Encyclopedia Of Detroit

Radio and TV personality Robin Seymour was born Seymour Samuel Altman in Detroit on March 9, 1926, to Clara and Herman Altman.  His parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s from Romania and Ukraine to escape anti-Jewish pogroms. After graduating from Central High School in Detroit in 1944, Seymour was drafted into the U.S. Army and served two years in Europe, earning a Bronze Star. In 1947, after working for Armed Forces Radio in Frankfort, Germany, Seymour returned to Detroit to attend Wayne University, but dropped out that same year to work for $.90 an hour as a DJ for WKMH in Dearborn (which later became WKNR Keener 13 in 1963). He chose the on-air name “Robin Seymour,” and his afternoon show, Bobbin’ with Robin, made him the station’s most popular on-air personality.

Seymour was emergent on Detroit airwaves for his early embrace of rock & roll, and introducing White audiences to new music made by Black artists. He catered to his audience’s taste, asking for feedback on new records. Seymour hosted some of the earliest record hops and introduced commercial tie-ins with local record stores. His live appearances during "Robin Seymour's Original Rock 'n' Roll Revue" at the Fox Theater, furthered his popularity.  In 1953, Seymour was named "Disc Jockey of the Year" by Billboard Magazine and then by Hit Parader in 1954. 

In 1963, Seymour and three business partners created Teen Town, which later became Swingin’ Time, a live 30-minute, weekday dance party TV show, and an hour-long Saturday show, airing on Channel 9 from Windsor, Ontario. Each show featured students from a different Detroit high school. Swingin’ Time helped to launch the careers of many Motown stars such as Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Temptations, as well as many other local bands. Forced by WKMH management to choose between his radio and TV programs, Seymour left WKMH. In 1965, station CKLW in Windsor hired Seymour for a short run. 

In 1970, Seymour recreated his WKMH Bobbin' with Robin show for “Cruisin' 1956”, part of a CD series of Top 40 radio shows.  He left broadcasting and moved to Phoenix in 1980, and then to San Antonio in 2016. He died there on April 17, 2020.