Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Don’t Leave Me This Way (Dim’s Re-Edit)
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Album: After The Playboy Mansion (Compilation, 2002)

Teddy Pendergrass
You Can’t Hide From Yourself
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Album: Teddy Pendergrass (1977)

This is part one of a two-part tribute to Teddy Pendergrass. part two

This week’s passing of soul legend Teddy Pendergrass hurts a little bit. Few can claim as much authority on the mic as Teddy. During his prime, even his ballads were turned up to 11.

Of course, I dove into the collection on a hunt for all things Teddy. Embarrassed to say, I only had a greatest hits collection and Life Is a Song Worth Singing, Teddy’s second LP. After listening to Life Is a Song Worth Singing from end to end, I decided that it is worthy of LP Classics designation; a full post is forthcoming.

I did have a few Teddy tracks on some compilations, plus Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes’ Wake Up Everybody, their landmark 1975 LP with Teddy on lead vocals. That record included a bunch of great tracks, chief among them the rousing 5-star classic "Don’t Leave Me This Way." Even though the LP version is a scorcher, I decided to digitize a 2002 “re-edit” from Dimitri From Paris that modestly improves upon the track’s mixability.

The other track I selected is “You Can’t Hide From Yourself,” from Teddy’s 1977 eponymous solo debut LP. As the title might indicate, this became an anthem in gay discos. Philly Soul architects Gamble & Huff threw it down yet again, combining a thomping beat, blaring Philly horns, and a positive message with one of Teddy’s most urgent vocals.

Some biographical notes upon Teddy’s passing:

• Read his NY Times obituary or his Wikipedia page.
• Everything changed for Teddy after a 1982 car accident made him a paraplegic. Though he rarely performed live after the accident, he did keep making commercially successful records. But he mostly dedicated his post-accident life towards advocating for the rights of those with spinal cord injuries.
• Teddy got his start as a replacement drummer for Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. Harold quickly figured out that Teddy could also sing, and reassigned him to lead singer. Get a taste of Teddy’s percussion skills in the clip below (he picks up the drumsticks starting at 3:40):

• The ladies loved them some Teddy, and he occasionally put on shows where only women were allowed in the audience as he passed around lollipops shaped like himself (R. Kelly, take note). In researching Teddy’s life, I was surprised to learn there may have been another side to his image as the consummate ladies’ man. Because I want this space to value musical drama over the real-life variety, I won’t go into the details here, but a quick search about the nature of Teddy’s car accident will clue you in.

Kid Cudi
50 Ways To Make A Record
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Album: A Kid Named Cudi (Mixtape, 2008)

Paul Simon
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
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Album: Still Crazy After All These Years (1975)

One of the benefits of sampling other artists’ songs is that I get to rediscover music that I haven’t heard in a while. Such is the case with this edition of Musical Cousins.

One of the many (too many) year-end “best of” lists I read was The 10 Best Mixtapes of 2008 (all free, by the way). Most of them were not of interest to me, but I checked out a couple. The freshest was from Kid Cudi, a Cleveland singer-rapper who, as a result of his mixtape, became a protege of Kanye West.

Cudi has a laid back flow and a respectable singing voice. But what really brought a smile to my face was a throwaway track, a semi-cover of Paul SImon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” which he reworked as “50 Ways To Make A Record.” Yeah, the new lyrics are insidery and on its own, this track won’t move the needle for Cudi’s burgeoning career, but hearing that militaristic drum line took me back instantly.

I probably hadn’t heard Paul Simon’s version for at least 20 years, so after listening to Cudi’s track I downloaded the original immediately. Wow, what a great song (a 5-star classic, fo’ sho’). The song shifts — both musically and lyrically — from the wistful realization of dissatisfaction in the narrator’s relationship to the buoyant catharsis of letting go and finding relief through freedom. Simon is that rare artist who is equally skilled as a songwriter, singer, and musician and this classic is a testament to his talents.

Thanks, Kid Cudi, for shepherding me back to this song after all these years.