Sylvester
Sylvester James (September 6, 1947 in Los Angeles, California – December 16… Read Full Bio ↴Sylvester James (September 6, 1947 in Los Angeles, California – December 16, 1988 in San Francisco, California) was an American disco and soul musician, and a gay drag performer. Known for singing in falsetto (and occasionally a rich baritone voice), he is also considered one of the first Hi-NRG artists. His grandmother was the jazz singer Julia Morgan. He performed under his first name only, Sylvester.
Living in San Francisco in the 1960s, he performed in a musical production called Women of the Blues, then joined a short-lived group of transvestite performance artists called The Cockettes in the early 70's (famed transvestite Divine was a member of the group as well). Sylvester can be seen in The Cockettes' outrageous short film Tricia's Wedding, lampooning the wedding of President Nixon's daughter Tricia, and in an eponymous 2002 documentary about the group.
In 1972, Sylvester supplied two cuts to Lights Out San Francisco, an album complied by the KSAN radio station and released on the Blue Thumb label. In 1973, Sylvester & his Hot Band released two rock-oriented albums on Blue Thumb (their self-titled debut was also known as "Scratch My Flower," due to a gardenia-shaped scratch-and-sniff sticker adhered to the cover). Signed a solo act to Fantasy Records in 1977, and working with the production talents of legendary Motown producer Harvey Fuqua. Sylvester later alleged that Fuqua cheated him out of millions of dollars.
Sylvester soon met his frequent collaborator Patrick Cowley. Cowley's synthesizer and Sylvester's voice proved to be a magical combination, and pushed Sylvester's sound in an increasingly dance-oriented direction; his second solo album - Step II (1978) - unleashed two disco classics: "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," and "Dance (Disco Heat)." By this time both his live shows and recordings also recognizably featured the back-up vocals of Two Tons O' Fun: future Weather Girls Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes. 1979 brought three Billboard awards and an appearance in the movie, The Rose, starring Bette Midler.
Moving to Megatone Records in 1982, Sylvester quickly landed a Hi-NRG classic with "Do You Wanna Funk." He was close friends with other Megatone artists Linda Imperial and Jeanie Tracy. Sylvester was also very close to the legendary Patti LaBelle.
Later pressure from the label to "butch up" his image would result in him attending meetings in full-on drag. A drag photo shoot, which he staged and presented to label heads as a gag (calling it his "new album cover") would later grace the cover of Immortal after Sylvester died; it was the label's way of paying tribute to his spirit. In 1985, one of his dreams came true as he was summoned to sing back-up for Aretha Franklin on her Who's Zoomin' Who comeback album. His sole Warner Bros. album was Mutual Attraction in 1986; a single from the album, "Someone Like You," featured original cover art by Keith Haring.
Sylvester died of complications from AIDS on December 16, 1988. His good friend Jeanie Tracy took care of Sylvester during his last days.
In the late 1990's, performance artist Djola Branner (co-founder of the highly influential Pomo Afro Homos troupe) created his acclaimed solo piece and CD Mighty Real around the life of Sylvester.
On September 20, 2004 Sylvester's anthem record, You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. A year later, on September 19, 2005, Sylvester himself was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his achievement as an artist.
In 2005, a biography written by Joshua Gamson and titled The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, The music, The 70s in San Francisco was published.
2. Sylvester (Sylvester Larsen , born 1973) is a danish artist, who has released 4 albums. He is the son of Kim Larsen. See www.sylvesterlarsen.dk
Living in San Francisco in the 1960s, he performed in a musical production called Women of the Blues, then joined a short-lived group of transvestite performance artists called The Cockettes in the early 70's (famed transvestite Divine was a member of the group as well). Sylvester can be seen in The Cockettes' outrageous short film Tricia's Wedding, lampooning the wedding of President Nixon's daughter Tricia, and in an eponymous 2002 documentary about the group.
In 1972, Sylvester supplied two cuts to Lights Out San Francisco, an album complied by the KSAN radio station and released on the Blue Thumb label. In 1973, Sylvester & his Hot Band released two rock-oriented albums on Blue Thumb (their self-titled debut was also known as "Scratch My Flower," due to a gardenia-shaped scratch-and-sniff sticker adhered to the cover). Signed a solo act to Fantasy Records in 1977, and working with the production talents of legendary Motown producer Harvey Fuqua. Sylvester later alleged that Fuqua cheated him out of millions of dollars.
Sylvester soon met his frequent collaborator Patrick Cowley. Cowley's synthesizer and Sylvester's voice proved to be a magical combination, and pushed Sylvester's sound in an increasingly dance-oriented direction; his second solo album - Step II (1978) - unleashed two disco classics: "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," and "Dance (Disco Heat)." By this time both his live shows and recordings also recognizably featured the back-up vocals of Two Tons O' Fun: future Weather Girls Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes. 1979 brought three Billboard awards and an appearance in the movie, The Rose, starring Bette Midler.
Moving to Megatone Records in 1982, Sylvester quickly landed a Hi-NRG classic with "Do You Wanna Funk." He was close friends with other Megatone artists Linda Imperial and Jeanie Tracy. Sylvester was also very close to the legendary Patti LaBelle.
Later pressure from the label to "butch up" his image would result in him attending meetings in full-on drag. A drag photo shoot, which he staged and presented to label heads as a gag (calling it his "new album cover") would later grace the cover of Immortal after Sylvester died; it was the label's way of paying tribute to his spirit. In 1985, one of his dreams came true as he was summoned to sing back-up for Aretha Franklin on her Who's Zoomin' Who comeback album. His sole Warner Bros. album was Mutual Attraction in 1986; a single from the album, "Someone Like You," featured original cover art by Keith Haring.
Sylvester died of complications from AIDS on December 16, 1988. His good friend Jeanie Tracy took care of Sylvester during his last days.
In the late 1990's, performance artist Djola Branner (co-founder of the highly influential Pomo Afro Homos troupe) created his acclaimed solo piece and CD Mighty Real around the life of Sylvester.
On September 20, 2004 Sylvester's anthem record, You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. A year later, on September 19, 2005, Sylvester himself was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his achievement as an artist.
In 2005, a biography written by Joshua Gamson and titled The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, The music, The 70s in San Francisco was published.
2. Sylvester (Sylvester Larsen , born 1973) is a danish artist, who has released 4 albums. He is the son of Kim Larsen. See www.sylvesterlarsen.dk
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Sylvester Lyrics
All I Need Rarity She's the best pony She is fabulous At least Spike th…
Band of Gold Now That You′ve Gone All That's Left Is a Band of…
Be With You I have seen you from afar And I am sorry if…
Blackbird Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken win…
Body Strong You make my body mighty strong You make my body strong You…
Call Me Pearl Jam Miscellaneous Don't Call Me Daughter Alone... l…
Call Me (Remix) Pearl Jam Miscellaneous Don't Call Me Daughter Alone... list…
Can Huh I cant turn you loose now If I do I'm…
Can't Stop Dancing On the night I first met you You made all my…
Cry Me A River Now you say you're lonely You cried the whole night through …
Dance Near disco dawn Boogie crowds the floor Rockin' all the way …
Dance (disco Heat) "Got a match?" "Mm-hmm" "It's a fabulous club" "I'm tellin' …
Dance to the Music Get up and dance to the music! Get on up and…
Do Ya Wanna Funk There is somethin' I wanna ask you There is somethin' That I…
Do You Wanna Funk There is somethin' I wanna ask you There is somethin' tha…
Do You Wanna Funk (Les Adams House remix) There is something I wanna ask you There is something That I…
Don't Stop You know I′m so cunning Baby, you've got me humming One look…
Down You've gotta dance with the devil to know yourself And find…
Down Down Down 01Dance (Disco Heat) [Louie Vega′s Let's Party a Lil Dub] by…
Everyday People Sometimes I'm right and I can be wrong My own beliefs…
Family Affair It's a family affair, it's a family affair It's a family…
Happiness I love the way you love to live You got life,…
Hard Up 01Dance (Disco Heat) [Louie Vega′s Let's Party a Lil Dub] by…
His Eye Is on the Sparrow Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? …
How Great Thou Art Mhmmmmm Whoa ho, My God When- when I In awesome wonder Consi…
I The sky is feeling mighty grey today It looks like it…
I (Who Have Nothing) I, i who have nothing i, i who have no one adore…
I Been Down 01Dance (Disco Heat) [Louie Vega′s Let's Party a Lil Dub] by…
I Need Somebody To Love Tonight I need somebody to love tonight I need somebody to love…
I Need You She left town on Monday I told her she should go She'll…
I Took My Strength From You Knowin' the way the wind was gonna blow That was the…
I Want to Take You Higher Beat is gettin' stronger. Music gettin' longer, too. Music i…
I Who Have Nothing I, I who have nothing I, I who have no one Adore…
In My Fantasy Mamba mentality when I'm in my zone cash is king…
Living for the City 01Dance (Disco Heat) [Louie Vega′s Let's Party a Lil Dub] by…
Lovin' Is Really My Game I can't catch no man Hangin' out at a discotheque But I…
Menergy Menergy, menergy, menergy Menergy, menergy, menergy Menergy …
Mighty Real When we're out there dancin' on the floor, darlin' And I…
Oh baby baby Ooh la, la, la, la. I did you wrong, my heart…
One Night Only You want all my love and my devotion You want my…
Ooo Baby Baby Ooh la, la, la, la. I did you wrong, my heart…
Over And Over Over and over, time and time again You can't be nobody's…
Protocol / You Make Me Feel When we're out there dancin' on the floor, darlin' And I…
Rock The Box 01Dance (Disco Heat) [Louie Vega's Let's Party a Lil Dub] by…
Sex Work upon the street Your reputation Isn't little indescrete…
Sharing Something Perfect Between Ourselves Thank you. This song is dedicated to my lover who is…
Someone Like You I used to have a perfect sweetheart Not a real one,…
Stars I was driving along in my big cadillac Saw a thumb…
Sylvester It's been a long year Anything that could have went wrong Ju…
Tell Me Another wasted phone call She hung up on me again Same old…
Tipsong 01Dance (Disco Heat) [Louie Vega's Let's Party a Lil Dub] by…
Trouble in Paradise I can't sing to sleep at night Just keep thinking about…
Won't You Let Me Love You Another wasted phone call She hung up on me again Same old…
You Are My Friend Williams Vanessa Miscellaneous You Are My Home All of my …
You Make Me Feel When we're out there dancin' on the floor, darlin' And I…
You Make Me Feel (David Morales 2005 Def remix) You mean I've been dancin' on the floor darlin' And I…
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) You mean I’ve been dancin’ on the floor darlin’ And I…
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - Epilogue You mean I've been dancin' on the floor darlin' And I…
You Make Me Fell When we're out there dancin' on the floor, darlin' And I…