On July 13, 1985 the Live Aid benefit concerts took
place simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and at John F. Kennedy
Stadium in Philadelphia. The recent
Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody was
capped off with a 20-minute recreation of Freddie Mercury and Queen’s
performance at Wembley Stadium (an amazing bit of filmmaking) … “across the
pond” (as they say) an equally emotional performance took place on that date.
MVD Entertainment Group has announced that
documentary filmmaker Olivia Lichtenstein’s Teddy
Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me will
be heading to the home entertainment marketplace on Aug. 23 as both DVD and
Blu-ray product offerings.
Teddy Pendergrass was at the top of his career and
then came the night of March 18, 1982.
He was involved in a car crash in Philadelphia that left him a quadriplegic
and paralyzed from the chest down. It
was, however, not the end of his career and filmmaker Lichtenstein chronicles
that, and more, in her look at the life of this five-time Grammy nominee and five-time
Platinum and three-time Gold recording artist.
The Live Aid concert was his return to the limelight
after three years of recovery from the near-fatal accident. After Live Aid he would go on to record six
additional albums, including the 1988 release of the Gold-certified “Joy,”
which yielded two top ten R&B chart toppers, “Joy” (no. 1) and “2 A.M. (no.
3).
Filmmaker Olivia Lichtenstein examines Pendergrass’
early life, his breakthrough with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, his
solo-career management by the legendary Shep Gordon (who actually staged
female-only venues to promote Pendergrass’ sexual allure) and even the dark
side … his first manager and love interest, Taaz Lang, was murdered execution
style (the crime has never been solved).
The film blends vintage performances with a
no-nonsense storyline that highlight both the good and bad in Pendergrass’
amazing life and career.
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