45 s Philly Heat Wave

by Geno Thackara

Wait a minute. Isn’t this recording more of a Detroit 45? Martha and the Vandellas were one of that city’s biggest girl groups all through the ‘60s, and of course the song itself is pure Motown - bluesy sax, bright doo-wop harmonies, and a fast-moving beat made for clapping and dancing. This 1963 bopper was one of the hits that helped create the iconic sound everyone associates with the label to this day.

Okay, that’s all true and maybe “Heat Wave” isn’t widely known as a Philly tune. Nonetheless, if you’re a fan of the late Jerry “The Geator” Blavat, you probably can’t hear that snappy beat without expecting the man to start rapping over it a moment later. His knack for rhythmic patter was one thing that made him a natural-born entertainer, and the song itself became a trademark opening theme for his DJ sets which kept the city dancing for more than 60 years.

Philly Philly

Corporate programmers were starting to dictate radio playlists at that point, but Blavat refused to follow along and insisted on playing the music he wanted to play. The freedom let him spin a one-ofa-kind mix with something for everyone. He was the fellow who started playing the oldies before “the oldies” even became a thing. He would assemble a sequence with whatever felt good, resurrecting ‘50s tunes alongside the then-current ‘60s hits, then slipping in tracks from less-known names such as the Four Seasons or Little Richard. If the acts people heard on his show weren’t widely known, they usually didn’t stay that way for long.

Music

In the decades when rhyming nicknames were in fashion, Blavat was so cool, he needed more than just one. Radio listeners knew him as “the boss with the hot sauce,” “the man with the plan,” and - most famously of course - “the Geator with the heater.” But you won’t find that term in the dictionary. It was a slangy mash-up of “heater” (because kids his age would often turn up the car’s heat until their parents complained) and “gator” (because of how quickly his hosting personality would snap up your attention). What mattered was that it was unique and instantly memorable. The phrase meant that you were in for a mix of music, always colorful and cheerful, just like the man himself.

Blavat was a fellow who wore a lot of hats from the start. He first emerged in 1953 as a teen dancer on Bandstand (a precursor to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand), then got into the actual business as a road manager for Danny and the Juniors, and by the early ‘60s, got to try his hand at spinning records on the air. As fate would have it, a sudden snowstorm shut down the whole area the evening he was scheduled for a radio broadcast. His one-hour stint turned into an off-the-cuff marathon for half the night. The managers loved it, and the rest was history.

It must have been only natural that the “heater” catchphrase would mesh with a song like “Heat Wave” - a fun, surefire way to warm things up as soon as the party kicks off. Just as crucial, the opening one-two-one-two beat made a perfect bed for some banter and rhymes. The personable chatter would make for a unique connection with every crowd. This was the thing that always got them to keep on rocking and follow him across a variety of radio stations and TV programs, not to mention his popular New Jersey club Memories in Margate, where his weekly summertime broadcasts ran for a golden half-century.

Blavat once told the Philadelphia Inquirer that his secret was having “the rhythm of a dancer.” When words follow a pattern you can hear and feel, that’s when they hit deep down and stick in your headoften forever, as so many lifelong fans can attest. Detroit can (deservedly) claim its share of hits, but “Heat Wave” is one that it will have to share. PRH