Whatever happened to their dad? Hanging out with Ike Turner, for real, though? Their daddy wasn't no joke if he could hang with Ike/

also, is that lawsuit still ongoing-whatever happened to their old manager? Is he dead?

TD3 said:

babynoz said:

I got mad about the raw deal they fell for. Why is it always the same story? It happens so often you'd think more artists would be wise to the game,

'Hindsight is twenty-twenty'.... this was back in the day still.

Needless to say the Sylvers' were all very young and experience. The people around them including their mother didn't have a clue about business management or business law. They never thought in a million years they wouldn't own the rights to their family name.... which should have been trademarked ™. An ethical and independent legal counsel could've explained the things they needed to do to protect themselves and all intellectual property.

As you've mentioned, this mess happens, still....

Good points...why oh why don't people seek competent advice in these situations? I guess all the excitement and trappings of stardom gets the better of them.

They all seem to play down the tragedy they went through. I guess they have now excepted & moved on. I wonder did they ever look at The Jacksons & Mj's success & wonder if that could have been them. I would have liked to hear Foster's side of the story.

babynoz said:

TD3 said:

'Hindsight is twenty-twenty'.... this was back in the day still.

Needless to say the Sylvers' were all very young and unexperienced. The people around them including their mother didn't have a clue about business management or business law. They never thought in a million years they wouldn't own the rights to their family name.... which should have been trademarked ™. An ethical and independent legal counsel could've explained the things they needed to do to protect themselves and all intellectual property.

As you've mentioned, this mess happens, still....

Good points...why oh why don't people seek competent advice in these situations? I guess all the excitement and trappings of stardom gets the better of them.

I've thought about that myself after hearing these stories over and over again the artist/musicians either fall into these two categories.

1. Like Billy Preston, they're so involved in creating music that don't very much care about the financial aspects and entrust those concerns to others. Funny thing, even if they find out they've been ripped off and been around the block a couple of times, they turn right back around and entrust their money again to someone.

2. Like the Sylvers', as you've mentioned... excited and eager about being signed. The record companies and manager's come in and do their schmoozing bit and these kids/young adults think the really care and will be fair to them. Don't ask questions, don't really understand all the legal ease they may read or not and assume everything will be done fairly and above board.

again, what happened to their dad and is that lawsuit ongoing?

getxxxx said:

(FOSTER SYLVERS: REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER)

Foster Sylvers the youngest member of the "Sylvers" singing group who once produced tracks for Janet Jackson-is now a registered sex offender. The above mug shot and the nature of his crime is featured on a National Sex Offender Website connected to Megan's Law, The Attorney General & the Department Of Justice. His crime is listed as follows: Oral Copulation: Victim unconscious of the nature of the act.

[Edited 8/2/11 11:02am]

Damn. Sad. Dude still looks great for his age.

TD3 said:

babynoz said:

Good points...why oh why don't people seek competent advice in these situations? I guess all the excitement and trappings of stardom gets the better of them.

I've thought about that myself after hearing these stories over and over again the artist/musicians either fall into these two categories.

1. Like Billy Preston, they're so involved in creating music that don't very much care about the financial aspects and entrust those concerns to others. Funny thing, even if they find out they've been ripped off and been around the block a couple of times, they turn right back around and entrust their money again to someone.

2. Like the Sylvers', as you've mentioned... excited and eager about being signed. The record companies and manager's come in and do their schmoozing bit and these kids/young adults think the really care and will be fair to them. Don't ask questions, don't really understand all the legal ease they may read or not and assume everything will be done fairly and above board.

Just to expand on explanation 2. It was far worse in the 50's and 60's for a lot

of black artists particularly the ones who were throwing their career down the

tubes by indulging in drugs.

scriptgirl said:

this was a good one

So sad about Olympia Ann

Use to have a big crush on her back in the day

i just watched the ep at the tv one website.

WOW!

it explained so much. as i wrote in my last post, i remember loving them so much, wrote to their fan club and everything. and then they were just gone all of a sudden.

i agree with that one producer who said leon doesn't get enough credit. shalimar owes him A LOT and 'as the beat goes on' is a classic TO THIS DAY. (now that i'm older, i see how soooo handsome he was!! but at the time, to a ten year old, he was an old man!!)

damn, ricky, foster and olympia . . . (

p.s. -

it is always good to learn to read a contract, learn what's standard and the complete terms. fifty percent is NOT an entertainment industry standard for a manager. interesting that just like the j5, they lost the rights to use their own fucking name. that's a damn shame. invest $500-$1000 to hire a lawyer for an hour to go over the contract with you; it's well worth it. i see that all the time in my line of work.

[Edited 8/3/11 0:01am]

funkpill said:

this was a good one

So sad about Olympia Ann

Use to have a big crush on her back in the day

Olympia was the prettiest IMO, I wonder if she had symptoms of schitzophrenia before or if it was triggered by the trauma?

Poor lady,

kibbles said:

i just watched the ep at the tv one website.

WOW!

it explained so much. as i wrote in my last post, i remember loving them so much, wrote to their fan club and everything. and then they were just gone all of a sudden.

i agree with that one producer who said leon doesn't get enough credit. shalimar owes him A LOT and 'as the beat goes on' is a classic TO THIS DAY. (now that i'm older, i see how soooo handsome he was!! but at the time, to a ten year old, he was an old man!!)

damn, ricky, foster and olympia . . . (

p.s. -

it is always good to learn to read a contract, learn what's standard and the complete terms. fifty percent is NOT an entertainment industry standard for a manager. interesting that just like the j5, they lost the rights to use their own fucking name. that's a damn shame. invest $500-$1000 to hire a lawyer for an hour to go over the contract with you; it's well worth it. i see that all the time in my line of work.

[Edited 8/3/11 0:01am]

I learned so much about Leon from this show. He deserves far more credit than he has gotten.

I wonder why it seems so rare to have artists who are also capable of handling their business afairs?

babynoz said:

funkpill said:

this was a good one

So sad about Olympia Ann

Use to have a big crush on her back in the day

Olympia was the prettiest IMO, I wonder if she had symptoms of schitzophrenia before or if it was triggered by the trauma?

Poor lady,

Sounds like it triggered it.

Timmy84 said:

babynoz said:

Olympia was the prettiest IMO, I wonder if she had symptoms of schitzophrenia before or if it was triggered by the trauma?

Poor lady,

Sounds like it triggered it.

that's what i'm thinking

Foster Sylvers was playing the bass on a lot of Solar Records music.... all of Shalamar's albums.

Boy, could pop that bass.

Are't people who become schizo later in life-aren't they already born that way? I mean, usually mental illness runs in families

TD3 said:

Foster Sylvers was playing the bass on a lot of Solar Records music.... all of Shalamar's albums.

Boy, could pop that bass.

Was he a better bassist than Leon?

LittleBLUECorvette said:

TD3 said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Was he a better bassist than Leon?

In my opinion, yes Foster grew to a better bassist than Leon.

I checked some site, and all the brothers did some production, (mostly for the same artist.) Leon and Foster were the main producers it looks like. Edmond, Ricky and James did very little.

My Mother watched & said they do not look like the same people. She said no one would ever know who they were on the street....

LittleBLUECorvette said:

TD3 said:

LittleBLUECorvette said: In my opinion, yes Foster grew to a better bassist than Leon.

I checked some site, and all the brothers did some production, (mostly for the same artist.) Leon and Foster were the main producers it looks like. Edmond, Ricky and James did very little.

That's true.

Edmund did a lil' production (Freda Payne and Gladys Knight & the Pips with Leon) work and like his siblings did (some) session work at Solars. He wrote, 'Tossing, Turning And Swinging' for Shalmar Disco Gardens album. All of them wrote/co-wrote songs for Solars artist and did session work.

The thing about Foster, it seemed he had enough talent to give producing a go and have career as a session bassist... outside of Solar. How much his personal struggles may have derailed those possibilties, I don't know.

Sylvers Reissues - Long Overdue - But Coming Soon !!

[Edited 8/25/11 13:25pm]

getxxxx said:

Sylvers Reissues - Long Overdue - But Coming Soon !!

[Edited 8/25/11 13:25pm]

the first 3 albums or all of em'?

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

My Mother watched & said they do not look like the same people. She said no one would ever know who they were on the street....

i think i would have known foster based on his mugshot (sadly).

but the rest, i agree. although leon isn't bad looking now, he looks very different from their 70s heyday. when they first showed him talking, i was thinking, 'is that a producer they worked with? freddy perren, maybe?', and then they showed his name below and i was like, 'what the what....?!"

hell, maybe i wouldn't have known foster!

funkpill said:

getxxxx said:

Sylvers Reissues - Long Overdue - But Coming Soon !!

[Edited 8/25/11 13:25pm]

the first 3 albums or all of em'?

they didnt say...

getxxxx said:

funkpill said:

the first 3 albums or all of em'?

they didnt say...

k...

Wow! Thanks for posting this. Watched it and its good to know what really happened to these people. I could definitely see how Leon's writings would have had longevity for the group. It's all pretty sad. On the other hand, I wish I had of left my memories of them intact. When I saw them, my first thought was What the Hell!!! They were all once so beautiful. But who wasn't, right?

I've followed Leon's career, knew he was successful. But the rest. . .

I guess it is what it is. It's just amazing that they were special, considering the struggle that their poor mama went through. Don't know what I would have done. I thought the Mama looked better than her children.

getxxxx said:

Sylvers Reissues - Long Overdue - But Coming Soon !!

[Edited 8/25/11 13:25pm]

I just checked the Sylvers forum and Angie's always give the heads up about these sort of things. Until she say somehting nay or yea, I doubt it. Apple iTunes had the 3 classic albums up for sale for about 4 months and then they were pulled. At that, they ripped those albums from someones records not from master copies. You could hear record pops through out.

It's been rumored the master copies of the Sylvers' I, II, III albums had been destroyed in a fire. If the reissues doesn't include the 3 classic albums than they need not bother.

Voting Leon out, aside from being disgusting, was essentially like shooting themselves in a glittered-platform shoe wearing foot. On occasion you do reap what you sow.

That manager - and his % - what the hell? Who was "protecting" them when they signed that contract.

Olympia triumphed and survived. I would really love to hear her perspective on some of the things covered in the episode.