Jerry Blavat aka The Geator With The Heator went way back with Teddy Pendergrass — so far, in fact, that they were honored together in June 2008 by none other than Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff at a special pre-Phillies game “Sound of Philadelphia Celebration.” We rang Blavat up, who, like many of us, enjoyed Teddy’s music and also recognized it as a cornerstone of the legendary “TSOP” movement. “When I was doing my TV show, the Discophonic Scene, in 1979, Teddy had just become a solo artist, and ours was one of the first TV shows he ever did,” recalls Blavat. “He performed ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore,’ and the other guests were Gloria Gaynor, Sister Sledge and Rick James.” Must have been quite an afterparty. But really, Blavat says his best memories of Teddy were of Pendergrass’ earlier career as an in-demand drummer — a fact that many fans aren’t aware of. “He was the original drummer for [what would become legendary disco act] Tavares — he was an exceptional talent even then. There were very few artsits who are also drummers that had the depth of voice that Teddy had. When you tell people, they say. ‘Wow.’”

FYI: Jerry Blavat’s Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll and R&B show is back at the Kimmel Center on January 30th.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 2:27 pm.