Released 1980 Genre Soul, Quiet Storm Label Mercury | Recorded 1980 Length 4:36 | |
Format 7" single b- side of My Lady Mercury 45-76067 | ||
"Love T.K.O." is a song written by Cecil Womack & Gip Noble, Jr. for soul singer David Oliver appearing first on the Oliver album Here's To You in 1980.
However it is mainly associated with R&B and soul artist Teddy Pendergrass, who recorded the song that same year on his 1980 album, TP and released it as a single that same year. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It has been covered by several artists, including Deborah Harry, Regina Belle, Hall & Oates, Bette Midler, Boz Scaggs, Lambchop, Michael McDonald and Seal. Cecil & Linda Womack recorded the song themselves as Womack & Womack and it appeared simply as "T.K.O." on their debut album Love Wars in 1983.
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 also used in 2005 video game Fahrenheit (a.k.a. Indigo Prophecy). DJ Spooky referenced the song in his essay entitled "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. In 1995, R&B group Xscape would sample it for their remix of Who Can I Run To. The song was sampled also by Kenny Lattimore and Total. The song also featured in the 2015 motion picture Concussion.