Among modern-day songwriting duos, there's Lennon-McCartney and all the rest.

At the top of "all the rest," though, is McFadden & Whitehead.

Sure, you're probably familiar with their international hit from 1979, "Ain't No Stopping Us Now," which became an anthem for just about every high school graduation in the late '70s and early '80s.

But knowing them based on that song is like knowing Paul McCartney and John Lennon for "Yellow Submarine."

When John Whitehead was shot and killed on a Philadelphia street this week, it marked the end of one of the most successful songwriting duos in pop music history.

Whitehead and Gene McFadden, as part of the hit-making team at the Philadelphia International record label, were as responsible for what became known as the "Philly sound" as Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland and Eddie Holland were for the Motown sound.

The pair's list of R&B hits that were also great songs -- not always the same thing -- is jaw-dropping: "I'll Always Love My Mama," "Where Are All of My Friends" and "Bad Luck" are just a few.

"Bad Luck" is considered by many to be the first disco song -- but we can't hold that against McFadden and Whitehead. It was nearly eight minutes long when most songs barely registered three. Unlike typical disco songs, though, "Bad Luck" spoke to topical issues, such as the resignation of President Nixon and the golden parachute that softened his landing.

Sadly, it appears that Whitehead was the victim of fatal bad luck. Reports out of Philadelphia, where he lived and died, are that he was not the gunman's intended target. The target, a young man whom Whitehead was trying to help "turn his life around," suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Back to happier thoughts: The O'Jays were just one of several formerly floundering groups that flowered with songs from McFadden & Whithead.

"Backstabbers," one of their first hits, contained some of the best lines ever. Writing about so-called friends, the tandem asked,

"So are they there to see my woman?

I don't even be home but they just keep on comin'...

What can I do to get on the right track?

Wish they'd take some of these knives out my back."

That kind of graphic realism seldom found its way into the smooth, inoffensive lyrics that Motown founder Berry Gordy favored. Marvin Gaye actually had to pull rank and threaten to step away, just to get the seminal, socially conscious "What's Goin' On" album made over Gordy's objections in 1971.

Unlike Gordy, though, Phila International's founders prided themselves on music with a message. Indeed, that was their motto and the name of a hit song ("Message In Our Music") for the O'Jays -- written by McFad-Head, as a deejay buddy of mine affectionately dubbed the pair.

The highest honor a person can aspire to is make the world a better place. John Whitehead, along with his songwriting partner, did that.

They also made it a better place to dance.