American disc jockey and performer Jerry Blavat owned memories in Margate.
July 3, 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Blavat came into the limelight as a dancer on American Bandstand on WFIL-TV with Bob Horn in 1953.
In 1956, he managed a national tour for Danny and the Juniors and worked as Don Rickles’ valet between 1958 and 1959.
Blavat commenced his radio career in 1960 and by 1963, he was syndicated in Atlantic City, Trenton, Camden, Pottstown & Allentown Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware.
From 1965 to 1967, Blavat produced and hosted the weekly television show The Discophonic Scene in Philadelphia.
In 1972, Jerry Blavat purchased a nightclub in Margate, New Jersey and named it “Memories”. He revealed in a 2011 interview with S J Magazine that, Memories “opens at 8 pm on Friday and 9 pm on Saturday to an average age of 45 to 75. At 11 or 11:30, the average age is 23 to 55 or 60”.
Blavat’s memoir You Only Rock Once — whose title was shortened from one of his favorite sayings: “Keep on rockin’, because you only rock once!” — was published in 2011.
Blavat was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance’s Hall of Fame in 1993, recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and was honored on the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia’s Hall of Fame in 2002.
Jerry Blavat died of complications from myasthenia gravis and related health issues on January 20, 2023, at age 83 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.