I mean were they hugely popular in their time-almost as big as the Jacksons?
[Edited 8/24/09 18:06pm]

Who are they, who are these Sylvers you speak of?

A family rnb act in the 70s

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They were fairly popular on R& B stations, but they always seemed to be in the Jackson's shadow--it's a shame, because they were a very talented family, but they could never shake the comparisons...

Part of the problem is that they didn't have a Motown to give them the huge push--they were eclipsed by the Jacksons thrughout the 70's and by DeBarge in the eighties.

IMO, their biggest hits-- "Hotline", and "Boogie Fever"--don't really give a good indication of what they were capable of.....

I think that as a whole group they had more range than the Jacksons (their mother was a former opera singer) , but they didn't have a supertalented Michael to front them...

Leon Sylver III, one of the oldest, went on to write and produce some of Solar Records' biggest hits-- for Shalamar, The Whispers, Dynasty, etc....



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[Edited 8/24/09 11:53am]

They weren't with Motown or Philadelphia International.

As the Jacksons? No.....but in their own right? Yes.
[Edited 8/24/09 12:36pm]

What did them not being on Philly international or motown have to do with it?

scriptgirl said:

At the time, Capitol Records wasn't putting the same kind of financial and promotional push that black-focused labels like Motown and Philly International could have....





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paligap said:

What it is pali! But don't forget this though...Remember how the tide somewhat changed for The Jackson 5 when Jermaine split because The J5 were splitting Motown? This was around the same period The Sylvers came onto the scene. I remember in the media, they were implying that The J5, calling them now The Jackson 4, may have fallen from pop royaltiy. Even on the streets, I remember girls totally diggin' The Sylvers because their afros were larger than the Jacksons afros! So u would have thought The Sylvers would have went in for the kill being that perhaps their timing was right. Me personally, although I always dug some of their tracks, especially Foster's solo cut Misdemeanor, as a group, I always thought it was TOO many of them on stage. It was like they had their cousins and an aunt thrown in up there. And like pali said, they didn't have a killer front person to reign all them afros and beaming teeth in.
[Edited 8/24/09 12:46pm]

paligap said:

Foster Sylver was somewhat of a Michael-clone image wise. But he was also a songwriter like his older brother Leon.

Isn't Foster also a registered sex offender?

scriptgirl said:

WTF? I missed this. What did Foster do?

I read that somewhere and I think it was also mentioned on this board.

scriptgirl said:

I was only joking; I know who they are.

scriptgirl said:

I found no information confirming Foster had a criminal history record, but brother Edmund died in 2004 from complications of lung cancer. He was 47.

uPtoWnNY said:

Yes, he is, I think this incident happen 'bout 15 years ago, I think. Jet did a story of the Sylvers, "Where Are They Now" and the family did an interview. Jet reported on Foster being a registred sex offender and Foster proclaimed his innocence.

I failed to do a thorough job on research.

Above is registered sex offender Foster Sylvers' mug shot at the time of his arrest. He was charged with oral copulation (the victim unconscious of the nature of the act).

In 2004, he was supposedly in the process of having his record expunged.

they weren't as popular in the long run, but they had a string of right on! covers and appearances on all the popular shows of the day, with their big ass afros and matching polyester suits! i used to write to their fan club and everything. .

i had the hugest crush on foster sylvers. i was about 8 when misdemeanor came out, along with his solo album. my mother got it as a gift for me to bring to her friend's little boy's b-day, but she refused to get me an album, too. pissed, i was!

i think the more r&b stuff like, 'wish that i could talk to you' and 'stay away from me' still sounds pretty good. i have a soft spot for 'boogie fever', but i'd rather listen to 'wish that i could talk to you', now.

How the hell can you expunge your record if you are a sex offender?

All I know is, I looooove the song "In One Love & Out the Other" growing up. I think that was by Leon Sylvers, though...

Copycat said:

Holy shit, never knew that

I loved the song "Forever Yours"...

A sex offender can't have their record expunged

What's in a Record Label? I think foremost this was the Sylvers major issue. I don't think any of the labels they signed with, were right for them. Along with doing songs such as "High School Dance" and "BoggieFever" kinda painted them in a corner as bubblegum pop group, for which they were truly were not. Would things been different if they had signed with Motown or Philly International? I don't think Motown would've been a good fit. But blackguitarist makes two crucial points, the group grew too large and not having a disignated frontperson hurt them. I don't think they really ever settled on a "sound" their music was a lil all over the place and after the albums Sylvers I, II, III. The Sylvers were a R&B/Soul group and probably should have left the pop stuff alone.



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[Edited 8/25/09 7:57am]

scriptgirl said:

Actually they were pretty big not just on the R&B charts but the pop charts as well. During the period when both the Jacksons and the Osmonds hit somewhat of a dry spell in the mid 70's, the Sylvers had two Top 5 hits on both the pop and r&b charts in 1976 alone (w/ Boogie Fever #1 on both Pop and R&B for 1 week each and the Top 5 (also both Pop and R&B) single Hot Line.

TD3 said:

Yeah , that was the weird thing with "Boogie Fever" and the Pop stuff--on one hand, it finally got them bona-fide hits and greater recognition, but on the other hand, it did stamp them as "bubblegum", and that's certainly not how they started out....

IMO, this was more their kinda thing...













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[Edited 8/25/09 7:30am]

TD3 said:

There's definitely some truth in that; at least the J5 (MJ), Osmonds (Donny, then later Donny & Marie), hell even the Patridge Family (David Cassidy), had frontpersons U could center group around. Plus they had smart, tough, and shrewd managers (Papa Joe being the best say what U will about him) who knew their business in promoting these cats.

You're right-there were a whole lotta Sylvers and you can't tell em apart

Well damn I've just murdered the english language in my previous post . Sorry guys I'm typing my post out on iTouch...I don't think I'll ever get use to typing on a lil' keypad with my thumbs and fingers. Anywho.

Never thought about that, who did manage the Sylvers?

paligap said:


Yep, that's what I'm talking about, those are the jams. I thought the "New Horizon" album was decent and "Forever Yours" was especially good.


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[Edited 8/25/09 8:55am]

I thought I read somewhere that in fact their dad managed them for a time. I could be wrong

Smittyrock70 said:

..and they were always featured in Right On! magazine.

Who wasn't in Right On back in the day?