Bye, Teddy Bear

Was shocked to hear as I tuned in to the TJMS that Teddy Pendergrass, one of my favorite soul singers of the 70's and early 80's died Wednesday in his hometown of Philadelphia at age 59 after a long illness.

Teddy was born in Philadelphia on March 26, 1950 and started out his music career as a drummer. It wasn't long before we began hearing that sexy, powerful baritone voice on Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes songs such as their 1972 Number One hit 'If You Don't Know Me by Now'.

Teddy left the group to go solo and had a string of hits such as "I Don't Love You Anymore', 'Love THO', 'Turn out The Lights' and 'Close The Door'.

Pendergrass had a string of 10 consecutive platinum albums while receiving several Grammy nominations, Billboard's 1977 Pop Album New Artist Award and an American Music Award for best R&B performer of 1978.

For the brothers of the late 70's, if you wanted some romantic attention from the ladies, Teddy Pendergrass' music or concert tickets became a requirement for setting the proper romantic mood. Teddy's music is probably responsible for many of the people who were born in the late 70's and early 80's being here.



Sisters back in the day loved them some Teddy and the 'Teddy Bear' loved them back. Teddy was one of the first artists to have 'For Ladies Only' concert tours that were sold out affairs.

I still chuckle about a 1980 Kool Jazz Festival I attended at the Dome with my uncle, brother and mom in which Rick James and Teddy were the highlight acts. We had floor seats twenty rows from the rotating stage, and five minutes into Teddy's set, two sexy sisters sweetly asked my uncle if they could borrow his binoculars because in their words, they wanted to see if Teddy had a big package.

As my Uncle Leo chuckled and handed over his binoculars, the stage rotated back in our direction. The first sister squealed in delight as her homegirl said 'Ooh girl, lemme see, lemme see' as panties started flying toward the stage.

In 1982 as Teddy's career was at its apex with him becoming an international superstar and sex symbol, Pendergrass and passenger Tenika Watson were involved in a near fatal Philadelphia car accident that left him paralyzed.

But Pendergrass returned to the studio in 1984 to record an album. That album featured a song in which a young female singer got her first recording opportunity.

That singer's name was Whitney Houston. Wonder what happened to her?

Teddy also did a lot of work through his Teddy Pendergrass Alliance founded in 1998 to help people suffering from spinal cord injuries.

But my feelings about Teddy are echoed by his son Teddy Pendergrass II.

"To all his fans who loved his music, thank you. He will live on through his music."

That he will. But another one of the legendary R&B singers has passed on.

Goodbye Mary Daly-And Please Take The Transphobia With You

TransGriot Note: My latest post for Global Comment.

One of the major reasons I don't like radical feminism is the virulent transphobia that was espoused by the quartet of Sheila Jeffreys, Janice Raymond, Germaine Greer, and the woman that died January 3, Mary Daly.

While Daly was a brilliant thinker, she was controversial to put it mildly.

She once advocated that only ten percent of the men on Planet Earth should be left alive, and refused to allow men in her women's studies classrooms at Boston College.

She was called out by womanist Audre Lorde for her racism in Lorde's famous May 6, 1979 Open Letter To Mary Daly.

Lorde criticized her for failing to address race or acknowledge the stories of women of color in Daly's 1978 book Gyn/Ecology.

Daly never responded to Lorde's letter, which she published four months later.

Daly's transphobia was in full effect in Gyn/Ecology as well when she referred to trans people as "Frankensteinian" and living in a "contrived and artifactual condition".

“Although the resistance Mary Daly’s feminist theology offered to patriarchal oppression is commendable, a spirituality that elevates one’s own kind by demonizing an ‘other’ – as hers did for transgender/genderqueer folks – is ultimately one for which I have no sympathy,” said transgender activist and historian Dr. Susan Stryker. “Her moralistic condemnation of transsexuals as death-loving Frankenstein monsters was a powerful impetus for my own efforts to reclaim the transformative power of the monstrous and refute its stigma for trans people.”

You can read the rest of the Mary Daly post there.

JFK Assassination Anniversary

Today is the sad anniversary of the November 22, 1963 assassination of our 35th President of the United Sates, John Fitzgerald Kennedy in Dallas.

Since I have relatives in Dallas, I have visited Dealey Plaza and the area where the assassination happened numerous times

While there are many quotes from JFK that I love, this one about liberalism is perfect answer to conservafools as to why I am a proud liberal.

And yes, I agree with people who state that we need to immediately take that word back from the conservaidiots.


If by a liberal they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties..if that is what they mean by a "liberal" then I am proud to be a liberal. John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the United States

Rest in peace, JFK. Our country would be a far better place today had you lived.