By shelz.
Teddy Pendergrass’ rough, rugged and raw voice was forged in the fires his trying childhood, youthful life in the church, the mean Philadelphia streets, and years of struggle. Teddy had such a gravely, coarse delivery, and when he let it loose, it roared over all the backing instrumentation. It demanded attention from everyone in earshot and it made women lose every bit of that ladylike behavior it took their mothers decades to instill. His career ending car accident removed him from the stage but never from the pantheon of soul crooners who could move you to unexpected emotions with the flip of a musical phrase. Pendergrass’ spot in that clique can never be challenged, not even in his departure from this plane of existence.
On January 13, 2010, music lost Pendergrass to complications that arose from a recent surgery for colon cancer. Yes, it has been years since Pendergrass released anything new, but station surfing only to uncover a classic Teddy gem, releasing the scan button and settling into his gruff voiced demands is something we’ve all done.
Teddy Pendergrass was the uncommon full package. Tall, dark, and handsome, he probably would have caught a soft spot in the ladies hearts even if he didn’t have that voice. But he did. He had that powerful voice that when mixed with bedroom bully aggression could turn the ultimate feminist into a purring yes woman. Hotel room keys, phone numbers and under garments littered the stage after a TP concert. He would toss that signature smile at the crowd, step over the heaps of belongings and keep it moving. It was just another day at the office.
Leon Huff, Co-Founder of Philadelphia International told the good folks at the Philadelphia Enquirer:
“I remember we went out to attend his first solo performance in California, we were sitting in the audience at the Roxy, and it was the first time Teddy performed live as a solo artist. That night I saw the coming of a superstar. When Teddy walked out on the stage, he didn’t even open his mouth and the place went crazy with screaming females. He was just so dynamic, and when he started singing, he just blew them away.”
The sound TP created has infiltrated the styles of many of today’s popular male artists. There were plenty of pillow talk practitioners before him, but Teddy was the king. The music from his solo career as well as the hits he created with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes have been sampled, covered, and smothered by other bands, singers, film score and commercial producers creating some of the more memorable moments in pop culture. Remember Michael Wright’s a capella version of Love TKO from Sugar Hill?
Hip-Hop has also paid homage to Pendergrass over the years from T-Pain interpolating his name with amusing results to Little Brother, Cam’Ron, Ghostface, 9th Wonder, DMX and Green Lantern diving into his catalogue and resurfacing with some brilliant samples.
He had a hand in introducing the world to a young musical ingénue by the name of Whitney Houston with the 1984 single “Hold You.” “Wake Up Everybody” has been covered by a diverse range of acts from the British soul band, Simply Red to Patti Labelle and was even picked as a rallying cry during the 2004 Presidential campaign by Babyface Edmunds to get folks to the poles. Even when Teddy’s music had settled comfortably into pop culture archives, he was still making noise on the forefront.
Teddy will be missed, not only by his inner circle, but by all of the people he influenced and all the fans that couldn’t get enough. His memory will of course live on through his work, but it’s still a sad day for music whenever you have to say goodbye to one of the greats. And Teddy Pendergrass was truly one of soul music’s greats.
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Teddy will be missed, I still love his music.