Today I met the Geator.
That's right, kids, I chatted up Jerry Blavat, the Geator with the Heator. The aforementioned boss with the hot sauce. On Jan. 7th at 6 p.m., the Geator debuts a weekly show on WXPN, and today they hosted a little welcome get-together for him in the World Cafe performance studio.
I know, you're thinking the Geator and XPN are, like, from different planets. But it seems like a smart move to me -- the Geator comes with his own audience, who will find him and listen to him regardless of what station he's on. Sure, it'll be interesting to hear the segue from the Geator's doo-wop into the post-punk, indie and hip-hop stuff Matt Reilly usually plays on Saturday nights, but that's part of the beauty of XPN and more evidence of the real Philly-centric thing they're trying to do there.
And if you want to get technical about it, doo wop represents a particular kind of American roots rock, and it should be heard on the radio because there are people out there who will listen. Period.
To say the Geator is "a Philly dj" doesn't quite do it. No, he's THE Philly dj, the same guy who came out of South Philly in the 60s, still reppin' hard for the same doo-wop and early R&B records he's been playing since, well, since people played records. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Over the years, he's had regular hosting gigs at weekend dance party nights at Philly and Jersey Shore nightspots, engaged in legendary rivalries with other djs, consorted with celebs (you do know he was Sammy Davis Jr.'s best man when he married Altovese, right?), bounced around the local radio dial, and in general, kept it real on any number of levels at any given time. He was the prototype for the dj character Joe Pantoliano played in that movie The In Crowd (in fact, Joey Pants' impression was so dead-on the Geator sued the movie's producers and won).
He'd been on the air for decades by the time I was a teenager, when we'd listen to the Geator's show, broadcast live on 98.3 FM from Memories in Margate (say it Maaaaaah-GATE!). Many hours were spent around the kitchen table of our house in Wildwood, drinking and singing along to songs like "Morse Code of Love" and "Pretty Little Angel Eyes." I guess I never thought about how odd it must have been for a bunch of teenagers in 1990 to be singing early '60s doo-wop songs on a Saturday night, but we certainly weren't the only ones doing it.
The Geator, like doo wop itself, is a part of the Jersey Shore culture, like Kohr Bros. ice cream and beach tags. You knew that every other week or so, he'd start the show by rapping over the beginning part of "Heatwave," and that if Natalie from Pennsauken was there for her bachelorette party, you'd hear about it.
Years later, I spent a summer weekend in Ventnor with a friend of mine who happened to be dating, erm, "an Italian-American gentleman of questionable association." Many remarkable things happened that weekend, but the highlight was being on the dance floor at Memories, dancing with the Geator (and a woman who I later learned was Joey Merlino's mom).
You can hear some of the Geator's classic bits, including the "Heatwave" one, here.
