Teddy, Teddy, Teddy

In the land of rhythm & blues, if Smokey Robinson was the master of romance, Marvin Gaye the king of eroticism and Barry White the maestro of sensuality then Teddy Pendergrass was the sultan of straight-up, sweaty, satin-sheet sex. (This is the man who over the course of a triptych of sensational sultry slow jams - "Come Go With Me," "Close The Door" and "Turn Out The Lights") proposed breaking out the candles, some boiling oils and, if that wasn't enough, promised to reach into his bag of tricks and pull out 'a little bit more.' He also asked his prospective partner at the end of "Close" to let him 'do do do do.' Insert easy joke here.) As terrific as those tunes were, they only give a hint of Pendergrass' greatness and influence. (About the latter, all I can say is when Teddy decided to sport a cowboy hat and shearing jacket on the rear cover of his 1978 LP "Life Is A Song Worth Singing," a week after it came out I spotted brothers of all shapes, sizes and shades wearing western garb all over El Barrio and Harlem.) As a singer, Pendergrass was simply superb. His authoritative, supple baritone first came to prominence in the early Seventies as the lead singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes on Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International. (Got all that? Good because there's gonna be a test later.) In Pendergrass, songwriters/producers Gamble & Huff found - with the possible exception of the O'Jays' Eddie Levert - the perfect voice for their compositions. And what songs they were! From uptempo jams like "The Love I Lost," "Don't Leave Me This Way," and - best of all - "Bad Luck" to ballads like "If You Don't Know Me By Now" to message music like "Wake Up Everybody," Pendergrass' powerful voice and percussive phrasing - he was a former drummer - transformed these tunes into classics. In 1977, after leaving Melvin and the Blue Notes allegedly due to dissension and jealousy within the group, he found instant solo success with a terrific eponymous LP featuring "I Don't Love You Anymore" and "The More I Get, The More I Want." (The rumored rift between Melvin, the nominal leader of the group, and Pendergrass, the true voice of the Blue Notes brought an added edge to the three-way duets between them and Sharon Paige: "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon" and "You Know How To Make Me Feel So Good.") By that time, he'd been transformed into a bonafide sex symbol replete with special concerts designated 'for ladies only.' (Just listen to his live double CD "Teddy Live Coast-to-Coast" to hear the unbridled passion and unleashed excitement of these shows. Talk about aural sex.) But the hoopla served to obscure Pendergrass' brilliance. He was a great singer and songs like "Is It Still Good To Ya," "Love T.K.O.," "It's Time For Love", and especially "My Latest, Greatest Inspiration" with his falsetto coda proved it. (Not to forget to mention two excellent duets with the diminutive Stephanie Mills: "Two Hearts" and "Feel The Fire" which featured Mills' unforgettable moan of 'Teddy. Teddy, Teddy.') Then, tragically, in 1982, Pendergrass was paralyzed in an auto accident. After a lengthy recuperation period, he left Gamble & Huff for Elektra Records. There he made some fine LPs and although he lacked the booming power of his halcyon days, he still had enough sex appeal left in the vocal tank to show them youngsters how to do it. (That alone was reason enough to be chosen by director Alan Rudolph as the musical voice of seduction on his great film "Choose Me.")Then musical tastes changed and Pendergrass slowly faded out of the picture. (It's one of the continuing shames of America that far too many times an artist of color must to die before his/her professional output is even partially appreciated or taken seriously.) Let us then use his passing to celebrate his brilliance. Plan an intimate rendezvous with a special someone, break out the bubbly, light the incense and the scented candles, lay out the rose petals and the oils, dim the lights and put the man they called Teddy Bear on the stereo and let nature take its course. (In other words, do do do do.) It's a just tribute to a terrific - and terrifically underrated - artist.