Bob Abrahamian (September 25, 1978 – June 5, 2014) 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 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. Abrahamian contributed liner notes to archival soul reissues,
as well as providing materials and assistance for releases on the Chicago-based
Numero Group
The Numero Group is an archival record label that creates compilations of previously released music, reissues original albums, and creates album reconstructions from a variety of musical genres. The label, known as Numero, was founded in 2003 b ...
record label.
He graduated from
Maine Township High School East
Maine East High School, or Maine East, and officially Maine Township High School East, is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Dempster Street and Potter Road in Park Ridge, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, in the Unite ...
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 had a long history of
clinical depression and committed suicide on June 5, 2014.
References
External links
* , archive of Abrahamian's radio show and interviews with musicians
1978 births
2014 deaths
2014 suicides
American soul musicians
21st-century American male musicians
Suicides in Illinois
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