I first became aware of falsetto icon Sylvester in 1978 with the success of You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), and the video being shown on Top of the Pops.
Filmed at the Embassy Club in London, Sylvester changes outfit several times (naturally), moving from statement suits to sparkly robes, accessorised with earrings, eyeshadow and an ever-present fan.
I was fascinated but at 13 I was already aware that men were not supposed to look, act or sound like this. I was quietly gutted the following week when Top of the Pops dropped the video and the all-female studio dance troupe Legs & Co bobbed around to the song instead. Looking back my reactions were a rather massive clue about my developing sexuality… but enough about me.
The early years
Sylvester was born in Los Angeles in 1947 and his family were devout Pentecostal Christians. This was great for singing gospel songs at church, not so much when you’re a rather obviously gay young boy. He stopped attending church at 13 and left home at 15.
He fell in with a group called the Disquotays, young black gay men who liked cross-dressing and partying, before moving to San Francisco in his early 20s. His talent was recognised while performing with the drag troupe The Cockettes. That was followed by the formation of Sylvester & the Hot Band, who found themselves as the support act for a young David Bowie one night.
Sylvester became known as ‘the Queen of Disco’ in the late ‘70s, with his back-up singers Two Tons O’ Fun (Izora Rhodes and Martha Wash). As The Weather Girls in 1982, they had a huge hit themselves with It’s Raining Men.
Sylvester had more UK chart success in early 1982 with Do Ya Wanna Funk, co-written with his friend and electronic dance music pioneer Patrick Cowley. They had been on a world tour together the previous year, and Patrick had complained of feeling ill. In November, just as he was about to go on stage at London’s gay superclub Heaven, Sylvester was informed of Patrick’s death from AIDS. He told the crowd what had happened and performed the song in his honour.
Getting Mighty Real in Brighton
Sylvester also made appearances in Brighton during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, at venues with great names like Sloopy’s and Coasters.
In 1984 he appeared at Bolts, the gay night at Sherry’s, 77 West Street.
“I worked at Sherry’s (in the cloakroom) and there was such a buzz that night – I shut the cloakroom so I could escape to watch – amazing!”
Michele Allardyce
Brighton Hippodrome in 1984
Photographer and local resident Bill Short interviewed Sylvester for October Gay Times. He remembers: “After the show, which was at a straight club in my hometown, he asked me to take him out on the gay scene.”
Sylvester had found his appearance criticised by sections of the gay community over the years and commented during the interview: “When I first was a hit over here, I used to wear sort of dresses because that was the sort of drag that I was into at the time – we all wear drag whether it be dresses or leather or jeans.”
The Beverly Hills in 1985
Sylvester also appeared at the Beverly Hills, 54-55 Meeting House Lane in November 1985. To quote a review of the venue that year by Peter Burton for Gay Times: “The centre of town’s main attraction has to be the recently opened Beverly Hills. This elegantly designed nightclub has developed the reputation for being the week-round place to go. A gallery furnished with sofas and chairs surrounds the bar area and dance floor and offers a handy and cruisy vantage point. Cabaret – fairly unusual in Brighton – is a regular feature.”
The cabaret, for example, had been Miquel Brown on Friday 13 September, famous for her 1983 Hi-NRG anthem So Many Men, So Little Time.
And here is the listing from The Punter for Saturday 16 November at BEV (The Beverly Hills) Sylvester Live! From the USA! (perhaps the second line was added for those in disbelief it was really him).
Phil Monteiro-Sampson remembers: “I saw Sylvester twice in Brighton, at Bolts and Beverley Hills. He was a lovely guy. I was resident DJ [Beverley Hills]. Sylvester was FANTASTIC. The manager was annoyed as he didn’t arrive for a sound check but within 30 seconds he was sounding fantastic. To cover the cost we had to charge £4 entry, so turn out suffered as no one ever wanted to pay entry fees, which seems crazy now.”
Brighton Summer Mix
UK label Domino Records must have sensed the love for Sylvester here, as a Brighton Summer Mix of Do You Wanna Funk hit the record shelves in 1986.
Sylvester’s boyfriend Rick Cranmer died of AIDS in September 1987. Just over a year later Sylvester died of AIDS, aged 41. He left all future royalties from his recordings to two HIV/ AIDS charities.
Our own gay falsetto singer Jimmy Somerville paid tribute with a cover of Mighty Real in 1989. The video features images of Sylvester and people dancing in the cosmos – which seems like the perfect way to imagine Sylvester evermore.
This originally appeared in Scene magazine with an accompanying article by Sylvester super-fan Josef Cabey.
