22 | SEPTEMBER 12 • 2019
Robin Seymour brings his memoir and
his memories back to Detroit.
Jews in the D
I
f not for conversations
between two residents of a
senior living community in
San Antonio, the story of one
of the legendary careers in the
Detroit music and radio scene in
the early days of
rock ’
n roll may
have only been
preserved in the
memory of the
man who lived
it. Retired lawyer
and journalist
Carolyn Marie
Rosenthal, who was on the
receiving end of those great sto-
ries, would have none of that.
Her spry Jewish neighbor,
93, just happened to be one of
the pioneers of Detroit rock ’
n
roll radio and a trailblazer who
helped put Motown on the map
— Seymour Altman. Who? If
you’
re a Baby Boomer, prepare
to have wonderful memories
of your youth jogged because
Seymour Altman was to a com-
ing-of-age Detroit audience
better known as disc jockey and
local TV’
s Swingin’
Time host
Robin Seymour, the name he
still goes by.
In The DJ that Launched
a 1,000 Hits — the Story of
Robin Seymour (with Carolynn
Rosenthal), you learn Robin
wasn’
t just an eyewitness to the
birth of Motown, he played a
major role in its success. “On
the air,” says Robin, “no one else
in Detroit was playing so-called
‘
black’
music to white audiences
except me.”
Host Robin Seymour’
s
T
een Town and Swingin’
Time
dance television shows, mod-
eled after American Bandstand
and which originally aired on
Channel 9 in Windsor, were
one of the first stops for Berry
Gordy to launch the careers
and television debuts of Little
Stevie Wonder, The Supremes,
Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops,
Martha and the Vandellas,
The Temptations and Smokey
Robinson.
Retired Detroit advertising
executive Mike Seltzer, a self-pro-
claimed radio history fanatic and
friend of Robin
Seymour,
volunteered his publishing exper-
tise to help Robin and Carolyn
memorialize his fascinating life
story in print.
Robin, who moved from
Phoenix to San Antonio in 2016
to be closer to his daughters
Debby and Jenny in Texas, is
preparing for
a return
visit to Michigan. Today,
Thursday, Sept. 12, the Motown
Museum will host Robin, who
will be part of a meet-and-greet
and book signing. He’
ll be hon-
ored and will reunite with many
Detroit radio legends at a radio
reunion on Saturday, Sept. 14,
at Novi’
s Suburban Collection
Showplace. Both events are open
to the public.
JEWISH BACKGROUND
Robin is proud of his Jewish
heritage, which he touches on
in his book, and was more than
happy to delve even further
into his Detroit Jewish upbring-
ing during a phone interview
arranged by Seltzer.
He was born Seymour Samuel
Altman on March 9, 1926. He
can’
t recall where his showbiz
continued on page 24
Alan
Muskovitz
Robin Seymour
today — and yesterday
PHOTOS COURTESY ROBIN SEYMOUR
ISTOCK
Radio
Legend
d
y
s,
volunteered his publishing expe
else
ed
ces
er
visit to Michigan. Today,
Thursday Sept 12 the Motown
today — and yesterday
er-
visit to M
to