Post by Rob Durkee on Jan 14, 2010 18:55:27 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
He woke up everybody with a song for the ages about the need for the world to change. Plus, he had solo hits like “Love T.K.O.”, sang lead for Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes on classics like “Wake Up Everybody,” “The Love I Lost” and “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and helped usher in the singing career of one of the 80’s top solo women.
Teddy Pendergrass did it all in spite of being paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a 1982 auto accident. He died of complications of colon cancer Wednesday in suburban Philadelphia. He was 59….and still working hard right up to his passing. CBS News reported that he was working on a movie and a greatest hits package.
Pendergrass never let his auto accident injuries get him down. Kenny Gamble, his long-time friend and half of the production duo of Gamble and (Leon) Huff, told Associated Press writers Patrick Walters and Bob Lentz, "He never showed me that he was angry at all about his accident. In fact, he was very courageous. He'd had about 10 platinum albums in a row, so he was a very, very successful recording artist. He had a tremendous career ahead of him, and the accident sort of got in the way of many of those plans."
Teddy Pendergrass II, the singer's son, said his dad underwent colon cancer surgery about eight months ago. "He had a difficult recovery," the younger Pendergrass said, "To all his fans who loved his music, thank you. He will live on through his music."
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes first broke through in 1972 with "I Miss You (Part I)" but the song barely made the Cash Box Top 40 at #40. The major breakthrough for Pendergrass’ voice was with “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” in late 1972. That hit peaked at #2 on the Cash Box pop singles chart. That's the same position reached by Simply Red with its remake of the song in 1989.
“Love T.K.O.” was a R&B solo hit for Teddy in 1980. Four years later in 1984, he’d have an R&B and pop hit with “Hold Me.” It was a duet with a then-unknown aspiring singer named Whitney Houston. His only Top 40 solo pop hit was "Close The Door," which reached #19 in 1978. In all, Teddy Pendergrass had over 50 R&B charted hits.
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes had four other top 40 pop hits: "The Love I Lost (Part I)", a #9 hit in 1973; "Bad Luck (Part I)", a #13 song in 1975; "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon" (#31, 1975); and this writer's favorite Pendergrass song, "Wake Up Everybody (Part I)." The “na na na” part is classic and so are the lyrics for a song pleading for the world to change. The lyrics follow.
Wake Up Everybody
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
(Written by: Victor Castarphen/Gene McFadden/John Whitehead…the latter two a/k/a McFadden and Whitehead)
Wake up everybody no more sleepin in bed
No more backward thinkin time for thinkin ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be so
there is so much hatred war an' poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
when you teach the children teach em the very best you can.
Chorus
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me.
Wake up all the doctors make the ol' people well
They're the ones who suffer an' who catch all the hell
But they don't have so very long before the Judgement Day
So won'tcha make them happy before they pass away.
Wake up all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out they do it every time.
Repeat Chorus.
He woke up everybody with a song for the ages about the need for the world to change. Plus, he had solo hits like “Love T.K.O.”, sang lead for Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes on classics like “Wake Up Everybody,” “The Love I Lost” and “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and helped usher in the singing career of one of the 80’s top solo women.
Teddy Pendergrass did it all in spite of being paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a 1982 auto accident. He died of complications of colon cancer Wednesday in suburban Philadelphia. He was 59….and still working hard right up to his passing. CBS News reported that he was working on a movie and a greatest hits package.
Pendergrass never let his auto accident injuries get him down. Kenny Gamble, his long-time friend and half of the production duo of Gamble and (Leon) Huff, told Associated Press writers Patrick Walters and Bob Lentz, "He never showed me that he was angry at all about his accident. In fact, he was very courageous. He'd had about 10 platinum albums in a row, so he was a very, very successful recording artist. He had a tremendous career ahead of him, and the accident sort of got in the way of many of those plans."
Teddy Pendergrass II, the singer's son, said his dad underwent colon cancer surgery about eight months ago. "He had a difficult recovery," the younger Pendergrass said, "To all his fans who loved his music, thank you. He will live on through his music."
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes first broke through in 1972 with "I Miss You (Part I)" but the song barely made the Cash Box Top 40 at #40. The major breakthrough for Pendergrass’ voice was with “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” in late 1972. That hit peaked at #2 on the Cash Box pop singles chart. That's the same position reached by Simply Red with its remake of the song in 1989.
“Love T.K.O.” was a R&B solo hit for Teddy in 1980. Four years later in 1984, he’d have an R&B and pop hit with “Hold Me.” It was a duet with a then-unknown aspiring singer named Whitney Houston. His only Top 40 solo pop hit was "Close The Door," which reached #19 in 1978. In all, Teddy Pendergrass had over 50 R&B charted hits.
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes had four other top 40 pop hits: "The Love I Lost (Part I)", a #9 hit in 1973; "Bad Luck (Part I)", a #13 song in 1975; "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon" (#31, 1975); and this writer's favorite Pendergrass song, "Wake Up Everybody (Part I)." The “na na na” part is classic and so are the lyrics for a song pleading for the world to change. The lyrics follow.
Wake Up Everybody
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
(Written by: Victor Castarphen/Gene McFadden/John Whitehead…the latter two a/k/a McFadden and Whitehead)
Wake up everybody no more sleepin in bed
No more backward thinkin time for thinkin ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be so
there is so much hatred war an' poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
when you teach the children teach em the very best you can.
Chorus
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me.
Wake up all the doctors make the ol' people well
They're the ones who suffer an' who catch all the hell
But they don't have so very long before the Judgement Day
So won'tcha make them happy before they pass away.
Wake up all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out they do it every time.
Repeat Chorus.
