The Geator (sitting) with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, as well as the man in white — Bunny Sigler.
Once again, greetings and salutations, and a very happy St. Paddy’s Day to all. Hard to believe that Memorial Day weekend is only 10 weeks away, and with it, the opening of our 40th year at Memories in Margate and partying down at the Jersey shore. Meanwhile, back in Philly we’re getting things together for our special Mother’s Day show at the Kimmel Center on May 8, “A Gift of Music,” with special guest stars Frankie Avalon, Jay Black, the Tymes, the Orlons, the Soul Survivors, and Kenny Vance & the Planotones. More about that next week — but now, it’s time to ask the Geator.
We saw you in the PBS documentary on rock DJs, Airplay: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio. Do you think that with the variety of programming available on satellite radio, those great days of creativity on the air will return? — M.S.
Unfortunately, I doubt it. I had some hope when Little Stevie and I were asked to host a show together on SiriusXM, but even there they wanted me to adhere to a playlist, which as you know I would never do. Radio today is big business and it’s controlled by a few major players who own vast multimedia enterprises and have forgotten, or never knew, how important the DJ was. All they do today is program, push buttons, and repeat like it was a jukebox. And I don’t see it getting any better.
Does Stevie Wonder play harmonica on “I Feel for You” by Chaka Khan? I don’t know anyone else who sounds like that! — Joe Mirrors from A.C.
That’s definitely Stevie. That song was written by Prince, but Stevie did write Chaka’s first hit. Can you name it? If yes, you’ve just solved this week’s trivia question — answer below.
I saw an article about Bunny Sigler that referred to him as “Bundino.” Is that his real name? — George Arra
No, his real name is Walter Sigler. He was nicknamed Bunny by his mom for the fully grown front tooth he had as an infant. Bundino was actually another nickname given to him by the Italian musicians and producers he worked with, including Don Rinaldo, Vince Montana, and others. When they saw that he could hit those notes like the great Italian tenors, they gifted him with an Italian nickname, Bundino Siggalucci.
Answer to trivia question: Stevie Wonder wrote Rufus and Chaka Khan’s 1974 hit, “Tell Me Something Good.”
Got a question for Jerry? Send it to AskTheGeator@acweekly.com or Geator Gold Radio, 626 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. For more info on Jerry’s appearances, go to www.geator.net — and keep on rocking, ’cause you only rock once!
Greetings and salutations. As you are aware, next weekend the Geator, the Bubba Mac Blues Band, Pinky Kravitz, and the entire Longport Media group, WOND and WTKU and my man, Dave Coskey, will be heading down to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Fla., for South Jersey “Boardwalk Live” weekend. Also joining the Geator will be my pal Frankie Valli, who’s performing at the Hard Rock Live. We’ll dance starting at 5pm Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, March 1, 2, and 3, and I know we’ll see lots of our Florida fans, like Carlos & Vicki, Judi & Jim, and Ed & Linda, down there — hope to see you, too. Before we get to your questions, one of our readers was able to answer a question posed by Joe Breitner in this column a couple months back. The name of the song, from...
Once again, greetings and salutations to all who had a ball with the Geator at the Kimmel. Fabulous show, so nice that we’re going to do it twice. Mark the date: Saturday, April 7, and this will be a doo wop reunion, bringing back some of the classic stars who’ve been with me over the last 10 years — folks like Little Anthony, the Duprees, the Harptones, the Skyliners, the Classics, the Dubs, and more of your favorites. Stay tuned and we’ll announce the complete lineup shortly. And don’t forget, the Geator and the South Jersey/Philly crowd heading down south to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 1-3. That’s got to be a blast, along with Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons’ appearance there, so make your reservations now. And yes, we...
Once again, greetings and salutations. And for you folks who joined us last Sunday for our Mother’s Day spectacular at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, what can I say? Outstanding. Another sold-out show, with thanks going out to Jay Black, Frankie Avalon, the Soul Survivors, the Orlons, the Tymes, and the Planotones. And with that behind us, let’s talk about Memorial Day weekend, right around the corner. Would you believe this year will mark 40 years that you and I have been together at that legendary spot, Memories in Margate? Look for some exciting things to happen when we go live on KOOL 98.3 on weekends, not only from Memories on Saturday nights, but also on Friday nights from Mia’s Restaurant at Caesars Atlantic City. More about that as the weeks go by — now, let’s ask the Geator. After a bunch of people (including me) were reminiscing about the good ol’...
ONCE AGAIN, greetings and salutations. Hard to believe — tomorrow is April 1 and the opening of baseball season. The Geator’s prediction? The Phillies are going all the way. Also going all the way are the tickets for our Kimmel Center show May 8, Mother’s Day. I guess because everybody wants to give the gift of love to their moms, they’re giving that along with the gift of music. Hope to see you there. Now let’s ask the Geator. I read here in the Weekly that Kenny Vance and Jay Black are on the bill at your next show at the Kimmel Center. Will you have them perform together like they did when they were with Jay & the Americans? — Gil D. Absolutely....
The technological gadgets of today simply weren’t around when Vance was a young Jewish kid from Brooklyn, a music lover who would become a founding member of Jay & The Americans in the early 1960s. It was an era in music when things like pop charts, 45s and live radio DJs were still relevant and made a huge impact on mainstream culture.
Article:
Danielle Gomes on Her New Book 'Hit Me!'
Article:
Forsythe Refuge to Host Grand Reopening of Wildlife Drive
Article:
Shore Birds
Article:
Chelsea to Host Third Annual Big Teplitzky Challenge
Article:
Meeting Atlantic City's Democratic Mayoral Candidates
Article:
Interview with KOOL 98.3's Mary Walter
Article:
Different Crickets
1. Brenda Savage said... on May 21, 2011 at 07:38PM
“Was Donnie Elbert, the name of the artist with the falsetto voice, who sang "Have I sinned" in the late 50's ? I have looked on everywhere and everything, trying to locate that particular song. I used to listen to that song on WHAT and on WDAS, and while watching my sister and her boyfriend slow dance to that record also they did the Strand, Everybody my age and younger seems to have forgotten that dance, if they ever knew it, another dance my sister taught me, bop, cha-cha, mambo. I learned those but it seems, they do a whole different thing and call it the bop, than the one I learned in South Philly, when I was a child, hanging out with my sister who is gone. Help me rekindle that memory and tell me when your radio show is on air, I remember listening to you, Lloyd Fatman, Sonny Hopson, of course Georgie Woods, Kae Williams, Lord Fauntleroy, I forgot the other popular DJ, JOCKO" wow those were the really good old days, then I fell in with jazz,and 95.6 and Friday's with Frank, Help.”
2. Keely said... on Jan 10, 2012 at 09:14PM
“Geator's schedule is at geator.net
He's on the air Mon-Fri on wvlt.com 5-7 pm and kool983.com 7-9 pm
Also Saturdays 6-7 pm on xpn.org
”