PHILADELPHIA - John Whitehead, a prominent R&B artist best known for the 1979 hit song "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now," was shot dead Tuesday, police said.

Whitehead, 55, and another man were working on a vehicle when they were shot by two gunmen, police said. The assailants fled.

Whitehead was shot in the neck and collapsed. Ohmed Johnson, who was shot in the buttocks, was in good condition early Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Police said the gunmen fired a series of bullets; a young neighborhood girl said she heard about a dozen shots.

"Why did they do this to my dad?" Dawn Whitehead, 33, asked at the scene. "I just talked to him yesterday ... He was a fun person. Who would want to kill him?"

Police had no immediate suspects or motive.

Gene McFadden, who was Whitehead's partner in the singing group McFadden & Whitehead, went to the scene in the city's West Oak Lane neighborhood and stood there trembling, WPVI-TV reported.

The two men formed a group called the Epsilons in their youth and were discovered by Otis Redding (news), touring with the legendary performer in the 1960s, according to their Web site.

The duo wrote several hit songs performed by others in the 1970s, including "Back Stabbers," "For the Love of Money," "I'll Always Love My Mamma," "Bad Luck," "Wake Up Everybody," "Where Are All My Friends," "The More I Want," and "Cold, Cold World."

"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" went to No. 1 on the R&B chart and reached No. 13 on the pop chart. The song became an unofficial anthem for the Phillies as they charged to a World Series (news - web sites) championship in 1980 and the Eagles as they reached the Super Bowl in 1981.

RIP

First time i hear of him

i think he "aint no stopping is now" was being used by the howard dean or wesley clark campaign...

i was sorta hoping Kerry would pick it up...its an energetic tune.....sorry to hear about whitehead's loss".....

whats up with the one guy getting shot only in the arse? that sounds sorta staged... :hmm2

aw man, how sad I loved that song, growing up.

Damn, that's too bad, I loved that song!!! I didn't know they were the writers of those other tracks, them were some talented cats. I always wondered what happened to them. For the guy who got shot in the ass, damn, I know his fam is having a hard time keeping a straight face on that one.

That is such an awesome postive song, which makes his voilent death even more upsetting. The man that co-wrote "Ain't No Stoppin Us Now". Sick!

Mcfadden & whitehead wrote most of the songs for Philadelphia International Records... under the Production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. its a terribleShame that John Whitehead was Killed and they need to find his killers.

That is so sad.

I just saw them on PBS not too long ago singing "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now." My prayers go out to his family. R.I.P.

More gangbanger bullshit. Stop the violence ya'all.

he also wrote "Backstabbers"
how ironic.

A Great Loss...My heart and prayers go out to his family...

News is full of bad news
gives a freaky brotha the blues
wish I was in others shoes
so I could kick it on the ones and twos.

just a reminder of that no one can escape crime.....


I feel for his family....

[This message was edited Thu May 13 0:16:15 2004 by DJ506]

sad shit this...

anybody know his (I think) only solo album fom '88 or '89 "I need money bad"? that was an excellent album!!!!!

Sad to hear....prayers and condolences goes out to the family.

oh my goodness....

Police had no immediate suspects or motive


who didnt see that comin'
[This message was edited Thu May 13 7:15:38 2004 by TheRealFiness]

TheRealFiness said:

Welll.... thanks Finess, they wrote a lot of songs, but not most. Although, in SigmaSound with MFSB and everyone, it was a collaboration in most cases

John Whitehead was my dad's cousin. We weren't close...you know how famz have drama.. but I best remember him for the song he and Gene McFadden wrote and produced for the Jacksons at Sigma, called "Dreamer", for their second album post Motown. It was my favorite song growing up, first because "Uncle John" wrote it, and later because its just a beautiful wistful romantic lyric. You know how Michael can work a lyric, so its no shock that its why I was a huge Michael Jackson fan in my early years. John sent me a copy of it via my dad, and it was the first album I ever owned. They also wrote "I'll Always Love My Mama" and "Backstabbers" among many others.

It's thought that the bullets were meant for the man who was with him at his home in north Philly. What's sad is that after all the energy that whole group and John put into their music about positivity and progress with those ill grooves, he was shot by another brother in the hood. I wonder if those guys ever listened to PIR or know Gamble and Huff, MFSB, etc... Talking about Musicology, songs like theirs need to be put out there as examples.

"the message in the music"

www.soul-patrol.com

JumpUpOnThe1 said:

Hello. My prayers are with you and your family. The song "Dreamer" was on the first album by The Jackson's, and I love that song. I was watching an old live performance of The Jacksona on The Mike Douglas show (1976/1977) just the other day, but Whitehead didn't write that song, he wrote "Strength Of One Man" (an equally beautiful song)from the same lp. He and his partners co-produced or wrote these songs on the first two Jackson lp's:
Blues Away (written by Mike)
Strength Of One Man (writers and producers)
Style of Life (written by Mike and Tito)
Music's taking Over( writers and producers)
Even Though You're Gone (arrangers)

Man, I love the whole TSOP thing. Your cousin's music has had a huge impact on me and my family. He will be missed...