Day 299: Sylvester – Step II

It’s Friday night, so it’s obviously time for another Disco Friday. Today I thought I’d go for a classic singer who I only know from one song, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”. But what a song that is, it’s an all-timer. Let’s see if his albums are just as good.

Album cover courtesy of Fantasy

Sylvester was an American disco singer from Los Angeles who was active between 1962 and 1988 who became known for his distinctive falsetto and disco songs. He started off singing in a church choir, then joined a group called the Cockettes, then Sylvester and his Hot Band before going off to start a solo career.

Step II was released in 1978 as Sylvester’s second solo album, and it was an example of the black queer origins of disco music. The album sold well enough to go gold and was described by Rolling Stone as being  "as good as disco gets".

Listening to Step II, I couldn’t agree more. This album is like the embodiment of the reason why I really want there to be a big disco revival: when it’s good, it’s fun to dance to, but when it’s great it’s spiritually uplifting. There is no way that listening to something like “Grateful” isn’t good for the spirit. The gospel singing probably plays a part in just how much it sounds like it’s made to uplift you, which it very obviously does.

It’s by far the most cohesive and consistently good disco albums that I’ve listened to so far, and there wasn’t a single second of it I didn’t enjoy. I actually think this might be my favourite yield from Disco Friday, it’s just beautiful and fun. It’s a very strong 9/10 and I’m about to buy it ASAP.

Also, fun fact: the Weather Girls started as Sylvester’s backing band - without him, we might live in a dark world without “It’s Raining Men”.