Here's Sylvester from his first album in 1977. Go back and listen to Prince's "My Love Is Forever" from his first album in 1978. Looks like Prince was not only listening to Sylvester but stealing a little too.

Most of these threads are bogus but that does sound pretty similar.

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[Edited 1/12/12 10:42am]

Nice find. I'm not gonna say "Oh this is outright theft", but I can hear a similarity for sure.

I do like a bit of Sylvester and Patrick Cowley, but I wasn't familiar with this.

NouveauDance said:

Nice find. I'm not gonna say "Oh this is outright theft", but I can hear a similarity for sure.

I agree

FunkiestOne said:

Most of these threads are bogus but that does sound pretty similar.

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[Edited 1/12/12 10:42am]

That's because I've got a good ear when it comes to music.

NouveauDance said:

Nice find. I'm not gonna say "Oh this is outright theft", but I can hear a similarity for sure.

I do like a bit of Sylvester and Patrick Cowley, but I wasn't familiar with this.

"Stealing" was used just as a figure of speech, plus it draws more attention to the thread which would likely lure someone to actually listen to the song and then come to a conclusion than simply using the word "influenced".

"Tipsong" wasn't a single or even one of Sylvester's well known popular songs, just simply an album track just like Prince's "My Love Is Forever" is. I got heavy into Sylvester and went back and bought everything he ever made and when I listened to "Tipsong" for the very first time, I thought to myself...."Where have I heard this before?".....I knew I had heard something very similar on Prince's first album so I pulled it out again and skimmed through a few tracks and there it was, "My Love Is Forever".

Finally we have a new example with merit. Well done Sir

I supppose we have to take into account the huge amount of soul and funk songs that have a similar feel, mostly being written in the 70's, But Yeah excellent

There's quite a lot of examples in the early days of him 'borrowing' stuff from more slightly obscure or underground acts which I suppose is clever and safer. I've always said Prince has been the finest Sponge in music history.

I just wish I could remember that song I heard on oldie radio from the 50's that sounded just like A question of U...I knew I should have wrote that shit down.

[Edited 1/12/12 11:30am]

This is an interesting topic for me because when I heard Prince sing "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on the radio when the song first came out, I sure enough thought it was Sylvester singing at first!

[Edited 1/12/12 11:44am]

Good one.

vainandy said:

NouveauDance said:

Nice find. I'm not gonna say "Oh this is outright theft", but I can hear a similarity for sure.

I do like a bit of Sylvester and Patrick Cowley, but I wasn't familiar with this.

"Stealing" was used just as a figure of speech, plus it draws more attention to the thread which would likely lure someone to actually listen to the song and then come to a conclusion than simply using the word "influenced".

Oh yeah, I wasn't saying that because of the thread title, just you know, you say "Prince stole _____" and you have the " Prince " magenta bold text brigade on your back for 7 pages of the thread!

vainandy said:

Here's Sylvester from his first album in 1977. Go back and listen to Prince's "My Love Is Forever" from his first album in 1978. Looks like Prince was not only listening to Sylvester but stealing a little too.

Both of these songs sound like 2dozen+ breezy, slow, soul james from the late 70's.

NouveauDance said:

vainandy said:

"Stealing" was used just as a figure of speech, plus it draws more attention to the thread which would likely lure someone to actually listen to the song and then come to a conclusion than simply using the word "influenced".

Oh yeah, I wasn't saying that because of the thread title, just you know, you say "Prince stole _____" and you have the " Prince " magenta bold text brigade on your back for 7 pages of the thread!

You media monger, you!

NouveauDance said:

vainandy said:

"Stealing" was used just as a figure of speech, plus it draws more attention to the thread which would likely lure someone to actually listen to the song and then come to a conclusion than simply using the word "influenced".

Oh yeah, I wasn't saying that because of the thread title, just you know, you say "Prince stole _____" and you have the " Prince " magenta bold text brigade on your back for 7 pages of the thread!

Actually, I'm wondering where they are. I was hoping they would show up because I need a good laugh.

vainandy said:

NouveauDance said:

Oh yeah, I wasn't saying that because of the thread title, just you know, you say "Prince stole _____" and you have the " Prince " magenta bold text brigade on your back for 7 pages of the thread!

Actually, I'm wondering where they are. I was hoping they would show up because I need a good laugh.

Seriously though, I think there was a Sylvester influence way back when...I mean my naive ear at the time caught it and I don't think it caught the influence by mistake. Am I the only one who ignorantly thought that was Sylvester singing when I first heard Prince in 1979?! Surely not...

[Edited 1/12/12 14:03pm]

skywalker said:

vainandy said:

Here's Sylvester from his first album in 1977. Go back and listen to Prince's "My Love Is Forever" from his first album in 1978. Looks like Prince was not only listening to Sylvester but stealing a little too.

Both of these songs sound like 2dozen+ breezy, slow, soul james from the late 70's.

What's another song that sounds THAT similar to it? Prince's sounds VERY similar to Sylvester's but faster.

purplethunder3121 said:

vainandy said:

Actually, I'm wondering where they are. I was hoping they would show up because I need a good laugh.

Seriously, though I think there was a Sylvester influence way back when...I mean my naive ear at the time caught it and I don't think it caught the influence by mistake. Am I the only one who ignorantly thought that was Sylvester singing when I first heard Prince in 1979?! Surely not...

I had heard Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" back then but only briefly. I had not heard it enough to know who the artist was. Plus, that's the only Sylvester song that they ever played in my area until years later in 1986 when he released "Someone Like You" on Warner Brothers which was a major label. I had seen articles on Sylvester for years in the "Right On" magazines but hadn't heard any of his music. He was too openly gay for a lot of stations to play him (media was homophobic). I never heard much of Sylvester's music until I started going to the gay clubs in the 1990s and oddly, the white gay club was very familiar with him while the black gay club had only heard one or two songs from him. I found that very interesting and strange.

So no, I didn't know enough about Sylvester back then to even make a comparison when I first heard Prince.

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[Edited 1/12/12 14:12pm]

vainandy said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Seriously, though I think there was a Sylvester influence way back when...I mean my naive ear at the time caught it and I don't think it caught the influence by mistake. Am I the only one who ignorantly thought that was Sylvester singing when I first heard Prince in 1979?! Surely not...

I had heard Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" back then but only briefly. I had not heard it enough to know who the artist was. Plus, that's the only Sylvester song that they ever played in my area until years later in 1986 when he released "Someone Like You" on Warner Brothers which was a major label. I had seen articles on Sylvester for years in the "Right On" magazines but hadn't heard any of his music. He was too openly gay for a lot of stations to play him (media was homophobic). I never heard much of Sylvester's music until I started going to the gay clubs in the 1990s and oddly, the white gay club was very familiar with him while the black gay club had only heard one or two songs from him. I found that very interesting and strange.

So no, I didn't know enough about Sylvester back then to even make a comparison when I first heard Prince.

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[Edited 1/12/12 14:12pm]

That's really interesting to hear the background of gay clubs, considering that I heard "Mighty Real" a lot on mainstream radio where I came from...as well as Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover." But I can't but think that some naive kid also thought it was Sylvester at first listen when the artist wasn't identified... There is definite justification for you to consider the Sylvester influence on Prince...

purplethunder3121 said:

vainandy said:

I had heard Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" back then but only briefly. I had not heard it enough to know who the artist was. Plus, that's the only Sylvester song that they ever played in my area until years later in 1986 when he released "Someone Like You" on Warner Brothers which was a major label. I had seen articles on Sylvester for years in the "Right On" magazines but hadn't heard any of his music. He was too openly gay for a lot of stations to play him (media was homophobic). I never heard much of Sylvester's music until I started going to the gay clubs in the 1990s and oddly, the white gay club was very familiar with him while the black gay club had only heard one or two songs from him. I found that very interesting and strange.

So no, I didn't know enough about Sylvester back then to even make a comparison when I first heard Prince.

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[Edited 1/12/12 14:12pm]

That's really interesting to hear the background of gay clubs, considering that I heard "Mighty Real" a lot on mainstream radio where I came from...as well as Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover." But I can't but think that some naive kid also thought it was Sylvester at first listen when the artist wasn't identified... There is definite justification for you to consider the Sylvester influence on Prince...

I first heard both "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on mainstream white radio. I didn't switch to black radio until mid to late 1979 when white radio was declaring disco as "dead" and starting a backlash by no longer playing disco records (translation: black reocrds). Black radio continued playing disco and the funk at the time sounded similar to disco and even when funk started new wave influence in it, it was still a "dance" based genre for years and years until Shitney came along and killed it. So naturally, I felt right at home with black radio. But as far as Sylvester goes, I never heard him on white radio again after disco died and I never heard any of his 1980s music on black radio either until 1986 and that was only briefly. People like to call Prince underground until "Little Red Corvette". He wasn't underground. Just turn on black radio and there he was and he was played very frequently. As for Sylvester, now THAT's underground.

vainandy said:

purplethunder3121 said:

That's really interesting to hear the background of gay clubs, considering that I heard "Mighty Real" a lot on mainstream radio where I came from...as well as Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover." But I can't but think that some naive kid also thought it was Sylvester at first listen when the artist wasn't identified... There is definite justification for you to consider the Sylvester influence on Prince...

I first heard both "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on mainstream white radio. I didn't switch to black radio until mid to late 1979 when white radio was declaring disco as "dead" and starting a backlash by no longer playing disco records (translation: black reocrds). Black radio continued playing disco and the funk at the time sounded similar to disco and even when funk started new wave influence in it, it was still a "dance" based genre for years and years until Shitney came along and killed it. So naturally, I felt right at home with black radio. But as far as Sylvester goes, I never heard him on white radio again after disco died and I never heard any of his 1980s music on black radio either until 1986 and that was only briefly. People like to call Prince underground until "Little Red Corvette". He wasn't underground. Just turn on black radio and there he was and he was played very frequently. As for Sylvester, now THAT's underground.

Agreed, but as you stated there was a brief period of time when mainstream white radio played both artists...and that's when my confusion occured...never having heard Prince before. Even white mainstream radio at one point was the bomb BECAUSE you could hear such a variety of different artists from all different persuasions and musical genres... Ah, the good ole days...

It sounds a little bit like it, but you have to listen right closely.

Ok well he definitley lifted or was inspired by the beginning whoo-whoo part but thats about it.

However, still nice find.

[Edited 1/12/12 16:40pm]

Wow .

I always felt Prince & Sylvesters falsettos was similar. I also felt Prince paid homage to him in the song Chelsea Rodgers(Sung with Shelby)It sounds just like a Sylvester song. He also added "Disco Heat" to his set list on his recent tour..Its obvious he was an influence vocally.R.I.P. Sylvester.Prince is a sponge.

vainandy said:

purplethunder3121 said:

That's really interesting to hear the background of gay clubs, considering that I heard "Mighty Real" a lot on mainstream radio where I came from...as well as Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover." But I can't but think that some naive kid also thought it was Sylvester at first listen when the artist wasn't identified... There is definite justification for you to consider the Sylvester influence on Prince...

I first heard both "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on mainstream white radio. I didn't switch to black radio until mid to late 1979 when white radio was declaring disco as "dead" and starting a backlash by no longer playing disco records (translation: black reocrds). Black radio continued playing disco and the funk at the time sounded similar to disco and even when funk started new wave influence in it, it was still a "dance" based genre for years and years until Shitney came along and killed it. So naturally, I felt right at home with black radio. But as far as Sylvester goes, I never heard him on white radio again after disco died and I never heard any of his 1980s music on black radio either until 1986 and that was only briefly. People like to call Prince underground until "Little Red Corvette". He wasn't underground. Just turn on black radio and there he was and he was played very frequently. As for Sylvester, now THAT's underground.

Yeah, it's like until the mainstream (white) audience notice you or embrace you, you're considered "underground". They kind of talked about that in the movie "The Temptations". It's the scene where Berry is introducing the group to their new manager. Also, I (and I would imagine that I'm not alone in this opinion) don't consider the genre of Disco as "black music". It was good dance music, which is why it was still played on our radio stations after the backlash.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't that whole "Disco's Dead" thing start out as a joke that some people took literally?

vainandy said:

Here's Sylvester from his first album in 1977. Go back and listen to Prince's "My Love Is Forever" from his first album in 1978. Looks like Prince was not only listening to Sylvester but stealing a little too.

Please, P ain't stole crap from Sylvester!

[Edited 1/13/12 8:37am]

Astasheiks said:

vainandy said:

Here's Sylvester from his first album in 1977. Go back and listen to Prince's "My Love Is Forever" from his first album in 1978. Looks like Prince was not only listening to Sylvester but stealing a little too.

Please, P ain't stole crap from Sylvester!

[Edited 1/13/12 8:37am]

2020 said:

Ok well he definitley lifted or was inspired by the beginning whoo-whoo part but thats about it.

However, still nice find.

[Edited 1/12/12 16:40pm]

can definitely hear "my love is forever" in this early Sylvester track.

vainandy is - as usual - on point with his knowledge/perspective/music expertise.

however, by saying "song A sounds like song Z"..

my brain is already "trained" to know what to listen for.

in this case, the background "doo doo doo's"

the cowbell

even the melody rather easily evokes

"my love is forever"

(actually, my favorite song on this album..)

so, becasue I know (& love) "my love is forever"

I can immediately pick all the parts of Sylvester's song

that are similar..

simply to say:

had I been the 1 who started this thread

I think I would have said

(more or less) :

"this [Sylvester] song reminds me of a certain song from early in Prince's career..

which do you think it is??"

valid comparison. very.

youngyosh said:

I just wish I could remember that song I heard on oldie radio from the 50's that sounded just like A question of U...I knew I should have wrote that shit down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ3QU9M8o3U

Was it this song maybe? It's not from the 50's though.....