Gene McFadden (January 28, 1949 – January 27, 2006) – Wake Up Everybody (1975)

This powerful message song hit #1 R&B, co-written by McFadden, John Whitehead and Victor Carstarphen for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes feat. Teddy Pendergrass.

View most updated version of this post on Substack

Open YouTube playlist of all songs

Search our full archives

Gene McFadden was a supremely talented singer/songwriter and producer who helped shape the Sound of Philadelphia in the 1970s. He co-wrote many hits for Philly soul artists including the O’Jays, the Intruders, Billy Paul, and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass. He and his songwriting partner John Whitehead later stepped out under their own names as the duo McFadden & Whitehead, best known for their inspirational 1978 disco anthem “Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now.”

Born in South Carolina and raised in Philadelphia, McFadden and his friend John Whitehead were in high school when they formed a soul group called the Epsilons. They were discovered by Otis Redding, who became their manager, and toured with him before his death. They later changed their name to Talk of the Town and started collaborating with Philadelphia producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

Just before their new label Philadelphia International Records got off the ground, Gamble and Huff produced two singles for them in 1971 on Philadelphia’s North Bay Records. “Little Bit Of Your Lovin'” was co-written by Gamble and Huff, and Huff co-wrote the superb jam “Don’t Be So Mean” with McFadden and Whitehead.

McFadden and Whitehead’s songwriting chops greatly impressed Gamble and Huff. Shortly after the launch of Philadelphia International Records, Huff co-wrote a song with them that became the label’s first huge hit.

“Back Stabbers” was the title track and lead single to the O’Jays’ debut album on PIR, released simultaneously with the LP in August, 1972. It went all the way to #1 R&B and crossed over to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, putting both the O’Jays and Gamble and Huff’s new label on the map. They also co-wrote another of the album’s best tracks with Gamble and Huff, “Shiftless, Shady, Jealous Kind of People.”

For Black & Blue (1973), the second album by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes (featuring lead singer Teddy Pendergrass), McFadden, Whitehead, and Huff co-wrote the heartfelt loneliness anthem “Is There A Place For Me.”

The same year, McFadden, Whitehead, Gamble and Huff co-wrote the greatest Mother’s Day anthem of all time, “I’ll Always Love My Mama” by the Intruders, from their Save the Children LP. It hit #6 R&B in the summer of 1973.

Together with Victor Carstarphen, a keyboardist with PIR’s backing band MFSB and a songwriter and producer for the label, McFadden and Whitehead co-wrote “Where Are All My Friends,” the stellar #8 R&B lead single from the Blue Notes’ third album To Be True. The LP dropped in February, 1975 and went to #1 R&B.

The three songwriters also co-wrote one of the LP’s most beautiful cuts, “Pretty Flower,” and its second single “Bad Luck.” With a masterful vocal performance by Pendergrass, “Bad Luck” topped the disco charts for eleven weeks straight, and peaked at #4 R&B and #15 on the Hot 100.

MFSB drummer Earl Young’s hi-hat was miked too loud during the recording sessions for “Bad Luck,” which was one of the first held at the former headquarters of Cameo-Parkway Records after PIR took over the building. It could not be quieted in the final mix, and as a result, loud hi-hats became a signature feature of disco records that followed.

The final album Pendergrass recorded with the Blue Notes was Wake Up Everybody, produced by Gamble and Huff and issued on November 29, 1975. Its title track was co-written by McFadden, Whitehead, and Carstarphen, and was one of the decade’s most powerful, socially conscious message songs. “Wake Up Everybody” went to #1 R&B and spent two weeks atop the charts in early 1976, and also reached #12 on the Hot 100. The album hit #1 R&B and #9 on the Billboard 200.

Interviewed by Billboard about how the song came to be, McFadden explained, “We were just thinking the world needs to get better.” He and Whitehead came up with it one day while talking about “Puff, the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul and Mary. Suddenly, “the lyrics flowed out of my mouth as if God was telegraphing what he wanted me to say.”

McFadden, Whitehead, and Carstarphen also co-wrote the unity anthem “People Power” (1975) by Billy Paul, and the track that closed out many a night at discos in the 70s, “Where Will You Go When The Party's Over” (1976) by Archie Bell & The Drells. Together with Gamble and Huff, McFadden and Whitehead co-wrote Paul’s epic 1975 Black history sermon “Black Wonders of the World.”

After Pendergrass left the Blue Notes, McFadden, Whitehead, Carstarphen, and Kenny Gamble co-wrote the powerful message song “Somebody Told Me” for his first solo LP in 1977. Released as a B-side, it hit #5 R&B and #7 on dance charts. That same year, McFadden & Whitehead officially became a group under their own names.

They had a #1 R&B hit in 1978 with one of the iconic message songs of the late disco era, the inspirational positivity anthem “Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now.”

Tragically, John Whitehead was shot and killed in 2004 as he was watching a mechanic repair his car behind his home, felled by a bullet that police believed was intended for someone else. His murder remains unsolved. That same year, McFadden was diagnosed with liver and lung cancer and died at home in his sleep in early 2006, one day shy of his 57th birthday.

Happy 75th Birthday in Heaven to the great Gene McFadden.

Further info:

“Gene McFadden, R&B Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 56,” obituary, The New York Times, January 28, 2006.

“Philly great Gene McFadden dies at 56: Teamed with John Whitehead for a string of hits,” obituary, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 28, 2006.

“R&B Artist/Songwriter Gene McFadden Dies,” obituary, Billboard, January 30, 2006.

“The Classic Disco Anthem That Defined Philly's Election Celebration,” Pitchfork, November 12, 2020.

#soul #funk #disco #Philadelphia #PIR #TSOP #JohnWhitehead #GeneMcFadden