December 16 marked the 26th anniversary of the death of one of Disco’s greatest performers, Sylvester born Sylvester James, Jr. September 6, 1947 in Watts, Los Angeles, California.His music was a staple of nightclubs throughout the world and continues to be included in every Disco set played today. although he had a previous release in 1977 Sylvester first came to our attention with the release of his 1978 ” Step II” which include Dance ( Disco Heat ) ” Gotta a Match?” and Mighty Real on the Fantasy Label.The DJ Promo 12″ was released in 1978, with “Dance (Disco Heat)” as the A-side and “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” on the B-side. Most club DJs at the time programmed both cuts with equal enthusiasm , but my favorite was ” Mighty Real” which in my opinion embodied the feel of the Disco experience as opposed to the grittier ,soulful, Gospel -like ” Disco heat” which was the mainstream favorite. His 1979 album ” Living Proof” produced the mediocre ” Body Strong” which basically used the same drum pattern as ” Disco Heat” .It wasn’t until Sylvester’s album “Stars” that I believed he was back on top of his game with the title track ( stars) and my favorite ” I Who Have Nothing” previously performed by Ben E. King in 1963.The track was a killer , explosion of sounds on a quality nightclub sound system and re-established Sylvester as a leader in the genre. His later more electronic work with producer Patrick Cowley’s Megatron Label on ” Sex” ” Don’t Stop’ ” Trouble in Paradise” and His mega club hit ” Do You wanna Funk” kept him in the spotlight until his death in in 1988. The Unofficial ” Queen” of Disco ,no telling where he would be today musically if he was still alive. 
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