Jerry Blavat Obituary, Death – Jerry Blavat, 82, the geator with the heater and American disc jockey passed away on January 19, 2023. He was a disc jockey and performer from the United States known as “The Geator with the Heater” and “The Big Boss with the Hot Sauce,” and he had a significant influence on radio in promoting oldies music. He became a Philadelphia icon by hosting live dances in the area, which led to his own independent radio show, on which he introduced various performers to a wide audience in the 1960s, including the Four Seasons and The Isley Brothers. Blavat was born to a Jewish father and an Italian mother in South Philadelphia.
Blavat made her television debut on WFIL’s Bandstand in 1953, alongside Bob Horn and Lee Stewart. He organized a statewide tour for Danny and the Juniors in 1956, and he was Don Rickles’ valet in 1958-59. In 1960, he began his radio career. His show had been syndicated in Camden, Atlantic City, Trenton, Pottstown, Wilmington, and Allentown by 1963. He refused to play a playlist in favor of “playing music from the heart, not a research chart.” Blavat co-founded the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels in the 1960s with Jared Weinstein and Jerry Greene of Collectables Records. The three also co-owned Record Museum, a now-defunct record store company centered in Philadelphia.
Blavat created and presented The Discophonic Scene, a dance show similar to American Bandstand (which debuted a decade earlier in Philadelphia), from 1965 to 1967, referring to himself as “the Geator with the Heater” and “the big boss with the hot sauce.” He appeared on several shows, including The Mod Squad, The Monkees, The Tonight Show, and The Joey Bishop Show. He made three feature appearances: Desperately Seeking Susan, Baby It’s You, and Cookie. Blavat bought “Memories,” a nightclub in Margate, New Jersey, in 1972. Blavat was enjoying dinner in a South Philadelphia restaurant with Greek mob boss Chelsais “Steve” Bouras and several other guests in 1981 when Bouras was slain in a contract killing.
The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation probed organized crime’s role in the liquor industry in the early 1990s and revealed Blavat’s ties to the Bruno-Scarfo criminal family. Throughout the inquiry, former Scarfo family capo Thomas A. DelGiorno testified that Blavat paid a “street tax” to the criminal family on a regular basis, purchased a $40,000 yacht for crime boss Nicodemo Scarfo, and was one of several individuals who purchased a condo in Florida for Scarfo. In exchange, the criminal organization provided jobs for Blavat across the state and prohibited union organizers from Blavat’s nightclub. Del Giorno also testified that Blavat drove for criminal boss Angelo Bruno on a daily basis. Blavat pleaded guilty to a fifth-degree offense while maintaining his innocence.