Just in time for the celebration of our gay marriage victories in the US Supreme Court & 25 years after his untimely death the iconic legacy of Sylvester, the “Queen of Disco,” has been resurrected with Mighty Real: Greatest Dance Hits released this week on Fantasy Records. This is a must have CD for Sylvester fans. The collection celebrates the life & music of the artist who once danced his way into the hearts & minds of the disco & our LGBT communities. Sylvester makes a fabulous debut back into a prolific time in our LGBT history just the way he would have liked it – through dance music. This 11-track release, available on CD & on double pink vinyl that features a number of original album tracks & 12” mixes that are rare or no longer available on CD, as well as the brand new remix of the iconic “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Grammy-nominated remixer and DJ, Ralphi Rosario (Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Madonna, etc.). Joshua Gamson stated, “Sylvester James was an unlikely star: an androgynous, cross-dressing, openly gay, African American, falsetto-singing, unapologetically flaming man-diva influenced primarily by church women, black blues singers, drag queens, hippies & homos. Like very few before him & quite a few after, Sylvester rode his marginality right into the mainstream.” Sylvester was a close friend of Harvey Milk & an icon to the LGBT community. He was not only one of the first disco stars to stand openly gay but bravely crossed beyond the boundaries of race, gender & sexuality to become a proud figure of the gay liberation movement. When he died due to complications of AIDS on December 16, 1988, Sylvester bequeathed royalties from the sale of his music to benefit two charitable organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area: the AIDS Emergency Fund & Project Open Hand. So this is a win win situation. I personal love this CD & have been blasting it driving in my car. It brings back amazing memories when disco ruled.
Play Remix: Mighty Real
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