AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Sylvester

Artist:Sylvester
Song:You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Album:Mighty Real: Greatest Dance Hits





You Make Me Feel is probably one of the defining songs of the late 70s disco era. It topped the dance charts in 1978 and it's still popular today. That Sylvester James Jr. was gay and a cross dresser only added to his aura. He was born Sept. 6, 1947 in Los Angeles. He was raised by his aunt who moved from Arkansas to the Watts section of LA. She was a devout Christian so not surprisingly James grew up singing in church. But his family found out he was gay, they didn't take it well and he went to live with his grandmother. James frequented gay clubs as a teen and this led to membership in a group of cross dressers known as the Disqotays. James frequently appeared in drag. He moved to San Francisco to join the drag art performance group The Cockettes. Though they were impressed with his falsetto singing voice, James didn't really fit in with The Cockettes and he left after moving to New York with them. When he returned to San Francisco, his manager put a band together that recorded two albums for Blue Thumb Records called Sylvester and his Hot Band. After that flopped, James tried other things. What worked was meeting backup singers Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes known as Two Tons O' Fun. Later they became famous as The Weather Girls. They formed a band led by guitarist James "Tip" Wirrick. This got the attention of leader of the doo wop group The Moonglows Harvey Fuqua. He had just left Motown and had taken a job with Fantasy Records. the album Sylvester was released in 1977. You Make Me Feel is from the 1978 album Step II. It topped the dance charts and crossed over to mainstream. James and Wirrick wrote and Wirrick arranged it. As I said, it turned out to be one of the biggest hits of the disco era. You can get the original version and a remix on this comp. James left Fantasy in 1982 accusing them of not paying him. He sued them but he couldn't prove anything. James signed with Megatone Records founded by his friend Patrick Cowley. The label produced music for the gay community. When Cowley died of AIDS in 1982, James took over the label. He continued to record until he got AIDS himself in 1985. James died on Dec. 16, 1988 at age 41. Byron Stingley's 1998 cover of You Make Me Feel topped the dance charts. I guess this is a song that will always live. Here's the video for You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) by Sylvester.