"Love T.K.O." is a song written by

Cecil Womack Cecil Dale Womack (September 25, 1947 – January 25, 2013) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was one of the musical Womack brothers, and had success both as a songwriter and recording artist, notably with his wife Lind ...

and Gip Noble, Jr. It was written for soul singer David Oliver, and appeared first on his album '' Here's to You'' in 1980.

Teddy Pendergrass recording

"Love T.K.O." is mainly associated with R&B and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

artist

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

, who recorded the song for his 1980 album '' TP'', releasing it as a single the same year. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 44 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Charts

Teddy Pendergrass version

Regina Belle version

Regina Belle Regina Elaine Belle (born July 17, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter who started her career in the mid-1980s. Known for her singles " Baby Come to Me" (1989) and " Make It Like It Was" (1990), Belle's most notable for two hit duets, both wit ...

recorded and released her version in 1995 and included on her Reachin' Back LP.

Other recordings

"Love TKO" has been covered by several artists, including: *

Deborah Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden Gl ...

* Boz Scaggs * Lambchop * Michael McDonald *

Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

*Cecil and Linda Womack recorded the song themselves as

Womack & Womack Womack & Womack was the singing and songwriting partnership of married American musicians Linda Womack and Cecil Womack. The duo were successful as songwriters for other artists, and had several international hits as a singing duo in the 1980s ...

and it appeared simply as "T.K.O." on their debut album '' Love Wars'' in 1983. * Fourplay *Modern Man (Pittsburgh R&B/dance/cover band) *

Tatsuro Yamashita , occasionally credited as Tatsu Yamashita or Tats Yamashita, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer, who is known for pioneering the style of Japanese adult-oriented rock/soft rock music. His most well-known song is "Christmas E ...

on his 1999 album '' On the Street Corner 3''

Samples

*In 1995, R&B group Xscape sampled it for their remix of " Who Can I Run To". *In 1996, the song was sampled by

Kenny Lattimore Kenny Lattimore (born April 10, 1970) is an American R&B singer. Early life Lattimore first developed his interest for music in the high school band program at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland. He often acknowledges D ...

on "I Won't Let You Down". *

Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

as well as featured in the 2015 motion picture ''

Concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentratio ...

''.

Popular culture

*In 2006, Pendergrass' version of the song was featured in the popular video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories'' on fictional radio station VCFL. *It was used in 2005 video game ''

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined h ...

'' (a.k.a. ''Indigo Prophecy''). *

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics " illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntabl ...

referenced the song in his essay titled "Groove Theory" in '' URB''. *Artist Ahmad Lewis used the melody for a remix of his 1994 song " Back in the Day" from his self-titled album ''

Ahmad Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the v ...

''.

References

{{authority control 1980 singles Philadelphia International Records singles Songs written by Cecil Womack Teddy Pendergrass songs 1980 songs Mercury Records singles Regina Belle songs