Wake Up

In the mid-seventies, the radio stations of the Black population are more than mere entertainment channels; they are the voice of a community that continues to be confronted with hostility and exclusion. Added to this is the immediate trauma of Vietnam.

The diversity of the music and its deliberate orientation toward the needs of the Black community make Black Radio a powerful instrument of social change. Philadelphia International Records shapes the soul of that era; the label has, among others, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes under contract. Their singer Teddy Pendergrass impresses with his voice and his charisma. „Wake Up Everybody“ appears in November 1975 and is the title song of the album of the same name.

Teddy Pendergrass‘ path into music is set out early: his mother performs as a singer in nightclubs, and he himself devotes himself to gospel as a child, singing with dedication in the church choirs of Philadelphia. In 1969 Harold Melvin brings him to the Blue Notes as a drummer, and shortly afterward makes him the band’s lead singer.

The songwriters recognize Pendergrass‘ radiance and tailor the hits to fit him. He interprets the songs like no other and thrills millions with his baritone. The media speak of the „Black Elvis“.

With Teddy Pendergrass as frontman, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes experience their most successful period. In 1976, however, Pendergrass leaves the band over financial disputes. He begins a solo career that proves equally successful.

Yet this man, who with his music gives so many people strength in a time of hardship and encourages them to rise up, experiences much darkness away from the stage.

Teddy Pendergrass is still half a child when his father is murdered. In 1977, at the height of his fame, Pendergrass‘ partner and manager is shot dead in front of her house. The trail leads to the Black Mafia. Then there are the drugs, the alcohol, his addiction to sex, and the constant conflicts with the police.

But fate strikes even harder. In March 1982, Pendergrass is driving his Rolls-Royce northwest of Philadelphia when the brakes fail. The car leaves the road and slams into two trees. From that day on Teddy Pendergrass is paralyzed and spends the rest of his life in a wheelchair. There are rumors that the brakes of his Rolls-Royce had been tampered with.

Yet Teddy Pendergrass does not resign himself. In an interview he says:

You can give up and quit, or you can carry on. I decided to carry on.

Only two years after the accident he releases a new album, and in 1985 he returns to the stage at the Live Aid concert in his hometown of Philadelphia, alongside Ashford & Simpson. It is an emotional, moving comeback before 100,000 spectators in John F. Kennedy Stadium and over a billion in front of their screens.

Pendergrass records further albums after that, before withdrawing from the music business in 2007. His body can take no more. Two years later the doctors diagnose colon cancer. Numerous hospital stays follow, and in the end his respiratory organs fail.

Teddy Pendergrass dies on January 13, 2010, at the age of 59.

„Wake Up Everybody“ – often covered, never equaled – has lost none of its relevance. On the contrary: so much is amiss. The world won’t get no better if we just let it be. Even today people must be shaken awake so that they recognize and understand. That requires art – and artists like Teddy Pendergrass once was.