Category: Sylvester

Sylvester with Patrick Cowley – Do Ya Wanna Funk/Mind warp (Japan 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1983

 

Patrick Cowley was one of disco’s most mysterious figures.

His life was cut short in 1982 when he died of Aids at age 32. He was a key presence in the gay San Francisco disco scene; in the 1970s and early 1980s, when the city had one of the best disco scenes in the world.

Sylvester was San Francisco’s biggest star and Cowley’s muse – a larger-than-life presence around town, dressed to the nines and often carrying multiple shopping bags as he walked down Castro Street. Cowley most famously worked with Sylvester on the ecstatic mega-hit You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) and was a pioneer of the genre known as Hi-NRG, a relentlessly uptempo variant of disco that gained serious traction, especially in the UK and Europe.

Cowley was a good deal quieter than Sylvester, and more of a tech boffin, experimenting with music in an apartment in the Castro crammed with electronics, with cables hanging everywhere. “It was a mess of wires,” recalls John Hedges, who ran Megatone Records for many years, the now-legendary record label that Cowley originally started with Marty Blecman in the 1970s.

“It certainly didn’t look very safe,” he adds. “He was always experimenting to get the sounds. They would wire everything in and have tape machines, and the tape would go from one tape machine to another about 10 feet away to create the echo they wanted, or delay.”

Sylvester known as “The Queen Of Disco” died six years after Cowley, of Aids-related complications in 1988. Patrick Cowley and Sylvester were iconic trailblazers not just for queer and androgynous people, but for disco music as a whole, overcoming trauma, prejudice, and stigma to achieve their dreams.

“Do Ya Wanna Funk” is a 1982 dance song recorded by American recording artists Sylvester and Patrick Cowley. It was produced by Cowley, who incidentally died the same year. The song was most successful in Europe, especially in Belgium, Finland, and Norway, where it became a top-10 hit. It also reached the top 20 in the Netherlands and Switzerland and made it to the top 30 in West Germany and Australia, and the top 40 in the United Kingdom. The song was inspired by “I’m Your Jeanie”, a single by Jeanie Tracy, who was a background vocalist for Sylvester. It was also featured in the film Trading Places (1983). In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked “Do Ya Wanna Funk” number 179 in their list of 200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time.

“Mind Warp” was the title track from Patrick Cowley’s third and final album.

SIDE A:
Do Ya Wanna Funk (Long Version) 6:57
Performer – Sylvester With Patrick Cowley
Vocals – Sylvester
Written-By – Patrick Cowley, Sylvester

SIDE B:
Mind Warp (Long Version) 6:36
Performer – Patrick Cowley
Vocals – Patrick Cowley
Written-By – Patrick Cowley

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
OBI Strip: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1982 Do Ya wanna Funk U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Disco songs #4

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Victor – VIL-1002
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: Japan
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi-NRG

CREDITS:

NOTES:
Comes with an OBI strip

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus:  Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!


Password: burningtheground

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Sylvester – Someone Like You (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

a-front

Today is World AIDS Day an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day, held for the first time in 1988. I thought it fitting to feature one of the many artists who were taken from us in the 1980’s by this horrible disease.

 

“Someone Like You” is a 1986 dance single by Sylvester. The song was written by Len Barry and McKinley Horton. It was produced by Ken Kessie and Morey Goldstein. The single was Sylvester’s second and last entry to reach number one on the dance charts, where it stayed for one week. “Someone like You”, also went to number nineteen on the soul chart, and was Sylvester’s highest chart entry, since 1978.

An activist who campaigned against the spread of HIV/AIDS, Sylvester died from complications arising from the virus in 1988, leaving all future royalties from his work to San Francisco-based HIV/AIDS charities.

The single sleeve was designed by artist Keith Harring who was an American artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s by expressing concepts of birth, death, sexuality, and war.

Haring’s work was often heavily political and his imagery has become a widely recognized visual language of the 20th century.

The theme of AIDS permeates Haring’s late work, most likely because it had a heavy influence on his personal life. Midway through Haring’s journals there is mention of the disease claiming his friends’ lives, and later passages show Haring worrying increasingly about his own HIV status.

Haring died on February 16, 1990 of AIDS-related complications.

WEST SIDE:
Someone Like You (Remix) 6:15
Mixed By – Ken Kessie, Marty Blecman

Someone Like You (Joseph Watt Remix) 5:40
Engineer – Joseph Watt
Remix – Joseph Watt

EAST SIDE:
Someone Like You (Larry Levan Remix) 6:01
Engineer – Robert Kaster
Mixed By – Larry Levan

Someone Like You (Larry Levan Dub Remix) 6:36
Engineer – Robert Kaster
Mixed By – Larry Levan

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1986 Someone Like You U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #1
1986 Someone Like You U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles #19

 

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Warner Bros. Records – 0-20548
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Disco

CREDITS:
Executive Producer – Marty Blecman, Sylvester
Illustration – Keith Haring
Producer – Ken Kessie, Morey Goldstein
Recorded By [Originally] – Ken Kessie
Written-By – Len Barry, McKinley Horton

NOTES:
Original version available on Sylvester’s album “MUTUAL ATTRACTION” on Warner Bros. Records.

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

b-back

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck 
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

Sylvester – I (Who Have Nothing) (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1979

Side A

DISCO FRIDAY!

“I (Who Have Nothing)” (sometimes billed as “I Who Have Nothing”) is a song originally released in English by Ben E. King in 1963.

“I (Who Have Nothing)” is based on the Italian song “Uno Dei Tanti” (English: “One of Many”). The English lyrics for “I (Who Have Nothing)” were written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stolle.

In 1979 American disco and soul singer-songwriter Sylvester covered the song for his third studio album “Stars”. Produced by Harvey Fuqua “I Who Have Nothing” was released as the first single from the album. On May 5, 1979 “I Who Have Nothing” debuted on the Billboard Top 40 the song remained on the chart for two weeks peaking at #40. In the UK the single peaked at #46.

The song also features backing vocals by Martha Wash who was best known as one half of Two Tons O’ Fun, who would later be renamed The Weather Girls. Wash was also the voice behind hits from C&C Music Factory and Black Box.

This 12″ lists both sidea as Side A.

SIDE A:
I (Who Have Nothing) (Long Version) 10:40

SIDE AA:
I (Who Have Nothing) (Short Version) 6:31

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

CHARTS:

Year Single Chart Position
1979 I (Who Have Nothing) U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #40
1979 I (Who Have Nothing) U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles #27
1979 I (Who Have Nothing) U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Disco #4

 

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Fantasy ‎– D-129
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: 1979
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul
Style: Disco
Credits: Producer – Harvey Fuqua, Sylvester
Backing Vocals – Martha Wash
Written-By – Leiber – Stoller*

NOTES:
Special 12 Inch Disco Mix
Produced by Harvey Fuqua – Sylvester for Honey Records Productions
Note: both sides listed as Side A

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

Side AA

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

Patrick Cowley Featuring Sylvester – Do Ya Wanna Funk (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982

REQUEST

Sylvester James (September 6, 1947 – December 16, 1988), better known as Sylvester, was an American disco and soul singer, and a gay drag performer. Sylvester was sometimes known as the “Queen of Disco,” although this moniker has also been bestowed on some of the women of the disco era (i.e. Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer). His most significant works are the songs “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, “Dance (Disco Heat)” (both 1978) and “Do You Wanna Funk” (1982).

Patrick Joseph Cowley (October 19, 1950 – November 12, 1982) was a disco and Hi-NRG dance music composer and recording artist. He recorded in a style that has drawn comparisons to that of Giorgio Moroder and is often credited with pioneering electronic dance music.

Patrick Cowley met San Francisco-based musician Sylvester in the late 1970s. Sylvester had asked Cowley to join his studio band after hearing some of his early synthesizer recordings. In 1982 “Do You Wanna Funk” was released on the Megatone Records label and quickly entered the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart peaking at #4. In the UK “Do You Wanna Funk” entered the top 40 peaking at #32.

SIDE A:
Do Ya Wanna Funk 6:50

SIDE B:
Do Ya Wanna Funk (Instrumental Version) 6:50
Do Ya Wanna Funk (Radio Version) 3:29

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Near Mint (Company Sleeve)

CHARTS:

Year Single Chart Position
1982 Do You Wanna Funk U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play #4

 

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Megatone Records
Catalog#: MT 102
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi-NRG, Disco
Credits: Arranged By [Vocals], Vocals, Lyrics By – Sylvester
Artwork By [Lithography] – David Willers
Artwork By [Logo & Graphics] – Jim Saunders
Producer [Associate] – Marty Blecman
Producer, Music By – Patrick Cowley

Find The 12″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 20
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi