Jerry Blavat’s Memories in Margate is back under new ownership, with a dinner menu, brunch, and eight — yes, eight — disco balls

If the walls could talk at Memories, the storied nightclub reopening this week in Margate, they would tell stories of three generations of summer magic down the Shore.

Memories was Jerry Blavat’s shore house for 50 years, until the pioneering DJ’s death last year at age 82. On Friday and Saturday nights in season, Blavat grooved behind the turntables while the crowd danced to the songs that defined Philly music.

When Memories comes back on Thursday, a renovation will make it more restaurant and lounge than nightclub. Memories, which never offered much food, will be open daily with dinner and late-night menus. Weekend brunch will start July 4 weekend. (Brunch at Memories?) Three of the four bars remain, and outside there will be a tiki bar beneath a pergola.

Teddy Sourias, a Philadelphia nightlife impresario, said that respecting Blavat’s legacy was a challenge that he and his partners wrestled with even before they decided to bid against 100 groups for Memories. “We’re not trying to come in here and be Jerry Blavat,” Sourias said. “I am not an entertainer. I can’t be that guy, but I can provide a good time.”

Sourias is president of Craft Concepts Group, whose Center City Philadelphia properties include Finn McCool’s, Tradesman’s, Uptown Beer Garden, BRU, U-Bahn, and the forthcoming Mona, a posh Mediterranean restaurant under construction at 1308 Chestnut St.

» READ MORE: Teddy Sourias plans two high-end restaurants in Philadelphia

Memories’ resident DJs, Joel Stephens and Eric Bartello, will return. Sourias said he wanted to aim at the previous clientele while adding late-night music to draw a younger crowd. Memories is permitted to stay open till 5 a.m., but he said it would close earlier.

Though the walls at Memories can’t talk, they can still tell you about Gerald Joseph Blavat, the fast-talking, self-proclaimed “Geator with the Heater,” whose career spanned almost 70 years.

The Geator’s twin Technics SL-1200MK2 turntables and seven-channel Behringer mixing board are mounted to a wall beside a life-size photo of a young Blavat dancing, mid-finger snap. A collection of Blavat’s compilation albums, such as Fabulous Fifties and For Dancers Only, hangs beside it. The DJ equipment and records were included in the sale of the building.

Blavat rose to fame in 1953 as a teen dancer on TV’s original Bandstand, then produced in West Philadelphia. He parlayed this into a storybook life as a manager (Danny and the Juniors), celebrity valet (Don Rickles), record store and club owner, TV host, concert promoter, Rat Pack pal, and repository of Philadelphia music history. Little Richard later said of him: “For a white boy, the Geator’s got too much soul.”

At the time of his death, Blavat could be heard on his own Geator Gold Radio network and on his weekly Saturday night show on WXPN-FM (88.5), The Geator’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Rhythm & Blues Express, though his health had curtailed his schedule in recent years. His death in January 2023 from myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune neuromuscular disease, took many by surprise.

When Teddy Sourias first walked into the blue-trimmed building on Amherst Avenue he put his hands over his forehead and asked himself what he was getting into. Memories had closed after the 2022 season and, like many vintage buildings, major systems needed upgrading. “Jerry knew what he was doing,” he said. “He didn’t need to put a lot of money into it. It needed work, but the bones were good.”

From the front door, the first noticeable change might be the raised ceilings. A new heating and ventilation system replaced lower-hanging ductwork. The two larger bars, each seating about 30 people, remain, as does a smaller bar. Toward the back, at the stage, Blavat’s DJ booth is gone, replaced by a digital sound system set on hydraulics that can be lowered into the floor when a band is playing. DJs nowadays travel with their own equipment, Sourias said, and can plug into Memories’ system.

The club’s large speakers were removed in favor of smaller speakers set amid sound panels to allow better coverage. Sourias said you’ll be able to have a conversation on the dance floor without screaming.

A fourth bar next to what was Blavat’s booth has been removed to accommodate table seating and to clear a path to the patio. The word “dance,” trimmed in LEDs, fills one wall, as if anyone at Memories would require that prompt. There’s also what Sourias called a first for Memories: eight disco balls. Although Memories’ run embraced the disco era, Blavat used strobes and other lights instead.

Chef Joe Gaeta said he would meld Italian food and beach favorites on the dinner menu “with enough variety for everybody” — roast pork and meatball sandwiches, fried shrimp baskets, linguine and clams, crab cakes, chicken Parm, herb salmon, and a kids’ menu. A late-night menu of appetizers is planned.

Entertainment will be themed by night: Monday will be tribute bands playing the likes of Frank Sinatra. Wednesday will be an industry night with a rotation of guest DJs. Thursday will be dueling pianos. Friday will mean bands earlier in the evening with a rotation of DJs to follow. Saturdays will feature DJ Joel Stephens (Memories’ resident DJ) with performances beginning at 7 p.m., followed at 11 p.m. by DJs. Sunday will be the Geater Gold dance party with Stephens and DJ Eric Bartello. There is no scheduled programming on Tuesday.

Sourias, 43, said he would be torn between Thursday’s dueling pianos and Saturday’s oldies music. “My first encounter with dueling pianos was at a bar in Florida during a family vacation, and I was astounded by how they could effortlessly play requests,” he said. “And I still associate that experience with being on vacation. However, I also cherish the music my parents listened to when I was a child, which I grew to love.”