Sylvester James born 6 September 1948 (d. 1988)Sylvester James was an American disco and soul musician, and a gay drag performer. He mostly performed using only his first name, Sylvester. Known for singing in falsetto (despite a rich baritone voice), he is also considered one of the first Hi-NRG artists. He was raised by his grandmother, the jazz singer Julia Morgan. Sylvester was the first 'male diva' of disco.
Sylvester James was born in Los Angeles, California. 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 drag performance artists called The Cockettes in the early 1970s. (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 compiled 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). He signed as a solo act to Fantasy Records in 1977, working with the production talents of legendary Motown producer Harvey Fuqua.
Sylvester soon met his frequent collaborator Patrick Cowley. Cowley's synthesiser and Sylvester's voice proved to be a magical combination, and pushed Sylvester's sound in an innovative new 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 recognisably 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 and Patrick Cowley 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.
Like so many others, including Patrick Cowley before him, Sylvester died of complications from AIDS in San Francisco on December 16, 1988. He was 40 years old. His good friend Jeanie Tracy took care of Sylvester during his last days.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.
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) is definitely one of the greatest dance records ever made and a personal favourite.