Reflections

For someone who grew up in Philadelphia listening to the Geator on the radio this book is fascinating, but anyone interested in the radio or music scene, especially of the 1950-60’s, should find a lot of interest in Jerry Blavat’s straight-talking memoir. He’s still on the radio and his shows are great, especially his Saturday night show on Philadelphia’s WXPN which you can catch on line if you live somewhere else. Blavat considers the Beatles too bubblegum, so the records he chooses to spin have a gritty, rhythmic, soulful quality, and since it’s not the music that has been overplayed on traditional Oldies stations it still sounds fantastic.You Only Rock Once has a lot of behind the scenes Philadelphia politics and celebrity stories, Blavat was friends with a host of the rich, powerful and famous including Frank Rizzo, Walter Annenberg, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dick Clark, and mobster Angelo Bruno. What gave me a bigger thrill though was his offhand mentions of Sally Starr, Gene London and Pixanne who were big stars of local children’s TV shows when I was young.