to air his last WUWM show this week
Radio icon, Bob Reitman who currently co-hosts WUWM’s It’s Alright, Ma, It's Only Music will officially retire on Friday, April 19, putting a cap on a 60-year career
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Legendary Milwaukee radio pioneer Bob Reitman announces retirement
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Bob Reitman started his radio career at WUWM in 1966 with poetry show called Sense Waves
Bob Reitman, an iconic figure in local media and the counterculture, is putting up his microphone after nearly 60 years in radio.
On Friday, April 19, 2024, Bob Reitman, the host of WUWM's weekly music program It's All Right, Ma, It's Only Music, will retire. The final fresh live episode of the show will run on Thursday at 8 p.m. and be repeated on Saturday at 9 p.m.
Bob Reitman retires after a remarkable 60 years as radio host
For sixty years, Reitman has been an essential part of Milwaukee radio. He was employed by several Milwaukee-area radio stations, including WZMF, WAWA, WTOS, WQFM, and WKTI. He and Gene Mueller co-hosted the morning show at WKTI for more than 25 years. In addition to six Olympic games, Bob and Gene provided broadcasts from the Soviet Union.
Who is Bob Reitman?
Reitman, an FBI agent's son, grew up in the Milwaukee suburb of Whitefish Bay after being born in Enid, Oklahoma, in December 1941. He graduated from Marquette University with a degree in English and from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) with a master's degree in Urban Education.
Poetry had always been one of his early passions. While he was reading poems to music in coffee shops, he was asked to take over a poetry program on WUWM (89.7 FM, "Milwaukee Public Radio"), a Milwaukee, Wisconsin National Public Radio station owned and run by UWM.
Reitman began his career at WUWM in 1966 with a poetry program called "Sense Waves." By 1968, he had moved to the newly established WZMF, where he played The Doors' "Break On Through" on his first show on Columbus Day 1968, helping to usher in the station's transition to album rock.
When Reitman came back to WUWM in 2007, he revived It's Alright, Ma, a weekly live music program that still airs today and showcases his wisdom and passion for many forms of music.
Ele Ellis, WUWM's vice president of content and programming, says, "Bob Reitman is the best of what we do in radio, from his origins at WUWM to his blockbuster career throughout Milwaukee, and back to where it all started. We are lucky to have been the home to It’s Alright Ma, It’s Only Music and are thankful for everything he’s done for our radio listeners. I am going to miss him so much."
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