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R&B Singer Teddy Pendergrass Dies at 59

NEW YORK – R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass, who was one of the most
electric and successful figures in music until a car crash 28 years ago
left him in a wheelchair, has died of colon cancer. He was 59.
Pendergrass died Wednesday in suburban Philadelphia, where he had
been hospitalized for months.

The singer's son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father underwent colon
cancer surgery eight months ago and had "a difficult recovery." Before
the crash, Pendergrass established a new era of R&B with an explosive,
raw voice that symbolized masculinity, passion and the joys and sorrow
of  romance in songs such as "Close the Door," "It Don't Hurt Now,"
"Love T.K.O." and other hits that have since become classics.

He was an international superstar and sex symbol. His career was at its
apex — and still climbing.Friend and longtime collaborator Kenny Gamble,
of the renowned production duo Gamble & Huff, teamed with Pendergrass
on his biggest hits and recalled how the singer was even working on a
movie."He had about 10 platinum albums in a row, so he was a very,
very successful recording artist and as a performing artist," Gamble said
Thursday."He had a tremendous career ahead of him, and the accident
sort of got in the way of many of those plans."

Pendergrass, who was born in Philadelphia in 1950, suffered a spinal cord
injury in a 1982 car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist
down — still able to sing but without his signature power. The image of
the strong, virile lover was replaced with one that drew sympathy. But
instead of becoming bitter or depressed, Pendergrass created a new
identity — that as a role model, Gamble said. "He never showed me that
he was angry at all about his accident," Gamble said in a telephone
interview with The Associated Press. "In fact, he was very courageous."

Pendergrass left a remarkable imprint on the music world as he ushered
in a new era in R&B with his fiery, sensual and forceful brand of soul and
his ladies' man image, burnished by his strikingly handsome looks.
Gamble said Pendergrass was one of a kind as an artist and boasted a
powerful voice and "a great magnetism."


"He was a great baritone singer, and he had a real smooth sound, but he
had a real rough sound, too, when he wanted to exert power in his voice,"
Gamble said.But it wasn't Pendergrass' voice that got him his break in the
music business it was his drum playing abilities. He met Harold Melvin, who
was looking for replacement members for his group, the Blue Notes, and
signed on to be the drummer. Later, he became the lead singer of the
group, which became known as Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. The
band started working with Gamble and Leon Huff and had signature hits in
the early 1970s with "Wake Up Everybody" and "If You Don't Know Me by

Now."But Pendergrass had creative differences with Melvin and soon left
for a solo career, according to his Web site. It was then he would become
a sex symbol for the R&B genre, working women into a frenzy with hits
such as "Only You" and concerts dedicated for ladies only. "The females,"
Gamble said, "loved Teddy Pendergrass. The females were very attracted
to him and his music."Unlike the songs of many of today's male R&B
crooners, Pendergrass' music borderedon eroticism without explicit
lyrics or coarse language — just through the raw emotion in his voice.
"Turn Off the Lights" was a tune that perhaps best represented the many
moods of Pendergrass tender and coaxing yet strong as the song reaches
its climax. Fans were devastated when, at age 31, Pendergrass was
critically injured after his Rolls-Royce hit a tree. He spent six months in a
hospital and returned to recording the next year with the album "Love
Language." He continued to sing and recorded several albums, receiving
Grammy nominations. "To all his fans who loved his music, thank you,"
his son said. "He will live on through his music." It was 19 years before
Pendergrass resumed performing at his own concerts. He made his return
on Memorial Day weekend in 2001, with two sold-out shows in 
Atlantic City, N.J. Gamble noted Pendergrass' charitable work for people
with spinal cord injuries, his performances despite pain and his focus on
the positive in the face of great challenges. "He used to say something in
his act in the wheelchair, 'Don't let the wheelchair fool you,' because he
still proclaimed he was a lover," Gamble said. But his career was never
the same. Gamble said it was difficult for Pendergrass to project vocally
like he once did: "The breathing aspect of it, he wasn't really able to
deal with it." And while he had albums, he was no longer seen as the sex
symbol but more of a sympathetic, tragic figure, even though he still had
a strong following among his core female fans. After the accident, he
dedicated much of his life to helping others with spinal cord injuries and
founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance to do just that. Gamble said he
wanted to help others. "In his quiet moments, he probably did a lot of
reflection. But I never saw him pity himself. He stayed busy," Gamble said. "
(But) I feel that he's in a better place now. He doesn't have to go through
that pain or whatever he was going through anymore."Read more
 
Haiti Earthquake: Drunk Looters, Desperate Survivors

LOOTING is spreading in the Haitian capital as hundreds of young men,
some drunk for extra "courage", roam the streets nearly a week after the
earthquake which is now estimated to have killed 200,000 people.
While hundreds of millions of dollars have been pledged to help Haiti,
aid is still not reaching some of the hardest hit areas because survivors are
 too scared of attacks on aid convoys to accept assistance.But while the has
Red Cross has warned that violence by desperate Haitians is growing,
 the top US officer on the ground, Lieutenant-General Ken Keen, has insisted:
 "The level of violence we see now is below pre-earthquake levels".

"Is there gang violence?  Yes.  Was there gang violence before the
earthquake?  Absolutely," he said.Thousands of peacekeepers,
police and soldiers have been sent in to Haiti from nearby nations
to restore order and help distribute aid.  Agencies on the ground in
the capital, Port-au-Prince, have said the effort is now running more
efficiently after the confusion of the initial aftermath of the 7.0 quake
which hit last week.

But the situation for survivors is still one of unimaginable horror. 
Gangs of looters roam the streets - the top target is toothpaste,
which is smeared under the nose to mask the constant stench of death.

In one instance, looters scavenging a collapsed market were fired on by
police as they tried to steal bottles of rum, armed with broken bottles,
machetes and razors. "I am drinking as much as I can.  It gives courage,"
one young looter, carrying a piece of wood with nails in it, told the
Associated Press.

As the death toll approaches that of the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004,
there are still another 250,000 injured and 1.5 million left homeless in
desperate need of attention.  Even those whose homes survived are
sleeping on the streets for fear of aftershocks.

About 50,000 people are sleeping on a golf course in Port-au-Prince
and the World Food Program is planning a tent city on the outskirts
for 100,000, the AP reported.

Reports from the city have said about 70,000 bodies have been buried,
 but many more bodies still line the streets. 

Survivors are reportedly dumping corpses at intersections in the hope
aid agencies or authorities - even garbage trucks - will eventually
remove them.

There have been some uplifting tales of survival emerging -such as the
story of the text message to the UN that led to the rescue two days later
of two adults and a young girl after they were trapped in a collapsed
supermarket for 100 hours.

When rescuers shouted out seeking signs of life, a girl's voice came back:
"I'm seven".  The girl, named as Ariel, reportedly said she was stuck
next to a dead man but covered with food.

But while some hope remains, it is becoming more faint by the hour and
Ariel's story is expected to be one of the last of its kind.

In another indication of the catastrophe Haiti is now living through,
a Dutch charter plane is due to pick up 100 Haitian children -
many but not all now orphans - for adoption outside the country.

The UN's humanitarian body has said hospitals are overwhelmed
and suffering a severe shortage of supplies and staff.  It has also said the
fuel shortage in Haiti was becoming "more and more critical".

Emergency workers are now reaching battered communities outside the
capital, including Gressier, Petit Goave and Leogane, which were all
flattened by the quake.  "Patients arrived on handcarts or on men's
backs," said Medecins Sans Frontieres emergency coordinator Hans
van Dillen.

Many foreigners are trying to flee - hundreds of US citizens, or people
claiming to be, have formed a long line outside the US embassy in hopes
of arranging a flight out of the country. Read more