I know there is a lot of Sylvester fans on here, so here you go.

http://hip-oselect.com/sc...A98420F8F1

Sylvester and the Hot Band
Before disco, before “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and “You Are My Friend,” 25-year-old Sylvester emerged from the underground scene in San Francisco with a longhaired rock band, recording two influential albums for Blue Thumb Records. Infused with a love of the blues, a deep emotional connection with Billie Holiday and a flair for flamboyance, the Sylvester and his Hot Band tackled with boundless energy a dizzying sampler of American music, from Neil Young to Ray Charles, from James Taylor to “My Country ’Tis Of Thee.”

Now, Hip-oSelect.com presents The Blue Thumb Collection, which includes both albums Sylvester & the Hot Band (a.k.a. “Scratch My Flower”) and Bazaar, adding two bonus tracks—featuring the Pointer Sisters—from a rare San Francisco sampler LP. All tracks are on CD for the first time.

“Sylvester’s falsetto alone evoked a universe of timeless, idiosyncratic talents and influences,” writes Brian Chin in the package’s liner notes, which are graced by beautiful photos of the singer from the era and full reproductions of both LP jackets; additionally, the first LP came with a poster, whose image graces the cover of this new collection.

The Blue Thumb Collection offers intriguing insight to Sylvester, pre-Disco Diva. In addition to a nastily funky version of “Southern Man,” the debut LP, produced by Ben Sidran, has left-field covers of Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” and the Coasters’ Baby That Is Rock & Roll.” Bazaar, which the band produced themselves, pumps up the jams even further, with heavy covers of James Taylor’s “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” and Gram Pasrons’ “She,” alongside stylish originals “All That I Need” and “Friendship.”

“The combination of smart, substantial cover material and the excellent band backup stands with the progressive Labelle and Isley Brothers albums of the time,” Chin also writes. “Throughout Bazaar, the Hot Band distinguishes itself, if anything, even more than on the first album—at times balancing, and at times emphasizing, the inherent sexual threat of Sylvester’s falsetto.”
Sylvester wanted nothing more than to be a star. Here’s a rare 77 minutes of the first musical path he walked, believing at every step he’d get there.



AND… a bonus for fans: the original debut album included a gardenia-shaped “scratch-n-sniff” sticker. We couldn’t reproduce the sticker, we’ve got our own version — a limited edition gardenia air freshener with purchase of this title, while supplies last!

Sylvester & The Hot Band/Bazaar/Lights Out: San Francisco
1. Southern Man
2. Im A Steam Roller
3. That Is Rock And Roll
4. God Bless The Child
5. Come Back Baby
6. A Whiter Shade Of Pale
7. Gimme A Pigfoot (And A Bottle Of Beer)
8. My Country Tis Of Thee
9. Down On Your Knees
10. Friendship
11. Play Something Sweet
12. Nobodys Fault But Mine
13. All That I Need
14. Don't Let Me Be Lonely
15. On Your Way Down
16. My Life
17. She
18. Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
19. Why Was I Born
[Edited 6/13/09 5:00am]

Thanks for your info ! I dig his guest-appearance on Herbie Hancock's "Magic Number" :


[Edited 6/13/09 6:52am]

He was cool in 1976 and I kinda dug Rocky II and III butt Rocky IV and V sucked ass....now, the new one , that last one was good thouhg ...Rocky Balboa was like taking it back to the roots ...Rambo 4 sucked ass.

Hestill looks good for his age...should stay away ffrom botox and H_GH thouhg.

hell yes!

RudyIsBackForGood said:

um, yeah. he died in 1988.

Three posts in a row? Why not.

Thanks for bringing this comp to our attention - my order is placed!

RudyIsBackForGood said:

Huh????? This is not Sylvester Stallone. We're talking about the drag queen disco singer Sylvester.

He needs an Unsung

scriptgirl said:

I agreed aboutthat and we should shoot TV One some emails for the request.

I am still sadden by his death and I wished he was still around.

He is very talented and a beautiful singer/musician too and his voice was all over Aretha Franklin's 1985 album but saddenly in public eye's he is just another disco drag queen.

After this cycle of eps, TVOne will most likely give you the option to vote for the next Unsung you want.

This thread led me to find an mp3 copy of BAZAAR, and I'm now listening to a Hot Band album for the first time...it's great stuff! It's a shame Sylvester is only known for the disco diva stuff, because this is some really fun music. Imagine if Sly and the Family Stone had written and produced The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and you'll start to have an idea of the funky glam goodness of this material...

I have to find a copy of "Lights out" vinyl tho

IAintTheOne said:

$100 and it's yours - https://www.vvmo.com/cgi-bin/search.pl


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

I Sylvester.

I wants this, precious!

Shango said:

I didn't know that was him,,,,,I'm used to him singing in his high-registered voice.

I've had this album in my IPOD forever and I've been grooving to this song mostly, and I didn't know this trivia.

Thanx alot.

I love HIP-Os remasters, but I HOPE to god they won't edit the songs in this,,,,coz lord knows they have a tendency to pull that shit.

Harlepolis said:

Yeah that's Sylvester singing alright. Dude had a great baritone, I thought ya knew, sis!

Timmy84 said:

Nah,,,,I'm only fimiliar with his Ms.Franklin-ish falsetto

Harlepolis said:

interesting. when i get my cd, i'll compare it to the copy of bazaar i recently got, and see how bad it got whittled down.

Harlepolis said:

Ah I see. So when you first heard "Who's Zoomin' Who" you didn't know Sylvester sung the bass in the background at first either?

Timmy84 said:

See what I mean?

I knew Ms.Thing sang back up in that album,,,,but it NEVER accured to me in a million years that he was behind the "bass" singing

Harlepolis said:

Right. It actually impressed me he reached as high as he did vocally. I think he was on Betty Davis' first album.

Timmy84 said:

yes he was.