Bob Abrahamian


Bob Abrahamian was a soul music deejay, historian, archivist, and record collector.
In addition to hosting a long-running radio show, "Sitting in the Park" on WHPK, he built a personal collection of tens of thousands of significant soul music records, with a focus on the Chicago vocal style known as "sweet soul." He conducted recorded interviews with dozens of musicians, many of whom had fallen into obscurity. He contributed liner notes to archival soul reissues, as well as providing materials and assistance for releases on the Chicago-based Numero Group record label. He graduated from Maine Township High School East in Park Ridge, Illinois and received an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago in computer science and media studies. Abrahamian's 2009 interview with Larry Blasingaine resulted in the discovery of the Jackson 5's previously unknown first recording session at Chicago's One-derful Records.
Bob Abrahamian with a long history of clinical depression committed suicide on June 5, 2014.