Do Ya Wanna Funk?

Sylvester (from You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) video).

Glamorous Queen of Disco Sylvester James Junior was best known for his hit You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), which began life as mid-tempo gospel song.  Producer and friend Patrick Cowley remixed it into the version we know and love, which reached no.8 in the UK in 1978 as well as being a huge club smash on both sides of the Atlantic. This and the single Dance (Disco Heat) come from the album Step II, where he was ably assisted by Marth Wash and Izora Rhodes aka Two Tons o' Fun; his larger-than-life backing singers who went on to become The Weather Girls.

The album went gold, and represents the height of his success although he went on to release a further seven albums before his death in 1988 from AIDS-related complications.

Last year I picked up a copy of Sylvester - Greatest Hits in a 3-for £1 at a car boot sale along with Kate Bush's The Kick Inside and Chic's Risqué.  Not a bad way to spend a pound!

Sylvester - Greatest Hits (1983)

This hits package was released in 1983 on Fantasy Records and features three songs per side, each side mixed continuously for a "Nonstop Dance Party"!  Side 1 is my favourite, consisting of Do Ya Wanna Funk, Dance (Disco Heat) and of course You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real); a real Hi-NRG workout!

You can hear all glorious 17 minutes of this in the Car Boot Vinyl Diaries Cloudcast Episode 3; a Disco Suite Special where Sylvester is sandwiched between two other wonderful classic disco sides mixed by Tom Moulton and Giorgio Moroder: http://www.mixcloud.com/CarBootVinylDiaries/car-boot-vinyl-diaries-episode-3-disco-suite-special/

It should keep you frugging round your living room for the best part of an hour so don't forget to take on some fluids first!