Has anyone on this board every met the late great SYLVESTER

[nickey66]

I was 12 years old in 1978 and me and my best friend Cindy, did a disco performance for the mother's of the school at a mother's day brunch held by our school and we did our routine to "Dance/Disco Heat" and it was a dance contest and we actually won.

I didn't get INTO music until the following year and I bought all his records and especially loved his song "Take Me to Heaven" and "Sex"....His vocals really really lift my spirits. He is one of the very few male vocalists that I like, period besides Jimmy Sommerville and Jason Walker.

I was just curious if anyone on this board ever met him or saw him live, was he a diva? I think he is the best male vocalist I have ever heard in my entire life and knew he was from San Francisco and I live in Tracy California which is about a 1 1/2 hour drive to SF but I was too young back in the day to ever see him live.

Just a very curious fan.....

much love
Nickey66

[tmob]

I met him. I was lucky enough to interview him when I was writing for a paper in Seattle. I was fairly nervous (interviews always made me nervous) but he put me at ease instantly. He was sweet, funny, crazy (in a good way) and very, very nice. No diva behavior at all, at least in my experience. I wish I could say that about other people I interviewed.
Before we finished, I got him to interview my copy of the "Stars" LP, and I still treasure that record.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

He could be your best friend ... or your worst nightmare! :icon_lol:

Bigger than life, and he loved being "Sylvester".

[Cory Ander]

I was 12 years old in 1978 and me and my best friend Cindy, did a disco performance for the mother's of the school at a mother's day brunch held by our school and we did our routine to "Dance/Disco Heat" and it was a dance contest and we actually won.

I didn't get INTO music until the following year and I bought all his records and especially loved his song "Take Me to Heaven" and "Sex"....His vocals really really lift my spirits. He is one of the very few male vocalists that I like, period besides Jimmy Sommerville and Jason Walker.

I was just curious if anyone on this board ever met him or saw him live, was he a diva? I think he is the best male vocalist I have ever heard in my entire life and knew he was from San Francisco and I live in Tracy California which is about a 1 1/2 hour drive to SF but I was too young back in the day to ever see him live.

Just a very curious fan.....

much love
Nickey66

Once I was sweatin' it out on the dance floor at San Francisco's legendary I-Beam Sunday T-Dance and Sylvester and his partner Rick were dancing right next to me. I said hi, introduced myself, told him I was a big fan of his and got a big smile from him. The I-Beam's DJ would usually play Syl's music when he was in the club. The second time I met him was at San Francisco's Eagle tavern. He wasn't performing, he was there to see Val Diamond. He was a bit more distant that time but I suspect he wasn't feeling well. 2/15/2010

[Cdnbob]

One of my all time favourite performers and singers, and always wished I'd been able to see him live or to meet him. Sadly, the one and only time I had the chance to see him live, the concert was cancelled due to a problem with the concert promoter.

[markydefad]

One time at band camp...uh, when I worked at Aloha Records in SF, around 1983 I guess-- I chatted with Sylvester. It was a Monday late afternoon--no one was in the store except one other employee and myself and Sylvester just walked in. If the owners were in the store, believe me, Sylvester would not have chatted me up--but it was just me and someone else who was behind the cash register counter...so Sylvester told me about having just performed at Heaven in London and how "fabulous" it was. I was properly starstruck. No, he was very sweet in our brief encounter...Saw him perform countless times in SF.,..only one close encounter.

[remicks]

*****


on the lips
we kissed



--- at his instigation , not mine....:icon_razz:



*****

[Dayna]

Here's a photo of Sylvester and Hot Chocolate getting ready for The Miss Florida female.Impersonation. Pageant..

[Cdnbob]

Dayna that is so cool. Thanks for sharing that pic. Funny, but boy does Sylv look like Patti Labelle.

[nickey66]

Thanks everyone for responding...Loved reading all the comments.....Wish I was born a few years earlier so I could have seen him "live"........I think they should make a motion picture about his life and everything he had to overcome to become "Sylvester".......He is one of a kind and will always be one of my faves....

Nickey66

[djdanpooch]

Wel I tell you, I met and spoke with and danced with Sylvester. he performed at my club in 1979. At that time, I had the honor of receiving a Gold Record for my promotional efforts on "You Make Me Feel Mighty Real". He also hung in the DJ booth for a few minutes. It was a wonderful night and a memory that will last forever. At the time, I was the first and only Dj in Brooklyn to ever receive a gold record.:icon_cool:

[Dayna]

Wel I tell you, I met and spoke with and danced with Sylvester. he performed at my club in 1979. At that time, I had the honor of receiving a Gold Record for my promotional efforts on "You Make Me Feel Mighty Real". He also hung in the DJ booth for a few minutes. It was a wonderful night and a memory that will last forever. At the time, I was the first and only Dj in Brooklyn to ever receive a gold record.:icon_cool:

That's fabulous~! what an honor..Love the pics..Thank you

[kdavid13]

Wel I tell you, I met and spoke with and danced with Sylvester. he performed at my club in 1979. At that time, I had the honor of receiving a Gold Record for my promotional efforts on "You Make Me Feel Mighty Real". He also hung in the DJ booth for a few minutes. It was a wonderful night and a memory that will last forever. At the time, I was the first and only Dj in Brooklyn to ever receive a gold record.:icon_cool:

Great story & great pics. BTW Congrats Danny.
:icon_cool:

[Discomanic]

I got to see him around 1985 in Washington, DC. The performance was awesome eventhough he sung using pre-recorded tracks (which most Disco stars did in those days).

[VINYLLIFE]

Wel I tell you, I met and spoke with and danced with Sylvester. he performed at my club in 1979. At that time, I had the honor of receiving a Gold Record for my promotional efforts on "You Make Me Feel Mighty Real". He also hung in the DJ booth for a few minutes. It was a wonderful night and a memory that will last forever. At the time, I was the first and only Dj in Brooklyn to ever receive a gold record.:icon_cool:

WOW!! Very cool and congradulations on that Gold Record award!!

[Discomanic]

Oh, I forget to mention..TVOne will be featuring Sylvester as part of their Unsung series. The show will be televised on March 29, 2010.* Sylvester (premieres March 29) – Sylvester James was the undisputed King and Queen of disco. He strived for fame, fortune and freedom during a time when it was highly unlikely for a large, openly gay, sometimes in drag, African American male to make it in the world of entertainment. But with a powerhouse falsetto voice to back him up, that’s exactly what Sylvester did. On this ground-breaking episode of UnSung, Sylvester’s family takes us to his childhood home and the church where it all began in Los Angeles. We visit his old neighborhood and the Palm Lane Church of God where he got his start singing and performing in the choir, becoming a gospel sensation around town. But it was also here where Sylvester would learn that being ‘different’ was both a challenge and an opportunity for someone with courage and personal flair. Moving to San Francisco, Sylvester began his rise to stardom performing with a theater troupe, which ultimately led to a recording contract. Gold albums, movie roles, and TV appearances followed. Then the glow faded as he endured the loss of close friends through the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. Sylvester ultimately succumbed to the disease as well, while leaving a legacy of music, which embodied a generation’s determination to live their lives on their own terms. Now, through interviews with music colleagues such as Narada Michael Walden, The Pointer Sisters, Martha Wash and Jeanie Tracey, along with close family members and friends, UnSung chronicles a music career which reached heights that few expected, but in retrospect was fully earned.

Other shows will include Rose Royce, Stacy Lattishaw, and
The Bar-Kays.

[Lefty]

Another great thread. I loved Sylvester's music. Grew up with it on the radio in NYC.

[JohnnyEckhardt]

Yes...several times.