Tuesday, July 08, 2008
"Joy," Teddy Pendergrass (6/25/88)
Some 6 years after an auto accident left the great Teddy P paralyzed from the waist down, and some 4 years after he introduced the world to Whitney Houston with the duet "Hold Me" (a top 5 R&B single), he returned to his rightful place atop the R&B chart for the first time in a decade with "Joy," a single which proved that he could rock the drum machines as well as anything else. The production here is entirely up-to-the-minute (well, the 1988 minute), but apart from being a little more uptempo than the bulk of his classics, this isn't so different from much of Pendergrass's catalog - and it's just as sexy as ever. When he speak-sings "Aww baby, tell me whatcha like," you know he means it - and so did legions of women thrilled that THE loverman was back. In the late '70s, Pendergrass was what L. Vandross became in the '80s: the premiere soundtrack for, well, black lovin'. The crucial difference? Teddy was a bonafied sex symbol; no one this side of Tom Jones likely got showered with more lingerie when in concert. "Joy" isn't quite "Close the Door," but it's nonetheless a solid addition to Teddy P's canon. B+
Some 6 years after an auto accident left the great Teddy P paralyzed from the waist down, and some 4 years after he introduced the world to Whitney Houston with the duet "Hold Me" (a top 5 R&B single), he returned to his rightful place atop the R&B chart for the first time in a decade with "Joy," a single which proved that he could rock the drum machines as well as anything else. The production here is entirely up-to-the-minute (well, the 1988 minute), but apart from being a little more uptempo than the bulk of his classics, this isn't so different from much of Pendergrass's catalog - and it's just as sexy as ever. When he speak-sings "Aww baby, tell me whatcha like," you know he means it - and so did legions of women thrilled that THE loverman was back. In the late '70s, Pendergrass was what L. Vandross became in the '80s: the premiere soundtrack for, well, black lovin'. The crucial difference? Teddy was a bonafied sex symbol; no one this side of Tom Jones likely got showered with more lingerie when in concert. "Joy" isn't quite "Close the Door," but it's nonetheless a solid addition to Teddy P's canon. B+
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