Jerry Blavat

Career

In 1953, Blavat debuted on the original Bandstand on WFIL-TV with Bob Horn and Lee Stewart. In 1956, he managed a national tour for Danny and the Juniors, and he worked as Don Rickles' valet in 1958–59. He got his start in radio in 1960. By 1963, his show was syndicated in Camden, Atlantic City, Trenton, Pottstown, Wilmington and Allentown. He said he refused to follow a playlist, "playing music from the heart, not a research chart." During the 1960s, Blavat was a partner in the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels, along with Jared Weinstein and Collectables Records' founder Jerry Greene. Together, the three also owned Record Museum, a now-defunct chain of record stores based in Philadelphia.

From 1965–1967, Blavat produced and hosted a weekly television show in Philadelphia called The Discophonic Scene, a dance show for "all my yon [sic] teens" along the lines of American Bandstand (which also began in Philadelphia a decade earlier), referring to himself as "the Geator with the Heater" and "the big-time boss with the big hot sauce." He also guest-starred on television shows including The Mod Squad, The Monkees, The Tonight Show, and The Joey Bishop Show. He was appeared in the movies Desperately Seeking Susan, Baby It's You, and Cookie. In 1972, Blavat purchased a nightclub in Margate, New Jersey, and named it "Memories".

Mafia connections

In 1981, Blavat was having dinner at a South Philly restaurant with Greek mob boss Chelsais "Steve" Bouras and several other guests when Bouras was shot dead in a contract killing.

In the early 1990s, an investigation by the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation into organized crime's influence in the liquor business made public Blavat's association with the Bruno-Scarfo crime family. During the investigation, Thomas A. DelGiorno, a former Scarfo family capo, testified that Blavat had regularly paid a "street tax" to the crime family, had purchased a $40,000 yacht for crime boss Nicodemo Scarfo and was one of several individuals who purchased a condominium in Florida for Scarfo. In exchange, the criminal organization secured employment for Blavat throughout the state and also kept union organizers out of Blavat's nightclub. Del Giorno also testified that Blavat regularly served as a driver for crime boss Angelo Bruno. Blavat pled the fifth and repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Recent activity

In 1993, Blavat was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance's Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was included in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of a permanent exhibit in its Museum of Radio and Records. In 2002, he was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's "Hall of Fame". On January 15, 2010, Blavat celebrated his 50th consecutive year on radio.

Blavat continues to broadcast on local radio seven days a week and hosts weekly record hops in greater Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware. He had been producing oldies concerts at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia every year since January 2002. He was a regular columnist for the Atlantic City Weekly. He had been a member of the New York Friars' Club since 2010. His night club, Memories, has been operating steadily in Margate, New Jersey, since 1972. As of 2013, Blavat was a DJ for oldies radio station WVLT (FM) 92.1 in the South Jersey area, for the University of Pennsylvania's public radio station WXPN in Philadelphia, for radio stations WTKU-FM and WOND in Atlantic City, and for WBCB (AM) in Bucks County and Trenton.

On July 23, 2011, Blavat's autobiography, You Only Rock Once: My Life In Music, was published by Running Press. After its third printing it was released exactly two years later in paperback and as an audiobook in 2014.

Personal life

Blavat had four daughters. He was separated from his wife since 1976 and was in a long-term relationship since 1989.