Customer Reviews

The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the Seventies in San Francisco

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sylvester was a beloved figure inside his circle of admirers; he received cautious regard at best from outside that circle. Now, along comes a long overdue biography, and what a volume. The timing couldn't be more right, as the US has finally put to rest most of the putrid disco backlash. In the stores are not only decent compilations of the disco music but also books like this one that reflect the reality of the subculture. Not the bandwagon that pop radio jumped on, not the Arthur-Murray style competitions, not the faux-glamour suburban nightclubs, but the real deal. Sylvester was both artist and participant in the disco culture-- singer, performance artist, club dancer. The author of this book captures Sylvester in all his complexity and drives home the important part he played in the subculture that was disco.

Gamson is an academic, which means that he has been thorough in locating good sources of information. He seemed to have access to so many of the important persons and institutions that played a part in Sylvester's life. He is able to provide a well-rounded depiction of the man's personality, warts and all. He does a good job laying out the formative experiences in this colorful life, be it a mother who role-modeled an imperious love of fashion but later derided a child who followed her example, or a church community that would exploit Sylvester's temperament but denounce him for acts its other members could get away with if they kept hypocritically silent. Sylvester's complicated relationship to the gay community of 70s San Francisco is fascinating. The author does a great job bringing all the early elements around in the end of the book, showing how lasting the formative events are and how much a person can fill in the voids during adulthood.

Gamson is more than an academic, however. He is also an entertaining writer and he takes in this book a great tone that fits his subject. He doesn't shy away from any aspects of the life he is depicting. The sex, the slang, the drugs, the erratic behavior, the fun, the bonds, and the subculture's differing values all sparkle like one of Sylvester's jackets. There is no stuffy ivory-tower writing here. Gamson can be as breezy in tone as Sylvester, but he doesn't pander. In fact, among the disco-oriented books that have come out over the last six years, this volume is as well-produced as that other benchmark of writing, *Last Night A DJ Saved My Life*.

The 60s teen drag scene, the 1970-era Cockettes, the rock-and-blues recording phase, the disco about which Sylvester had conflicted feelings; then the Hi NRG and activism phases-- all of these are given sharp observation and each makes for vibrant reading material. Gamson covers nearly all the bases, including the way the drag-loving Sylvester was an open mark for a defrauding imposter. It was great to learn how the disco albums came about, and what the exact roles of the band, producers, and record-label suits were. The only omission I found was Sylvester's collaboration with jazzist Herbie Hancock in the 1981 album Magic Windows. Otherwise, Gamson covered all the personal, community, and musical bases.

This was great reading for someone like me, familiar with both Sylvester and the 70s; I think the book would appeal to anyone with an open mind who is interested in a character who will swim against the current if he is so created.

When I read author Joshua Gamson's bio blurb, I feared that THE FABULOUS SYLVESTER was going to be a mundane recounting of an outsized life. I had no reason to worry, as Gamson's writing is easily as rollicking as Sylvester's life. Ultimately the author pays the greatest tribute to his subject by not only capturing the man and his incarnations, but by doing so in a way that is as entertaining as a Sylvester concert must have been.

Gamson is able to put Sylvester's life into the context of the times, (and while doing so, we see a vivid portrait of Los Angeles and San Francisco, the rise of gay culture and the shattering reality of AIDS) and that life was a breathing metaphor for the real heartbeat of San Francisco and the gay dance culture that would be coopted by middle American pop. He is able to convey the drug-affected recollections of some of his interviewees by subtly warning the reader of the time and chemical infected haze through which their recollections were culled without insulting his subjects, he is able to recreate scenes with color and humor, and achieves something nearly impossible in biography...his work is more cinema than written word.

The bottom line of this read is that Sylvester is given the historical credit he is due. He was androgynous before Bowie, and out-discoed Donna Summer. He had the courage to be true to himself in a culture that wasn't ready for him, he understood some audiences who didn't understand him in return. His life force was enormous, he was greatly flawed, but as with all true divas, being fabulous trumps everything else.

Sylvester, and this book, are indeed, fabulous.

A great fast read. I loved the book. It's a good look at the San Francisco Music BIZ. And what was going on in San Francisco at the time when DISCO hit big. I lived it and almost all of it is true. Joshua Gamson did a wonderful job. Buy this book! John Hedges

This is an incredibly layered yet elegantly beautiful book. Sylvester's life is unwrapped before the reader's eyes. It reads at once like a loving biography of a friend lost and social history of a community still grappling with who and what we are. The author gracefully enmeshes Sylvester's glamour with the electricity of a generation on acid and the sadness of an era lost to AIDS and Reagan. I found myself reveling in all the creative fierceness that consumed Sylvester. The Fabulous Sylvester brilliantly examines the productive power of fame and, in doing so, offers us an inspiring glimpse of how truly revolutionary queering gender can be.

I knew Sylvester, and when this book came out, I couldn't get my hands on it fast enough. And was it ever worth it! The writer portrays this man as the force of nature he was, hugely talented, original, completely comfortable with himself, a performer par excellence with a voice almost unearthly in its range and power. The author tells it as it was, without sentiment, gush or embellishment, and manages to convey Sylvester's self-confidence, conviction, self-awareness, generosity, tremendous sweetness and extraordinary talent without hype and with acute accuracy. There was only one Sylvester; he was unforgettable to everyone who knew him, and now, thanks to Joshua Gamson, those who never knew him will have a chance to experience a genuine original and a natural star. (And up until Sylvester, I loathed disco - he turned that whole thing around and made it gospel music.) Thank you, Mr., Gamson - you did a great job! Sylvester would be thrilled.

Sylvester was `bigger' than fabulous and Joshua Gamson's bio reveals the truth behind the incredibly talented singer. Gamson's biography of the unusual and lovable talent rings true and is consistently level headed without drama. There was plenty of that in Sylvester's life alone! It's amazing that it took this story so long to be told, but it is a great one about the golden gay mecca before it turned into the gay refugee camp. Sylvester is accurately portrayed as the virtual overnight sensation "queen of disco". He is shown as having had a heart of gold and the simple determination of being who he was - a great icon without regrets. Gamson should be commended for writing a long-awaited biography that is fair and balanced, representing a time that started with such great innocence and fun. It is worth mentioning that Rolling Stone magazine reviewed Sylvester's first album and stated, "if you have to listen to disco, it doesn't get better than this". No kidding.

this Book was on right on time. Sylvester was something else back in the day as a artist and very Open about his sexuality. He didn't back down from anything. His voice was the truth and very soulful. this Book explores his whole career and thensome and the many other artists he encountered and how important they were,etc... this book takes you back to a time period when so much was happening. a must read and it is very well written and is a real page turner.

I loved this book. It went way beyond my expectations on a couple of different levels. It is a beautifully written biography of Sylvester as an individual but it was also the best description of San Francisco gay life of the late 60's through early 80's that I have ever read. As one that was gay and lived in San Francisco during this time period, this book was especialy poignant. There are so few people I know that were gay and lived in SF during this time period that survived AIDS. Most are dead. This book documents memories that would otherwise be lost. For many years when I thought about the Palace theater and the Cockettes and Sylvester singing witht the Pointer Sisters doing backup, it almost felt like it had all been just a dream. I have often tried to find others that were there that first night Sylvester sang with the hot band at the Palace. Was it real? This book confirmed for me that yes, it was real. I loved seeing the names of bars and clubs like The City, Caberet, The Shed, The Palms, etc, remembered by someone else and put on paper and made real for all time. I loved remembering the gay parades and the shows at the Galleria. Wow. We really did have fun. The last chapter was very difficult to read through the tears and sobs. I had to stop several times and dry my eyes before I could continue. I was sad for Sylvester. I was sad for so many that had died. I was sad for the end of such an incredible, amazing, FABULOUS era. This book is just wonderful for all those things and I am thankful for it.

Magic happens where reality and fantasy overlap. It's a space that dance music star Sylvester effortlessly occupied during the outrageous and flamboyant club scene of the mid-70s to early 80s, when those lines were happily blurred on a nightly basis.

Gamson does an excellent job of showing Sylvester's `six-degrees of separation' influence - he worked with emerging stars like Bette Midler, Patti LaBelle, The Weather Girls ("It's Raining Men"), American Idol judge Randy Jackson and Patrick Cowley (Megatone Records).

By focusing mainly on Sylvester, Gamson gives the reader an inside look and feel of the gay club scene that was a mix of Broadway and Bowery Row. Sylvester epitomized that drama and contrast with his falsetto voice but powerful vocals and androgynous but commanding stage presence. He created a propulsive musical genre ("Do Ya Wanna Funk?" "You Make Me Feel") that defined the era's manic, raw and pulsating energy.

AIDS turned the party lethal, killing off both his audience and the mood for high energy music. Soon, Sylvester, along with hundreds of others in the arts and entertainment community, was dead. There are lots of devil-may-care musicians whose audiences escape through their lives and music, but there will probably never again be a time when the audience and the artist were so intimately in synch, both feeling and living the beat.

I enjoyed this book so much that I read it twice,
then a year later, read it again!!---FANTASTIC!!
It captures the times, the people, places and things that
made Sylvester, San Francisco, that music and that era
such a golden & magical time!
I love the stories of the young Sylvester growing up in
South Central L.A. in the 50's and 60's, FLAMING THE CHILDREN!!
Giving them fabulousness and outrageousness at every turn,
from his soul-stirring falsetto rendition of the black gospel
classic "Never Grow Old", to the rawkus "DISQUOTAYS", a rag-tag
gang of young black drag queens that he hung out with, to the
off-the-charts outfits that must've stopped traffic in
the hood big time! (LOL!!)
It was evident to all who knew him even then, that this
pretty black child with the high voice was way different
and way way special!! (-:

Some didn't know how to take Sylvester or even know what to
do with him, yet he pressed on!---Carving out his own space
within the harsh realities of ghetto life as best he could.
Sylvester was a true pioneer in every way!
He didn't see race, gender, the expectations of others,
the taunts of hateful & ignorant people, etc.,
as obstacles or boundaries he needed to respect.
He was a true original!--Uncut, undiluted, young, black,
gay, gifted, stylish, full of charm and ambition,
with the soul of a torch singer or a blues shouter
infused by a rock-n-roll rebel spirit and soul singer's chops!
What a combination!
I myself can attest to Sylvester's impact, as both a fan
and as young gay black kid who was coming of age and into
self-awareness at the very time that his star was reaching it's zenith!
I had just started partying and experimenting sexually by
the age of 14 in 1978 when "Dance (Disco Heat)" and
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real!)" burst onto the music charts,
in the clubs and in house parties across the country
and eventually, the world!
I couldn't yet get into the disco clubs, but oh boy!--
I could sure get into house parties!
I was hanging out with people who were 5 to 10 yrs older
than me and I was learning MANY INTERESTING THINGS!! <G>
Of course, back then you had "FAIRY GODMUTHAZ", older gays
who would take us young "up & comings" under their chiffon wings
and school us on the do's and don't's of gay life, sex & survival
in the late 70's and early 80's!!
PRE-AIDS and in the last writhing throws of the SEXUAL REVOLUTION,
it was a great time to be alive!
I grew up in the south during this time, which already had
it's issues with race and sexuality, so the gay world of that time,
on that end of the country, was still very underground,
hypocritcal and always hush-hush!!
There were a lot of secret stares, codes, slangs, etc.
to let those who needed to know, what you wanted them to know.
But though it was very repressed and subterfuge,
MAN, DID WE HAVE SOME FUN TIMES IN OUR LITTLE NETHERWORLD!!
And yes, as is now, back then, straight men did venture
into our world quite frequently!!

Anywayz, enter THE FABULOUS SYLVESTER from the legendary
and exotically far reaches of a city they called
"the gay shangri-la"...aka SAN FRANCISCO!!
It was the summer of 1978, and here was this strong,
proud, black, beautiful, talented, androgynous gay man
telling us, by the very nature of his exsistence,
that it was not only alright to be what you were out
in full view of the world, but it was also our duty
to be FABULOUS & JOYOUS!! (-:
Sylvester was more than just a disco diva,
HE WAS A WHOLE MOVEMENT!!--Every time he would perform,
it was part church revival, part circus, part drag pageant
and part gay pride celebration!!

TRUE STORY!!---Picture It!!--Greenville, SC in May of 1979...
I had just turned 15 yrs old, and me and two young gay freinds
of mine, one 16 and one 18, hear through the grapevine
that none other than THE FABULOUS SYLVESTER would be appearing
at a club called SAN SOUCCI's in Atlanta, GA
(which was 200+ miles way, and well on it's way to becoming
the southern San Francisco!) and we go absolutely nuts!
It becomes our mission, our sole purpose for exsisting!!
Our quest, to somehow, obtain fake ID's, fabulous disco-era
outfits replete with lots of glitter, dripping foxtails
off the lapels & double belts, shoes called "crayons"
that had a clear amber heel that had lights in them that
blinked in rhythm as you danced your booty off on the dance
floor, either Sassoon or Jordache jeans which had a little
stretch fabric blended in with the denim to hug your firm
perky teen-aged azz and tiny waist to perfection,
outlining your package in the front, and making
the local guys salivate with lust over a hot piece
of TENDERONI like you! (LOL!!--we were too much!)

We pooled our allowances, our summer jobs, etc. to
obtain tickets through an older bisexual cousin of mine
who lived down in Atlanta at the time, who also arranged
the fake ID's as well.
Keep in mind, I had just turned 15, one freind was 16
and the other was 18...none of our parents even knew
we were gay, and there was no way in the hell
that they would've sanctioned us (under-aged)
going all that way to Atlanta...and to see this
gender-inspecific weirdo named SYLVESTER!!
(Boy George and Ru Paul were still a ways off yet!)

So me and my freinds, being rife with teenaged angst,
secretiveness and resourcefulness, concoct the half-baked
scheme to hitchhike from Greenville to Atlanta with duffle
bags in tow filled with our outfits, toiletries, etc.,
use our fake ID's to get into the club and party with
Sylvester & Two Tons O' Fun into the wee hours,
get my older bi cousin to rent us a hotel room in Atlanta,
have us a slam bang good time with some local fellaz
overnight and then hitch it back to Greenville by Sunday
evening before 5 pm!! (LMAO!!)

Anywayz, long story short, as is with all half-cocked
and scantily thought out teenaged schemes, we did pull it off,
got in the club and got down with Sylvester, got high,
got the boys, got the hotel room, etc.
But what we didn't bargain on was our mothers not being born
yesterday and the loose lips of the jealous young queens
who wished they had the balls to pull off what we did!
(We got ratted out big time!)
We also had a hell of a time trying to hitch it back
from Atlanta to Greenville on a Sunday morning, and after
our mothers up in SC found out what we had done,
they got in a car and headed for us like heat-seeking/
search & destroy SCUD missles with fire in their eyes!
Man, did we get our teenage closeted gay behinds handed to us!
My older cousin caught it too from my uncle in Atlanta
for his hand in our scheme, and we didn't even have
time to put concealer on over the many "hickies" on our
necks and chests from our Atlanta frollick in the hotel
from the night before! Boy, it was a mess!
We wound up being forced out of the closet to our mothers
(which was then a horror to them!)
We were all immediately grounded for a month to our respective
residences, were banned from socializing with each other,
(which we still would sneak and hang out!)and we all got
the butt whippings of our young lives!
(Yes, parents still whipped butt back in those days!)
BUT OH MAN!--We didn't care!
It was well worth it, because we got to see THE GODDESS,
THE DISCO DIVA...SYLVESTER, live and upclose!! (LOL!!)

Now, here I sit...a 44 yr old, well-traveled, successful,
proud and fortunate gay black man who has had my fun,
relished the memories of those far away magical days,
and if there is any bittersweetness to the story,
it's that I have outlived not only my two freinds from
that teenaged excursion, but Sylvester and about 30 more
freinds and acquaintances from the late 70's
to the mid 90's...all lost to the scourge of AIDS.
As we grow older, we reflect and long for things that
were familiar to our particular generation as things are
being torn down, people die or move, and the world of
our past is erased. This wonderful book, along with
Sylvester's music playing in the background as I was
reading it, brought all the magic back for awhile!
This book would make an excellent movie and I hope someone
will make it happen someday in the near future.
In the meantime, enjoy the book folks!
R.I.P. To Sylvester, Izora Rhodes, Patrick Cowley,
and to all my freinds and acquaintances who have made
their transitions in the prime of their lives!--
I'll see you again one day!!
LOVE & PEACE 2 ALL!!