RIP Teddy Pendergrass

And the quiet storm gets a little quieter.

 

My family was huge Teddy fans, including me. Loved him. My two all-time faves is "You're My Latest, Greatest Inspiration" and "Heaven Only Knows." I would run around the damn house on a spring Saturday afternoon as my old man would turn on his record player, connected to an amplifier that fed the wire to the speakers in the basement, put the needle on the record, and Teddy would blow thru the house like it was a live concert.

When he was with HM and the Blue Notes, the extended version of "I Miss You" is pure gold and "Bad Luck" should be an anthem for anyone who's having bad luck and couldn't seem to shake it.

As my dad would say about Teddy Pendergrass: "Teddy is a bad motherfucker."

I never second-guessed him.

 

CBS Sports, IIRC, went from Barrett to Vandross, then Teddy, then back to Vandross the year he died.
Let's go back to Teddy - his version was the best.
Or give, say, John Legend a crack at it.

 

Man, he scared the bitches into liking him.

Another great person behind the sound of Philadelphia is silenced. RIP.

 

At least we've still got Billy Paul.

 

There are still many outstanding performers with PI roots still kicking it. From Patti LaBelle to Hall and Oates (yes, they used do background work there and little known fact was that Darryl Hall used to be a Journalism major at Temple University).
Teddy actually became the lead singer when Gamble and Huff couldn't get the Dells baritone lead singer Marvin Junior to leve the group. If you listen to the keys, Pendergrass sings in the same range.
Another great Teddy Pendergrass tune with the Blue Notes is "Where are all my friends" a song many can relate to.
As a solo artist, I've always been partial to "Cold,Cold World," the lyrics and melody is outstanding. Guys, check out "Come on over to my place." If you can't catch any woman, 8-to-80, blind crippled or crazy by uttering those lyrics over drinks, then you need to turn in your man card at once.

 

RIP. I heard "Bad Luck" by the Blue Notes on the XM a couple of days ago...In the current financial straits most people are in, the song still has resonance.

 

So, so true.