The revolution might not be televised, but if Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff had their way the revolution might have been remixed for the dance-floor. And the duo did just that by helping to create black cultural nationalist anthems like The O'Jay's 'For the Love of Money' and 'Give the People What They Want,' and of course McFadden and Whitehead's (rest in peace, bruh John) 'Ain't No Stopping Us Now.' One of the keys to the Gamble and Huff's success with Philadelphia International Records was their privileging of the Soul Man Preacher as the voice of the movement, so figures like Eddie Levert, Walter Williams and most notably Mr. Theodore Pendergrass become icons. And it's Mr. Pendergrass who stood at the pulpit as the lead on Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' 'Bad Luck.'

On the one hand the song is a perfect fit for the boot-strap capitalism of the Gamble and Huff world, so it's brother Teddy reminding folk that "chances go 'round, but if you really want to know the truth about it, I'll tell you what's holding you down -- bad luck!" A reminder perhaps that in the post-Civil Rights world, if you can't "man up" (as Judge Mathis might say), there must be some supernatural "ish" up in the mix. But it's just a ruse and after 6-minutes of folk getting their sweat on, Pendergrass (with a nod to The Dells's Marvin Junior) gets real about the real culprit.

In a sermon as majestic as any the Reverend C. L. Franklin concocted, Reverend Teddy literally screams the lyrics "I know none of y'all satisfied, satisfied/the way prices has been going up on things/I can barely buy a morning paper?But then early one morning I got me a paper/I sat down on my living room floor and opened it up/guess what I saw? I saw the president of the United States/The man said he wasn't gonna give it up/He did resign/but he still turned around and left all us poor folks behind/they say they got another man to take his place/but I don't think that he can satisfy the human race." If there was any bad luck it was the misfortune of five and a half years of the Nixon White House and policies that deliberately sanctioned the destruction of the black protest movement. As the song begins to fade, Pendergrass can be heard singing "The only thing that I got that I can hold on to is my God, my God, Jesus be with me and give me good luck, good luck." The track is unquestionably the strongest of Pendergrass' performances as a member of the Blue Notes and a reminder of a time when shaking your ass could indeed be revolutionary.

About the Author

Adam Bradley is a freelance writer based in New England.