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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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KDR 96.6.
It's busy on the streets

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as you make your way home
to your loved ones

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but let me get you in the moody
smooth with Philadelphia's own,

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Mr. Teddy Pendergrass.

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♪ Close the door ♪

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♪ Let me give you
what you've been waiting for ♪

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♪ Baby,
I got so much love to give ♪

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♪ And I wanna
give it all to you ♪

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♪ Do-do-do do-do ♪

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♪ Close the door ♪

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♪ No need to worry no more ♪

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♪ Let's bring this day
to a pleasant end ♪

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♪ Girl, it's me and you now ♪

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♪ I've waited all day long ♪

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♪ Just to hold you gently
in my loving arms ♪

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♪ And it's exactly
like I thought it would be ♪

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♪ Me loving you
and you loving me ♪

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♪ Loving me ♪

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♪ Love ♪

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♪ Close the door, baby... ♪

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♪ If you don't know me by now ♪

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♪ You will
never, never, never know me ♪

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♪ Ooh-ooh-ooh ♪

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♪ All the things
that we've been through ♪

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♪ You should understand me ♪

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♪ Like I understand you ♪

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♪ Now, baby,
I know the difference ♪

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♪ Between right and wrong ♪

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♪ I ain't gonna do nothing ♪

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♪ To upset our happy home ♪

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♪ Oh ♪

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♪ Oh, don't get so excited ♪

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♪ When I come home
a little late at night ♪

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♪ 'Cause we only act
like children ♪

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♪ When we argue,
fuss and fight ♪

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♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

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You were talking
about Philadelphia, where you
came from.

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Oh, my God. Filthydelphia,
that's we call it.

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But I love it.

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When you go back now
as superstars in your world.

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I'm serious. Anybody that has
as many hit records as you have.

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How are the cats on the corner,
the neighborhood?

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Now that's a trip.

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There's different cats now
in the neighborhood.

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When I was growing up,
I used to run the neighborhood.

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I was the biggest jitterbug.

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Now you got guys just 16, 17.
They don't care about me.

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You know, I say, "I used to run
this neighborhood."

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- They say, "You used  to."

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I cannot move my mother
out of the ghetto.

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I try and I say,
"Mamma, move." "No. Mm-mm."

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I became pregnant,
and I lost it

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and then again
and again and again.

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And every time I became
pregnant, I would lose it.

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Until I become
pregnant with Teddy.

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He was the seventh
but he was the first birth.

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My husband walked away.

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And I was left
to raise a son all by myself.

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What I'd like to do is
start from the very beginning

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and just kind of talk
from childhood,

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just kinda go through
my life, you know.

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The Mighty Mother Fuckers.

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And these guys were terrorists.
If they couldn't get you,

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they would come to your house
and get your family.

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It was a tough neighborhood.

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You either had to be
predator or prey.

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It was tough going to schools.

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It was just tough
trying to be...

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on the right side of things.

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♪ Do you wanna party,
do you wanna dance? ♪

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Teddy had the bottom mouth,

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talked a lot of trash.

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He said,
"I'm gonna be famous one day

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and I'm gonna hire you
as my bodyguard."

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I looked at him.
"Get away from me! Shut up!

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Been watching too many movies!"

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♪ Feel like a bird in the air ♪

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♪ Come on, get up ♪

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♪ Get up, get down,
get funky, get loose ♪

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Teddy Pendergrass,

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one of the most popular singers
in all of pop music.

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He doesn't like labels like
soul or RandB or rock 'n' roll

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but the one label that's
undeniable is that of superstar.

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Thank you. Thank you.

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You were ordained
at the age of ten.

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- Yes.
- Are you still a minister?

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Uh, in some ways,
I am still spreading the word.

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♪ Come by here ♪

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♪ O Lord ♪

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♪ Come by here ♪

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In church, in black
churches,

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the major thing
is being able to stand up

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in front of a group of people
and move them.

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I mean, so much so
until they feel the spirit,

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as the spirit is
to whatever your belief is.

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And that training,
and that experience,

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I accredit it
to what I'm doing today.

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♪ It was nothing but the blood ♪

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♪ Of Jesus ♪

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- ♪ Hallelujah! ♪

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First time they called
that little baby boy to sing,

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we were sitting on our pew.

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I got up and stood him
on a chair

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because he was so little.

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Everybody could see him
and he started singing

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"If I Could Write
A Letter To Heaven."

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00:08:06,149 --> 00:08:08,314
And he couldn't hear my voice.

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He stopped, and looked up at me
and he said,

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"Sing, Mother, sing,"
and then he kept on singing.

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When he finished, the applause.

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You have no idea how I felt.

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The joy, to see my baby.

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Ooh!

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The New Testament says repent.

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It is time
for America to repent now.

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The promises
of the great society

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have been shot down
on the battlefields of Vietnam.

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We were taking
the black young men

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who had been crippled
by society.

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Sending them 8,000 miles away,

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to guarantee liberties
in Southeast Asia

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which they had not found

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in Southwest Georgia
and East Harlem.

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♪ My heart is crying, crying ♪

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♪ The lonely teardrops ♪

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♪ My pillow's never dry
of lonely teardrops ♪

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♪ Just give me another chance ♪

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Jackie Wilson had such
a command of the audience

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and get people to do things,

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women throwing underwear up
on stage and those type things.

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And that fascinated him.

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Years later,
he's getting the same thing.

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I mean, people would throw all
types of things on the stage.

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♪ Say that you... ♪

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We used to just sneak
inside the Uptown Theater

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00:10:58,976 --> 00:10:59,975
and we'd just watch everybody.

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- ♪ Shoo doo, shoo doo-wop ♪
- Teddy and me,

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and we started out
singing on a corner.

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00:11:05,387 --> 00:11:07,592
We were doing
high school together

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and that's when we got put out.

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They moved us out of school

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'cause we was cutting class
and singing and drinking wine

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and our parents
didn't know that.

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The most important thing

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about any particular city
that has music talent,

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it really
just boils down to community.

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Philadelphia
is one of those towns

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in which people stick together,

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so a lot of song writers,
a lot of musicians,

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um, kinda work with each other
and network with each other,

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and collaborate with each other.

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That's what makes
Philadelphia special.

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00:12:07,491 --> 00:12:09,738
This gentleman is Kenny Gamble.

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00:12:09,821 --> 00:12:12,153
Over here is Leon Huff

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and the gentleman in the middle
is Joe Tarsier.

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This is perhaps the happiest
triumvirate you'll ever meet.

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The recordings these guys
have made together

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are played on every radio
and television station

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in the world.

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That famous Philadelphia sound

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could not have reached the
level of prominence it enjoys

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without the mighty Blue Notes.

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00:12:35,379 --> 00:12:37,752
Harold Melvin was a genius.

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00:12:37,835 --> 00:12:42,040
He probably could take me and
Huff, make us the Blue Notes.

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Yeah, yeah.

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♪ If you don't know me by now ♪

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Harold Melvin
was the person who found Teddy.

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Huff called me up and said,
"Man, you gotta hear this guy."

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Teddy's voice rang out
over all the background.

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It just stuck out.

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Tried him on a song,
"I Miss You." And um...

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00:13:02,186 --> 00:13:06,099
I said, "Gamble, this guy,
he sounds great," you know.

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00:13:06,182 --> 00:13:10,802
I was really high on him.
Really excited about him.

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"I Miss You",
that was our first record

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00:13:13,674 --> 00:13:17,712
and we got in the studio
and started like doing...

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You know.
"That's it! That's it!"

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♪ Ooh ♪

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00:13:32,655 --> 00:13:34,820
♪ Ooh, ooh ♪

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00:13:34,903 --> 00:13:36,111
♪ Oh, oh ♪

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00:13:36,194 --> 00:13:40,939
- ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
- ♪ Oh ♪

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♪ I miss you, baby ♪

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Not only was he good-looking
but he had a presence

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00:13:49,514 --> 00:13:54,009
and uh... and uh...
he had a special voice.

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♪ Ah ♪

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♪ 'Cause ever since
the day you left ♪

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00:14:00,170 --> 00:14:03,500
♪ I don't know
what to do with myself ♪

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00:14:03,624 --> 00:14:05,997
♪ Oh, I wish for your return ♪

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00:14:06,039 --> 00:14:09,868
- ♪ And, oh, how I yearn ♪
- ♪ How I yearn ♪

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00:14:09,993 --> 00:14:13,490
- ♪ 'Cause I ♪
- ♪ Oh, I ♪

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00:14:13,573 --> 00:14:14,863
♪ Oh, I ♪

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00:14:14,947 --> 00:14:16,819
That was our first tune.

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00:14:16,903 --> 00:14:19,026
He came out with,
"Ladies and gentlemen,

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00:14:19,109 --> 00:14:21,981
'I Miss You' from Harold Melvin
and the Blue Notes,"

196
00:14:22,065 --> 00:14:25,644
and everybody was like,
"What the hell is going on?"

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00:14:25,727 --> 00:14:27,143
It's the Blue Notes.

198
00:14:27,226 --> 00:14:30,972
But Harold,
he put his name on the front,

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00:14:31,056 --> 00:14:32,678
without us knowing it.

200
00:14:32,762 --> 00:14:34,178
With guest stars

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00:14:34,260 --> 00:14:36,674
Harold Melvin
and the Blue Notes.

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00:14:36,758 --> 00:14:40,504
Harold told Gamble and Huff
it was all right with the guys.

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00:14:40,588 --> 00:14:43,335
You know, he lied to Gamble.

204
00:14:43,418 --> 00:14:46,166
Harold wanted to have
his identity a bit more

205
00:14:46,248 --> 00:14:47,997
because Teddy
was so dominating

206
00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,577
that people thought that he was
the leader of the group

207
00:14:51,659 --> 00:14:54,781
and Harold
was the leader of the group.

208
00:14:54,865 --> 00:14:57,820
We said let's rename it Harold
Melvin and the Blue Notes.

209
00:14:57,904 --> 00:15:01,192
But at that particular time

210
00:15:01,275 --> 00:15:02,940
we were so happy
to be out there,

211
00:15:03,024 --> 00:15:05,147
we didn't know
later on down the line

212
00:15:05,229 --> 00:15:07,727
it was gonna bite us
in the butt.

213
00:15:07,810 --> 00:15:10,308
I was on the radio
in Washington DC

214
00:15:10,391 --> 00:15:13,014
when I first heard Teddy
and played his music.

215
00:15:13,097 --> 00:15:16,926
Many people thought those vocals
belonged to Harold

216
00:15:17,010 --> 00:15:18,341
when they in fact were Teddy.

217
00:15:18,425 --> 00:15:22,588
Harold did sing some leads but
the big hits belonged to Teddy,

218
00:15:22,670 --> 00:15:25,876
so I didn't know
if Teddy was Harold Melvin

219
00:15:25,959 --> 00:15:28,040
or Harold Melvin was Teddy.

220
00:15:28,124 --> 00:15:30,745
I just thought
that Harold Melvin

221
00:15:30,829 --> 00:15:33,243
was the lead of this band.

222
00:15:33,326 --> 00:15:37,197
I couldn't piece together
that it wasn't Harold Melvin

223
00:15:37,281 --> 00:15:41,152
singing those songs,
that it was Teddy Pendergrass.

224
00:15:49,061 --> 00:15:53,681
Harold's success came from
the mouth of Teddy Pendergrass.

225
00:15:53,764 --> 00:15:57,386
We got hits
after hits after hits.

226
00:15:57,469 --> 00:15:59,342
You know, and to this day,

227
00:15:59,425 --> 00:16:01,756
there ain't too many groups
can mess with us.

228
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:03,588
Gamble was
the lyric writer, basically,

229
00:16:03,671 --> 00:16:06,793
and I played the keyboard,

230
00:16:06,876 --> 00:16:10,164
and we'll be at Gamble's office
where that upright was.

231
00:16:10,248 --> 00:16:13,953
You know, two guys in a little
room, and recording,

232
00:16:13,994 --> 00:16:15,576
and then the whole world
is singing your song.

233
00:16:15,659 --> 00:16:18,948
♪ Don't leave me this way ♪

234
00:16:21,736 --> 00:16:25,566
♪ I can't survive,
can't stay alive ♪

235
00:16:25,649 --> 00:16:27,980
♪ Without your love ♪

236
00:16:28,064 --> 00:16:31,185
It was like lightning struck.

237
00:16:31,268 --> 00:16:35,223
The studio was running seven
days a week, 20 hours a day.

238
00:16:35,306 --> 00:16:37,304
Very hard on a marriage.

239
00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:42,673
I came home one night and my
clothes were on the front lawn.
But that's another story.

240
00:16:42,757 --> 00:16:47,003
♪ Don't leave me this way ♪

241
00:16:47,086 --> 00:16:49,043
♪ No ♪

242
00:16:49,125 --> 00:16:53,371
♪ Don't leave me this way,
hey ♪

243
00:16:53,455 --> 00:16:55,660
Teddy had a certain clarity

244
00:16:55,744 --> 00:16:58,450
and a certain
I would say roughness

245
00:16:58,533 --> 00:17:01,238
but growl that was attractive.

246
00:17:01,322 --> 00:17:04,360
You gotta give a voice
like this. Raw meat.

247
00:17:04,444 --> 00:17:06,317
♪ Aaah ♪

248
00:17:06,442 --> 00:17:08,939
♪ Baby ♪

249
00:17:09,023 --> 00:17:12,643
♪ My heart is full
of love and desire for you ♪

250
00:17:12,727 --> 00:17:13,768
Teddy made a difference.

251
00:17:13,851 --> 00:17:17,847
You know, he was a challenge
for Huff and myself.

252
00:17:17,930 --> 00:17:20,844
- Yeah.
- We loved that, you know.

253
00:17:20,927 --> 00:17:24,382
Songs like "The Love I Lost,"
you know.

254
00:17:45,902 --> 00:17:50,273
♪ The love I lost ♪

255
00:17:50,356 --> 00:17:53,228
- ♪ Was a sweet love ♪

256
00:17:53,311 --> 00:17:56,850
♪ The love I lost ♪

257
00:17:57,849 --> 00:18:01,262
♪ Was complete love ♪

258
00:18:01,345 --> 00:18:05,591
♪ The love I lost ♪

259
00:18:05,674 --> 00:18:08,505
♪ I will never, no, no, never ♪

260
00:18:08,588 --> 00:18:12,750
♪ Love again ♪

261
00:18:12,834 --> 00:18:16,205
♪ I can remember planning ♪

262
00:18:17,454 --> 00:18:19,910
♪ Building my whole world
around you ♪

263
00:18:20,617 --> 00:18:24,030
♪ I can remember hoping ♪

264
00:18:24,114 --> 00:18:27,985
♪ That you and I
could make it on through ♪

265
00:18:29,858 --> 00:18:32,314
♪ But something went wrong ♪

266
00:18:33,688 --> 00:18:37,476
♪ We loved each other,
we just couldn't get along ♪

267
00:18:37,559 --> 00:18:40,515
♪ Take a good look at me ♪

268
00:18:40,598 --> 00:18:43,844
♪ I'm in misery,
can't you see? ♪

269
00:18:43,969 --> 00:18:44,635
♪ The love I lost ♪

270
00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,131
♪ The love, the love I lost ♪

271
00:18:48,215 --> 00:18:49,922
♪ Was a sweet love ♪

272
00:18:50,004 --> 00:18:50,588
♪ Yes, it was ♪

273
00:18:50,671 --> 00:18:54,459
♪ The love I lost ♪

274
00:18:55,957 --> 00:18:58,413
♪ Was complete love ♪

275
00:18:58,497 --> 00:19:03,325
♪ The love I lost ♪

276
00:19:03,408 --> 00:19:04,199
♪ I will never ♪

277
00:19:04,282 --> 00:19:05,739
- ♪ Never
- ♪ No, no, never ♪

278
00:19:05,822 --> 00:19:10,859
- ♪ Never ♪
- ♪ Love again ♪

279
00:19:10,942 --> 00:19:15,687
♪ I can't remember nothing,
no, no, no ♪

280
00:19:15,771 --> 00:19:17,852
♪ But the good times
we used to share ♪

281
00:19:17,935 --> 00:19:21,057
Harold tried to
take the credit for everything.

282
00:19:21,140 --> 00:19:23,888
Teddy was really
making the money for the group.

283
00:19:23,970 --> 00:19:26,676
It was just Harold
just messing everything up.

284
00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:27,925
Being greedy.

285
00:19:43,118 --> 00:19:45,907
We were playing at
Total Experience in Los Angeles

286
00:19:45,990 --> 00:19:48,904
and, um, a royalty check
had come in

287
00:19:48,987 --> 00:19:51,068
and Harold had cashed it.

288
00:19:51,152 --> 00:19:55,023
Bernie, Teddy and Larry
were staying in motels,

289
00:19:55,106 --> 00:19:59,019
and Teddy walked
to the Beverly Wilshire,

290
00:19:59,102 --> 00:20:01,309
where Harold was staying
in a suite.

291
00:20:14,919 --> 00:20:16,377
And Harold said,
"I don't think I got it.

292
00:20:16,460 --> 00:20:18,833
I'm a little low on cash

293
00:20:18,915 --> 00:20:20,248
but I'll go upstairs
and check it out."

294
00:20:26,075 --> 00:20:29,988
And he saw these... looked like
thousands of dollars.

295
00:20:30,071 --> 00:20:35,024
He had a stack of money
on the bed, I mean stacks of

296
00:20:35,108 --> 00:20:37,896
what they have in the banks,
you know,

297
00:20:37,980 --> 00:20:39,645
with the little wraps on them.

298
00:20:39,728 --> 00:20:43,890
Harold gave him 200
and told him not to tell us.

299
00:20:58,626 --> 00:21:00,666
♪ Wake up, everybody ♪

300
00:21:00,749 --> 00:21:03,788
♪ No more sleeping in bed ♪

301
00:21:03,870 --> 00:21:05,036
I had to remind myself

302
00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:09,157
that that was a Harold Melvin
and the Blue Notes song.

303
00:21:09,241 --> 00:21:11,987
Because it's really
a Teddy song.

304
00:21:12,071 --> 00:21:14,486
♪ What it used to be ♪

305
00:21:14,569 --> 00:21:18,065
♪ There is so much hatred,
war and poverty ♪

306
00:21:18,148 --> 00:21:22,353
If it were Teddy
Pendergrass and the Blue Notes,

307
00:21:22,436 --> 00:21:24,142
that would've made a difference,

308
00:21:24,226 --> 00:21:26,889
but you can't
keep a good man down.

309
00:21:26,972 --> 00:21:30,261
♪ Wake up, everybody ♪

310
00:21:30,345 --> 00:21:33,258
We called it
"Break Up, Everybody."

311
00:21:33,342 --> 00:21:37,379
Because Teddy left Harold.

312
00:21:37,463 --> 00:21:39,752
The Blue Notes left Harold.

313
00:21:39,834 --> 00:21:41,459
And Teddy went on his own.

314
00:21:41,542 --> 00:21:42,624
The Blue Notes
went on their own.

315
00:21:42,707 --> 00:21:45,205
Harold started up another group.

316
00:21:45,288 --> 00:21:48,577
Teddy was
preparing to leave Harold

317
00:21:48,659 --> 00:21:51,032
and Harold had made
some serious threats

318
00:21:51,115 --> 00:21:55,611
about what would happen
to Teddy if he did so.

319
00:21:56,402 --> 00:21:58,358
His life! Threatening his life.

320
00:21:59,191 --> 00:22:00,813
Harold came to me and said

321
00:22:00,897 --> 00:22:04,269
that he wanted to stay
with the company

322
00:22:04,352 --> 00:22:06,100
but he didn't want Teddy
to be there.

323
00:22:06,184 --> 00:22:08,764
I said we can't do that.
Business is business.

324
00:22:08,847 --> 00:22:11,137
- Right.
- You know, and um...

325
00:22:11,220 --> 00:22:13,427
I think
we made a great decision.

326
00:22:13,510 --> 00:22:17,963
Harold was very
angry and didn't wish Teddy well

327
00:22:18,046 --> 00:22:22,042
when he went on his own, said
that he would fall on his face.

328
00:22:22,126 --> 00:22:26,912
But then once I heard
"I Don't Love You Anymore,"

329
00:22:26,996 --> 00:22:28,370
that's it, gone.

330
00:22:28,454 --> 00:22:32,199
♪ I don't love you anymore ♪

331
00:22:32,283 --> 00:22:34,489
♪ It's just that simple ♪

332
00:22:35,778 --> 00:22:38,900
♪ No, no, no, not like before ♪

333
00:22:38,984 --> 00:22:43,937
♪ Such a shame, dirty shame,
yeah ♪

334
00:22:44,020 --> 00:22:46,144
You quit singing for a while.
How come?

335
00:22:46,227 --> 00:22:50,722
Yes, um... we recorded
a record once and um...

336
00:22:50,805 --> 00:22:53,554
heard no more from the producer
or the record

337
00:22:53,636 --> 00:22:54,884
and we kinda just..

338
00:22:54,968 --> 00:22:57,258
- That happens, though.
- But I was a kid.

339
00:22:57,341 --> 00:22:58,880
Sixteen years old, it meant
a lot to me, you know.

340
00:22:58,964 --> 00:23:02,211
- I stopped singing and--
- Completely?

341
00:23:02,294 --> 00:23:03,502
Yeah, for a while.

342
00:23:03,585 --> 00:23:06,665
I said, "I'm gonna play drums
and beat my troubles away."

343
00:23:06,747 --> 00:23:08,829
You played drums
for other people?

344
00:23:08,912 --> 00:23:11,285
Yeah. I played drums for Harold
before I sang with him.

345
00:23:11,369 --> 00:23:15,614
Harold Melvin? I bet you don't
play drums for him after this.

346
00:23:15,656 --> 00:23:18,153
I'm gonna get him to play
drums for me. No!

347
00:23:19,403 --> 00:23:22,981
Oh, Harold, you got
a big one coming. That's funny.

348
00:23:23,065 --> 00:23:24,813
Who plays drums for you now?

349
00:23:24,896 --> 00:23:25,646
A gentleman named James Carter

350
00:23:25,728 --> 00:23:27,685
and I really
wouldn't want his job,

351
00:23:27,768 --> 00:23:32,014
because I am hard on him, yeah.

352
00:23:32,098 --> 00:23:35,595
I was 21 years old,
you know, at the time,

353
00:23:35,677 --> 00:23:39,673
and I probably was a little
tiny bit more handsome

354
00:23:39,756 --> 00:23:42,046
than I am now, not much more.

355
00:23:42,753 --> 00:23:45,626
When I met Teddy, he said,

356
00:23:45,708 --> 00:23:47,208
"Good, you're gonna
be all right.

357
00:23:47,291 --> 00:23:49,954
They say drummers with gaps
in their teeth can play."

358
00:24:06,687 --> 00:24:09,311
Taaz Lang was the manager.

359
00:24:09,394 --> 00:24:14,222
So one day I got a call saying
we need to put a band together.

360
00:24:14,306 --> 00:24:16,969
Teddy knew that I was
a band leader at the Uptown

361
00:24:17,053 --> 00:24:21,382
and Teddy asked me to take over
the band, and I did,

362
00:24:21,466 --> 00:24:23,629
and that's how it got started.

363
00:24:28,584 --> 00:24:33,329
♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪

364
00:24:34,494 --> 00:24:40,572
♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪

365
00:24:42,028 --> 00:24:45,400
I was walking along 52nd Street
trying to get a gig.

366
00:24:47,565 --> 00:24:50,520
- Trying to get...
- She will do anything.

367
00:24:50,602 --> 00:24:52,351
- She will sing.
- Yes.

368
00:24:52,435 --> 00:24:54,931
And he said, "Do you know me?"
And I said, "No."

369
00:24:55,015 --> 00:24:57,221
And he said, "I'm Teddy
Pendergrass, you know.

370
00:24:57,305 --> 00:24:59,303
I left Harold Melvin
and the Blue Notes

371
00:24:59,386 --> 00:25:03,382
and I'm gonna be big,"
and I was like, "Yeah. OK."

372
00:25:07,295 --> 00:25:10,999
In the audition he says,
"What's going on with you?"

373
00:25:11,082 --> 00:25:14,204
I said, "Those guys got the job,
they're great musicians."

374
00:25:14,288 --> 00:25:18,033
He says, "No." He said, "You
played what was on the paper.

375
00:25:18,117 --> 00:25:19,656
You can have the job."

376
00:25:24,111 --> 00:25:26,774
I remember just sitting
there and, I mean,

377
00:25:26,857 --> 00:25:27,982
I'm the white boy,
I'm the youngest,

378
00:25:28,065 --> 00:25:31,479
in a flannel shirt and jeans
and hiking boots.

379
00:25:31,562 --> 00:25:34,351
Everybody else is looking
Italian. I just really...

380
00:25:34,434 --> 00:25:38,222
We commune through the playing
because I kinda understood,

381
00:25:38,305 --> 00:25:39,803
you know, the music.

382
00:25:45,215 --> 00:25:47,380
One night
Teddy saw us performing

383
00:25:47,463 --> 00:25:50,460
and Taaz, his manager,
called the studio,

384
00:25:50,543 --> 00:25:52,706
and asked if we would dance
with him.

385
00:25:52,790 --> 00:25:55,038
We didn't know who he was.
"Who is he?"

386
00:25:55,121 --> 00:25:56,911
But what clicked for us
was they said,

387
00:25:56,994 --> 00:25:59,699
"Well, he's opening
at Carnegie Hall,"

388
00:25:59,783 --> 00:26:01,864
and we thought, "Carnegie Hall?

389
00:26:01,948 --> 00:26:05,652
Yes, we'll dance,
and we can go to Carnegie Hall."

390
00:26:07,983 --> 00:26:12,438
♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪

391
00:26:39,036 --> 00:26:42,366
Taaz Lang, she said,
"Hey, you need to stay here,

392
00:26:42,450 --> 00:26:45,488
it's gonna be good."

393
00:26:47,111 --> 00:26:50,524
Ted loved Taaz.

394
00:26:50,607 --> 00:26:55,519
He always made it very clear
how important that she was.

395
00:26:55,602 --> 00:26:59,308
One of the most important
relationships in his life

396
00:26:59,391 --> 00:27:01,472
is how he had put it to me.

397
00:27:03,802 --> 00:27:05,800
I knew Taaz pretty good.

398
00:27:05,884 --> 00:27:07,507
She had a beauty shop, like,

399
00:27:07,591 --> 00:27:10,255
talkative,
make-it-happen kinda lady,

400
00:27:10,338 --> 00:27:11,337
you know what I mean?

401
00:27:11,421 --> 00:27:13,834
Is that
a shop we rehearsed at?

402
00:27:13,917 --> 00:27:15,874
It was a show we rehearsed in,
yeah.

403
00:27:15,957 --> 00:27:17,830
She was a good girl
but she was firm.

404
00:27:17,913 --> 00:27:21,119
- She was very firm.
- Oh, extremely.

405
00:27:44,803 --> 00:27:47,675
We had left by bus

406
00:27:47,758 --> 00:27:50,132
so Taaz saw us off and we went
on Thursday evening.

407
00:27:50,215 --> 00:27:56,666
And Teddy
had rode with us that time.

408
00:27:56,749 --> 00:27:59,248
Was strange
that he was on the bus with us.

409
00:27:59,331 --> 00:28:04,201
And soon as he got into town,
he went to make a phone call,

410
00:28:04,284 --> 00:28:08,446
and he was informed
that Taaz Lang had been shot.

411
00:28:08,530 --> 00:28:11,236
Killed, murdered.

412
00:28:11,319 --> 00:28:14,024
Henry Evans,
Teddy's road manager,

413
00:28:14,108 --> 00:28:16,604
called Teddy
and said that Taaz was dead.

414
00:28:16,687 --> 00:28:20,518
And I was like... the look
that I got from both of them,

415
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:25,347
I was like, "This is not right."

416
00:28:25,429 --> 00:28:29,467
It's uh...
filled with some kind of regret.

417
00:28:29,550 --> 00:28:32,671
I'm looking at somebody
that's full of relieved, like...

418
00:28:34,379 --> 00:28:36,044
The hits come faster

419
00:28:36,127 --> 00:28:39,499
on the "Sonny Hopson Show!"

420
00:29:10,717 --> 00:29:12,050
I said OK.

421
00:29:20,292 --> 00:29:22,539
She had been shot.
She was killed.

422
00:29:39,771 --> 00:29:43,809
There was a lot
of thug life happening,

423
00:29:43,892 --> 00:29:46,723
you know, in the record industry
at that time.

424
00:29:51,385 --> 00:29:53,757
He intimidated me, you know.

425
00:29:53,841 --> 00:29:55,880
Sometimes I would be scared,

426
00:29:55,964 --> 00:29:58,004
excuse the term, shitless,
in the studio.

427
00:30:01,916 --> 00:30:05,163
Where you have money,
you have mobsters usually.

428
00:30:05,247 --> 00:30:08,202
You knew you had
to be a part of things

429
00:30:08,285 --> 00:30:11,906
because you're doing a show
but you didn't wanna get

430
00:30:11,990 --> 00:30:13,946
9too friendly
with anybody like that.

431
00:30:17,526 --> 00:30:19,524
Taaz started making threats.

432
00:30:19,606 --> 00:30:21,022
She could ruin his career.

433
00:30:21,106 --> 00:30:23,644
That's a big threat
for an entertainer.

434
00:30:23,727 --> 00:30:26,558
"I can ruin your career,
I can change your whole life."

435
00:30:45,956 --> 00:30:47,537
Who killed Taaz?

436
00:30:53,281 --> 00:30:56,196
It was the Black Mafia,
just I don't know who.

437
00:30:56,278 --> 00:31:00,358
Just don't know who.
Never found out who did it.

438
00:31:00,441 --> 00:31:04,188
Their main business was drugs
and the business was violent.

439
00:31:04,270 --> 00:31:07,600
You can't let anybody
steal from you.

440
00:31:07,683 --> 00:31:09,723
If you do,
they had to pay a price,

441
00:31:09,806 --> 00:31:12,762
either break their legs
or take their life.

442
00:31:12,845 --> 00:31:16,633
- The story never came out.
- Never came out.

443
00:31:16,716 --> 00:31:19,255
It's one
of those unsolved mysteries.

444
00:31:19,297 --> 00:31:21,920
Like it's been said
those who say don't know

445
00:31:22,003 --> 00:31:24,958
and those who know don't say.

446
00:31:25,042 --> 00:31:28,080
One of those kinda deals.

447
00:31:28,164 --> 00:31:31,036
Didn't surprise
me about why they would kill her

448
00:31:31,119 --> 00:31:36,322
because she had total control
over Teddy Pendergrass

449
00:31:36,405 --> 00:31:39,985
and I had heard the rumors
that she had too much.

450
00:31:44,106 --> 00:31:49,850
♪ This one's for you ♪

451
00:31:49,933 --> 00:31:51,764
I was blessed to play
at her funeral,

452
00:31:51,848 --> 00:31:55,303
and Cecil Du Valle
played organ.

453
00:31:55,386 --> 00:31:59,591
I played piano and Teddy sang
"This One's For You."

454
00:31:59,673 --> 00:32:03,253
And you could tell the emotions

455
00:32:03,336 --> 00:32:07,125
that Teddy put into that song
for Taaz.

456
00:32:07,207 --> 00:32:10,662
Wow, it was very sad
playing that song.

457
00:32:10,745 --> 00:32:14,576
♪ That I'm the one who cries ♪

458
00:32:14,658 --> 00:32:17,281
♪ And I ♪

459
00:32:17,364 --> 00:32:21,235
Jesse Jackson
preached the eulogy.

460
00:32:21,318 --> 00:32:23,275
♪ And I'll fight so hard ♪

461
00:32:23,358 --> 00:32:26,313
♪ To hide my tears 'cause... ♪

462
00:33:02,693 --> 00:33:07,772
♪ This one is for you ♪

463
00:33:28,126 --> 00:33:31,582
I was fairly successful
as a young manager

464
00:33:31,664 --> 00:33:33,704
who got a reputation
of being different,

465
00:33:33,788 --> 00:33:36,368
and Alice was one
of the artists I managed

466
00:33:36,452 --> 00:33:37,409
so I got on a plane,
I went to Philadelphia

467
00:33:37,493 --> 00:33:39,740
to see Teddy Pendergrass.

468
00:33:39,823 --> 00:33:43,111
I didn't realize
till I got to the show

469
00:33:43,195 --> 00:33:44,028
that it was the lead singer

470
00:33:44,110 --> 00:33:46,775
of Harold Melvin
and the Blue Notes,

471
00:33:46,858 --> 00:33:49,023
who happened to be one of my
favorite groups in the world.

472
00:33:49,105 --> 00:33:54,184
Would you do me
a very big favor, please?

473
00:33:54,267 --> 00:33:57,638
Give a round of applause
to the Teddy Bear Dancers!

474
00:34:06,172 --> 00:34:07,296
But I hated the show.

475
00:34:07,379 --> 00:34:11,250
Dancers. He was dressed in
a cape. I didn't like it at all.

476
00:34:11,333 --> 00:34:16,537
But I go backstage, all the
Jewish managers in the business

477
00:34:16,619 --> 00:34:17,660
are at the backstage door.

478
00:34:17,744 --> 00:34:20,199
I didn't wait. I just left.

479
00:34:37,932 --> 00:34:40,637
So I went back down
to Philadelphia.

480
00:34:40,721 --> 00:34:42,094
He lived in a penthouse.

481
00:34:42,177 --> 00:34:46,257
This gorgeous lady in lingerie
opened the doors,

482
00:34:46,340 --> 00:34:47,548
like a set of a movie.

483
00:34:47,630 --> 00:34:50,086
And I come in and then Teddy
walks in the room.

484
00:34:50,169 --> 00:34:54,665
And in person, Teddy
is overwhelmingly handsome.

485
00:34:55,248 --> 00:34:58,578
Overwhelmingly sexual.

486
00:34:58,661 --> 00:35:02,366
Overwhelmingly magnetic
and remarkable.

487
00:35:02,449 --> 00:35:03,365
I had no idea what to say.

488
00:35:03,448 --> 00:35:05,779
So I came up
with the most outrageous thing

489
00:35:05,862 --> 00:35:07,236
I could possibly think of.

490
00:35:07,319 --> 00:35:09,775
"You have no way to tell

491
00:35:09,858 --> 00:35:13,729
which one of us Jews
is telling you the truth.

492
00:35:13,813 --> 00:35:16,976
It's like a foreign lang...
And the guys you had there?

493
00:35:17,059 --> 00:35:20,306
They're all the best at lying.
And I happen to be one of them.

494
00:35:20,390 --> 00:35:23,928
The one thing you probably know
how to do is get high.

495
00:35:24,010 --> 00:35:25,426
And I know how to do that too.

496
00:35:25,510 --> 00:35:28,090
You probably
get higher than you should.

497
00:35:28,173 --> 00:35:30,629
There'll be times when you have
money in your pocket

498
00:35:30,712 --> 00:35:32,835
and someone
may take it from you.

499
00:35:32,919 --> 00:35:36,997
I get as high as you
but I keep it together,

500
00:35:37,081 --> 00:35:38,871
and I make sure I have the cash
so when you wake up..."

501
00:35:38,954 --> 00:35:42,201
And he just looked at me like,
"What?"

502
00:35:42,284 --> 00:35:45,114
I said, "Meet me somewhere,
bring your best drugs,

503
00:35:45,198 --> 00:35:47,029
your best women,
whatever you want,

504
00:35:47,112 --> 00:35:49,194
and we'll see
who goes down first."

505
00:35:49,277 --> 00:35:50,276
♪ Come on and get down ♪

506
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,857
♪ Down, down,
down, down, down ♪

507
00:35:52,940 --> 00:35:56,062
And three days later,
Teddy collapsed.

508
00:35:59,767 --> 00:36:01,806
I managed him
the rest of his career.

509
00:36:06,385 --> 00:36:08,965
So we first sat down,
I told him,

510
00:36:09,049 --> 00:36:11,339
"By the way, the show goes

511
00:36:11,422 --> 00:36:13,545
and you gotta get rid
of the dancers."

512
00:36:13,628 --> 00:36:15,460
Where I come from,
we say dance the ass off.

513
00:36:15,543 --> 00:36:18,664
We were fired!

514
00:36:18,748 --> 00:36:22,077
So that was how he met Karen.

515
00:36:22,161 --> 00:36:23,701
They told Teddy,
"You don't need dancers.

516
00:36:23,784 --> 00:36:26,115
You're a star, you can do this."

517
00:36:26,198 --> 00:36:29,571
Teddy said,
"Now you don't work for me,

518
00:36:29,653 --> 00:36:31,402
will you go out with me?"

519
00:36:31,485 --> 00:36:33,150
And that's
how we started dating.

520
00:36:35,856 --> 00:36:37,563
We went to our first show.

521
00:36:37,645 --> 00:36:39,519
Teddy Pendergrass!

522
00:36:42,433 --> 00:36:44,598
-  Thank you!

523
00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,885
And now the show's over I found
the promoter in the bathroom.

524
00:36:47,968 --> 00:36:49,924
I said, "Hi, I'm Shep,
I'm the new manager."

525
00:36:50,008 --> 00:36:52,797
He said,
"We didn't bring any cash."

526
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:56,085
I said, "What do you mean?
Do you have a check book?"

527
00:36:56,168 --> 00:36:59,583
"We'll send it to him."
"You'll do what?"

528
00:36:59,665 --> 00:37:02,704
And finally got a little crazy

529
00:37:02,787 --> 00:37:04,827
and he ended up
giving me his ring.

530
00:37:04,909 --> 00:37:07,865
He said, "Tell Teddy to keep the
ring till he gets the check."

531
00:37:07,948 --> 00:37:10,446
I went into Teddy's
dressing room

532
00:37:10,530 --> 00:37:12,528
and I said,
"What the fuck is going on?"

533
00:37:12,610 --> 00:37:14,150
So, anyway, I left

534
00:37:14,234 --> 00:37:17,439
and I started talking to friends
who knew that world.

535
00:37:17,523 --> 00:37:20,478
Um, and they explained to me

536
00:37:20,562 --> 00:37:23,600
that this thing that I had heard
somewhere in the back of my head

537
00:37:23,683 --> 00:37:25,681
but never really thought about,

538
00:37:25,764 --> 00:37:28,470
which was the Chitlin' Circuit
and it was black promoters,

539
00:37:28,554 --> 00:37:30,925
black record companies,

540
00:37:31,008 --> 00:37:35,004
getting black artists to play
their venues basically for free

541
00:37:35,088 --> 00:37:37,918
'cause they thought they had to
to promote their records.

542
00:37:38,001 --> 00:37:40,041
They had to work for something.

543
00:37:40,124 --> 00:37:43,704
You know, and sometimes they
would work for almost nothing.

544
00:37:43,788 --> 00:37:46,452
I just didn't want
to be a part of it.

545
00:37:46,536 --> 00:37:49,407
So that night I said to Teddy,
you know, "Fuck 'em."

546
00:37:49,491 --> 00:37:53,529
Um... "We're going to play
for white promoters.

547
00:37:53,611 --> 00:37:54,402
You're gonna get paid

548
00:37:54,486 --> 00:37:58,357
and let 'em go
abuse somebody else."

549
00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:01,229
And he said, "Listen,
I didn't tell you this before."

550
00:38:01,312 --> 00:38:04,891
"What's that?" He said, "My last
manager was shot to death."

551
00:38:04,974 --> 00:38:10,220
Uh... So the table
soon turned at that moment

552
00:38:10,303 --> 00:38:12,925
where I had to really think,
and I said, "Fuck 'em.

553
00:38:13,008 --> 00:38:14,049
You're in, I'm in."

554
00:38:14,132 --> 00:38:16,837
He said, "I'll take the ride
with you. Let's do it."

555
00:38:17,754 --> 00:38:21,459
Can we have a warm welcome

556
00:38:21,542 --> 00:38:22,333
for Mr. Teddy Pendergrass!

557
00:38:26,661 --> 00:38:28,368
The first show we did
was at the Roxy in LA.

558
00:38:28,452 --> 00:38:30,616
White promoters.

559
00:38:30,699 --> 00:38:33,613
We got death threats.
FBI protected us.

560
00:38:33,696 --> 00:38:36,651
We got security from them.

561
00:38:36,735 --> 00:38:38,567
But we got through it and sort
of opened the floodgates

562
00:38:38,649 --> 00:38:42,188
and at least at the live level,

563
00:38:42,271 --> 00:38:45,477
the concept of Chitlin' Circuit
was gotten rid of.

564
00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:47,640
For me that's the most
important thing

565
00:38:47,724 --> 00:38:49,514
to get out about Teddy.

566
00:38:49,598 --> 00:38:51,969
He risked his life
to make it easier

567
00:38:52,011 --> 00:38:57,131
for Afro American artists
after him. And that's big.

568
00:38:58,380 --> 00:38:59,628
I'll tell you a secret.

569
00:38:59,712 --> 00:39:03,624
No offense to our white brothers
and sisters but the hotel said,

570
00:39:03,708 --> 00:39:07,204
"I've never seen
so many niggers in my life!"

571
00:39:09,494 --> 00:39:10,410
But I'm glad we all came down.

572
00:39:10,493 --> 00:39:12,241
It's nice to see that we can
all sit together.

573
00:39:12,324 --> 00:39:17,403
Some of you in the front and
some of us in the front there.

574
00:39:17,486 --> 00:39:20,316
We don't ride the back
of the bus no more.

575
00:39:22,148 --> 00:39:24,936
We went to California
to see them perform.

576
00:39:25,019 --> 00:39:27,393
- What was the place?
-  Roxy.

577
00:39:27,476 --> 00:39:28,974
Roxy. Yeah.

578
00:39:29,057 --> 00:39:32,513
- We knew it then, we said, wow.
-  Yeah.

579
00:39:32,596 --> 00:39:34,884
This was not the usual.

580
00:39:34,968 --> 00:39:39,506
Mm-hm. You know what
was amazing too, Gamble?

581
00:39:39,589 --> 00:39:41,587
Teddy didn't even
open his mouth yet

582
00:39:41,670 --> 00:39:44,251
and the females just went crazy.

583
00:39:46,082 --> 00:39:48,038
I thought, "Wait a second.

584
00:39:48,122 --> 00:39:50,161
Let's just do shows
for women only."

585
00:39:52,076 --> 00:39:55,156
There was a full-page ad
with a teddy bear

586
00:39:55,240 --> 00:39:56,364
and an invitation.

587
00:39:56,447 --> 00:40:00,900
We had a recorded message
from Teddy with a phone number

588
00:40:00,983 --> 00:40:03,399
and you called it
and he invited them to it.

589
00:40:03,482 --> 00:40:06,270
This is Teddy Pendergrass.
Join me, won't you?

590
00:40:06,354 --> 00:40:09,974
Now that I got 'em in the hall,
how do I really get 'em crazy?

591
00:40:10,058 --> 00:40:12,680
We came up with chocolate
teddy bear lollipops

592
00:40:12,763 --> 00:40:14,596
that we gave out
to the audience

593
00:40:14,678 --> 00:40:19,049
so the girls could lick it
and bite it and...

594
00:40:19,132 --> 00:40:21,422
We sold out...

595
00:40:21,506 --> 00:40:22,670
- In a second.

596
00:40:22,753 --> 00:40:26,501
There has been
screaming at the Greek Theatre.

597
00:40:26,584 --> 00:40:28,582
People think
they've found a new king,

598
00:40:28,664 --> 00:40:31,702
a successor to Frank Sinatra,
Elvis Presley.

599
00:40:31,786 --> 00:40:33,577
He is Teddy Pendergrass.

600
00:40:33,659 --> 00:40:35,533
♪ You ♪

601
00:40:35,616 --> 00:40:38,072
♪ You got, you got,
you got what I want ♪

602
00:40:38,155 --> 00:40:42,650
♪ You got, you got,
you got what I need ♪

603
00:40:42,733 --> 00:40:45,565
♪ Only you, baby, only you ♪

604
00:40:45,647 --> 00:40:48,395
♪ Only you,
you, you, you, you ♪

605
00:40:48,479 --> 00:40:51,891
♪ You ♪

606
00:40:51,974 --> 00:40:54,431
Sensuous looking and hairy

607
00:40:54,514 --> 00:40:56,969
and, oh, just fantastic.

608
00:40:57,053 --> 00:40:59,259
I got butterflies in my stomach.

609
00:40:59,343 --> 00:41:02,381
- Something was gonna happen.
- We were gonna do something.

610
00:41:02,465 --> 00:41:05,253
- Something was gonna happen.
- We was coming to do it.

611
00:41:09,166 --> 00:41:11,581
Every show was jam-packed.

612
00:41:11,662 --> 00:41:14,743
And the women were just...
I thought they were nuts.

613
00:41:14,826 --> 00:41:17,325
- Oh!
-  What appeals about him?

614
00:41:17,408 --> 00:41:22,069
His body. His body. Mm-mm-mm!

615
00:41:25,982 --> 00:41:28,729
They loved Teddy.
They loved Teddy.

616
00:41:28,812 --> 00:41:30,685
They showed him
any way they could.

617
00:41:30,768 --> 00:41:32,933
Rush the stage.
Throw panties on the stage.

618
00:41:32,975 --> 00:41:35,805
He would meet a woman
and within 11 seconds,

619
00:41:35,930 --> 00:41:38,220
he could get it
to a point with her

620
00:41:38,304 --> 00:41:41,592
that if I had met her I'd have
to go out a couple of times,

621
00:41:41,674 --> 00:41:44,921
I'd have to meet her parents.

622
00:41:45,005 --> 00:41:46,587
I'd have to go through all this

623
00:41:46,669 --> 00:41:49,749
just to get to the point
where he was in 11 seconds.

624
00:41:49,833 --> 00:41:51,541
It wasn't even fair.

625
00:42:03,153 --> 00:42:05,817
Who's the one in the shows
that's screaming and hollering?

626
00:42:05,900 --> 00:42:06,607
It's the females.

627
00:42:06,691 --> 00:42:08,939
So you gotta write for them.

628
00:42:09,022 --> 00:42:11,727
- And that's what we did.
- And that's what we did.

629
00:42:11,811 --> 00:42:14,891
May I just list the first
four songs on the album?

630
00:42:14,975 --> 00:42:15,392
"Come Go With Me."

631
00:42:15,475 --> 00:42:16,681
"Close the Door."

632
00:42:16,764 --> 00:42:18,762
"Turn Off the Lights."

633
00:42:18,845 --> 00:42:20,136
- "Do Me."
- Yes.

634
00:42:20,220 --> 00:42:22,051
- Now...

635
00:42:23,342 --> 00:42:25,173
- Have I got it?
- You got it!

636
00:42:25,257 --> 00:42:29,127
- ♪ Turn off the lights ♪

637
00:42:30,126 --> 00:42:31,125
♪ And light a candle ♪

638
00:42:32,790 --> 00:42:34,164
♪ Just like that, baby ♪

639
00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:40,907
♪ Tonight,
I'm in a romantic mood ♪

640
00:42:40,990 --> 00:42:42,198
♪ Yes ♪

641
00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:46,152
♪ Let's take a shower ♪

642
00:42:47,151 --> 00:42:49,648
♪ Shower together ♪

643
00:42:50,647 --> 00:42:53,312
♪ I'll wash your body ♪

644
00:42:53,395 --> 00:42:57,141
♪ If you'll promise
to wash mine ♪

645
00:42:58,639 --> 00:43:01,304
♪ Rub me down ♪

646
00:43:01,387 --> 00:43:05,425
♪ In some, in some hot oils,
baby ♪

647
00:43:06,382 --> 00:43:12,335
♪ And I'll do
the same thing to you ♪

648
00:43:12,418 --> 00:43:14,499
Teddy was the guy
that other men wanted to be like

649
00:43:14,582 --> 00:43:17,246
and women wanted.

650
00:43:17,330 --> 00:43:19,494
I just like the way
he just sings it.

651
00:43:19,577 --> 00:43:20,617
He sings it good
and I like the way

652
00:43:20,700 --> 00:43:23,240
he's just altogether, you know.

653
00:43:23,324 --> 00:43:26,237
This is billed
as a "for women only" concert.

654
00:43:26,321 --> 00:43:29,359
That doesn't mean anything.
Here's my lady right here.

655
00:43:29,443 --> 00:43:31,647
I want to see him
just as bad as she does.

656
00:43:31,731 --> 00:43:33,854
The guys that did come to
the show, he would say to 'em,

657
00:43:33,937 --> 00:43:36,518
"I'm not here
to take your woman,

658
00:43:36,601 --> 00:43:39,681
I'm just starting them up
for you."

659
00:43:39,764 --> 00:43:41,597
"I'm getting them ready
for you."

660
00:43:41,679 --> 00:43:44,885
"When I get finished I'm going
on the bus. They're yours!"

661
00:43:47,923 --> 00:43:50,628
♪ Just do it to me ♪

662
00:43:50,712 --> 00:43:52,211
♪ I'll do it to you ♪

663
00:43:53,667 --> 00:43:54,791
♪ Come here, baby ♪

664
00:43:54,875 --> 00:43:58,871
♪ Lay your head next to mine ♪

665
00:43:58,954 --> 00:44:00,869
♪ Oh, oh ♪

666
00:44:00,952 --> 00:44:02,492
♪ Oh oh, oh oh ♪

667
00:44:02,576 --> 00:44:05,448
♪ Oh oh, oh oh ♪

668
00:44:07,155 --> 00:44:07,987
Black male sexuality

669
00:44:08,070 --> 00:44:10,942
was such a threatening issue
in America

670
00:44:11,025 --> 00:44:13,440
that to present something
so in your face

671
00:44:13,523 --> 00:44:17,019
and so uh...

672
00:44:18,476 --> 00:44:20,308
just blatantly black

673
00:44:20,392 --> 00:44:22,805
is risky.

674
00:44:22,888 --> 00:44:26,427
♪ See,
I know what to do with it ♪

675
00:44:26,510 --> 00:44:28,550
But if you look
at Teddy's career,

676
00:44:28,632 --> 00:44:30,839
it worked like gangbusters.

677
00:44:30,922 --> 00:44:32,587
♪ If you ever let me get it ♪

678
00:44:32,670 --> 00:44:35,459
♪ Give it up now ♪

679
00:44:35,543 --> 00:44:38,914
If God forbid the album reaches
the success of this one,

680
00:44:38,956 --> 00:44:42,536
I'd have to ride around
in a police wagon or something.

681
00:44:42,618 --> 00:44:45,200
I don't like to do that.

682
00:44:45,283 --> 00:44:49,611
He was a charismatic,
strong, emoting performer

683
00:44:49,694 --> 00:44:51,568
when he was center stage,

684
00:44:51,651 --> 00:44:54,233
and the women
just went ga-ga over him.

685
00:44:54,316 --> 00:44:58,395
They went crazy for him. Black
and white. Black and white.

686
00:44:58,478 --> 00:45:00,725
We'll sing
whatever comes to your mind.

687
00:45:03,057 --> 00:45:05,305
Would you say that again
in the microphone?

688
00:45:05,388 --> 00:45:08,094
This lady came backstage
and I walk out the door

689
00:45:08,177 --> 00:45:11,257
and she has this knife and
she pulls it out of her pocket.

690
00:45:11,341 --> 00:45:14,420
She says, "If I can't have you,
nobody can."

691
00:45:16,626 --> 00:45:19,083
Yeah, and she lunged at me
with this... I mean...

692
00:45:19,166 --> 00:45:23,536
This was a black lady
and it was a black knife.

693
00:45:23,619 --> 00:45:26,242
- That long, huh?

694
00:45:26,326 --> 00:45:29,821
I seen some things
that my dog wouldn't bark at.

695
00:45:29,905 --> 00:45:31,778
We had girls pull knives, guns.

696
00:45:31,861 --> 00:45:34,608
We had girls
buy maids' uniforms.

697
00:45:34,691 --> 00:45:37,065
They'd be waiting for him
in the suite.

698
00:45:37,148 --> 00:45:39,895
If you love
a man like that you know

699
00:45:39,978 --> 00:45:42,392
that part of the real estate
is a lot of other homes.

700
00:45:42,476 --> 00:45:45,638
That he is the property owner
of many residences.

701
00:45:46,513 --> 00:45:48,553
I would not go on the road.

702
00:45:48,635 --> 00:45:51,301
He would even call me and say,
"I want you to come out,"

703
00:45:51,383 --> 00:45:53,881
and I would not go.
I'm like, "Don't send for me."

704
00:45:53,964 --> 00:45:57,128
I would not go on the road.

705
00:45:57,211 --> 00:46:00,250
I didn't want to be
a part of it.

706
00:46:00,333 --> 00:46:04,703
When Ted
came into a room, you knew it.

707
00:46:04,786 --> 00:46:09,532
It was like a hurricane
literally walked in.

708
00:46:09,614 --> 00:46:11,946
Just adorable.

709
00:46:12,030 --> 00:46:14,943
I loved the way he smelled.

710
00:46:15,027 --> 00:46:16,774
I loved the way he laughed

711
00:46:16,858 --> 00:46:21,353
and I loved the way his face
would light up when he saw me.

712
00:46:23,393 --> 00:46:24,766
It felt great.

713
00:46:24,850 --> 00:46:28,846
It felt great,
made me feel special.

714
00:46:32,384 --> 00:46:35,132
Teddy rode past me
in a blue Rolls-Royce.

715
00:46:35,215 --> 00:46:37,587
He called me to his car

716
00:46:37,670 --> 00:46:40,376
and I got nervous,
I ran from him.

717
00:46:40,459 --> 00:46:43,249
I thought he was a pimp.
A pimp.

718
00:46:43,331 --> 00:46:45,912
My sister showed me an album.

719
00:46:45,996 --> 00:46:48,077
I said, "That's the man
who stopped me."

720
00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:49,700
She said, "That's Teddy
Pendergrass, stupid."

721
00:46:49,783 --> 00:46:51,739
I said, "I ran from him."

722
00:46:51,823 --> 00:46:53,821
So we'd both kiss the album.

723
00:46:53,904 --> 00:46:58,441
But he was very handsome,
I must say that.

724
00:46:58,525 --> 00:47:00,772
There was something magical
about him.

725
00:47:00,855 --> 00:47:03,602
♪ Tried to take control
of the love ♪

726
00:47:03,686 --> 00:47:07,599
♪ Love took control of me ♪

727
00:47:07,682 --> 00:47:11,262
♪ Caused me to lose all
thought, all sense of time ♪

728
00:47:11,345 --> 00:47:13,468
♪ I had a change of mind ♪

729
00:47:13,551 --> 00:47:18,047
♪ But taking the bumps and the
bruises and all the things ♪

730
00:47:18,130 --> 00:47:20,794
♪ Of a two-time loser ♪

731
00:47:22,210 --> 00:47:25,123
♪ Trying to hold on,
faith is all gone ♪

732
00:47:25,207 --> 00:47:27,912
♪ Just another,
just another sad song ♪

733
00:47:27,995 --> 00:47:31,866
♪ I think I'd better
let it go ♪

734
00:47:33,157 --> 00:47:36,861
You're a bachelor and I
have some first-hand knowledge

735
00:47:36,945 --> 00:47:40,274
as to how lonely

736
00:47:40,358 --> 00:47:44,479
and miserable and boring...

737
00:47:44,562 --> 00:47:47,392
- Lonely? Lonely sometimes.

738
00:47:47,476 --> 00:47:50,680
- Boring? I don't think so!
- You don't like the boring?

739
00:47:50,764 --> 00:47:51,638
Boring, I don't know.

740
00:47:51,721 --> 00:47:53,844
There were
so many pieces to him.

741
00:47:53,928 --> 00:47:58,631
He was a kind, wonderful,
sexy, arrogant...

742
00:47:58,714 --> 00:48:00,670
There was just
a whole spectrum of people

743
00:48:00,754 --> 00:48:04,209
wrapped up in that one person.

744
00:48:05,167 --> 00:48:07,747
He talked about
not knowing his father

745
00:48:07,830 --> 00:48:10,578
and that troubled him.

746
00:48:10,660 --> 00:48:12,242
And when he met his father,

747
00:48:12,326 --> 00:48:17,155
he didn't like how his father
handled him with his mom.

748
00:48:17,237 --> 00:48:21,400
I promised him,
before I leave this world,

749
00:48:21,483 --> 00:48:23,606
I'm gonna let you see your dad.

750
00:48:23,689 --> 00:48:26,686
I'm gonna look him up
and I'm gonna find him

751
00:48:26,769 --> 00:48:29,559
and I'm gonna let you see
your father,

752
00:48:29,641 --> 00:48:34,429
and I did just that,
when he was 11 years old.

753
00:48:34,512 --> 00:48:38,757
And we dressed to kill
that day, wow.

754
00:48:38,841 --> 00:48:43,253
And I turned to Teddy and I
said, "This is your father."

755
00:48:43,336 --> 00:48:46,042
And he looked up at him and
he dropped his head real quick

756
00:48:46,126 --> 00:48:50,329
and I said,
"Honey, look at your father.

757
00:48:50,413 --> 00:48:55,199
Make sure when you see him
again, you will know who he is."

758
00:48:56,698 --> 00:48:59,029
Me and Teddy,
we went on a trolley

759
00:48:59,113 --> 00:49:01,776
and started back for home.

760
00:49:03,691 --> 00:49:05,939
The next time we saw him,

761
00:49:06,896 --> 00:49:08,686
he was in his coffin.

762
00:49:08,769 --> 00:49:12,224
♪ I give myself away ♪

763
00:49:12,932 --> 00:49:14,763
♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh ♪

764
00:49:14,847 --> 00:49:18,260
♪ I give myself away ♪

765
00:49:18,343 --> 00:49:21,298
♪ So you can use me ♪

766
00:50:01,592 --> 00:50:03,923
He always said that

767
00:50:04,006 --> 00:50:06,795
because his father
wasn't in his life,

768
00:50:06,878 --> 00:50:10,707
he always wanted to be
in our lives. No matter what.

769
00:50:10,791 --> 00:50:14,953
And at times he could be selfish

770
00:50:15,037 --> 00:50:19,115
or he felt like it was all him,

771
00:50:19,199 --> 00:50:21,322
that he had to
always do everything.

772
00:50:21,405 --> 00:50:24,651
Whereas though that probably
came from the fact that

773
00:50:24,735 --> 00:50:28,065
he didn't have anybody
to lean on growing up.

774
00:50:28,148 --> 00:50:33,101
So it made him strong
but it also made him feel

775
00:50:33,185 --> 00:50:34,933
like he was all he had.

776
00:50:35,017 --> 00:50:38,014
He just wanted to protect us
from the world.

777
00:50:38,096 --> 00:50:40,886
I guess he lived
and he saw it all

778
00:50:40,969 --> 00:50:42,967
and he just didn't want us
to go through

779
00:50:43,009 --> 00:50:46,088
half of the things
that he went through.

780
00:50:46,172 --> 00:50:48,336
Get funky for me one time!

781
00:50:53,331 --> 00:50:57,494
I liked him most
of the time but he was a guy

782
00:50:57,578 --> 00:50:59,409
that if he made you love him,
you loved him.

783
00:50:59,492 --> 00:51:01,282
If he made you mad...

784
00:51:04,320 --> 00:51:06,818
He made you mad!

785
00:51:06,901 --> 00:51:09,399
Teddy had a tremendous ego.

786
00:51:09,482 --> 00:51:10,981
He also had a tremendous talent

787
00:51:11,063 --> 00:51:14,852
and I was trying to imagine
what it would have been like

788
00:51:14,935 --> 00:51:18,598
to be thrust into the limelight,

789
00:51:18,681 --> 00:51:22,052
into being a star at the pace
that it happened for him.

790
00:51:22,136 --> 00:51:25,049
A complicated
guy. A complicated man.

791
00:51:25,133 --> 00:51:29,670
A weird combination of ego and
vulnerability at the same time.

792
00:51:29,753 --> 00:51:31,626
And I do think
a lot of those characteristics

793
00:51:31,710 --> 00:51:34,082
helped him put those songs over.

794
00:51:34,165 --> 00:51:36,913
♪ Life is a song
worth singing ♪

795
00:51:36,996 --> 00:51:40,243
♪ Why don't you sing it? ♪

796
00:51:41,283 --> 00:51:43,781
♪ Life is a song
worth singing ♪

797
00:51:43,864 --> 00:51:47,277
♪ Why don't you sing it? ♪

798
00:51:47,361 --> 00:51:50,649
Five platinum albums in a row!

799
00:51:50,732 --> 00:51:53,271
- That's some kind of record.
-  Yes, thank you.

800
00:51:53,355 --> 00:51:54,603
Platinum.

801
00:51:54,687 --> 00:51:57,101
Come on.

802
00:51:57,184 --> 00:52:01,472
Why don't you tell the audience
what platinum albums are?

803
00:52:01,555 --> 00:52:04,677
- Platinum's better than gold.
- One million copies were sold.

804
00:52:04,760 --> 00:52:07,091
- Gold is 500.
- Gold is 500,000.

805
00:52:07,174 --> 00:52:09,547
Yes, and platinum
is twice as much.

806
00:52:11,212 --> 00:52:13,959
♪ You're a fool
if you think you're helpless ♪

807
00:52:14,042 --> 00:52:19,162
♪ You decide
just to live your mind ♪

808
00:52:21,243 --> 00:52:25,781
My elementary school
was on 315 Broad Street.

809
00:52:25,864 --> 00:52:29,860
Philly International
I believe was 313.

810
00:52:29,943 --> 00:52:32,107
So all Broad Street knew
when Teddy Pendergrass

811
00:52:32,191 --> 00:52:36,395
was in proximity because
the sound of shrieking women

812
00:52:36,479 --> 00:52:39,600
shouldn't be that loud
at 12 p.m. in the afternoon.

813
00:52:39,683 --> 00:52:42,639
The second you start hearing
the shrieks it's like...

814
00:52:42,722 --> 00:52:46,469
"Yeah, Teddy Pendergrass
is over."

815
00:52:46,552 --> 00:52:48,050
It was chaos and he ate it up.

816
00:52:48,133 --> 00:52:52,296
Teddy Pendergrass
was Philadelphia's king.

817
00:52:52,379 --> 00:52:53,170
Its prince.

818
00:52:53,253 --> 00:52:55,585
He was a sleek-looking guy.

819
00:52:55,667 --> 00:52:58,706
Brown brother.
Nice hair. Nice features.

820
00:52:58,789 --> 00:52:59,954
And dressing sharp.

821
00:53:00,038 --> 00:53:03,160
When you ride with Teddy
it was an adventure

822
00:53:03,243 --> 00:53:08,030
'cause he would have
his drink here, his pistol here.

823
00:53:09,446 --> 00:53:12,609
And whatever other
paraphernalia he had.

824
00:53:12,692 --> 00:53:15,440
And I'm hanging on and he'd say,

825
00:53:15,523 --> 00:53:19,185
"What's wrong, Jesse,
you scared?" Goddamn right.

826
00:53:21,350 --> 00:53:25,513
The only thing I
ever worried about with Ted is

827
00:53:25,597 --> 00:53:30,508
the police gave him such
a hard time in Philadelphia

828
00:53:30,592 --> 00:53:32,464
that I never knew

829
00:53:32,548 --> 00:53:34,087
when something might happen.

830
00:53:36,043 --> 00:53:38,250
Whenever they saw his car,

831
00:53:38,333 --> 00:53:43,537
they were right behind us
and they were following him

832
00:53:43,619 --> 00:53:46,700
and just looking
for an opportunity.

833
00:53:51,653 --> 00:53:54,526
I lived in Philadelphia
from '65 to '70.

834
00:53:54,608 --> 00:53:57,106
Some tough years down there
for relations between the races.

835
00:53:57,147 --> 00:54:00,893
There was some tense moments
in North Philadelphia.

836
00:54:00,977 --> 00:54:03,433
I got to know the neighborhood
rather well.

837
00:54:03,517 --> 00:54:06,556
I've got a couple of scars
that I can show you

838
00:54:06,638 --> 00:54:09,594
from some of those days.
It was rough.

839
00:54:26,327 --> 00:54:28,865
Somebody dropped a dime.

840
00:54:31,613 --> 00:54:35,651
And because of the police siren,
everybody ran.

841
00:54:35,734 --> 00:54:37,856
Well, then Teddy ran too.

842
00:54:46,972 --> 00:54:49,928
He was innocent, he didn't do
what the police said he did.

843
00:54:50,011 --> 00:54:52,717
Somebody was robbed
or something

844
00:54:52,800 --> 00:54:55,089
and he fit the profile
and he was locked up.

845
00:54:55,173 --> 00:54:58,086
When we had the hearing,
Teddy told the story.

846
00:54:58,170 --> 00:55:03,165
The judge said,
"But you shouldn't have run,"

847
00:55:03,248 --> 00:55:05,912
so they took him
to the Youth Study Center.

848
00:55:05,995 --> 00:55:09,700
He called me.
"Mom, come and get me."

849
00:55:09,783 --> 00:55:13,654
He stayed there five months,
I think it was.

850
00:55:36,631 --> 00:55:39,628
♪ Had my dream so near ♪

851
00:55:41,085 --> 00:55:43,125
♪ I could reach out
and touch it ♪

852
00:55:43,208 --> 00:55:44,207
♪ I could touch it ♪

853
00:55:44,291 --> 00:55:48,120
- ♪ And I lost it ♪
- ♪ And I lost it ♪

854
00:55:48,203 --> 00:55:50,201
♪ And I lost it ♪

855
00:55:51,242 --> 00:55:54,030
The police
would come by the house,

856
00:55:54,114 --> 00:55:57,943
and, of course, it escalated
and next thing you know,

857
00:55:58,026 --> 00:56:02,231
they're taking him off
in handcuffs.

858
00:56:03,147 --> 00:56:05,061
The police harassed him a lot.

859
00:56:05,145 --> 00:56:08,267
And Teddy didn't take
any stuff from anybody

860
00:56:08,350 --> 00:56:09,516
and if he felt he was right,

861
00:56:09,599 --> 00:56:11,846
he was gonna
stand up for himself.

862
00:56:11,929 --> 00:56:16,050
And here is this big black man
with that Rolls-Royce.

863
00:56:16,134 --> 00:56:19,838
Millionaire. So the police
felt like that's a target.

864
00:56:49,808 --> 00:56:53,305
♪ Whoever you are, be a star ♪

865
00:56:53,389 --> 00:56:56,177
♪ In Celebrity Jeans ♪

866
00:56:58,550 --> 00:57:00,797
Be free, be someone special

867
00:57:00,880 --> 00:57:03,960
with Teddy Pendergrass
Celebrity Body Jeans.

868
00:57:05,708 --> 00:57:08,290
- You got them Teddy jeans?

869
00:57:08,374 --> 00:57:10,205
♪ Whoever you are, be a star ♪

870
00:57:10,288 --> 00:57:13,784
We were ready
and we had all these elements

871
00:57:13,867 --> 00:57:17,448
and we had a clear path
to stardom.

872
00:57:17,531 --> 00:57:20,611
You could just feel
that he was gonna be

873
00:57:20,693 --> 00:57:22,900
what I used to call
the great black hope.

874
00:57:22,983 --> 00:57:25,398
My market is very loyal to me

875
00:57:25,482 --> 00:57:27,978
and I'm very, very grateful
to that

876
00:57:28,062 --> 00:57:29,809
and I would never ever leave

877
00:57:29,893 --> 00:57:33,680
but what I wanna do is expose
my way of doing things

878
00:57:33,764 --> 00:57:35,347
to other marketplaces

879
00:57:35,430 --> 00:57:38,800
and give them a chance to say
whether they like it or not.

880
00:57:38,884 --> 00:57:42,340
He was positioned to be really
a major artist,

881
00:57:42,423 --> 00:57:44,794
crossover artist,
because he had that talent,

882
00:57:44,878 --> 00:57:46,377
and he had the music behind him

883
00:57:46,461 --> 00:57:48,957
and he had
the right management team.

884
00:57:49,041 --> 00:57:51,080
His job was to become,
at least I felt,

885
00:57:51,164 --> 00:57:54,784
and I think he felt the same,
to become the black Elvis.

886
00:58:02,776 --> 00:58:03,900
He was about to go worldwide

887
00:58:03,984 --> 00:58:06,606
and he would have been
a total phenomenon.

888
00:58:06,689 --> 00:58:09,521
You know, in that range

889
00:58:09,603 --> 00:58:14,057
of Prince or Michael Jackson,
whatever,

890
00:58:14,141 --> 00:58:17,138
he was getting ready
to take it to another level.

891
00:58:17,221 --> 00:58:18,470
I could see that coming.

892
00:58:18,554 --> 00:58:21,342
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪

893
00:58:21,426 --> 00:58:23,090
♪ You like the taste
of the wine ♪

894
00:58:26,296 --> 00:58:28,002
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪
a- ♪ Girl, you know ♪

895
00:58:28,085 --> 00:58:31,541
♪ You like the taste
of the wine ♪

896
00:58:33,704 --> 00:58:38,615
Everything was waiting for him.
Movies, television, everything.

897
00:58:47,982 --> 00:58:50,728
Now, my darling,
wherever you are...

898
00:58:59,803 --> 00:59:01,717
Think I should say that again?

899
00:59:01,801 --> 00:59:04,590
Said my darling,
wherever you are.

900
00:59:09,960 --> 00:59:14,955
Won't you please...
listen to my song?

901
00:59:16,744 --> 00:59:18,244
We were on the way

902
00:59:18,327 --> 00:59:21,948
but we still didn't cross over
yet. It was, it was trying to.

903
00:59:22,031 --> 00:59:24,363
We were just finding
the right couple of songs.

904
00:59:30,813 --> 00:59:34,893
Teddy had asked me
to do an arrangement on "Lady."

905
00:59:34,976 --> 00:59:38,182
And it made a lot of sense
to do that

906
00:59:38,265 --> 00:59:42,011
because Teddy's voice would have
brought in the black audience.

907
00:59:42,094 --> 00:59:44,259
But the choice of song

908
00:59:44,343 --> 00:59:46,631
would have brought in
the white audience.

909
00:59:46,714 --> 00:59:49,421
And the combination of the two
would have been a hit.

910
00:59:50,919 --> 00:59:55,165
- ♪ Lady ♪

911
00:59:55,248 --> 00:59:57,912
♪ I'm your knight
in shining armor ♪

912
00:59:59,244 --> 01:00:01,949
♪ And I love you ♪

913
01:00:03,573 --> 01:00:06,070
♪ You have come into my life ♪

914
01:00:06,154 --> 01:00:08,319
♪ And ♪

915
01:00:09,401 --> 01:00:13,022
♪ Made me whole ♪

916
01:00:19,973 --> 01:00:22,221
♪ And for ever ♪

917
01:00:22,928 --> 01:00:25,593
♪ Let me wake to see you ♪

918
01:00:25,675 --> 01:00:29,381
♪ Each, each
and every morning ♪

919
01:00:31,836 --> 01:00:36,747
♪ Let me hear you
whisper softly ♪

920
01:00:37,746 --> 01:00:42,326
♪ In my ear ♪

921
01:00:46,156 --> 01:00:48,652
♪ In my eyes ♪

922
01:00:48,735 --> 01:00:53,023
♪ But in my eyes ♪

923
01:00:53,107 --> 01:00:56,478
♪ I see no one else but you ♪

924
01:00:56,562 --> 01:00:59,724
♪ There's no other ♪

925
01:00:59,808 --> 01:01:03,139
♪ Love like our love ♪

926
01:01:04,012 --> 01:01:08,425
♪ Oh yes, oh yes ♪

927
01:01:08,508 --> 01:01:11,256
♪ I'll always want you
near me ♪

928
01:01:12,255 --> 01:01:13,212
♪ I've waited for you ♪

929
01:01:14,876 --> 01:01:19,788
♪ For so long ♪

930
01:01:19,871 --> 01:01:21,869
♪ Oh-oh ♪

931
01:01:21,953 --> 01:01:24,450
♪ Lady ♪

932
01:01:24,534 --> 01:01:27,156
♪ Lady ♪

933
01:01:28,114 --> 01:01:29,861
♪ Lady ♪

934
01:01:31,236 --> 01:01:32,442
♪ You see, your love ♪

935
01:01:32,526 --> 01:01:37,188
♪ Your love is the only love
that I'll ever need ♪

936
01:01:39,519 --> 01:01:41,766
♪ And right here ♪

937
01:01:42,807 --> 01:01:44,888
♪ Right here beside me ♪

938
01:01:45,762 --> 01:01:47,136
♪ Oh, that's where ♪

939
01:01:47,220 --> 01:01:53,380
♪ That's where I want you to be
for ever and ever ♪

940
01:01:54,420 --> 01:01:56,169
♪ 'Cause my love ♪

941
01:01:56,751 --> 01:01:59,831
♪ Oh, my love ♪

942
01:02:01,039 --> 01:02:02,205
♪ There's something
I want you to know ♪

943
01:02:02,288 --> 01:02:07,241
♪ Something I've just got
to let you know ♪

944
01:02:07,325 --> 01:02:12,195
♪ That you're the love
of my life ♪

945
01:02:32,673 --> 01:02:36,462
We had a little ritual
that we would go to

946
01:02:36,545 --> 01:02:39,251
the basketball game
to see Julius.

947
01:02:42,747 --> 01:02:46,327
Watch the game and sometimes
go out afterwards.

948
01:02:46,410 --> 01:02:48,782
And I said,
"Let's get out of here,"

949
01:02:48,866 --> 01:02:51,114
let's stop at
this little club we knew.

950
01:02:51,197 --> 01:02:56,067
While I was sitting in
the lobby, I saw this person,

951
01:02:56,109 --> 01:02:59,564
and everything she had on
was too revealing.

952
01:02:59,646 --> 01:03:02,601
I saw Teddy again at a club,

953
01:03:02,685 --> 01:03:04,808
the Warwick Hotel
at 17th and Locust.

954
01:03:04,891 --> 01:03:07,265
He was with this girl
named Yvette

955
01:03:07,347 --> 01:03:10,137
and one of Teddy's friends,
Brinkley.

956
01:03:10,220 --> 01:03:12,342
And he asked me
did I want a drink.

957
01:03:24,206 --> 01:03:29,492
No, I didn't feel any threat
from any other woman.

958
01:03:29,575 --> 01:03:32,447
Are you kidding me?

959
01:03:32,531 --> 01:03:34,861
Teddy treated me
like a princess.

960
01:03:34,945 --> 01:03:38,816
So he says, "Well,
I'm gonna take one lady home

961
01:03:38,899 --> 01:03:43,229
and then take the other lady
to my house."

962
01:03:48,224 --> 01:03:49,888
Um, he was driving kind of fast

963
01:03:49,972 --> 01:03:54,259
and so I said to him slow down.

964
01:03:54,342 --> 01:03:58,214
Slow down.
And so he slowed down.

965
01:03:59,545 --> 01:04:02,750
He uh... got me home,
walked me to the door,

966
01:04:02,833 --> 01:04:03,874
kissed me good night

967
01:04:03,958 --> 01:04:06,996
and I said, "Make sure you
call me when you get home."

968
01:04:07,080 --> 01:04:10,576
I was wondering why he didn't
drop me off first

969
01:04:10,659 --> 01:04:14,572
'cause I only lived about three,
four blocks from the club.

970
01:04:14,655 --> 01:04:16,819
But I just went along
for the ride.

971
01:04:19,858 --> 01:04:21,024
So on our way back,

972
01:04:21,107 --> 01:04:25,062
the car started
going really, really fast.

973
01:05:20,506 --> 01:05:22,546
Everything got completely quiet.

974
01:05:22,628 --> 01:05:24,877
I didn't know how bad
the car was damaged.

975
01:05:24,960 --> 01:05:28,165
All I know we both were alive
and I was thanking God for that.

976
01:05:28,248 --> 01:05:32,036
And out of nowhere,
a man came up to the car.

977
01:05:48,020 --> 01:05:50,143
Approximately 1:30
in the morning

978
01:05:50,226 --> 01:05:54,556
Engine 19, Ladder 8,
Battalion 9 and Medic 16

979
01:05:54,638 --> 01:05:56,262
were dispatched
to Lincoln Drive.

980
01:05:58,218 --> 01:06:02,090
Lincoln Drive is a notorious
section of highway

981
01:06:02,172 --> 01:06:03,963
where there's
a lot of accidents.

982
01:06:04,046 --> 01:06:07,917
Slick conditions,
a lot of switchbacks.

983
01:06:08,000 --> 01:06:09,207
Many people drive too quickly

984
01:06:09,290 --> 01:06:13,245
so there's frequently accidents;
sometimes very bad accidents.

985
01:06:13,328 --> 01:06:16,950
We arrive on scene
and we have a Rolls-Royce

986
01:06:17,033 --> 01:06:18,823
into a couple of trees.

987
01:06:47,419 --> 01:06:50,500
The passenger, Tenika Watson,

988
01:06:50,583 --> 01:06:51,582
seemed uninjured.

989
01:06:51,664 --> 01:06:55,911
The driver had been thrown
into the back seat.

990
01:07:01,322 --> 01:07:04,152
We put him on a spine board

991
01:07:04,235 --> 01:07:06,150
and removed him from the car.

992
01:07:07,524 --> 01:07:09,272
They got us out of it

993
01:07:09,355 --> 01:07:11,936
and I was thinking
maybe I can get away from here

994
01:07:12,020 --> 01:07:16,681
but when I got out
Teddy whispered, he said,

995
01:07:16,765 --> 01:07:19,137
"Don't leave me,
don't let them hurt me."

996
01:07:19,220 --> 01:07:21,634
And I was like, "Who is they?"

997
01:07:21,718 --> 01:07:23,841
It was like a fear
came over him.

998
01:07:23,924 --> 01:07:25,339
I don't know why he said it,

999
01:07:25,423 --> 01:07:28,336
but it kind of made me
nervous too, like,

1000
01:07:28,420 --> 01:07:30,043
"Who wants to hurt you?"

1001
01:07:53,644 --> 01:07:56,475
Everybody knew who he was.

1002
01:07:56,559 --> 01:08:01,512
I intubated him myself
to make sure that his airway

1003
01:08:01,595 --> 01:08:03,218
was established safely

1004
01:08:03,301 --> 01:08:07,131
without damaging
that wonderful voice.

1005
01:08:07,964 --> 01:08:10,294
My mother called me.

1006
01:08:10,378 --> 01:08:11,960
What they had heard on the news

1007
01:08:12,042 --> 01:08:13,749
was that there was a girl
in the car with Ted

1008
01:08:13,833 --> 01:08:16,788
and everybody thought it was me.

1009
01:08:16,871 --> 01:08:19,993
You know, you're just like
in shock for a moment

1010
01:08:20,076 --> 01:08:24,072
and, you know,
you just have to sit still,

1011
01:08:24,155 --> 01:08:25,821
say, "What do I do?"

1012
01:08:28,651 --> 01:08:30,441
I get out of the cab

1013
01:08:30,525 --> 01:08:32,231
and go through
the hospital revolving door

1014
01:08:32,314 --> 01:08:36,018
and the doctors are already
doing a press conference.

1015
01:08:36,102 --> 01:08:38,891
We don't know the answer
because only time will tell us.

1016
01:08:38,974 --> 01:08:41,013
Only time will tell
the neurosurgeon.

1017
01:08:41,097 --> 01:08:43,928
He has some limitation
of movement in his arms.

1018
01:08:44,010 --> 01:08:47,091
He is able to move parts
of his arms.

1019
01:08:47,174 --> 01:08:50,629
We can't define it any more
than that because it's uh...

1020
01:08:50,712 --> 01:08:54,334
- It's not stable at the moment.
-  Not his hands?

1021
01:08:54,417 --> 01:08:55,375
He broke his neck.

1022
01:08:55,458 --> 01:08:59,787
If you think of
the spinal column as a tube,

1023
01:08:59,912 --> 01:09:03,200
if you tear it
and then shift it,

1024
01:09:03,283 --> 01:09:06,738
whatever's running through
the middle gets squished.

1025
01:09:06,780 --> 01:09:10,651
Once a certain level of damage

1026
01:09:10,734 --> 01:09:15,104
has happened to the spine
and it's unrecoverable...

1027
01:09:16,603 --> 01:09:19,642
I got off the elevator
and Karen and the doctor

1028
01:09:19,725 --> 01:09:22,306
and Mrs. Pendergrass were there.

1029
01:09:22,389 --> 01:09:26,010
And, um, they took me in a
room, they said, "Listen, um,

1030
01:09:26,093 --> 01:09:29,715
Teddy's not gonna walk again.

1031
01:09:29,798 --> 01:09:33,836
We're going in the room now
to tell him." And I... Whoa.

1032
01:09:33,919 --> 01:09:36,042
I went in.
Teddy was lying on a table.

1033
01:09:38,123 --> 01:09:39,663
Strapped down.

1034
01:09:39,747 --> 01:09:42,744
He was crying a lot,
he was very upset.

1035
01:09:42,827 --> 01:09:46,490
And I almost fainted there
in the room. I mean, I had to...

1036
01:09:46,574 --> 01:09:49,446
I had to sit down on the floor
because it just...

1037
01:09:49,529 --> 01:09:51,110
You don't think
it will ever happen

1038
01:09:51,193 --> 01:09:54,316
until reality sets in
and just seeing him that way,

1039
01:09:54,399 --> 01:09:56,022
I was pretty woozy.

1040
01:09:56,105 --> 01:10:00,059
His eyes were closed
and it was the weirdest thing.

1041
01:10:00,143 --> 01:10:02,308
He heard us come in and sort of
opened his eyes and...

1042
01:10:02,391 --> 01:10:07,136
The doctor said, "Can you hear
us? If you can, blink once."

1043
01:10:07,219 --> 01:10:08,302
And he blinked.

1044
01:10:08,385 --> 01:10:13,338
And, um, we told him
that he would never walk again,

1045
01:10:13,422 --> 01:10:15,836
and that he had to start
his rehabilitation,

1046
01:10:15,918 --> 01:10:17,167
but he was gonna live,

1047
01:10:17,251 --> 01:10:19,956
and we were gonna
get through this with him.

1048
01:10:20,831 --> 01:10:22,787
And that was rough.

1049
01:10:22,870 --> 01:10:26,367
It was the toughest moment
I've...

1050
01:10:28,031 --> 01:10:31,736
Yeah. That was tough.

1051
01:10:38,105 --> 01:10:43,141
I pulled myself together
and you couldn't move him

1052
01:10:43,225 --> 01:10:47,513
because he was pinned in
and you couldn't get...

1053
01:10:47,596 --> 01:10:49,010
So the back of his head,

1054
01:10:49,094 --> 01:10:53,131
I just ran my finger
under his hair like that.

1055
01:10:54,879 --> 01:10:58,168
And that was satisfaction
to him.

1056
01:11:02,081 --> 01:11:05,078
We were doing a show
in Charlotte

1057
01:11:05,161 --> 01:11:07,908
and I went to bed early
so I could get up.

1058
01:11:07,991 --> 01:11:10,031
We had to be at the airport
six o'clock in the morning

1059
01:11:10,114 --> 01:11:13,819
and four o'clock
in the morning the phone rang.

1060
01:11:13,902 --> 01:11:16,317
They said, "Turn on the radio,
turn on the radio."

1061
01:11:16,400 --> 01:11:18,273
So I turned on the radio

1062
01:11:18,357 --> 01:11:20,604
and then that's how we heard
what had happened.

1063
01:11:20,687 --> 01:11:25,225
They said Teddy Pendergrass
was in a very bad accident,

1064
01:11:25,308 --> 01:11:28,638
was paralyzed
from the waist down.

1065
01:11:28,721 --> 01:11:32,510
It was like,
you got to be joking, you know.

1066
01:11:32,593 --> 01:11:35,838
- I couldn't believe it.
-  Unbelievable.

1067
01:11:35,922 --> 01:11:39,752
You know, it's like, so I um...

1068
01:11:44,456 --> 01:11:48,452
I called Henry and said,
"Teddy was in a car accident?"

1069
01:11:48,535 --> 01:11:50,823
He said,
"Yeah, we're gonna leave later

1070
01:11:50,907 --> 01:11:52,114
because I don't know how..."

1071
01:11:52,198 --> 01:11:53,530
None of us knew it was that bad.

1072
01:11:53,613 --> 01:11:55,611
- That serious.
- None of us knew it.

1073
01:11:55,694 --> 01:11:59,981
And he called back later and
said we're not going anywhere.

1074
01:12:00,023 --> 01:12:02,811
- And I was like, wow.
- We never went anywhere again.

1075
01:12:02,895 --> 01:12:07,724
♪ But those days are gone ♪

1076
01:12:07,806 --> 01:12:11,304
♪ Don't leave me ♪

1077
01:12:11,387 --> 01:12:16,466
♪ Here alone ♪

1078
01:12:18,130 --> 01:12:23,624
♪ So I'm standing here,
standing here ♪

1079
01:12:24,623 --> 01:12:29,411
♪ All by myself ♪

1080
01:12:30,076 --> 01:12:33,073
♪ Don't wanna be ♪

1081
01:12:34,406 --> 01:12:39,025
♪ All by myself anymore ♪

1082
01:12:40,275 --> 01:12:42,896
He had everything he wanted.

1083
01:12:42,980 --> 01:12:45,935
He thought
he was indestructible.

1084
01:12:46,018 --> 01:12:50,181
But then most young men
of that age,

1085
01:12:50,265 --> 01:12:53,470
you have a certain amount
of fame and money,

1086
01:12:53,554 --> 01:12:55,093
you think nothing
can happen to you.

1087
01:12:56,300 --> 01:12:59,838
And what happened to him
was the cruelest of all

1088
01:12:59,921 --> 01:13:02,420
because he became a prisoner
in his own self.

1089
01:13:02,503 --> 01:13:06,623
♪ All by ♪

1090
01:13:11,742 --> 01:13:16,114
♪ My ♪

1091
01:13:17,488 --> 01:13:22,690
♪ Self ♪

1092
01:13:26,811 --> 01:13:32,056
♪ If you don't know me by now ♪

1093
01:13:34,471 --> 01:13:36,177
Thank you.

1094
01:13:36,260 --> 01:13:41,630
♪ You will never, never, never
know me ♪

1095
01:13:44,668 --> 01:13:49,164
I was 11 years old, sixth grade,

1096
01:13:49,247 --> 01:13:54,824
and watching my teacher
sob and cry.

1097
01:13:54,908 --> 01:13:59,778
I never saw anyone, especially
black people, this devastated.

1098
01:14:00,902 --> 01:14:03,108
They weren't going to school.

1099
01:14:03,192 --> 01:14:05,730
Oh, God, we were next door
to Philly International.

1100
01:14:05,855 --> 01:14:08,103
Everybody was devastated.

1101
01:14:11,517 --> 01:14:14,389
- We were in Jamaica.
- We were in Jamaica.

1102
01:14:14,473 --> 01:14:17,553
Writing songs for him
for his next album.

1103
01:14:19,217 --> 01:14:21,507
Yeah. That was a sad day.

1104
01:14:21,591 --> 01:14:23,712
All day, the talk on the street
was about Teddy.

1105
01:14:23,795 --> 01:14:26,044
I really liked him.

1106
01:14:26,127 --> 01:14:29,124
I thought he was really
a good singer and a good man.

1107
01:14:29,207 --> 01:14:30,373
Really sorry.

1108
01:14:30,457 --> 01:14:31,787
I just hope he sings again,
that's all.

1109
01:14:31,871 --> 01:14:34,536
I'm praying for him a lot

1110
01:14:34,618 --> 01:14:38,032
and I hope for a speedy
recovery because he is my man.

1111
01:14:38,115 --> 01:14:39,323
Steady Teddy.

1112
01:14:44,109 --> 01:14:47,064
He had been drinking

1113
01:14:47,148 --> 01:14:49,853
but he wasn't intoxicated. No.

1114
01:14:49,936 --> 01:14:53,350
I would not have allowed him
to drive me

1115
01:14:53,434 --> 01:14:55,390
in his car
if he had been drunk.

1116
01:14:55,473 --> 01:14:58,220
They didn't
find anything in his system.

1117
01:14:58,304 --> 01:15:01,674
They didn't say he had drugs
in him. I didn't.

1118
01:15:01,757 --> 01:15:06,129
He had had trouble with that car
ever since he bought it.

1119
01:15:06,212 --> 01:15:07,545
It had no brakes.

1120
01:15:07,626 --> 01:15:10,832
A lot of people
believed that this accident

1121
01:15:10,915 --> 01:15:14,037
was a setup to get rid of him.

1122
01:15:14,121 --> 01:15:17,658
I think the car
was sabotaged, I think it was.

1123
01:15:17,741 --> 01:15:19,656
Because of other cars
that he had.

1124
01:15:19,739 --> 01:15:21,155
I mean, every car that you have,

1125
01:15:21,239 --> 01:15:24,361
something's gonna happen
to the car? Really?

1126
01:15:24,444 --> 01:15:26,359
He pulled his Corvette out
one day

1127
01:15:26,442 --> 01:15:28,065
and the brake lines were cut.

1128
01:15:28,148 --> 01:15:32,851
He had a Mercedes, 450 SL,
brake lines were cut.

1129
01:15:32,935 --> 01:15:35,599
A friend
said it was an organization

1130
01:15:35,682 --> 01:15:38,222
that wanted to kidnap him
for ransom

1131
01:15:38,305 --> 01:15:41,094
so all types of things
were happening.

1132
01:15:41,177 --> 01:15:44,341
He didn't know who his friends
were or who his enemies were.

1133
01:15:44,424 --> 01:15:48,669
I don't put anything past
show business during that time

1134
01:15:48,752 --> 01:15:51,666
in Philadelphia.

1135
01:15:51,749 --> 01:15:55,163
♪ He's my man ♪

1136
01:15:55,247 --> 01:15:56,162
He lived a big life

1137
01:15:56,246 --> 01:15:59,034
and he had really used up
most of his funds.

1138
01:15:59,117 --> 01:16:01,864
-  More?
- ♪ Girls, let me turn you on ♪

1139
01:16:01,948 --> 01:16:03,737
♪ To the big Bull buzz ♪

1140
01:16:03,820 --> 01:16:05,028
♪ One sip will make you

1141
01:16:05,111 --> 01:16:07,775
♪ It's got more taste
than beer ♪

1142
01:16:07,858 --> 01:16:11,771
We had a very large beer
company that sponsored Teddy.

1143
01:16:11,854 --> 01:16:12,811
I told them
what happened to Teddy

1144
01:16:12,895 --> 01:16:15,101
and we were
gonna have to cancel

1145
01:16:15,185 --> 01:16:18,764
and would they put together
an endowment for the kids,

1146
01:16:18,847 --> 01:16:21,512
and they said, "Yes,
we'll definitely do something.

1147
01:16:21,595 --> 01:16:24,009
We'll do some kind of a fund,

1148
01:16:24,092 --> 01:16:25,840
some kind
of charitable donation."

1149
01:16:25,924 --> 01:16:27,256
Then I woke up in the morning

1150
01:16:27,340 --> 01:16:31,211
and the newspaper said
the girl in the car was a guy.

1151
01:16:31,294 --> 01:16:35,373
And I knew I'd never hear
from the beer company again!

1152
01:16:35,457 --> 01:16:37,330
There was a police lady

1153
01:16:37,413 --> 01:16:40,867
and she said that she had
arrested me before.

1154
01:16:40,950 --> 01:16:44,905
And she knew my past, that's
how I got into the paper.

1155
01:16:51,482 --> 01:16:55,145
Everybody
believed it was a woman.

1156
01:16:55,228 --> 01:16:57,018
She was striking.

1157
01:16:57,101 --> 01:17:00,805
I wouldn't dispute
how impressive she looked.

1158
01:17:00,889 --> 01:17:03,304
And my assumption was,
knowing Teddy,

1159
01:17:03,387 --> 01:17:06,050
that he was driving with her,

1160
01:17:06,134 --> 01:17:07,965
put his hand down
between her legs,

1161
01:17:08,048 --> 01:17:11,421
felt the penis
and had the accident.

1162
01:17:11,503 --> 01:17:15,208
I started hormones
when I came to Philadelphia.

1163
01:17:15,292 --> 01:17:19,495
And five years after I started
hormones I had my surgery.

1164
01:17:19,579 --> 01:17:22,201
That was 1977. I'm a woman.

1165
01:17:22,285 --> 01:17:27,862
I've been a woman, completely
a woman, for 40 years now.

1166
01:17:27,945 --> 01:17:30,984
So my whole theory
went right out the window.

1167
01:17:31,067 --> 01:17:34,439
♪ I used to have
lots of money ♪

1168
01:17:35,438 --> 01:17:37,519
♪ I had 'em in big old stacks ♪

1169
01:17:37,601 --> 01:17:40,516
We needed to generate
money for his family.

1170
01:17:40,599 --> 01:17:41,598
I sat through hundreds
of tapes

1171
01:17:41,681 --> 01:17:44,470
and we found tapes that
hadn't been released.

1172
01:17:44,554 --> 01:17:47,093
Unfortunately,
in every case, um...

1173
01:17:47,176 --> 01:17:51,712
his partners in those records
who had the power

1174
01:17:51,796 --> 01:17:54,002
chose not to pay him.

1175
01:17:54,086 --> 01:17:57,748
♪ All the things I wanted ♪

1176
01:17:57,832 --> 01:18:00,372
♪ I don't have anymore ♪

1177
01:18:00,454 --> 01:18:02,910
When one person is your company

1178
01:18:02,993 --> 01:18:04,950
and he pays everybody

1179
01:18:05,033 --> 01:18:08,530
and then something happens
to him, everything goes down.

1180
01:18:08,571 --> 01:18:10,153
Shep stayed with him.

1181
01:18:10,237 --> 01:18:12,900
You know, the record labels,
they left, you know.

1182
01:18:12,983 --> 01:18:13,941
Everyone else left.

1183
01:18:14,024 --> 01:18:16,646
The people that really cared
about him stayed.

1184
01:18:16,729 --> 01:18:18,395
And that was few.

1185
01:18:20,892 --> 01:18:24,348
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

1186
01:18:31,091 --> 01:18:35,087
♪ Happy birthday, dear Teddy ♪

1187
01:18:36,751 --> 01:18:39,124
I'm primarily an opera singer.

1188
01:18:39,208 --> 01:18:42,912
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

1189
01:18:42,995 --> 01:18:47,283
Teddy had a big problem
but it could have been worse.

1190
01:18:48,531 --> 01:18:51,029
If it had been a little higher,

1191
01:18:51,112 --> 01:18:53,235
he would not have been able
to breathe

1192
01:18:53,319 --> 01:18:57,190
and would have been tracheotomy
and respirator dependent.

1193
01:19:49,054 --> 01:19:53,550
He would just be quiet
and keep to himself, you know?

1194
01:19:53,632 --> 01:19:57,504
He had a sad look on his face
and people had to feed him

1195
01:19:58,627 --> 01:20:03,165
and he was just sitting there.

1196
01:20:03,249 --> 01:20:07,203
He was paralyzed forever and I
didn't want him to be like that.

1197
01:20:08,119 --> 01:20:11,490
I wanted it to be like
the old times.

1198
01:20:11,573 --> 01:20:15,486
He said if I
want to commit suicide, I
couldn't.

1199
01:20:15,569 --> 01:20:17,650
And I realized he was correct.

1200
01:20:17,733 --> 01:20:20,689
I didn't think about it
until after. He couldn't.

1201
01:20:23,270 --> 01:20:24,228
He couldn't.

1202
01:20:26,101 --> 01:20:27,974
He was very depressed.

1203
01:20:28,057 --> 01:20:30,762
He had sleeping pills to take
to sleep at night,

1204
01:20:30,845 --> 01:20:32,760
and he would ask me to give him

1205
01:20:32,843 --> 01:20:35,383
all the sleeping pills
and I was like, "No. No way."

1206
01:20:35,466 --> 01:20:37,422
You know, we cried,
and we boo-hooed,

1207
01:20:37,506 --> 01:20:41,044
and I tried to read the Bible
and make sense of all this,

1208
01:20:41,127 --> 01:20:44,083
and he kept saying, "I will
never be able to walk again."

1209
01:20:44,166 --> 01:20:47,537
And I said, "But you're alive."

1210
01:20:47,620 --> 01:20:51,450
♪ Is this my beginning? ♪

1211
01:20:51,533 --> 01:20:53,864
♪ Or is this the end? ♪

1212
01:20:53,948 --> 01:20:57,777
♪ When will I see you again? ♪

1213
01:20:57,860 --> 01:21:01,232
♪ When will I see you again? ♪

1214
01:21:01,315 --> 01:21:03,189
♪ Sweet, sweet love ♪

1215
01:21:03,271 --> 01:21:05,519
♪ When will I see you again? ♪

1216
01:21:05,602 --> 01:21:08,516
Dr. Gottlieb, God thank you.

1217
01:21:08,600 --> 01:21:12,138
Dr. Gottlieb
got in touch with him

1218
01:21:12,221 --> 01:21:16,467
and told him,
"No, Teddy, don't give up."

1219
01:21:19,339 --> 01:21:22,835
I have a visceral reaction

1220
01:21:22,919 --> 01:21:25,083
when I hear things like that.

1221
01:21:26,540 --> 01:21:28,580
My heart breaks

1222
01:21:28,662 --> 01:21:32,326
and it did for him
because I knew

1223
01:21:32,409 --> 01:21:36,696
where he came from and where
he was going to end up.

1224
01:21:37,279 --> 01:21:39,569
To be honest with you,

1225
01:21:39,693 --> 01:21:43,107
it was just a few years
after my accident.

1226
01:21:45,937 --> 01:21:48,893
I knew
what he was going through.

1227
01:21:48,976 --> 01:21:54,013
But I was also in the depths
of my depression,

1228
01:21:55,969 --> 01:22:01,047
and at the deepest level,

1229
01:22:01,131 --> 01:22:06,250
saving his life
felt like saving my own.

1230
01:22:07,499 --> 01:22:11,828
And an average therapist

1231
01:22:11,911 --> 01:22:12,702
who had these feelings

1232
01:22:12,785 --> 01:22:16,365
would not treat that patient.

1233
01:22:16,448 --> 01:22:18,446
Probably shouldn't have.

1234
01:22:19,945 --> 01:22:21,069
But this was different.

1235
01:22:23,400 --> 01:22:28,353
There were no
quadriplegic therapists.

1236
01:22:28,436 --> 01:22:31,101
I was the only one around.

1237
01:22:33,265 --> 01:22:35,179
He finally decided

1238
01:22:35,263 --> 01:22:39,051
that he was gonna
to take his life.

1239
01:22:39,134 --> 01:22:42,381
But I said to him,
"Teddy," I said,

1240
01:22:42,464 --> 01:22:43,712
"if you're going to do this,

1241
01:22:43,796 --> 01:22:48,166
you have a moral obligation

1242
01:22:48,250 --> 01:22:52,080
to talk with your mother,
Karen and your son

1243
01:22:52,162 --> 01:22:54,868
about this decision."

1244
01:22:54,952 --> 01:22:58,198
And he agreed. They all came in.

1245
01:22:58,281 --> 01:23:00,530
We had a family session.

1246
01:23:01,029 --> 01:23:03,776
They all cried.

1247
01:23:03,859 --> 01:23:07,439
They all understandably
tried to talk him out of it.

1248
01:23:07,523 --> 01:23:11,310
They begged him,
especially his poor son.

1249
01:23:11,643 --> 01:23:13,808
Um...

1250
01:23:13,891 --> 01:23:18,303
And he didn't cry
in that session.

1251
01:23:20,134 --> 01:23:21,175
Um, which is more troubling.

1252
01:23:23,173 --> 01:23:25,879
So at the end of the session
Teddy says,

1253
01:23:25,962 --> 01:23:28,502
"I probably
won't see you again."

1254
01:23:29,125 --> 01:23:32,164
And I heard that word.

1255
01:23:32,622 --> 01:23:35,037
"Probably."

1256
01:23:35,119 --> 01:23:39,240
And I said, "Teddy,"

1257
01:23:39,324 --> 01:23:42,154
I said,
"Get your ass back in here."

1258
01:23:42,237 --> 01:23:45,734
So he came in. I said,
"What do you mean, probably?"

1259
01:23:45,817 --> 01:23:49,646
And that's when I made
the proposal to him.

1260
01:23:49,730 --> 01:23:55,516
I said, "We're gonna
stage a funeral for you

1261
01:23:55,600 --> 01:23:59,596
so you'll know
what it's like for them."

1262
01:23:59,678 --> 01:24:03,924
Little Teddy, Mom,

1263
01:24:04,008 --> 01:24:05,214
myself and Teddy

1264
01:24:05,298 --> 01:24:08,004
had to invite all of the people
we felt, you know,

1265
01:24:08,086 --> 01:24:11,750
were our closest friends,
family, whoever.

1266
01:24:11,833 --> 01:24:13,748
And he put a sheet over Teddy.

1267
01:24:13,831 --> 01:24:15,704
And he said, "OK, you're dead."

1268
01:24:15,787 --> 01:24:19,117
And he said,
"You can't say anything,"

1269
01:24:19,159 --> 01:24:21,948
and one by one
we had to walk up

1270
01:24:22,031 --> 01:24:24,237
and express to Teddy

1271
01:24:24,320 --> 01:24:28,649
what we felt about him taking...
about him being dead.

1272
01:24:28,733 --> 01:24:32,396
Our job was to tell him...

1273
01:24:33,811 --> 01:24:37,391
how we feel about him and what
life would be like without him.

1274
01:24:37,474 --> 01:24:42,011
I remember a lot of
people being mad, angry, hurt,

1275
01:24:42,094 --> 01:24:45,049
because everybody felt that
he had so much to live for.

1276
01:24:45,133 --> 01:24:48,255
And they took that sheet
off of his face.

1277
01:24:48,338 --> 01:24:53,417
And Teddy sat up in that chair
and said, "I don't wanna die."

1278
01:24:53,500 --> 01:24:55,248
He said, "I want to live."

1279
01:24:55,331 --> 01:24:57,538
I don't know what
that did to him

1280
01:24:57,620 --> 01:25:01,200
but death was not even
a question after that.

1281
01:25:22,970 --> 01:25:25,468
He was determined
to be able to sing.

1282
01:25:25,551 --> 01:25:30,421
Everybody with whom
he consulted except for me,

1283
01:25:30,505 --> 01:25:32,710
told him it was impossible.

1284
01:25:36,623 --> 01:25:40,702
A couple of months after
it happened, I tried singing.

1285
01:25:40,786 --> 01:25:42,284
I was scared to death.

1286
01:25:42,368 --> 01:25:44,491
And I remember
it was in the afternoon,

1287
01:25:44,574 --> 01:25:46,197
there was a coffee commercial.

1288
01:25:52,899 --> 01:25:57,227
And I said, "You know,
there's... Doggone it, you know?

1289
01:25:57,311 --> 01:25:58,934
It's a possibility, yeah.

1290
01:25:59,017 --> 01:26:01,723
You know,
if given the opportunity,

1291
01:26:01,806 --> 01:26:03,221
yeah, we can do this."

1292
01:26:03,305 --> 01:26:07,217
I thought it was unlikely that
he was going to be able to sing

1293
01:26:07,301 --> 01:26:10,714
fully the same way
that he had before.

1294
01:26:10,797 --> 01:26:12,129
But that we would get him
singing again

1295
01:26:12,212 --> 01:26:15,585
and then he would have
to decide whether that was

1296
01:26:15,667 --> 01:26:18,997
a good enough sound
to go back into the studio

1297
01:26:19,080 --> 01:26:20,455
and to go out in public.

1298
01:26:20,538 --> 01:26:24,200
So the next thing I did was get
a hold of all the video tapes

1299
01:26:24,284 --> 01:26:27,197
that I could to study his voice
and his technique

1300
01:26:27,281 --> 01:26:31,527
and find out what we were
trying to restore.

1301
01:26:31,610 --> 01:26:36,022
♪ Taking the bumps and the
bruises and all the things ♪

1302
01:26:36,105 --> 01:26:39,185
♪ Of a two-time loser ♪

1303
01:26:39,311 --> 01:26:42,640
♪ Trying to hold on,
faith is gone ♪

1304
01:26:42,724 --> 01:26:44,598
♪ It's just another sad song ♪

1305
01:26:44,680 --> 01:26:46,429
It's not a coincidence

1306
01:26:46,512 --> 01:26:48,634
that Teddy Pendergrass's
accident

1307
01:26:48,718 --> 01:26:51,715
and the slow, quiet fade-out
of Philly International

1308
01:26:51,798 --> 01:26:55,253
happened at the same time.

1309
01:26:55,336 --> 01:26:56,751
Yeah, they've had hits
with Patti LaBelle

1310
01:26:56,835 --> 01:27:00,373
and The O'Jays, you know, since,

1311
01:27:00,456 --> 01:27:04,202
but it wasn't quite the same.

1312
01:27:04,286 --> 01:27:06,075
- It wasn't the same.
- No, it wasn't the same.

1313
01:27:06,158 --> 01:27:08,115
- The company wasn't the same.
- No.

1314
01:27:08,198 --> 01:27:11,861
It was very difficult because

1315
01:27:11,944 --> 01:27:16,107
the Kenny and Leon record label
was distributed by CBS.

1316
01:27:16,190 --> 01:27:20,852
And there was a lot of fighting
back and forth.

1317
01:27:20,893 --> 01:27:24,266
With the accident
and not being able to secure

1318
01:27:24,349 --> 01:27:25,888
another deal with CBS Records,

1319
01:27:25,930 --> 01:27:30,510
time had run out. For everybody.

1320
01:27:30,593 --> 01:27:33,756
Your record company
left, they walked away, right?

1321
01:27:33,839 --> 01:27:37,044
So long, you can't do it for us
anymore, goodbye.

1322
01:27:37,127 --> 01:27:38,418
That must have hurt.

1323
01:27:38,502 --> 01:27:41,997
Tremendously. Tremendously.

1324
01:27:42,081 --> 01:27:45,702
It was depressing how people

1325
01:27:45,786 --> 01:27:51,197
thinking he had no career left
just were completely uh...

1326
01:27:51,280 --> 01:27:53,778
without compassion.

1327
01:27:53,860 --> 01:27:57,358
'Cause they thought everything
was in the past, not the future.

1328
01:27:57,441 --> 01:27:59,481
♪ It's just another sad song ♪

1329
01:27:59,564 --> 01:28:02,186
I hoped that
he'd be able to sing again

1330
01:28:02,269 --> 01:28:05,225
and Teddy was very determined.

1331
01:28:05,308 --> 01:28:09,513
♪ 'Cause it looks like
to me another ♪

1332
01:28:10,968 --> 01:28:13,882
Teddy's vocal cords were fine

1333
01:28:13,965 --> 01:28:18,295
but the vocal cords are only
a small part of the voice.

1334
01:28:18,378 --> 01:28:19,918
You have to blow through it

1335
01:28:20,001 --> 01:28:23,706
and you do that with the air
in your lungs

1336
01:28:23,789 --> 01:28:27,203
controlled by the muscles of
your chest and abdomen and back.

1337
01:28:27,286 --> 01:28:32,072
♪ Ohh... ♪

1338
01:28:33,489 --> 01:28:35,236
Teddy couldn't do that.

1339
01:28:35,320 --> 01:28:39,524
♪ Oh, love me ♪

1340
01:28:39,607 --> 01:28:41,605
Shep Gordon,
Teddy's manager, called me

1341
01:28:41,688 --> 01:28:45,351
and told me what had happened
at his previous record company.

1342
01:28:45,435 --> 01:28:50,180
They were unsure about going
forward with Teddy Pendergrass.

1343
01:28:50,263 --> 01:28:54,717
I was not really aware of how
serious Teddy's problems were.

1344
01:28:54,799 --> 01:28:56,048
I had heard the rumors.

1345
01:28:56,132 --> 01:28:58,380
I asked Shep,
"Shep, what is the truth?"

1346
01:28:58,464 --> 01:29:01,252
He told me what the truth is.
I said, "I am in."

1347
01:29:01,335 --> 01:29:05,582
Teddy had some
residual arm fluxion.

1348
01:29:05,664 --> 01:29:09,035
He was able to use his biceps.

1349
01:29:09,618 --> 01:29:11,700
So we created for him

1350
01:29:11,824 --> 01:29:15,612
a belt-like apparatus
that went around his waist

1351
01:29:15,737 --> 01:29:18,734
so when he needed more support
for his singing voice,

1352
01:29:18,817 --> 01:29:20,400
he flexed his arms

1353
01:29:20,483 --> 01:29:24,603
and everything around
his abdomen and back tightened

1354
01:29:24,687 --> 01:29:26,060
and he was able to sing again.

1355
01:29:26,144 --> 01:29:29,558
This is his first
live television interview

1356
01:29:29,682 --> 01:29:32,054
since the car he was driving
crashed 26 months ago.

1357
01:29:32,138 --> 01:29:33,387
He was left paralyzed.

1358
01:29:33,470 --> 01:29:37,632
Teddy got his voice back
and he regained some strength.

1359
01:29:37,715 --> 01:29:41,462
I have accomplished something
that um...

1360
01:29:41,546 --> 01:29:45,624
was at first unsure
that I'd be able to do.

1361
01:29:45,707 --> 01:29:48,080
People would say,
"Oh, the guy's dead, he's gone.

1362
01:29:48,163 --> 01:29:51,618
He won't be back. That's it
for him. Wash-out. He's gone."

1363
01:29:51,701 --> 01:29:54,032
And I set out to prove

1364
01:29:54,116 --> 01:29:58,777
that nobody will determine
when I'm done but me.

1365
01:29:58,860 --> 01:30:02,441
I went back to Bob Krasnow and I
said I think we can do an album.

1366
01:30:04,106 --> 01:30:08,684
This album is a product
of two years of thinking.

1367
01:30:08,767 --> 01:30:10,723
I've received a lot of love

1368
01:30:10,807 --> 01:30:13,013
and I hope to give that love
back through my music.

1369
01:30:13,097 --> 01:30:17,009
♪ I'm a tried
and true romantic ♪

1370
01:30:17,093 --> 01:30:21,255
My focus was
I have millions of women

1371
01:30:21,339 --> 01:30:25,418
who love Teddy,
who know about the tragedy.

1372
01:30:25,502 --> 01:30:28,872
They've probably listened
to his old records every day

1373
01:30:28,955 --> 01:30:31,537
for the last three years
and cried,

1374
01:30:31,620 --> 01:30:33,825
and he's now going to speak
to that one person.

1375
01:30:33,909 --> 01:30:37,323
Teddy's going to talk to her.

1376
01:30:37,406 --> 01:30:39,071
♪ In my time ♪

1377
01:30:39,154 --> 01:30:43,649
♪ I've lived and loved
so much ♪

1378
01:30:43,732 --> 01:30:47,645
♪ And through
each high and low ♪

1379
01:30:47,728 --> 01:30:50,268
♪ I've let my heart
be touched ♪

1380
01:30:52,973 --> 01:30:57,760
♪ In my time
there isn't much I've missed ♪

1381
01:30:57,843 --> 01:31:02,381
The words to the song were "I've
never loved like this before."

1382
01:31:02,465 --> 01:31:05,793
Knowing every woman
would start crying immediately.

1383
01:31:05,877 --> 01:31:08,208
♪ I've never loved
like this... ♪

1384
01:31:08,292 --> 01:31:09,914
And we go
to his high-school gymnasium

1385
01:31:09,998 --> 01:31:12,204
and we make
a very conscious decision

1386
01:31:12,288 --> 01:31:16,075
we're gonna show him in the
wheelchair, not gonna hide it.

1387
01:31:16,159 --> 01:31:18,490
♪ In my time ♪

1388
01:31:18,574 --> 01:31:22,860
♪ I've lived and loved
so much ♪

1389
01:31:22,943 --> 01:31:25,857
♪ And through
each high and low ♪

1390
01:31:25,940 --> 01:31:30,228
♪ I've let my heart
be touched ♪

1391
01:31:32,018 --> 01:31:34,889
♪ In my time ♪

1392
01:31:34,973 --> 01:31:37,761
♪ There isn't much I missed ♪

1393
01:31:37,845 --> 01:31:41,092
♪ I've seen love come and go ♪

1394
01:31:41,841 --> 01:31:43,839
♪ But heaven knows ♪

1395
01:31:43,922 --> 01:31:46,546
♪ I've never loved like this ♪

1396
01:31:46,669 --> 01:31:50,208
♪ In my time ♪

1397
01:31:51,747 --> 01:31:52,621
Teddy!

1398
01:31:52,705 --> 01:31:57,034
- We got a surprise for you.
- Holy shit!

1399
01:31:57,118 --> 01:31:58,575
- What is this?

1400
01:31:58,657 --> 01:32:00,490
A little gold record for you.

1401
01:32:00,573 --> 01:32:02,321
Teddy, we're really pleased

1402
01:32:02,405 --> 01:32:04,528
to give you your first
gold record with us

1403
01:32:04,609 --> 01:32:08,524
and we're glad that at least
part of the road to recovery

1404
01:32:08,605 --> 01:32:10,313
is paved in gold. God bless.

1405
01:32:10,397 --> 01:32:14,101
Ah! Thank you. Thank you.

1406
01:32:16,349 --> 01:32:20,594
♪ When the whole world
seems against you ♪

1407
01:32:22,176 --> 01:32:27,711
♪ And your whole life
seems unborn ♪

1408
01:32:27,795 --> 01:32:31,417
♪ When all you ever wanted ♪

1409
01:32:31,501 --> 01:32:33,040
♪ Was a little peace ♪

1410
01:32:33,123 --> 01:32:36,827
♪ I can understand
just how you feel ♪

1411
01:32:36,911 --> 01:32:41,407
♪ Don't let this cold world ♪

1412
01:32:41,491 --> 01:32:44,653
♪ Get you down ♪

1413
01:32:45,985 --> 01:32:48,400
♪ Be strong, hold on ♪

1414
01:32:48,484 --> 01:32:52,603
♪ Don't let this cold world ♪

1415
01:32:52,686 --> 01:32:53,894
♪ Get you down ♪

1416
01:32:53,977 --> 01:32:56,226
♪ Don't let it
get you down... ♪

1417
01:32:56,309 --> 01:32:59,763
Taking performance away from me
was bad enough.

1418
01:32:59,846 --> 01:33:02,885
I'm a performer by heart.

1419
01:33:02,968 --> 01:33:04,758
That's what I've been doing
since I'm two years old.

1420
01:33:04,841 --> 01:33:07,381
Been doing it 32 years.

1421
01:33:07,465 --> 01:33:10,668
So I had to come to grips
with not being able to perform.

1422
01:33:10,752 --> 01:33:13,417
How painful is that for you now?

1423
01:33:13,500 --> 01:33:16,080
I haven't said
that I won't perform.

1424
01:33:16,164 --> 01:33:18,744
At the time I didn't know
whether or not I will or won't.

1425
01:33:18,827 --> 01:33:19,453
I'm still not saying.

1426
01:33:25,363 --> 01:33:29,443
Live Aid got announced
and one of the sites was Philly.

1427
01:33:29,525 --> 01:33:31,024
One song in the middle
of Live Aid

1428
01:33:31,107 --> 01:33:34,479
and it's goose-bump moment
for everybody.

1429
01:33:35,437 --> 01:33:39,016
He was so scared and everybody,

1430
01:33:39,099 --> 01:33:42,013
we were so reassuring of him.

1431
01:33:42,096 --> 01:33:44,676
"Dad, you can do it
and we're so happy for you.

1432
01:33:44,759 --> 01:33:47,673
You can do it, we love you."

1433
01:33:47,756 --> 01:33:50,546
We were like a mini entourage,
mini family entourage.

1434
01:33:50,628 --> 01:33:52,710
We would get behind
and get beside him

1435
01:33:52,793 --> 01:33:54,376
and went out
and a number of artists

1436
01:33:54,459 --> 01:33:58,038
and other entertainers were
excited to see him, see him out.

1437
01:33:58,122 --> 01:34:02,576
You know, he always had
a certain standard,

1438
01:34:02,658 --> 01:34:04,781
and he wanted to continue
that standard

1439
01:34:04,865 --> 01:34:06,322
so of course he was nervous.

1440
01:34:06,406 --> 01:34:08,902
How would people receive him
in the wheelchair?

1441
01:34:08,986 --> 01:34:14,022
Oh, he was nervous,
he was... nervous.

1442
01:34:14,148 --> 01:34:15,355
I was nervous

1443
01:34:15,479 --> 01:34:19,101
so I can't imagine
what he was feeling

1444
01:34:19,184 --> 01:34:20,392
but because he was our friend,

1445
01:34:20,474 --> 01:34:23,180
if he thought he was ready
then we thought he was ready.

1446
01:34:23,264 --> 01:34:27,592
Teddy went out
at the bottom of the ramp

1447
01:34:27,675 --> 01:34:29,174
and he was looking really slick.

1448
01:34:29,258 --> 01:34:30,922
But I could see something
was wrong.

1449
01:34:31,005 --> 01:34:32,255
I went over to him and he said,

1450
01:34:32,338 --> 01:34:36,833
"I don't think I can do this.
I can't pull this off.

1451
01:34:36,916 --> 01:34:40,038
I don't think I have the power
to pull it off."

1452
01:34:40,122 --> 01:34:42,618
I said, "Well, we're here,
we've gotta do it."

1453
01:34:42,701 --> 01:34:43,576
And he said, "I don't know."

1454
01:34:43,659 --> 01:34:45,242
I said, "Teddy, I'm wheeling
you out there.

1455
01:34:45,325 --> 01:34:49,238
You don't have to sing
but you're gonna be there."

1456
01:34:49,321 --> 01:34:51,568
Put your hands together

1457
01:34:51,651 --> 01:34:54,565
and give a big round
of applause

1458
01:34:54,648 --> 01:34:56,979
to Mr. Teddy Pendergrass!

1459
01:35:04,056 --> 01:35:06,636
When he rolled himself out,

1460
01:35:06,719 --> 01:35:08,926
I remember it was almost
like choreographed,

1461
01:35:09,009 --> 01:35:11,091
we kind of backed away from him.

1462
01:35:11,174 --> 01:35:14,171
And it was such a long applause.

1463
01:35:14,254 --> 01:35:16,751
More applause
than I've ever heard in my life.

1464
01:35:24,577 --> 01:35:27,574
Oh, listen, Ashford,
thank you so much.

1465
01:35:30,238 --> 01:35:32,902
When he rolled out
on that stage,

1466
01:35:32,985 --> 01:35:35,108
everybody just cried.

1467
01:35:35,192 --> 01:35:37,897
We just lost it

1468
01:35:37,980 --> 01:35:40,977
but it was like a happy time.

1469
01:35:41,061 --> 01:35:42,226
We were so proud of him.

1470
01:35:42,310 --> 01:35:44,099
I am truly grateful
to be here today...

1471
01:35:48,012 --> 01:35:50,343
and I want you to know
I feel your love.

1472
01:35:52,216 --> 01:35:56,587
Very glad to be sharing the
stage with Ashford and Simpson.

1473
01:35:58,959 --> 01:36:02,581
♪ Reach out and touch ♪

1474
01:36:03,496 --> 01:36:06,286
♪ Somebody's hand ♪

1475
01:36:06,368 --> 01:36:09,116
♪ Make this world
a better place ♪

1476
01:36:09,199 --> 01:36:12,113
- ♪ If you can ♪

1477
01:36:12,196 --> 01:36:15,401
♪ Reach out and touch ♪

1478
01:36:15,484 --> 01:36:18,232
♪ Touch somebody's hand ♪

1479
01:36:18,315 --> 01:36:22,311
It was the perfect song
and it was his personal life.

1480
01:36:22,394 --> 01:36:23,976
You know, he was reaching out.

1481
01:36:24,059 --> 01:36:27,597
♪ Reach out and touch ♪

1482
01:36:27,680 --> 01:36:29,470
♪ Somebody's hand ♪

1483
01:36:29,554 --> 01:36:30,553
♪ Somebody ♪

1484
01:36:30,635 --> 01:36:34,091
♪ Make this world
a better place ♪

1485
01:36:34,133 --> 01:36:35,880
♪ If you can ♪

1486
01:36:35,964 --> 01:36:38,461
♪ Reach out and touch ♪

1487
01:36:38,545 --> 01:36:41,084
♪ Somebody's hand ♪

1488
01:36:41,167 --> 01:36:45,413
♪ Make this world
a better place ♪

1489
01:36:45,538 --> 01:36:48,742
♪ If you can ♪

1490
01:36:50,991 --> 01:36:54,029
♪ Take a little time
from your busy day ♪

1491
01:36:54,113 --> 01:36:56,527
♪ To give encouragement ♪

1492
01:36:56,609 --> 01:36:59,191
♪ To someone
who's lost their way ♪

1493
01:37:01,563 --> 01:37:02,437
♪ Would you do that? ♪

1494
01:37:02,521 --> 01:37:06,641
♪ Or would I be talking
to a stone ♪

1495
01:37:06,724 --> 01:37:09,555
♪ If I asked you
to share a problem ♪

1496
01:37:09,638 --> 01:37:12,053
♪ That's not your own ♪

1497
01:37:12,969 --> 01:37:15,674
♪ Oh, we can change ♪

1498
01:37:15,757 --> 01:37:19,545
♪ If we start giving ♪

1499
01:37:19,628 --> 01:37:22,833
- ♪ Why don't you ♪
- ♪ Reach out and touch ♪

1500
01:37:22,917 --> 01:37:25,248
♪ Touch somebody... ♪

1501
01:37:25,331 --> 01:37:27,745
He was a man that did suffer,

1502
01:37:27,828 --> 01:37:30,867
and like most of us,

1503
01:37:32,158 --> 01:37:36,320
it's not the suffering, it's how
you deal with the suffering.

1504
01:37:37,652 --> 01:37:43,271
And he dealt with it at first
by wanting to die

1505
01:37:43,355 --> 01:37:45,727
and now I watched him
deal with it

1506
01:37:45,810 --> 01:37:50,140
by shifting his outlook
towards life.

1507
01:37:50,223 --> 01:37:54,219
When I seen him on
Live Aid, it was, he's back.

1508
01:37:54,302 --> 01:37:59,796
He's back. Wheelchair
or no wheelchair, he's back.

1509
01:37:59,880 --> 01:38:02,419
- ♪ Oh, we can change things ♪
- ♪ Change things ♪

1510
01:38:02,502 --> 01:38:04,292
- ♪ If we start giving ♪
- ♪ Giving ♪

1511
01:38:04,375 --> 01:38:08,246
- ♪ Why don't you ♪
- ♪ Why don't you ♪

1512
01:38:08,330 --> 01:38:11,243
- ♪ Reach out and touch ♪
- ♪ Touch ♪

1513
01:38:11,327 --> 01:38:15,239
- ♪ Somebody's hand ♪
- ♪ Touch somebody's hand ♪

1514
01:38:15,323 --> 01:38:18,195
♪ Make this world
a better place ♪

1515
01:38:18,278 --> 01:38:21,192
- ♪ If you can ♪
- ♪ Would you reach out ♪

1516
01:38:21,275 --> 01:38:24,355
- ♪ Reach out and touch ♪
- ♪ Touch somebody's ♪

1517
01:38:24,439 --> 01:38:25,604
♪ Somebody's ♪

1518
01:38:25,687 --> 01:38:27,894
♪ Would you touch somebody's ♪

1519
01:38:27,977 --> 01:38:30,058
♪ Touch somebody's ♪

1520
01:38:30,142 --> 01:38:33,221
- ♪ A better place ♪
- ♪ Gotta be a better place ♪

1521
01:38:33,305 --> 01:38:34,803
♪ Reach out and touch ♪

1522
01:38:34,887 --> 01:38:37,093
- ♪ Somebody's hand ♪
- ♪ Somebody's ♪

1523
01:38:37,176 --> 01:38:40,755
♪ Make this world
a better place ♪

1524
01:38:40,839 --> 01:38:45,876
♪ If you can reach out ♪

1525
01:38:45,959 --> 01:38:50,329
♪ And touch ♪

1526
01:38:58,946 --> 01:39:02,234
So many people are afraid

1527
01:39:02,317 --> 01:39:03,525
like if something happens
to them,

1528
01:39:03,607 --> 01:39:08,228
they just give up and he didn't
give up, he was a fighter.

1529
01:39:08,311 --> 01:39:10,934
And we always go,
"Don't we know!"

1530
01:39:11,017 --> 01:39:13,265
So by the time
we got back home,

1531
01:39:13,348 --> 01:39:16,886
his part came on television,
it was now broadcasting

1532
01:39:16,970 --> 01:39:18,385
so we got to see it on TV

1533
01:39:18,426 --> 01:39:22,297
and we're laying there watching
it and he looks at me, said,

1534
01:39:22,381 --> 01:39:25,128
"Why didn't you tell me
I was a blubberbutt?"

1535
01:39:26,460 --> 01:39:30,123
And I'm like, "I didn't even
realize you were that big!"

1536
01:39:30,206 --> 01:39:33,786
So immediately he was like,
"I'm going on a diet."

1537
01:39:39,489 --> 01:39:43,984
Thank you, thank you,
so, so, so, so, so, so.

1538
01:39:45,774 --> 01:39:49,229
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

1539
01:39:49,312 --> 01:39:51,601
Hey!

1540
01:39:51,684 --> 01:39:56,263
There is a dim
light on all he has accomplished

1541
01:39:56,347 --> 01:39:58,719
and that light
needs to be a lot brighter

1542
01:39:58,803 --> 01:40:00,967
and we need to keep
his legacy alive

1543
01:40:01,051 --> 01:40:02,882
because these
young whippersnappers

1544
01:40:02,965 --> 01:40:04,589
need to see a Teddy Pendergrass

1545
01:40:04,671 --> 01:40:07,919
so they know
how it's supposed to be done.

1546
01:40:08,002 --> 01:40:09,917
We always listened
to his music,

1547
01:40:10,000 --> 01:40:11,290
especially growing up.

1548
01:40:12,539 --> 01:40:14,745
I got to meet
the original band,

1549
01:40:14,828 --> 01:40:16,368
original background singers.

1550
01:40:16,452 --> 01:40:20,281
And they are just like so
humble and they know so much.

1551
01:40:20,364 --> 01:40:23,736
I'm in awe because they were
telling me all these stories.

1552
01:40:23,819 --> 01:40:24,194
I was like, wow.

1553
01:40:25,942 --> 01:40:26,900
♪ Wake up, everybody ♪

1554
01:40:26,983 --> 01:40:30,854
♪ No more sleeping in bed ♪

1555
01:40:30,937 --> 01:40:35,724
♪ No more backward thinking,
time for thinking ahead ♪

1556
01:40:35,807 --> 01:40:38,430
♪ The world has changed
so very much ♪

1557
01:40:38,513 --> 01:40:40,927
♪ From what it used to be ♪

1558
01:40:41,011 --> 01:40:42,759
♪ There is so much hatred ♪

1559
01:40:42,842 --> 01:40:46,921
♪ War and poverty ♪

1560
01:40:49,044 --> 01:40:53,081
♪ Ohh... ♪

1561
01:40:53,165 --> 01:40:54,372
♪ Ohh... ♪

1562
01:40:54,456 --> 01:40:56,287
♪ Wake up, all the teachers ♪

1563
01:40:56,370 --> 01:40:58,617
♪ Time to teach a new way ♪

1564
01:40:58,701 --> 01:41:03,572
♪ Maybe then they'll listen
to what you have to say ♪

1565
01:41:03,654 --> 01:41:06,110
♪ 'Cause they're the ones
who's coming up ♪

1566
01:41:06,193 --> 01:41:08,899
♪ And the world
is in their hands ♪

1567
01:41:08,983 --> 01:41:11,105
♪ So when you teach
the children ♪

1568
01:41:11,188 --> 01:41:14,768
♪ Teach 'em
the very best you can ♪

1569
01:41:17,474 --> 01:41:22,011
♪ The world
won't get no better ♪

1570
01:41:22,094 --> 01:41:25,550
♪ If we just let it be ♪

1571
01:41:27,381 --> 01:41:31,002
♪ The world
won't get no better ♪

1572
01:41:31,085 --> 01:41:35,581
♪ We gotta change it, yeah,
just you and me ♪

1573
01:41:38,703 --> 01:41:43,448
♪ Wake up, all the doctors,
make the old people well ♪

1574
01:41:43,532 --> 01:41:44,780
♪ 'Cause they're the ones
who suffer ♪

1575
01:41:44,905 --> 01:41:48,360
♪ And who catch all the hell ♪

1576
01:41:48,443 --> 01:41:50,857
♪ 'Cause they don't have
so very long ♪

1577
01:41:50,899 --> 01:41:53,313
♪ Before their judgment day ♪

1578
01:41:53,397 --> 01:41:55,852
♪ So won't you
make them happy ♪

1579
01:41:55,936 --> 01:42:01,222
♪ Before they pass away? ♪

1580
01:42:01,305 --> 01:42:06,300
♪ Wake up, all the builders,
time to build a new land ♪

1581
01:42:06,384 --> 01:42:10,962
♪ I know we can do it
if we all lend a hand ♪

1582
01:42:11,045 --> 01:42:13,793
♪ The only thing
we have to do ♪

1583
01:42:13,876 --> 01:42:15,916
♪ Is put it in our mind ♪

1584
01:42:15,998 --> 01:42:18,288
♪ Surely things will work out ♪

1585
01:42:18,372 --> 01:42:22,117
♪ They do it every time ♪

1586
01:42:24,574 --> 01:42:28,903
♪ The world
won't get no better ♪

1587
01:42:28,985 --> 01:42:30,901
♪ If we just let it be ♪

1588
01:42:30,983 --> 01:42:34,439
♪ Na-na-na-na na na na ♪

1589
01:42:34,522 --> 01:42:37,769
♪ The world
won't get no better ♪

1590
01:42:37,810 --> 01:42:41,140
♪ We gotta change it, yeah,
just you and me ♪

1591
01:42:45,886 --> 01:42:47,675
♪ Change it, yeah ♪

1592
01:42:51,005 --> 01:42:51,755
♪ Wake up ♪

1593
01:42:51,838 --> 01:42:55,751
♪ Everybody ♪

1594
01:42:55,834 --> 01:42:57,374
♪ Wake up ♪

1595
01:42:57,458 --> 01:42:59,289
♪ Everybody ♪

1596
01:43:00,787 --> 01:43:01,745
♪ Wake up ♪

1597
01:43:01,828 --> 01:43:05,450
♪ Everybody ♪

1598
01:43:05,533 --> 01:43:07,072
♪ Wake up ♪

1599
01:43:07,156 --> 01:43:09,279
♪ Everybody ♪

1600
01:43:10,528 --> 01:43:12,443
♪ Wake up ♪

1601
01:43:15,106 --> 01:43:16,855
♪ Wake up ♪

1602
01:43:33,171 --> 01:43:37,084
♪ Now wait just a minute,
what is this I see? ♪

1603
01:43:37,167 --> 01:43:41,414
♪ Is that you?
Don't you remember me? ♪

1604
01:43:41,497 --> 01:43:45,243
♪ You're not the same person
that I knew ♪

1605
01:43:45,326 --> 01:43:49,697
♪ So where'd you go?
What'd you do to yourself? ♪

1606
01:43:49,780 --> 01:43:53,609
♪ You were much better
when we used to get down ♪

1607
01:43:53,693 --> 01:43:56,731
♪ Remember then there
was nothing in your sound ♪

1608
01:43:56,815 --> 01:44:00,061
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪

1609
01:44:00,144 --> 01:44:02,560
♪ You like the taste
of the wine ♪

1610
01:44:02,642 --> 01:44:04,307
♪ Oh, I don't know
who you're trying to fool ♪

1611
01:44:04,391 --> 01:44:07,179
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪

1612
01:44:07,263 --> 01:44:10,925
♪ You like the taste
of the wine ♪

1613
01:44:14,047 --> 01:44:18,210
♪ You should be ashamed
of the way you appear ♪

1614
01:44:18,293 --> 01:44:21,872
♪ Look at yourself,
don't you give me no tears ♪

1615
01:44:21,956 --> 01:44:26,701
♪ You used to be carefree
and that was your only way ♪

1616
01:44:26,785 --> 01:44:30,822
♪ And now a school teacher,
you try to read a date ♪

1617
01:44:30,905 --> 01:44:34,901
♪ There were times
we rocked all night long ♪

1618
01:44:34,984 --> 01:44:37,981
♪ So don't pretend
that the feeling is gone ♪

1619
01:44:38,065 --> 01:44:40,104
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪

1620
01:44:40,188 --> 01:44:43,435
♪ You like the taste
of the wine ♪

1621
01:44:43,519 --> 01:44:46,806
♪ You know that I know
that you know, yeah, you know ♪

1622
01:44:46,889 --> 01:44:49,304
♪ Girl, you know ♪

1623
01:44:49,387 --> 01:44:51,385
♪ You like
the taste of the wine ♪

1624
01:44:54,632 --> 01:44:56,921
♪ Do it ♪

1625
01:44:57,878 --> 01:45:00,751
♪ The way you used to ♪

1626
01:45:03,540 --> 01:45:05,538
♪ Do it ♪

1627
01:45:05,621 --> 01:45:08,160
♪ The way I remember you ♪

1628
01:45:10,948 --> 01:45:12,531
♪ Oh yeah ♪

1629
01:45:16,817 --> 01:45:19,981
♪ Mm-mm, mm-mm ♪

1630
01:45:23,852 --> 01:45:27,224
♪ You say
you don't recognize your pal ♪

1631
01:45:27,308 --> 01:45:32,303
♪ Afraid I'd tell
you were my good-time gal ♪

1632
01:45:32,386 --> 01:45:35,175
♪ I see you changed,
the image is true ♪

1633
01:45:35,258 --> 01:45:37,796
♪ You don't smoke,
you don't drink ♪

1634
01:45:37,880 --> 01:45:41,085
♪ What else don't you do? ♪

1635
01:45:41,210 --> 01:45:44,748
♪ 'Cause you were the one
who could never get enough ♪

1636
01:45:44,831 --> 01:45:47,911
♪ It was good to you then
so don't you pull no stuff ♪

1637
01:45:47,995 --> 01:45:50,076
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪
- ♪ Girl, you know ♪

1638
01:45:50,160 --> 01:45:52,199
♪ You like the taste
of the wine ♪

1639
01:45:52,283 --> 01:45:55,405
♪ Oh, I don't know
who you're trying to fool ♪

1640
01:45:55,488 --> 01:45:57,236
♪ But I know,
yeah, you know it ♪

1641
01:45:57,319 --> 01:46:02,523
♪ Girl, you know you like
the taste of the wine ♪