Music Monday: May 9, 2022

It’s Monday and I’m exhausted from the busy weekend. Today I’m planning to slow down a little bit and catch my breath, and I hope you all are able to do a little bit of that too.

Today’s Music Monday selection is from Teddy Pendergrass, an icon of Philly soul. The first time I ever heard of Teddy Pendergrass was when my partner referred to his inside joke with a friend calling him Teddy Pendergraham (like the teddy graham crackers) and then had to explain the joke to me.

I was surprised to read on the official Teddy Pendergrass website that he suffered a severe spinal cord injury at the height of his career, resulting in paralysis that required his use of a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

After months of recovery and physical therapy, he went back to recording (including a single with an as-yet-unknown Whitney Houston) and performed from his wheelchair for several more decades. Alongside his continued musical career, he dedicated himself to advocacy work for fellow spinal cord injury survivors.

Today’s selection is a Teddy Pendergrass classic, highlighting his unique voice, the Philly soul sound, and for some reason a surprising amount of math. In fact, it inspired me to start a playlist called “Songs with a Surprising Amount of Math.” Feel free to make suggestions for the playlist, and enjoy this song on this Music (and Surprise Math) Monday!