The Original Hits

Sylvester | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 5, 1989)
• Original Release Date: March 23, 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fantasy Records
• ASIN: B000000XDD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,940 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2009 UK collection from the Disco icon. In the heady days of Studio 54 and other nightclubs, as long as the slinky Euro-rhythms kept pumping, the night would never get tired of Donna Summer, Grace Jones and Sylvester. Signed to Fantasy in 1977, Sylvester came out of the closet with the advanced, snaky synthesizer parts that kicked "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" and "Dance (Disco Heat)" into the Top 40. Thanks to 'You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)' being featured in the soundtrack to Sean Penn's multi-award winning film Milk, Sylvester has enjoyed another day in the sun and this new compilation is the perfect release for fans and novices alike! 11 tracks. Universal. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Soulful disco, October 21, 2004

By 

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Original Hits (Audio CD)

This is the most delectable, elegant disco music, better than most of today's House. Sylvester had a strong and expressive falsetto voice that is carried along on the most infectious dance beats. One could say he was the Smokey Robinson of the disco era. In the late 70s he was as popular as Donna Summer and ruled the dance charts with memorable tracks like the atmospheric Dance (Disco Heat), the rousing You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)and the soulful Stars. This album is not complete, as Sylvester had a couple of other hits too, like the brilliant Do You Wanna Funk and his version of the classic I Who Have Nothing. But this is still a satisfying collection of very melodic, hypnotic music that works well for listening and on the dancefloor.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Four stars in one way, three in another, August 27, 2000

By 

Philip Clark (Arlington, VA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Original Hits (Audio CD)

As a confirmed Sylvester fan, "Original Hits" greatly confuses me. What is this album's point? How is it trying to keep itself together? These are indeed the original recordings, and some were even hits. But "Sell My Soul" and "I Need You," to quote two examples, weren't. Neither was "Body Strong." "Can't Stop Dancing" was basically a concert track which also happened to appear on his 1983 "Non-Stop Dance Party" greatest hits LP. "You Are My Friend" was more of a hit for Patti LaBelle than Sylvester, although it is a great song and helps anchor the brilliant 1979 "Living Proof" concert album. Where, for that matter, is "Do You Wanna Funk?"

If you are going to call yourself a "hits" album and forget perhaps Sylvester's biggest hit (outside of the double A-side of "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" and "Dance (Disco Heat)), where is your thematic cohesion? It's an album chock full of great songs, but more a scattershot collection of good moments rather than a unified "hits" album.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where are you know?, January 31, 2003

By 

Randall J. Cushman (Wells, ME United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Original Hits (Audio CD)

I saw him in concert at the Galleria Design Center on several occasions...Tea Dances, Halloween, New Year's Eve - I saw him sing with Patti LeBelle at the Moscone Center - I even saw him sing at the Van Ness Muni Station when MUNI opened their new subway/underground. Wouldn't you know, we had to go in and have an all night dance party first - MUNI cars end-to-end on both sides of the station as bar cars, coat cars, lounge cars - and the main platform as the dance floor - with Sylvester overhead, singing his heart out for us!!!

This CD, if you ever see him in person, will bring you back. If you never saw him perform, you'll get a hint of what the energy was like.