Sylvester Love Hangover?

[Mark Desjardins]

Hello all fans of Sylvester! I have been intrigued by a fairly new posting on YouTube that claims that Sylvester was the first to record "Love Hangover," which was followed by the Fifth Dimension's version and then of course Diana Ross' version which became a number one Billboard hit.
What I do know as fact is that Marilyn McLeod is acknowledged to be co-writter along with Pamela Sawyer. McLeod is sister to Alice McLeod, who became Alice Coltrane ( yes that one!), amazing as it seems. This fact was printed in a recent Hip-o Select Diana Ross reissue, so I trust that information.
The recent Supremes bio written by Mark Robowsky, A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal states that Sylvester was the first to record "Love Hangover" on page 385. Digging on the net I discovered Wikipedia cites this "fact." I think that many pieces of misinformation on Wikipedia become "fact" when indeed it is not the case.
Has anyone reading this post ever heard of such a Sylveter recording? I believe I have every recording and 12 inch remix and this is news to me. I would appreciate any insights on this. Cheers! Mark

[Videoskooter]

Mark, while awaiting for other replies you can already check this old thread:

http://www.discomusic.com/forums/dis...-hangover.html

[Disco Funk]

I always assumed that MacLeod and Sawyer were Motown writers, so I figured Diana's was first. It would interesting to hear his version.

There was apparently a version done by Junior Walker from 1976 that wasn't released until 1983's 'Motown Superstars Sing Motown Superstars' LP.

Here's a version of Diana's song I've never heard before. It's definitely not the same vocal performance as on the LP.



And another remix with different vocals. The first slow part is at least worth listening to. I don't care for the fast part in this mix.



Disco Funk

[Cory Ander]

I always assumed that MacLeod and Sawyer were Motown writers, so I figured Diana's was first. It would interesting to hear his version.

There was apparently a version done by Junior Walker from 1976 that wasn't released until 1983's 'Motown Superstars Sing Motown Superstars' LP.

Here's a version of Diana's song I've never heard before. It's definitely not the same vocal performance as on the LP.



And another remix with different vocals. The first slow part is at least worth listening to. I don't care for the fast part in this mix.



Disco Funk

DF: wow, I thought I was the only person who knew that album existed! I own it...only bought it to try to keep my Motown collection complete (by the way, I think it's awful but that's only my opinion). I have a similar recording called "Motown's Brightest Stars...Never Before Released Masters". It has similarly obscure recordings by the label's biggest stars. Ever heard of that one?

[PierreConstantin]

It's an urban myth :icon_biggrin: .

[Disco Funk]

DF: wow, I thought I was the only person who knew that album existed! I own it...only bought it to try to keep my Motown collection complete (by the way, I think it's awful but that's only my opinion). I have a similar recording called "Motown's Brightest Stars...Never Before Released Masters". It has similarly obscure recordings by the label's biggest stars. Ever heard of that one?

Actually, I only found out about it last night when looking for more information on the various versions of Love Hangover. Someone had mentioned the Junior Walker version of Love Hangover and even posted an audio sample, but that didn't work. I was curious if that used the same backing track as the Diana Ross version.

Did they try remixing the LP's music to sound 80s? From the sounds of it, there probably was a good reason why these tracks had never been released. :)

Sorry, I haven't heard of that second one. Does it also contain unreleased Motown cuts from the 70s?

Disco Funk

[PierreConstantin]

Actually, I only found out about it last night when looking for more information on the various versions of Love Hangover. Someone had mentioned the Junior Walker version of Love Hangover and even posted an audio sample, but that didn't work. I was curious if that used the same backing track as the Diana Ross version.

Did they try remixing the LP's music to sound 80s? From the sounds of it, there probably was a good reason why these tracks had never been released. :)

Sorry, I haven't heard of that second one. Does it also contain unreleased Motown cuts from the 70s?

Disco Funk

The Jr. Walker "Love hangover" version sounds very 1976 and doesn't seem to be remixed to sound 80ish.
Other disco numbers are "For once in my life" by Diana Ross (4:50) from 1977 and two Thelma Houston songs, "Reach Out I'll Be There" and "I Wanna Be Where You Are" from 1974/1975.

Various | Motown Superstars Sing Motown Superstars | Motown 5310ML |

For those who speak French a very extensive bio of Diana Ross' disco years talks about the story behind this particular version of "For once in my life": Discothèques Diana Ross / Le disco - 55.4C (apparently it's the Wikipedia article; actually it's a very very extensive article about her career and records).

[Mark Desjardins]

I tend to agree that in all probability, the posting of Sylvester recording "Love Hangover" is an urban myth. I read somewhere that while he did sing a medley of Supremes songs once for friends, he wasn't that taken with Diana Ross' solo material.
I also have the Jr. Walker version of "Love Hangover" and the lliner notes to that cut state something to the effect of his "lounge lizard" approach to the song. It's definitely a curiosity for completists, but you're right, it's not that good. I also know that the Player's Association and Stanley Turrentine have recorded very good covers of this song. I guess that puts this puppy to bed!

[remicks]

Hello all fans of Sylvester! I have been intrigued by a fairly new posting on YouTube that claims that Sylvester was the first to record "Love Hangover," which was followed by the Fifth Dimension's version and then of course Diana Ross' version which became a number one Billboard hit.

I believe the sequence of events were as follows ----

Diana Ross recorded and released on LP her version first
and then the Fifth Dimension promptly recorded their version intending to get a jump on Motown's scheduled release of Diana's version.

From
THE FABULOUS SYLVESTER:

this is the book's only mention of LOVE HANGOVER in Sylvester's career story:

Every Sunday in 1977..... People would start showing up at the Elephant Walk.....If you wanted to actually see Sylvester & The Two Tons when they started playing at three o'clock, you'd need to get yourself a beer at one or two.
Latecomers would just stand out on the street. The windows at the ELEPHANT WALK would open and the music would fly out.

.....Sylvester & The Two Tons would sing LOVE HANGOVER, some Leon Russell tunes, James Taylor's DON'T LET ME BE LONELY TONIGHT ,some Doobie Bros., OVER AND OVER, Patti Labelle's YOU ARE MY FRIEND ...

******

[Mark Desjardins]

Thank you for clarifying that Sylvester did at least sing, "Love Hangover." I am sure he never recorded it. By the way, Jody Watley recorded a very cool slow version on her last CD and it is probably my favorite version to date.

[SandraDee]

I also know that the Player's Association and Stanley Turrentine have recorded very good covers of this song.

Mark, 2 more covers of this song for your attention :

[Disco Funk]

The Touch version is pretty cool. It was from their Energizer LP. They were the guys who played on Tony Valor's Gotta Get It LP. Their version is different from most cover versions because they just get to the dance part. It would be interesting to find out if they had a slow part, but edited it out of the final mix.

Disco Funk

[PierreConstantin]

I have a 2005 UK 12" with four versions of the song: Diana Ross, Touch, The Players Association and a reggae version (Horace Andy, 1982):

Info:
Various - The Hangover (12") at Discogs

Audio clips:
BanquetRecords.com