Jerry Blavat RIP. Curious if Creekers around the country heard of him?

[Ron Citerone]

https://6abc.com/jerry-blavat-dead-p...alth/12720769/


Well known in Philly area, I am curious if creekers around the country heard of him or if he is known in the Philadelphia area only.

Thanks Ron

[Andrew More]

Cincinnati here. No, sorry not acquainted with him.

[Edward Weber]

I remember him, spinnin' hot stacks of cool wax.

[Jim Becker]

Very familiar. Anyone wanting to listen to the tribute tomorrow (21 Jan 2022) can stream it from WXPN.org between 2 and 7 ET. It's accessible anywhere in the world, so you don't have to be local to listen. This guy was one of the biggest movers and shakers in the music broadcast business...those of "a certain age" or more will very much relate after listening even for a short period of time. Jerry continued to work to nearly the end via non-commercial WXPN for a number of years now, recording his show in his penthouse apartment in Philadelphia for broadcast each weekend, despite his failing health.

[Rick Potter]

Sorry, never heard of him here.

[michael langman]

Thanks for posting Ron. You have stirred up some memories in the back of my dusty old mind.

Philly had a culture all of it's own in the 50's early 60's. Jerry Blavat was a local hero for sure.

[George Armstrong]

Jerry Blavat, "The Geater With the Heater" (Spelling?) was "the Man" in South Jersey. Always on someones radio. RIP Jerry.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

He was the biggest competitor to Dick Clark's American Bandstand. IIRC he had a show called Summer at the Steel pier. referring to Atlantic City. For a while I lived about 50 miles north of Phila. When I was real young 1st to 3 rd grade, the older kids would rush home after school to see Bandstand or Blavat. It seemed most kids liked either or or, sort of like a Ford Chevy thing. Dick Clark of course won out, but there were hard core Blavat fans that remained loyal. He stayed a popular radio announcer. I preferred Cousin Brucie on WABC in New York. (I could listen to cousin Brucie on WABC in evenings even when I lived in Miami, Florida.)

[Stan Calow]

Not here in Missouri/Kansas.

[Ron Citerone]

Apparently he had a photographic memory. My neighbor who went to one of his events a few times introduced himself to Jerry. 30 years later they crossed paths and Jerry Blavat remembered his name. Wish I had a memory like that!

[Jim Becker]

That makes a lot of sense, Ron...he truly was a human encyclopedia when it came to music information and I do mean details and "off the cuff". Over the last ten years when his show was on WXPN (no commercial stations were willing to carry him anymore apparently) it was clear just how incredibly deep his knowledge was. His show wasn't my favorite just because I'm more into other material, but when I listened, I was totally amazed at the level of detail, including multiple versions of the same song by different performers and the history behind that.