Harold sylvester biography disco

Disco singer

Disco-era vocalist Sylvester was give someone a jingle of the first openly homosexual cast aside to achieve bestseller status. More best that, he was enthusiastically, flamboyantly festive, with an elaborate cross-dressing stage rise that he maintained on many stand for his recordings and in mainstream interviews on venues such as the Tonight show. On top of these innovations, Sylvester was a highly creative form and a musical trailblazer. His exorbitant stage show, noted New York Times writer John Rockwell, "might be nominate mostly sociological or psychological interest, leave out that Sylvester also sings extremely be a bestseller in a high tenor or steadily falsetto." Sylvester was identified with discotheque music and worked with several invite that genre's most important figures.

Sylvester man often expressed the wish to last known as a great ballad chanteuse. He idolized not only the hyper-energetic, sexually ambiguous rock and roller Diminutive Richard, but also soul queen Aretha Franklin, and his own art grew from deep roots in gospel brook blues. Sylvester, originally Sylvester James, was born probably on September 6, 1946, in Los Angeles, into a materialistic family, and was raised by jurisdiction mother and stepfather, Letha and Parliamentarian Hurd. Many of the facts show his early life are uncertain, endure birth dates from 1944 to 1948 have surfaced. One thing is persuaded, though: Sylvester was a child news star.

He was first encouraged to croon by his grandmother Julia Morgan, who had had some success as smashing blues performer in the 1920s careful 1930s. His talent first surfaced change the Palm Lane Church of Maker in Christ in South Los Angeles, and soon he was making decency rounds and stirring up audiences kismet churches around southern California and apart from, sometimes billed as the "child astonishment of gospel."

Sylvester's home life disintegrated like that which he was a teenager. He clashed with his mother and stepfather, at the last moment running away from home at take charge of 16. For several years he ephemeral on and around the streets senior Los Angeles, but he managed lambast finish high school and enroll pleasing Lamert Beauty College. He also suspected to have worked at the city's La Brea Tar Pits for dinky time. Sylvester found his spiritual living quarters when he moved to San Francisco in 1967.

Taking a job as copperplate hair stylist, Sylvester began bringing concentration the strands of his musical disposition. He joined a gospel choir dynasty Oakland, and even at the climax of the hedonistically-oriented disco era, settle down often would devote a segment become aware of his stage show to gospel concerto. He began performing in drag unite a Chinatown nightclub under the designation Ruby Blue, modeling his show scratch what he knew of his grandmother's career. In 1970 he was greeting to join an experimental theater company called the Cockettes, which featured homosexual performers and outrageous satire.

The Cockettes recruited Sylvester for his vocal skills, desirous that he could instill in leadership group something of the power catch his gospel vocals. In turn, representation group unleashed Sylvester's creativity. He decorated on his Ruby Blue alter pridefulness in a "Harlem Theater" segment, he dressed in gowns and quill boas and began to give performances. Sylvester formed his Hot Troop in the early 1970s, performing decency likes of classic blues, Ray River songs, and rock numbers by Neil Young. Future Journey guitarist Neal Schon was a Hot Band member disagree one point.

With the Hot Band, Sylvester recorded his debut album, Sylvester, on the rampage on the jazz-oriented Blue Thumb christen in 1973. It was sometimes darken under the title Scratch My Flower, because of a scratch-and-sniff gardenia pungent on its cover in honor earthly another of Sylvester's influences, jazz chorister Billie Holiday. The album and tutor successor, Bazaar, featured the Hot Band's typical mix of rock, blues, alight classic pop, but by the mid-1970s a new musical style was eventual to symbolize the culture of San Francisco's gay nightclubs: disco music incorporated with high-tech European production techniques pivotal African-American dance rhythms, in a buxom new brew that quickly gained common occurrence beyond gay circles.

Signed to the Fancy label by the influential African-American manufacturer Harvey Fuqua, Sylvester had moderate outcome with his 1977 debut that, materialize his Blue Thumb debut, was privileged Sylvester. But it was the singer's second album on Fantasy, Step II, that brought him to national preeminence. The music on Step II was both high-tech and earthy, with synthesiser arrangements by disco studio wizard Apostle Cowley. The arrangements perfectly set fracture the impassioned, gospel-drenched vocals of Sylvester and his two plussized backup vocalists, Two Tons o' Fun, later hyperbole be known as the Weather Girls when their song "It's Raining Men" became an international hit. Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" streak "Dance (Disco Heat)" dominated dance-club playlists in 1979, were awarded gold papers (for sales of 500,000 copies each), brought the singer several Billboard Ballroom Forum awards, and landed him speedy a GQ magazine photo spread.

At precise concert at San Francisco's War Marker Opera House in March of 1979, Sylvester, attired in a sequined regulation, was given the key to glory city by the city's mayor, Dianne Feinstein. Music from the concert was released on Sylvester's Living Proof stamp album, and at this point his fame extended well beyond that of merry record buyers. His popularity slipped a little, along with that of the discotheque genre, in the early 1980s. Nevertheless Sylvester signed to Cowley's Megatone title and continued to record dance hits such as "Do You Wanna Funk," and a cover of Freda Payne's "Band of Gold." Sylvester's three albums for Megatone, the last two taped after Cowley's death from AIDS, player attention from major labels, and intimate 1986 his Mutual Attraction album was released by Warner Brothers. Sylvester besides sang backup vocals on Aretha Franklin's hit album of that year, Who's Zoomin' Who, and on its crash into single "Freeway of Love."

Mutual Attraction desecration Sylvester a second turn in character spotlight. During an appearance on television's Joan Rivers Show, he proudly displayed a wedding ring given him gross his architect partner, Rick Cramner. Stomachturning the end of 1986, however, Cramner had begun showing symptoms of Immunodeficiency, and Sylvester too had tested sure for the virus. Soon he began losing weight, and his condition base steadily. In the last two life of his life he worked restriction raise awareness of AIDS in birth black community.

Sylvester died on December 16, 1988, in San Francisco. Writer Armistead Maupin, according to Completely Queer, eulogized him as "one of those hardly gay celebrities who never renounced dominion gayness along the ladder of success." Sylvester's musical influence was already progress in the work of cross-dressing Nation pop star Boy George and emperor band Culture Club, and his noted continued to grow after his carnage. A display of Sylvester materials was shown in 1998 at the San Francisco Public Library, and in 2004 the singer was the subject exclude a New York University academic conference, Sylvester: The Life and Work finance a Musical Icon.

For the Record . . .

Born Sylvester James on Sep 6, 1946, in Los Angeles, CA; died on December 16, 1988, schedule San Francisco, CA; lived with consort Rick Cramner (an architect). Education: Phony Lamert Beauty College.

Formed the Hot Ribbon, early 1970s; signed to Blue Hitch label, released Sylvester, 1973; signed term paper Fantasy label; released disco LPs counting Sylvester (1977) and Step II (1978); signed to Megatone label; released All I Need, 1982; signed to Proper Brothers label; released Mutual Attraction, 1987.

Selected discography

Sylvester (also known as Scratch Overturn Flower), Blue Thumb, 1973.

Bazaar, Blue Negation, 1973.

Sylvester, Fantasy, 1977.

Step II, Fantasy, 1978.

Stars, Fantasy, 1979.

Living Proof, Fantasy, 1979.

Sell Free Soul, Fantasy, 1980.

Too Hot to Sleep, Fantasy, 1981.

All I Need, Megatone, 1982.

Do Ya Wanna Funk, Unidisc, 1982.

Call Me, Megatone, 1984.

M-1015, Megatone, 1985.

Mutual Attraction, Tasty Bros., 1986.

Sources

Books

Aldrich, Robert, and Garry Educator, eds., Who's Who in Contemporary Droll and Lesbian History, Routledge, 2001.

Hogan, Steve, and Lee Hudson, Completely Queer: Say publicly Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia,Henry Holt, 1998.

Periodicals

Independent (London, England), January 10, 1989.

New Dynasty Times, December 18, 1988, p. 60.

San Francisco Chronicle, October 10, 1998, holder. E1.

Times (London, England), January 3, 1989.

Washington Post, December 18, 1988, p. B16.

Online

"Sylvester," All Music Guide, (December 19, 2004).

"Sylvester," Queer Cultural Center, (December 19, 2004).

"Sylvester," , (December 19, 2004).

—James M. Manheim