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NorthEast Radio Watch 1/23/2023: Remembering Philly’s Geator

Scott Fybush by Scott Fybush
January 23, 2023
in Free Content, Northeast Radio Watch
0

In this week’s issue… Jerry Blavat, RIP – New leader at WMHT – Holy Family adds three – New morning shows in Toronto

By SCOTT FYBUSH

Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada

*There’s only one way to end the phrase “iconic Philadelphia rock and roll DJ,” and that’s “Jerry Blavat.”

The “Geator with the Heater” was a fixture on the city’s music and radio scene for a remarkable seven decades, from his early years as a “Bandstand” dancer in the 1950s through many years of music promotion and management and into a ripe old age in which he somehow never really got old, playing his favorite early rock and R&B music for new generations of listeners who found him in various corners of the radio dial in PENNSYLVANIA and NEW JERSEY.

Blavat, who died Thursday at 82 in Philadelphia, was barely 13 when he made his broadcast debut on WFIL-TV (Channel 6) dancing on “Bandstand,” the first expression of his passionate love for the city’s music and its musicians, especially the Black artists whose music got covered more than it got actually played on radio. He was managing bands such as Danny and the Juniors before he was old enough to drink, and by 1960 he had his own radio show on Camden’s WCAM.

As legend has it, that talk show where he interviewed visiting performers turned into a rock and roll show during a snowstorm when Blavat brought out his record collection – and for decades, it never ended. His fast-paced patter and authentic Philadelphia music moved around the dial over the years, often at relatively obscure spots like WPGR (1540) in Philly, WVLT (92.1) in Vineland and WTKU (98.3) in Atlantic City. The “Boss with the Hot Sauce” was always more than just a radio jock, owning the Memories nightclub in Margate, south of Atlantic City, and promoting shows all over the area.

For the last 17 years, he also hosted a Saturday night version of his show on WXPN (88.5), where he reached new generations of listeners along with his longtime fans, who were always his “teenagers” no matter how gray.

In his 80s, Blavat didn’t slow down until just recently, when he had to cancel several shows because of shoulder pain.

SPRING IS HERE…

And if you don’t have your Tower Site Calendar, now’s the time!

If you’ve been waiting for the price to come down, it’s now 30 percent off!

This year’s cover is a beauty — the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. Both the towers and the landscape are gorgeous.

And did you see? Tower Site of the Week is back, featuring this VOA site as it faces an uncertain future. 

Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (buy the calendar to find out which ones!).

We still have a few of our own calendars left – as well as a handful of Radio Historian Calendars – and we are still shipping regularly.

The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025, too. Why not order both?) 

Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the new calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too! 

 

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Tags: Anthony HayesCIALCINGJerry BlavatKaylin ModzdenSweeny MurtiWATRWEXTWFANWHVMWMHTWPMWWRRS
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Scott Fybush

Scott Fybush

Editor/Publisher, NorthEast Radio Watch and Tower Site of the Week

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