{"id":2947,"date":"2019-02-18T10:56:58","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T10:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thisisbanter.com\/?p=2947"},"modified":"2019-10-11T14:51:01","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T14:51:01","slug":"teddy-pendergrass-if-you-dont-know-me-208-april-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banter.test\/teddy-pendergrass-if-you-dont-know-me-208-april-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don’t Know Me (207, April 2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Teddy Pendergrass<\/a> was one of the giants of soul and r’n’b. After starting out as a drummer, he initially found success as the lead singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Their hits like \u201cDon\u2019t Leave Me This Way\u201d and \u201cIf You Don\u2019t Know Me by Now\u201d showcasing how that strong, emotional baritone of his was the icing on the cake when it came to the outfit’s slow jams.<\/p>\n

After becoming frustrated in the band, he hit the solo route. Many of his hits were written by the songwriting and production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, with the\u00a0Philadelphia International duo providing a smashing backdrop of\u00a0lush strings and big-band disco for that voice.<\/p>\n

On the verge of true superstardom, Pendergrass was left paralysed from the waist down after crashing his Rolls-Royce in Philadelphia in 1982. A year later, he was back singing and onstage again. He worked with people like Whitney Houston and Nile Rodgers and played the Live Aid concert in 1985. He died in 2010 at the age of 59 from colon cancer.<\/p>\n