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I think this article sums up the attraction to Bundy pretty well. Bundy was college educated, handsome, and a charmer. He didn't look like what people thought of when they thought of a serial killer. If I'm not mistaken, he even offered to help police track the murderer of Adam Walsh. I'm still not 100% that it was indeed Otis Toole. I feel that may have been just to give John Walsh an answer after years of not knowing.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-01/ted-bundy-why-the-serial-killer-attracted-female-fans/10763676

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Watched "Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me" last night, very good and I think it would be a good watch even if you don't know his music or general story. Teddy does a live version of a song that was going to be his crossover attempt and his version of it is jaw dropping.

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We had a two hour delay this morning so I checked out Porndemic on Showtime On Demand.  It's about the HIV outbreak in the adult film industry in 1998.

I was already familiar with how unsettlingly business-like most adult stars talk when they're discussing their trade. 

I am not sure whether to feel sorry for Mark Wallace and Sharon Mitchell or bash their heads in with a baseball bat. 

They have both had more than their fair share of tragedy in their lives, but most of their wounds are self inflicted and they both seem to be quite the self righteous assholes in their interviews.

 

 

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Caught about half of the Pendergrass doc and it was damn good, and damn sad. The possibility that he was actually sabotaged is terrifying and utterly disgusting. The man should have left Philly long before it had a chance to happen, but he had too much pride. 

Also saw the end of Porndemic too and talk about terrifying and utterly disgusting..,

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On 2/20/2019 at 8:08 AM, happjack said:

Watched "Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me" last night, very good and I think it would be a good watch even if you don't know his music or general story. Teddy does a live version of a song that was going to be his crossover attempt and his version of it is jaw dropping.

Can't wait to watch this one. I felt like the TVOne Unsung episode on Teddy was somewhat unexceptional, but then again, that's TVOne for you. I'm going to try to knock this one out and then watch the ReMastered: Sam Cooke doc sometime in the next couple of days.

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I know I'm late as hell to the Fyre Doc conversation, but my god that is perhaps the craziest thing I've ever watched.  The thing that really kills me about the entire ordeal is that they could have done this right.  If they would have taken their time and planned it out instead of choosing a random date there is no reason they couldn't have pulled it off.  The entire thing went downhill because they tried to pull off something that would take over a year in about 6 weeks.  The video they created to announce the Fyre Festival may be the single most impressive pieces of marketing I've ever seen.  If they would have just took their time and planned this festival for a weekend where there were enough rental properties for everyone, I think they could have pulled it off.  If they would have taken the time to plan out how much time and money it would take to put something like this together, what they were trying was possible.  It just wasn't possible in that time frame, on that island, on that weekend.  They just started making promises on top of ridiculous promises, before they actually figured out whether or not they could even begin to keep up with their promises.  When they realized they couldn't keep the promises, instead of walking them back, they started making more absurd promises.  Then he gets arrested, makes bail, and immediately started scamming those people again.  It just shows that he had no interest in actually putting together an actual music festival, he's just trying to scam people.

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On 2/20/2019 at 10:55 AM, Curt McGirt said:

Caught about half of the Pendergrass doc and it was damn good, and damn sad. The possibility that he was actually sabotaged is terrifying and utterly disgusting. The man should have left Philly long before it had a chance to happen, but he had too much pride. 

Also saw the end of Porndemic too and talk about terrifying and utterly disgusting..,

Just watched the doc, and it was tremendous BTW. I don't think it was case of pride with Teddy, but it would have been like asking Prince to leave Minnesota. It wasn't going to happen. Plus, at the time of the car accident,  it was right in the middle of the MOVE incidents/standoffs with the first one happening in 1978 and the other in 1985. Frank Rizzo was corrupt as shit as mayor and the then mayor was more progressive (he hired Wilson Goode, who would become the 1st African American mayor of Philly after his tenure and unfortunately largely responsible for the MOVE bombing in '85) so folks like Teddy probably thought things were changing. In addition, and they touched on it briefly, I don't think Teddy was a shrinking violet at all. He was a very nice guy, but he wasn't a scared individual. I think the thing is dealing with the chitlin circuit and all that came with being a black artist at that time (sadly, a lot of the black artists from that time period ended up broke due to folks pulling all types of bullshit) emboldened some artists to step out and figure a path forward by themselves. I'm glad this doc did touch on Harold Melvin because it should highlight how common this stuff was. Harold Melvin was a tyrant and Teddy even wrote in his book IIRC about how Harold slapped the dogshit outta him at party one time, but the system for black artists IMO allowed for that to happen. Harold should have never been in charge of doling out the money. However, since the music industry is and was extremely unfair to black artists, you got people not getting paid barely anything at all and working all the time. You will notice this is a common theme among even the most popular black artists from the 50s until probably the mid to late 70s. That's why Teddy's white, Jewish manager was just shocked in the documentary. The thing was if you just gave the black people Cadillacs, then everything would be fine. It wasn't until artists spoke up or went their own way did this change. Teddy was a product of wanting that to change as the doc correctly points out. For him to leave Philly at the height of the corruption and racial strife in the early 80s would be flat giving up. He wasn't going to do that especially if also meant alienating his black fanbase.

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Yo, Teddy P. was outchea slanging it.  These women still talking about how much they love him...as they were talking about how he was blatantly cheating on them.

The crazy thing about the Chitlin' Circuit part that was incredible is how easily they got out of it.  I was talking to someone one day about how many times I've come across something that I just assumed I couldn't do and came to find out there was no barrier of entry at all.  I think that is one of the underrated things about being a minority.  There is an artificial ceiling that you just assume is there.  His manager just said, "Fuck this, we aren't doing that," and people were mad, but nothing actually happened.  

The potential of Teddy Pendergrass as a Lionel Richie market correction is insane.  Seriously, after Lionel Richie left The Commodores, most black people stopped caring about him at all.  Teddy Pendergrass and that voice singing those Lionel Richie songs would have been undeniable.  Teddy's entire steez was overwhelming black masculinity, him as a crossover artist at that time would have been something we've never really seen.  

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Yeah, you have to look at these things in context of the times and environment. He had pride, but it was justified. Looking through my eyes, I would have ran -- he was stronger than me. Then again, after looking up the MOVE history and the bombing (which I had known about but forgot all the details of), it might've still been a wee bit better to maybe go incognito instead of driving Rolls...

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On 2/20/2019 at 9:43 AM, J.T. said:

We had a two hour delay this morning so I checked out Porndemic on Showtime On Demand.  It's about the HIV outbreak in the adult film industry in 1998.

I was already familiar with how unsettlingly business-like most adult stars talk when they're discussing their trade. 

I am not sure whether to feel sorry for Mark Wallace and Sharon Mitchell or bash their heads in with a baseball bat. 

They have both had more than their fair share of tragedy in their lives, but most of their wounds are self inflicted and they both seem to be quite the self righteous assholes in their interviews.

 

 

For taking no responsiblity for his actions, not apologizing to any of the girls, and continuing to see himself as a victim; I'd say Mark Wallace should have his head bashed in. 

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6 hours ago, supremebve said:

Yo, Teddy P. was outchea slanging it.  These women still talking about how much they love him...as they were talking about how he was blatantly cheating on them.

The crazy thing about the Chitlin' Circuit part that was incredible is how easily they got out of it.  I was talking to someone one day about how many times I've come across something that I just assumed I couldn't do and came to find out there was no barrier of entry at all.  I think that is one of the underrated things about being a minority.  There is an artificial ceiling that you just assume is there.  His manager just said, "Fuck this, we aren't doing that," and people were mad, but nothing actually happened.  

The potential of Teddy Pendergrass as a Lionel Richie market correction is insane.  Seriously, after Lionel Richie left The Commodores, most black people stopped caring about him at all.  Teddy Pendergrass and that voice singing those Lionel Richie songs would have been undeniable.  Teddy's entire steez was overwhelming black masculinity, him as a crossover artist at that time would have been something we've never really seen.  

Well, when you're dealing with (other) powerless (namely black) people in the industry and you meet someone with connections (i.e. affluent white and/or Jewish), it's much easier to be elevated. White capital chooses most of these artists. The glass ceiling is still very much exists, but you actually have someone who can help you get past it which is fucked up just on the racial component alone because a prominent black artist like Teddy could have done it extremely different if he didn't care about his fans or his integrity. Think about it. If you have five consecutive platinum albums as a black artist, what would be the need to "cross over"? Just to do it? I think what mostly likely would have happened had he walked away from that accident relatively injury free is he would've tried to go into the pop category and the record label people would've told him it was still too black and also too sexually aggressive in an underlying way. I think at best is he would've scored some duet hits with black artists that had already crossed over themselves. Teddy was already in the game for more than a decade by that point. It would have been very hard to reintroduce him especially with a voice that goddamn powerful. Charlie Wilson got lucky in that during his bad drug habit, his style he crafted (basically a redo of Stevie Wonder with a more mature feel) was basically reinvented by Aaron Hall and then R. Kelly and bunch of other dudes late 80s and early 90s who then spawned a bunch of other clones before R&B kinda just went to shit. So Charlie had the luxury of not being around when those guys hit making it that much easier for a comeback later on. I couldn't imagine Pendergrass being out the same time as an Alexander O' Neal especially if Teddy goes pop and Alex is doing shit like Fake. That dynamic would have been strange as hell. When Luther Vandross was doing stuff like Power of Love (although he was clearly going in that direction for years by that point), he got a lot of flack from black people. It would be so weird seeing Teddy Pendergrass doing songs like that.

3 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Yeah, you have to look at these things in context of the times and environment. He had pride, but it was justified. Looking through my eyes, I would have ran -- he was stronger than me. Then again, after looking up the MOVE history and the bombing (which I had known about but forgot all the details of), it might've still been a wee bit better to maybe go incognito instead of driving Rolls...

He could have been wearing a mailman outfit 24/7. He's still Teddy Pendergrass and a guy who was outspoken at that. I would compare someone like Teddy to a Phyllis Hyman whose whole vibe had changed into this fierce, independent black woman by the end her career/life after being this stunning, lovely statuesque black Amazon who still projected girl next door. The thing is Phyllis was doing jingles (she had a famous one for Burger King) and session work before she hit at age 27/28. There was already pressure to cross over and compete with these gorgeous pretty young things that were already out. She had her biggest hit several years later in her mid 30s ("Living All Alone") , which ironically was released on Philadelphia International as well and co-written by Kenny Gamble, after some albums kinda flopped and some did just alright. I think what led to Phyllis having that swift attitude change was she had taken so much shit in her career and been fucked over after being such an exceedingly nice and charming person and rarely had anything to show for it. The problem that came with that is she started to internalize which made her want to overachieve to spite naysayers. She went out of her way to put on other black women and start up other business ventures. She started wearing giant hats and rocking dresses with shoulder pads to look more unique and Afrocentric. She was very straightforward and brutally honest in her interviews. She was getting into it with people like Naomi Campbell and Bill Withers. Her whole energy changed. I think people within the music industry saw that as an overcorrection and didn't want anything really to do with her (*cough*Clive Davis*cough*). So if someone like Phyllis who is still being charitable but on the rationale that her black sisters will show love and support on the back end, you can see where this is heading if powerful people shut that door and lock her out altogether.

Teddy got to enjoy what someone like Phyllis Hyman never got to enjoy w/ some of that same swagger even BEFORE he got a chance to do the crossover thing. So why wouldn't he try to live his life? I think the doc does a pretty good job showing through the audio tapes and archival footage this dude was cognizant he was going to get railroaded at some point. Did he think it would be an attempt on his life? Probably not. However, the mindset of a young black man from the hoods of Philly who already made it that far is "if I can figure a way out of that, I can figure a way outta this". It's that simple. Moreover, he wasn't the only target. There was some wild shit happening in Philadelphia in the 80s and across different parts of the city as well. He probably saw himself as a low priority to be really fucked with. You don't sue the PD if you feel you're Public Enemy #1. 

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13 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

Yeah, but if you do, you should, because after you do you are.

That's why I have absolutely no sympathy for people (uniformed or not) who get caught up trying to do what allegedly was done to get rid of Teddy. If you don't want people to find the rabbit hole you're trying to cover up, don't create the rabbit hole in the first place.

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4 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

That's why I have absolutely no sympathy for people (uniformed or not) who get caught up trying to do what allegedly was done to get rid of Teddy. If you don't want people to find the rabbit hole you're trying to cover up, don't create the rabbit hole in the first place.

Dude, that movie has multiple rabbit holes that could have swallowed a whole lot of people.  Who knows what happened to his original manager, but a whole lot of signs seem to point at the dude singing at her funeral.

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5 hours ago, supremebve said:

Dude, that movie has multiple rabbit holes that could have swallowed a whole lot of people.  Who knows what happened to his original manager, but a whole lot of signs seem to point at the dude singing at her funeral.

If Teddy had anything to do with the murder of Taaz Lang, they would have made sure that came out especially around the time of his solo career. In addition, Teddy was getting death threats from people right after Taaz was murdered. He was still very much in love with Taaz at the time. They investigated her death. If they wanted to pin it on Teddy and had sufficient evidence (or they could make up evidence), they would have. So you would have me believe that Teddy had connections inside to cover it up, but didn't have the connections to stop the police from harassing him? Yeah, I don't find that likely. Also, you would have me to believe Teddy needed his girlfriend killed to get out a contract but didn't get at Harold Melvin who no one liked all that much, had a personal vendetta against Teddy, was smacking Teddy up at parties, and robbed Teddy for years. Alright, then.

Plus, she was a local businesswoman and he could have easily bought himself out of that contract eventually. I think this is some wishful thinking to make Teddy look like Big Red from the Five Heartbeats. In actuality, the estate of Taaz Lang could have still pursued legal action (and unsuccessfully did years later) against Teddy for the agreement they signed in 1976. I think Teddy was smart enough to know contracts are still enforceable even in the case of death. 

That part of the documentary seemed like something out the old American Gangster series where they find the streetwise local folks with no credibility willing to repeat some old tale they heard way back when. If that guy actually knew who killed Taaz Lang, he wouldn't be around to be interviewed for that documentary. Come on now. ?

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Came in again 15 minutes into the doc. That Taaz Lang story is some fucked up shit. If Sonny is just flapping his lips about it, he's either got some serious credibility for some other shit he isn't talking about or the person who did it is long, long dead. 

And also: how crazy is Shep Gordon?! 

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1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Came in again 15 minutes into the doc. That Taaz Lang story is some fucked up shit. If Sonny is just flapping his lips about it, he's either got some serious credibility for some other shit he isn't talking about or the person who did it is long, long dead. 

And also: how crazy is Shep Gordon?! 

The question shouldn't be who did as much as how do you know? Unless you were there at the scene as the perp or a witness, you don't know shit especially when it comes to a heinous gangland style murder. Plus, there isn't a statue of limitations on murder. If he actually knew something, the last thing he would risk is someone looking into his background. He is just some old black dude chilling on the corner who happens to still be around or in front of a barbershop and wants in on his five minutes of fame. At best he was probably an informant back then. Either way, he couldn't prove he was doing anything but bullshitting. These sketchy dudes are a dime a dozen.

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On 2/26/2019 at 1:47 AM, Curt McGirt said:

Came in again 15 minutes into the doc. That Taaz Lang story is some fucked up shit. If Sonny is just flapping his lips about it, he's either got some serious credibility for some other shit he isn't talking about or the person who did it is long, long dead. 

And also: how crazy is Shep Gordon?! 

In his younger days maybe.  Like staying up and out drinking and drugging Teddy Pendergrass over a couple of days in order to convince him to be his manager.  Crazy is after college moving to LA, losing his job, checking into a motel, getting punched out by Janis Joplin then being invited to her room to smoke weed the next day when Hendrix and Jim Morrison come over.  Then becoming Alice Cooper's manager a couple of days later

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