Does anyone remember the disco singer, Sylvester?

As far as androgeny goes, before there was RuPaul, Boy George, or even Prince, there was Sylvester. Sylvester had a very androgenous look and one hell of a falsetto.

He is best known for his disco hits "You Make Me Feel Mighty Real", "Do You Wanna Funk", and "Dance (Disco Heat)"

His backup singers were Two Tons O' Fun, who later became The Weather Girls. One of the ladies, Martha Wash, later became known as the voice behind Black Box and C&C Music Factory and then she became a solo artist.

Sylvester was way ahead of his time. He was an openly gay artist in the 1970s. On his 1979 live album "Living Proof", he remade the song "Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)" and dedicated a song called "Sharing Something Perfect Between Ourselves" to his lover in the audience.

Sylvester started out on the Fantasy label and later went on to do an album on Warner Brothers before he died in the late 1980s.

everyone should remember sylvester.

there is just something about his voice that rubbed me the wrong way...

but i love the 90's remake of one of his tunes..

"pump it...feel it...its friday night!! come on get up everybody!! EVERYBODY!!!"

Of course, but I only have his Best Of disc. You Are My Friend is NIIICE

What did he die of?

IceTen said:

He died of AIDS in 1987,if I'm not mistaken.

But his music lives on forever.

It's got that un-earthly thang that outlived the Disco age.

"yooooouuuuu make me feel.....mighty real,when u touch me ....mighty real....." Miss Mr.Thang was FIERCE!!!!!

"You Make Me Feel Mighty Real" is one of my favorite disco jams. Sylvester was awsome. On the same label (Fantasy) a guy with a very similar sound was an artist by the name of Phil Hurtt. He had a super bad disco track in '79 by the name of "Boogie City." Check it out if you can find it!

paisleypark4 remembers

vainandy said:

Androgynous? He was pretty much a drag queen! I love Sylvester. I loved his voice, and Mighty Real is one of the greatest dance records of all time. The stuff he did with the Cockettes was really crazy and cutting edge! The Two Tons of Fun were excellent, and I prefer their work with him over the majority of the Weather Girls stuff.

What I'd really love is to hear his version of Love Hangover. Apparently he did a version of it before Diana Ross put hers out, and Martha Wash swears by it. Very sad that he died so young.

Hello? Hell, yeah! I LOVED Sylvester. Forget Donna Summer, Sylvester was the original disco diva! I love this Two Tons quote about him: "I was just not into those skinny black chicks that would 'ooh' and 'aaah,' I wanted some big bitches who could wail."

Sylvester was a true Disco Queen... until the cheesy production with Cowley... lol...the 12'' mix of Dance ( disco heat) is classic

I'd like to hear that too. I remember when Martha Wash was on some VH1 countdown and said he had originally done it.

UptownDeb said:

I LOVE IT!!!!!

vainandy said:

I think the first version of "Love Hangover" was recorded by the 5th Dimension and it was released in 1975.It bombed as a single.Diana's version came out in early summer 1976 and quickly went to Number One on the charts.Not sure when Sylvester's version came out.

DavidEye said:

You are right on the Love Hangover timeline. I'm aware that 5th Dimension's version was the first (it's not bad), but I do not know when Sylvester's was done. It was not on any album of his.

Listen 2 my Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis remake of "Make Me Feel Mighty Real" on my site

"There is something I want to ask, there is something that I want to know, and to this question, you have the answer, so tell me, what I need to know. Do you wanna funk? Won't ya tell me now? If you wanna funk, I can show you how. Do you wanna funk with me? Do you wanna funk with me?"

Most of it is correct anyhow.

You know a lot of people mistaked Soft&Wet for a Sylvester song when it first dropped. Sylvester's music got pumped a lot down here in Chicago, on the "deep house" scene.

Dance {Disco Heat} is the shit!. The bassline is cold blooded, player! Don't know if ya'll are hip 2 this, but Sylvester fronted a glamrock band in the early 70's called Bizzare. I have the album. That motherfucker is wearing a blond wig. The album is kind of sorry though. But Slyvester as a disco artist was one of the best.

blackguitaristz said:

Interesting. I knew about the Cockettes, but not Bizzare. That's why I like this place - you learns lots of new things everyday.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Yep[

Thanks for the info. I never knew that. One of my best friends is a Sylvester fanatic. Now I'm going to be one up on him.