Sylvester James Jr., known simply as Sylvester, was an American singer-songwriter. Primarily active in the genres of disco, rhythm and blues, and soul, he was known for his flamboyant and androgynous appearance, falsetto singing voice, and hit disco singles in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Black Box is an Italian house music group popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The group is currently made up of DJ Daniele Davoli, classically trained clarinet teacher Valerio Semplici, keyboardist and electronic musician Mirko Limoni, and vocalist Celestine Walcott-Gordon. French fashion model Katrin Quinol joined the act in 1989 and became the official face of Black Box, appearing on the cover of their single and album releases as well as in music videos, including the hit "Ride on Time", which was the highest-selling single of 1989 in the UK. The following year, it was revealed that Quinol was lip-syncing and had not performed on the recording. American singer Martha Wash performed the majority of the songs on the group's debut album, Dreamland, while being uncredited.
The Weather Girls are an American female duo whose best-known line-up comprised Martha Wash and Izora Armstead. Formed in 1976 in San Francisco, California, Wash and Armstead began their musical careers as Two Tons O' Fun, the female backup duo for disco singer Sylvester. After several years of singing background for Sylvester, the duo was signed in 1979 to Fantasy Records as Two Tons O' Fun. The duo changed their name to The Weather Girls and were launched into somewhat more mainstream recognition following the release of the single, "It's Raining Men" (1982), which became their first number-one song on the US Dance Chart and their biggest hit. Despite having several hit songs on the Dance Chart as Two Tons O' Fun and The Weather Girls, the duo never achieved a top 40 hit on the main US Hot 100 and ultimately disbanded in 1988 after the release of their self-titled fifth album The Weather Girls.
Izora Margaret Rhodes-Armstead was an American singer. Known for her distinctive alto voice, Armstead first achieved success as one half of the duo Two Tons O' Fun, along with Martha Wash, as they sang backup for American disco singer Sylvester. The duo obtained their own record deal as Two Tons O'Fun in 1979. They released three consecutive songs that were hits on the Dance Chart. The duo was renamed The Weather Girls in 1982 after the release of their single "It's Raining Men", their most successful single. As a duo, The Weather Girls released five albums and were also featured on Sylvester's albums.
The Ritchie Family are an American vocal group based in Philadelphia that achieved several hits during the disco era. They have reunited and continue to perform. Their latest single "Whatcha Got" was released in 2021.
Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production, recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson.
Martha Elaine Wash is an American singer and songwriter. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the Two Tons O' Fun, along with Izora Armstead, as they sang backing vocals for the disco singer Sylvester including on his signature hit "You Make Me Feel ". After gaining their own record deal, they released three consecutive commercially successful songs which all peaked at number two in the dance charts. The duo was renamed The Weather Girls in 1982 after they released the top-selling single "It's Raining Men", which brought them to mainstream pop attention. The Weather Girls released five albums and were heavily featured on Sylvester's albums.
Jeanie Tracy is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as a background singer of Sylvester, an American disco singer. Her first album, Me and You (1982), featured post-disco hits "I'm Your Jeanie","Sing Your Own Song" and the overlooked 1983 smash R&B and Funk hit,"Can I Come Over And Play With You Tonight". From late 1984 to early 1985, she performed on television Show Star Search where she was the winner in the Female Vocalist category for six weeks. In 1995, Tracy released her second album It's My Time.
Let Me in Your Life is the twentieth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on February 26, 1974, by Atlantic Records.
Sugar 'n' Spice is a 1969 soul album released by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas on the Gordy (Motown) label. The album was released during a troubling and downward time for the lead singer, Martha Reeves, who was now heavily addicted to painkillers. Like many Motown albums of the late sixties, the album was produced by several in-house producers including Ashford & Simpson, Frank Wilson and Deke Richards. Two tracks were in the can from Holland–Dozier–Holland. The modest R&B hit (#44), "Taking My Love " is featured on this album. Although new member and former Velvelettes member Sandra Tilley is featured on the album cover, her vocals do not appear on the album. Instead, tracks were used with Rosalind Ashford, Lois Reeves with additional vocals accompanied by The Andantes and Syreeta Wright.
Black Magic is a 1972 soul album released by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas on the Gordy (Motown) label. It is the last studio album issued by the group after ten years with the label. The album is significant for featuring the group's biggest hit of the decade with the Jackson 5-esque "Bless You". The track returned the Vandellas to chart success briefly in the US reaching number fifty-three pop, number twenty-nine R&B and reaching number thirty-three on the UK pop singles chart. It was also a top twenty hit in Canada reaching number sixteen on the chart, and a top ten single in Puerto Rico, where it reached the number two position. Two other subsequent singles, "In and Out of My Life" and "Tear It on Down", were the trio's last Billboard charted hits reaching the top 40 on the R&B charts. "No One There" was released in the UK as a solo single for lead singer Martha Reeves.
The Boss is the tenth studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on May 23, 1979, by Motown Records.
Success is a 1983 studio album originally released by American singing duo the Weather Girls. The album includes the group's biggest hit, "It's Raining Men", which peaked at number one on the U.S. Dance chart, number 46 on the U.S. Pop chart, and 34 on the U.S. R&B chart.
The Boys Town Gang were a post-disco and hi-NRG band from San Francisco, California. Their popularity peaked in the 1980s when the group reached No. 1 in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Japan as well as No. 4 in the UK with their cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You".
"Touch Me Like That" is a dance-pop song performed by Dannii Minogue and Jason Nevins. The song was written by Jason Nevins, Lisa Molina, Sylvester James and James Wirrick. It samples the melody of the disco song "You Make Me Feel ", originally performed by Sylvester. The song is the sixth and final single from Minogue's fifth album Club Disco (2007).
Back to Now is the seventh studio album by American female vocal group Labelle, released on October 21, 2008. The album is the group's first in over thirty years though they had sung on songs together on occasion.
Four In Blue is a 1969 album by the Motown R&B group the Miracles, issued on the label's Tamla Records subsidiary in the U.S., and the Tamla-Motown label elsewhere in the world,.
All I Need, later reissued as Do Ya Wanna Funk is the sixth studio album by the American recording artist Sylvester and first released on Megatone Records. The album was praised by the LGBT community media as a return to form, recalling the energy of "You Make Me Feel " released four years earlier. The San Francisco Sentinel wrote that the album was "pure pop geared directly for the I-Beam crowd that wants to boogie down for seven cuts." The Bay Area Reporter said the album was "masterful", gushing "Syl doesn't just present music, he is music at its dynamic best." Mainstream music magazine Billboard noted that the album was "his most consistent [and] interesting" since the late 1970s. In a retrospective review, AllMusic assessed the album poorly, writing that Sylvester "was now floundering, with his high-energy brand of disco out of fashion." In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked "Do Ya Wanna Funk" number 179 in their list of 200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time.
Step II is the fourth studio album by American singer Sylvester, released in 1978 on the Fantasy label.
Living Proof is an album by American singer Sylvester, released in 1979 on the Fantasy label. Living Proof was a double-record set featuring three sides of live material recorded at War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California. The fourth side of the album included three new studio recordings.
[1] 