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Teddy Pendergrass & The Murder of Taaz Lang (Episode 214)

·40 min·2 clips

Teddy Pendergrass became the first Black singer to have five consecutive platinum records.

1. Black True Crime Podcast focuses on Teddy Pendergrass and the murder of Taz Lang. 2. Kayla and Nikki host the episode and frame Teddy Pendergrass as a singer, songwriter, and Philadelphia figure tied to a murder case. 3. The episode asks whether Teddy’s 1982 car crash and Taz Lang’s 1977 murder are connected through money, contracts, and local power. 4. Teddy Pendergrass was born on March 26, 1950, in King Street, South Carolina, and moved to Philadelphia with his mother Ida as a baby. 5. The hosts say Teddy’s father left when he was young, and his mother kept him in church seven days a week. 6. Teddy learned to sing and play drums in church, then said Jackie Wilson confirmed his wish to work in show business. 7. He dropped out of high school as a junior and spent his time on music, soul, and R&B at the Uptown Theater in Philadelphia. 8. The episode names Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, where Teddy joined in 1969 as drummer and later became lead vocalist. 9. The hosts mention songs including "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "The Love I Lost," and "Bad Luck." 10. Teddy’s solo album Teddy came out in 1977 and reached No. 5 on the Billboard R&B chart. 11. The hosts say he became a sex symbol whose women-only shows drew thrown teddy bears and lingerie. 12. A drummer quoted in the episode says Teddy’s voice "hit a certain center" and drove the crowd’s reaction. 13. The episode says Teddy had a mansion, luxury cars, a production company, and a women’s jeans line. 14. The hosts call him "Black Elvis" and say he was the first Black singer to have five consecutive platinum records. 15. On March 18, 1982, Teddy was driving his Rolls-Royce in Germantown when the power steering failed and the car hit a divider and a tree. 16. The hosts say the crash broke Teddy’s neck and left him paralyzed from the chest down, though his voice was not affected. 17. The episode says Teddy later received professional help and continued recording music after a mock funeral staged for him. 18. Teddy released six more albums after the crash, and four went gold, which the hosts contrast with his physical limitations. 19. The tone is conversational, opinionated, and story-driven, with Kayla steering the history and Nikki reacting in real time. 20. Listeners who like Philadelphia music history and true-crime family stories will get the most from this episode.

As heard by us

A vivid, uneasy account of Teddy Pendergrass's crash, balancing mechanical uncertainty, suspicion, and the lasting fact of paralysis.

Teddy Pendergrass's 1982 crash gives this single episode its sharpest pull. At 31, driving a Rolls-Royce on a winding road in Philadelphia's Germantown section, he lost control after the power steering stopped working, hitting a highway divider before the car struck a tree.

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Why you'd press play

Press play for Teddy Pendergrass, a wrecked Rolls-Royce, and a brake-line suspicion that will not sit quietly.

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