1985 - Sylvester's 40th Birthday Party - GLBTHISTORY.ORG

[ReddoorMediaCompany]

U WILL LIVE 4 EVER BROTHER SYLVESTER

[simonsez0800]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYLVESTER SEPT 6 1947

[darkimageucla]

This makes me happy and sad. I was there that night, with my mom who is gone now too. Sylvester was a very kind man, and we shared a 9/6 birthday which he sang to me from the stage that night. God rest you Sly.

[simonsez0800]

correct me if im wrong but i know this had to be 1987 and did he have aids at that time

[nicholasjameswisdom]

He is one of our martyrs!

[gilsonb12]

Sylvester...I miss you....

[SLICKRICKDOG411]

THIS IS THE BRAVEST AND TOUGEST OF GAY MEN..PEOPLE LIKE JERMAINE STEWART ..BOY GEORGE.RUPAUL.SLYVESTER.GUYS THAT DON't care what people think or say and don't hide behind muscles or a manly voice..people can learn from them not only gay people but people born with birth defects..we salute real bravery!

[southpawPE]

Sly's birth date is 6 July 1946.

[Kissrockguy]

@southpawPE Wow. Sylvester has the same birthday as my Grandmom. Now I knew two grand dames born on the same day RIP Sylvester... Miss that voice!

[cjzzzzz]

NASTY AZZ MF

[SylvesterJamesPage]

RIP SYLVESTER

[fairfax17]

I believe Slyvester and Josephine Baker are up in heaven comparing notes and singing and performing together. Just a pleasant thought. I heard Josephine Baker was Slyvester ideal. Sing that song Slyvester James with your baaaaaad self.

[Kissrockguy]

They were the best of times. I loved DCA. Now when I go over to the city, I think about those great club days and how I am very lucky to have survived them. My friend that managed Key West (and who I worked for) now has 12th Air Commnand. It's good to see some faces from the good ole' days around!

[Kissrockguy]

76discodolly: Those were the days!! DCS, Equus&Catacombs were the bomb!! I never went to Kurt but Sneakers on South Street hung in the awhile in the 80s.

[76discodolly]

Wasn't it the best of times back than?

[dirtyedna]

@Kissrockguy ...don't forget the Second Story and the Steps and Drury Lane and the Bike Stop and the Westbury and a few I'm forgetting now ...(and the "merry go round and Judy Garland Park (wink,wink)....God I miss those days......

[Kissrockguy]

@dirtyedna : Oh yes, Judy Garland Park. I remember it well. I loved Second Story. The Bike Stop and Westbury are still there. They were great club days!! Gawd, I miss em' too!

[Kissrockguy]

@dirtyedna : I also loved the Saratoga in AC after a night at Gatsby's it was off to the Toga with a hot guy!

[dirtyedna]

@Kissrockguy ...wasn't New York Avenue a hoot in the early to mid 70's !! The whole street lined with Gay clubs and bars where everybody went (gay,straight,black white and everything inbetween) ...Chester Inn,Saratoga, Chez Paree,Dirty Edna's(aka The Fort PITT) Rendezvous,Entertainers Club and Snake Alley (M & M disco)...Atlantic City will never see that again....too bad. Don't forget the drag shows at 4 AM !!

[pieldeazucarmorena]

I was way too young and very unaware of SEXUALITY. I'm a straight female but let me tell you, music has no barriers, no boundaries, it does not see color, race, age, wealth or SEXUALITY. Good music can not be denied especially when music like this MAKE you get up and dance. Sylvester was superb, he was a genius and greatly missed by EVERYONE ALL OVER THE WORLD not just GAY peoplein GAY bars. I love who he was and what he represented, trully one of the few who showed his true colors.

[25ch25]

he was old! He was 33 years old when he became a disco star. He was 43 years old when he died in 1988. I tthought he was more young.

[schellwardee]

41 when he died

[Kissrockguy]

I saw Sylvester at the DCA Club in Philadelphia where he was draped by two beauty blonde boys on each arm. He was an incredible talent. I have that memory of him walking into the club with these blonde boys... this was 1984-85.

[76discodolly]

WOw. The DCA Club . I am a woman that hung out everywhere. Including the gay clubs and I remember the DCA, Equus, Kurtz, Sneaker(lesbian club) and Catacombs. Boy were the parties so much more better and fun. Haaa yesterday!!!

[iknowdasright]

Don't forget about Allegro's, Chuck's in North Philly and Pentoni's (The Drag Bar), and of course the legendary Smart's Club.

Chile if we tried to have a reunion, we'd have to do it in the cemetary. Such a shame.

[76discodolly]

Allegros! How could I forget. Imagine this a straight hetrosexual latina hanging out. But the best clubs were the gay ones. The clubs gay and straight have nothing on the clubs back in the 70s and 80s. Boy were we BAD!! LOL

[dirtyedna]

@Kissrockguy ...i remember.....also remember seeing Grace Jones in the early days of the Second Story (when it first opened and was Gay) She came in carried by all these guys and she sang her first hit I Need A Man TOPLESS !!!! So unbelievable and a priceless moment..remember the giant penis that shot confetti !!!!

[MisterCrazyLegs]

This bitch, could sing...do you hear me?!. I miss him so much. And it just reminds me that the industry has changed SOOOOO much. Seems like REAL singers, with REAL personalities, from those days, are a thing of the past. In the midst of disco and all the instrumentatiion that it represented, there really were some GREAT, GREAT singers like him and Donna Summer...they seem like dinosaurs, now.

[kdakuginow]

@MisterCrazyLegs

No, not like dinosaurs. More like fine wine that simply mellows.

[MisterCrazyLegs]

well, thank God for youtube and realplayer. Otherwise, you'd have to move Heaven & Earth to find any clips of him.. He was a genius and wayyyyy ahead of his time. Boy George, RuPaul and to some extent, even Madonna, owe him a debt of gratitude.

[futuristfood]

yes, he was first and gutsy.

[mirabal36]

I remember his music so well & even until this day his music is so uplifting. Back in the days it brought me out of my depression that I was going through at 17yrs old, I'm not kidding real bad & Sylvester music did it for me it was so uplifting. I can't forget my first basic step of where I came from. Now even being christian I listen to it more , I blast the music to some of my new christian friends, and they love it. Thank you so much for this treasure, hope to see more :)

[foxypatti]

lol lol i see were patti labelle stole her drag from now....

[MUSIQMAN43]

I THINK IT WAS THE OTHER WAY AROUND

[WILLWICKED1]

@MUSIQMAN43 no sylvester was doing drag in the late 60's early 70's with a group called the "Cockettes"

[gdstrauss]

I played guitar with Sylvester 1973-74. He was incredible - beyond any labeling or classification

[sst1]

I wish there were performers like this in the gay community. I'm 23 and I miss him.

[DERVT]

There was, is and will always be...only one Sylvester.

[walk423]

Thank you, Sylvester!

[MUZIKNFILMZ]

Not trying to start an argument with anybody, but Sylvester was born Sept. 6, 1947. So for this to be his 40th B'Day it would've had to be 1987 and not '85.

[glbthistory]

You're absolutely right. He acknowledged celebrating his 40th two years early, to underscore his concerns about longevity in face of his (and some in his audience's)declining health due to AIDS.

[MUZIKNFILMZ]

That makes perfect sense...sadly, in 3 short years he would be right!

RIP Queen Sylvester!!

We will never forget you!

[jdfodio]

So he knew he was infected then?

[BabyJaneHudson]

No, he didn't know but figured he prob was. I asked him if he was going to be tested in '86 ,when everybody started getiting tested, and he said, "Why bother?", there is nothing they can do (at this time) anyway.

When Rick died in 1987, he knew his time was coming. He was already starting to feel sickly. He was so lonely that last year after Rick died.

[tashdi]

Sylvester James was born in Los Angeles, California into a middle-class family, and was raised by his mother and stepfather, Letha and Robert Hurd. Many of the facts of his early life are uncertain, and birth dates from 1944 to 1948 have surfaced. One thing is certain though, Sylvester was a child gospel star.

[Hdtex]

He was the best! Gone WAY WAY too soon!

[carlosmiller]

what a wonderful artist he was! I really love him! he had all together! RIP

[BabyJaneHudson]

God, what fun! I was there and later actually tried on that wig at his house on Corbett while hanging with Rick.

[tiffanywlls]

Wow! I bet it was fun.He seemed to have a beautiful spirit.I miss him.Baby Jane Hudson what a clever name.I love you

[BabyJaneHudson]

Yes he WAS a really good person with a wonderful spirit although he did not suffer fools gladly, that's for sure. lol.

I remember once at his house he sang for me a jazz rendition of "Eleanor Rigby" that he was planning for his next album after "Mutual attraction". Obviously there was no time left for the new album. Hard to believe it's over 20 years now he is gone...I went to visit him on Dec 10, 1988, right before he died, to bring him his Xmas present and he was in such terrible pain.

[Daethaqt3000]

@BabyJaneHudson PLZ Tell Me More Stories

[eyelashwine]

I wish to have met him, to listen to him singing live. I think of him very often, I miss him so much

[lalala020]

THANX U for all this historical GLBT Footage!!Loved every minute of all those video's!!

[kds6438]

He did some hot disco songs and Iliked Mighty real !

[pronkking]

I miss him...great pipes, and wayyyy ahead of his time.

[ncshorty82]

There would be no RuPaul or Kevin Aviance without Sylvester!! I will always love hime!! Thanks!!

[MadMoll]

wow... what a flashback. I was priveleged to be a guest at this party. Sylvester was a force. He, like so many, left us far too soon

[irannostalgiacom]

Wow! Thank you so much for sharing these rare videos. They seam professionally made! Where they tv broadcasts?

[glbthistory]

Yes, they were taped live and cablecast.