Sylvester - Greatest Hits [Import]

Sylvester - Greatest Hits [Import]

Track Listings
Disc: 1

1. Dance (Disco Heat) [Remix]

2. Body Strong

3. Sell My Soul

4. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

5. Can't Stop Dancing

6. Lovin' Is Really My Game

7. Do Ya Wanna Funk [Remix]

8. Don't Stop

9. Band of Gold

10. Stars

Disc: 2

1. One Night Only

2. You Are My Friend

3. Ooo Baby Baby

4. Be With You

5. Take Me to Heaven

6. Trouble in Paradise

7. I (Who Have Nothing)

8. Menergy [Remix]

9. Rock the Box [Remix]

10. Do Ya Wanna Funk

Tracks:

Dance (Disco Heat) [Remix]
Body Strong
Sell My Soul
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Can't Stop Dancing
Lovin' Is Really My Game
Do Ya Wanna Funk [Remix]
Don't Stop
Band of Gold
Stars

Tracks:

One Night Only
You Are My Friend
Ooo Baby Baby
Be With You
Take Me to Heaven
Trouble in Paradise
I (Who Have Nothing)
Menergy [Remix]
Rock the Box [Remix]
Do Ya Wanna Funk

Customer Reviews:

So Far The Best Collection, Besides The 12 x 12 Collection.......2007-01-14

For those wanting to buy his complete works, I offer the following information:

1. 1972- "Lights Out San Francisco" - 2 LP set. A compilation of then
current San Francisco up and coming artists. Sylvester sings 2 songs
on this set: 1. "Hey, That's no Way To Say Goodbye" (Leonard Cohen
song) with Neal Schon of the group Journey, on guitar.
And 2. Why Was I Born? (A Sylvester original)- featuring backup by
a new trio of girls calling themselves The Pointer Sisters ( Anita,
Bonnie and June).

2. 1973- "Scratch My Flower" LP. Can Be found on auction websites.
No release on cd yet.

3. 1973- "Bazaar" LP. Can also be found on auction websites.
No release on cd yet.

4. 1977- "Sylvester" and 1978- "Step II" available on a 2-on-1 cd
put out by Ace Record/Southbound Record Label.

5. 1979- "Living Proof" Live 2-LP set, released on 1 cd by
Fantasy Records.

6. 1979- "STARS". Although the actual 4-song album has never been
released on cd, the closest you can get to having the complete
set is by getting a cd called- "STAR: The Best Of Sylvester".
It contains all 4 songs- although they differ from the LP.
This cd is also put out by Ace Records/Southbound Records Label.

7. 1980- "SELL MY SOUL" & 1981- "TOO HOT TO SLEEP" available as
a 2-0n-1 cd, put out by Ace Records/Southbound Records Label.

8. 1981- Herbie Hancock 12" single "MAGIC NUMBER" features
Sylvester on lead vocals.

9. 1982- "ALL I NEED" & 1983- "CALL ME" available as a 2-on-1 cd
put out by Megatone Records Label.

10. 1983- Sarah Dash 12" single "LUCKY TONIGHT" features Sylvester
on backup vocals.

11. 1983- "GREATEST HITS: NON-STOP DANCE PARTY"- Sylvester's
last album for Fantasy Records. Not yet available on cd, this is
basically one big megamix of his hits.

12. 1984- Earlene Bentley 12" single "STARGAZING" features Sylvester
on co-lead vocals.

13. 1984- "M-1015". This LP is available on cd by Megatone Records,
as well as a different version put out by Unidisc.

14. 1986- "MUTUAL ATTRACTION"- available on cd from Warner Bros./
Megatone Records. This was his last album and his attempt at
going mainstream, with an unforgettable appearance on the
Joan Rivers Show to promote the album. 4 12" singles came from
this album.

15. 1988- "THE 12 X 12 COLLECTION"- a 2-LP set covering the best of his
Megatone material. Available on 1 disc by Megatone records.

16. Sylvester passes away Dec. 16th, 1988 in San Francisco.

17. 1989- "IMMORTAL" is put out by Megatone Records and covers the last
of his unfinished material. In 1992 Unidisc releases an expanded
version of "IMMORTAL" filled with lots of remixes.

18. 2000- Djola Branner releases a tribute album to Sylvester, called:
"MIGHTY REAL: A TRIBUTE TO SYLVESTER" and covers 11 of his songs,
plus a co-written ballad with David Blackburn, called- "YOU WILL BE
THE ONE".

a Shining Star.......2007-01-05

An anomaly in the world of seventies disco, Sylvester was a true artist, in every sense of the word, in an era and in a genre not known for originality and artistry. And this hits collection is about as close to a really useful retrospective as you will find. It's got more true dancefloor classics - real defining moments - than I can mention. While hardly any of the disco era's songs have held up to the test of time, this again is the exception. Sylvester was and always will be a Star.

Dance.......2006-11-13

From the first cut, Dance, which starts with Sylvester saying to one of the tons of fun girls, Martha Wash, "Gotta match?...Look at all the fabulous people. Do you wanna dance? Let's party a little bit" to the concluding classic cut, "Do You Wanna Funk", this is a great collection that immediately transports you back to a fabulous time and gets you up on your feet to DANCE! I wish the original records were available but I'm grateful that there are collections like this. What a singer. What a treat. (If you're a reader, check out Joshua Gamson's "The Fabulous Sylvester" for a great biographical read of this legendary performer.)

The closest thing to a "definitive" or comprehensive Sylvester compilation .......2006-09-01

This is an actual compilation of recordings by Sylvester. Don't let the bizarre inexplicable non-caricature cartoon image cast doubt onto the origins of the recordings. This image is apparently one-half of the cover from Sylvester's "Mutual Attraction" album. This is not a "tribute" album, or re-recordings of Sylvester James's hits. The album is all Sylvester.

GREATEST HITS consists of 20 songs on two discs. While each disc may only contain 10 songs, consider that only two songs in the compilation are less than 5 minutes long. Most are about 7 minutes, and a couple are over 10 minutes. There are no photos of Sylvester, chart information, or song lyrics included; limited song credits are provided. There is a short essay by Megatone Records president Marty Blecman. The songs included were recorded 1978-1985 on Fantasy Records and Megatone Records; they are not in chronological order.

This compilation includes 8 songs also found on "The Original Hits" [1989], a compilation of songs Sylvester recorded on Fantasy Records (The three songs not included here are "Down Down Down", "Cry Me a River", and "I Need You"; the version of "Body Strong" is twenty seconds shorter on "Greatest Hits"). However, that also means there are 12 songs on "Greatest Hits" not included on "The Original Hits", including a disco version of "I (Who Have Nothing)" and a version of Freda Payne's "Band of Gold" that momentarily transitions into "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch".

There are no songs included from Sylvester's first two albums on Blue Thumb Records ("Scratch My Flower" and "Bazaar", both released in 1973), his Fantasy debut (1977's "Sylvester"), or his final Megatone/Warner Bros. album (1987's "Mutual Attraction").

Notes:
- Martha Wash & Izora Rhodes (later Izora Armstead) - known first as Two Tons O' Fun and later as The Weather Girls - are featured on several tracks. Some others feature Martha Wash and/or Jeanie Tracy.
- The song "I (Who Have Nothing)" uses the female pronoun - "She buys U diamonds".
- The track listing lists "Dance (Disco Heat)" as a remix, I find it to be identical to the album version.
- Several typos in track listing, including the song "Ooo Baby Baby" mislabeled "Ohh Baby Baby".
- The two versions of "Do Ya Wanna Funk" are almost indistinguishable (Both share the same instrumentation and sound effects, they are re-edits of the same mix/version).

Disc one:
01. Dance (Disco Heat) [1978] 5:49 (from "Step II")
02. Body Strong [1979] 8:28 (from "Stars")
03. Sell My Soul [1980] 5:51 (from "Sell My Soul")
04. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) [1978] 6:34 (from "Step II")
05. Can't Stop Dancing [1979] 7:43 (from "Living Proof" original LP only [side 4])
06. Lovin' Is Really My Game [1985] 6:40 (from "M-1015")
07. Do Ya Wanna Funk (Remix [re-edit] by Joseph Watt) [1982] 6:47
08. Don't Stop [1983] 6:51 (from "All I Need")
09. Band of Gold [1983] 7:30 (from "Call Me")
10. Stars [1979] 10:31 (from "Stars")

Disc two:
01. One Night Only (ballad from "Dreamgirls") [1983] 4:05 (from "Call Me")
02. You Are My Friend (live performance recording) [1979] 8:08 (from "Living Proof")
03. Ooo Baby Baby [1981] 3:17 (from "Too Hot to Sleep")
04. Be With You (A "Holland" Remix) [1982] 6:38 (song included on "All I Need")
05. Take Me to Heaven [1984] 6:57 (from "M-1015")
06. Trouble in Paradise [1983] 6:33 (from "Call Me")
07. I (Who Have Nothing) (disco rendition) [1979] 11:13 (from "Stars")
08. Menergy (Deep House Remix by David Diebold & Leo Frappier) [1981] 8:04
09. Rock the Box (Master Mix by Steve Masters) [1984] 7:04 (original version from "M-1015")
10. Do Ya Wanna Funk [1982] 6:20 (included on "All I Need")

Sylvester fans may also want to read the biography "The Fabulous Sylvester" [2005] by Joshua Gamson.

How can this be Sylvester's greatest hits without..........2006-07-19

...including classic Sylvester cuts like I NEED YOU, YOU ARE MY FRIEND, OVER AND OVER, etc? Another label trying to exhume the rotting corpse of the late, great drag belter to create a cash cow - beware!