DiscoMusic.com

Marcio** · #1 May 20th, 2006, 05:30 PM

''I saw Sylvester perform more times than I can remember in clubs, bars, street fairs, even the opening of the Castro Municipal Railway station. I loved watching him perform. I wasn’t a close friend of his, but we knew each other. On the right is a picture taken of us (Sylvester as Jayne Mansfield) at the 1976 Gay Day Parade, when the parade used to go down Polk Street.

Back in the '70s, when everyone hitchhiked around the City, he and his lover, Michael, picked me up one afternoon in Sylvester’s Volkswagen (that had a Rolls-Royce grille!). I went with them to Sears to shop for a mattress. It was very amusing watching Sylvester and Michael trying out all the mattresses. Sylvester was very flamboyant in demeanor and attire, so he turned a lot of heads in the mattress department. The staff didn’t quite know what to do! He always had a big smile and a warm hug for me whenever we ran into each other around town.

Living in San Francisco in the late '60s and '70s, he performed in a musical production called "Women of the Blues", then joined a short-lived group of transvestite/hippy performance artists called "The Cockettes" in the early '70s. Famed transvestite Divine was a member of the group as well (Divine wasn’t a member of the group, but was a ‘special guest’ a few times. (I saw and met Divine too)). Sylvester can be seen in The Cockettes' outrageous short film "Tricia's Wedding", lampooning the wedding of President Nixon's daughter Tricia. A 1971 Cockettes performance, called “Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma”, was attended by Truman Capote, Rex Reed, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Joanna Carson. Janis Joplin, Alice Cooper, and Tina Turner came to their shows as well.

Before the disco craze hit, Sylvester specialized in blues, gospel and rock (which I preferred). He often was attired a la Billie Holiday, resplendent with a gardenia in his hair, and performed such blues songs as “Am I Blue”, “Lover Man”, and “God Bless the Child”. His gospel roots inspired him to sing songs such as “Grandma’s Hands (Clapped in Church Every Sunday)” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain”.)

After a less-than-successful stint with "The Hot Band" (the record sales might have proved disappointing, but his live performances with the Hot Band were always exciting!!), Sylvester met his frequent collaborator Patrick Cowley in 1978. Cowley's synthesizer and Sylvester's voice proved to be a magical combination. Openly gay and often singing in falsetto, despite a rich baritone voice, Sylvester's disco hits included "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," "Do You Wanna Funk" and "Dance (Disco Heat)".

1979 brought three Billboard awards and an appearance in the movie, "The Rose". He moved to the independent Megatone Records, where his career turned to more specifically homoerotic dance club material, such as the 1982 club hit "Do Ya Wanna Funk" (written and produced by his onetime band member Patrick Cowley, something of a disco genius). One of the highlights of Sylvester’s career was his one-night-only performance at the San Francisco Opera House (which I attended) which was recorded on a deluxe two-record album set. Toward the end of his career, Sylvester was jetting off to Europe to do lucrative performances to tape-recorded accompaniment.''

http://phantomdragon.com/THELEGEND/epilogue.htm

remicks · #2 May 20th, 2006, 09:50 PM

8-)8-)8-)

.....thanks ........

Discomanic · #3 May 22nd, 2006, 05:36 PM

Thanks for the article on Sylvester. I always enjoy reading comments about him. I have his videos and a rare concert (June 1980) from Dreamland that I enjoy watching. It would have been great if the Opera House concert had been recorded along with the album.

discodevil · #4 May 22nd, 2006, 06:14 PM

What an amazing link!

skylark · #5 May 27th, 2006, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Discomanic

Thanks for the article on Sylvester. I always enjoy reading comments about him. I have his videos and a rare concert (June 1980) from Dreamland that I enjoy watching. It would have been great if the Opera House concert had been recorded along with the album.

How with you to communicate?
Very much I want to see this video.
My mail:
melody@melody-man.com