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Step II
''Step II'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Sylvester, released in 1978 on the Fantasy label. Commercial performance The album peaked at No. 7 on the R&B albums chart. It also reached No. 28 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album features the singles "Dance (Disco Heat)", which peaked at No. 4 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", which charted at No. 20 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both songs reached No. 1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on February 13, 1979. Track listing Personnel * Sylvester - lead vocals and backing vocals, acoustic piano * Patrick Cowley - string, Electro-comp 101 and 200 models synthesizers and Oberheim DS-2 sequencer, special effects *Michael Finden - electric piano, organ and clavinet *James "Tip" Wirrick - electric guitar *Eric Robinson - acoustic piano (track 7) *Bob Kingson - bass (tracks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylvester (singer)
Sylvester James Jr. (September 6, 1947December 16, 1988), known mononymously as Sylvester, was an American singer-songwriter. Primarily active in the genres of disco, rhythm and blues, and soul, he was known for his flamboyant and androgynous appearance, falsetto singing voice, and hit disco singles in the late 1970s and 1980s. Born in Watts, Los Angeles, to a middle-class African-American family, Sylvester developed a love of singing through the gospel choir of his Pentecostal church. Leaving the church after the congregation expressed disapproval of his homosexuality, he found friendship among a group of black cross-dressers and transgender women who called themselves the Disquotays. Moving to San Francisco in 1970 at the age of 22, Sylvester embraced the counterculture and joined the avant-garde drag troupe the Cockettes, producing solo segments of their shows which were heavily influenced by female blues and jazz singers such as Billie Holiday and Josephine Baker. During t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 1987. From June 1988, the Australian Recording Industry Association, which had been using the top 50 portion of the report under licence since mid-1983, chose to produce their own listing as the ARIA Charts. Before the Kent Report, ''Go-Set'' magazine published weekly Top-40 Singles from 1966, and Album charts from 1970 until the magazine's demise in August 1974. David Kent later published Australian charts from 1940 to 1973 in a retrospective fashion, using state by state chart data obtained from various Australian radio stations. Background Kent had spent a number of years previously working in the music industry at both EMI and Phonogram records and had developed the report initially as a hobby. The Kent Music Report was first release ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music industry. Its music charts include the Hot 100, the 200, and the Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in different genres of music. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs, and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox, phonograph, and radio became commonplace. Many topics it covered were spun-off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martha Wash
Martha Elaine Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the Two Tons O' Fun, who sang backing vocals for the disco singer Sylvester including on his signature hit "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)". After gaining their own record deal, they released three consecutive commercially successful songs which all peaked at number two in the dance charts. The duo was renamed The Weather Girls in 1982 after they released the top-selling single "It's Raining Men", which brought them to mainstream pop attention. The Weather Girls released five albums and were heavily featured on Sylvester's albums. After disbanding in 1988, Wash transitioned to house music as a featured artist on several successful songs. Her success on ''Billboards Dance chart has earned her the honorific title The Queen of Clubland, with a total of fifteen number-one songs on the chart to date. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Izora Rhodes
Izora Margaret Rhodes-Armstead (July 6, 1942 – September 16, 2004) was an American singer-songwriter. Known for her distinctive alto voice, Armstead first achieved fame as one half of the successful act Two Tons O' Fun who sang backup vocals for American disco singer Sylvester. After gaining their own record deal, they released three consecutive commercially successful songs which all peaked at number 2 in the dance charts. The duo was renamed The Weather Girls in 1982 after they released the top-selling single "It's Raining Men", which brought the duo to mainstream pop attention. As a duo, The Weather Girls released five albums and were heavily featured on Sylvester's albums. After The Weather Girls disbanded in 1988, Armstead released a single, "Don't Let Love Slip Away" (1991). In 1991, she reformed The Weather Girls with her daughter Dynelle Rhodes, who had been one of the duo's background singers. Over the course of a decade, they released three albums: ''Double Tons of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Bohanon
George Roland Bohanon, Jr. (born August 7, 1937) is a jazz trombonist and session musician from Detroit, Michigan. In the early 1960s, he participated in Detroit's Workshop Jazz ensemble, with Johnny Griffith (musician), Johnny Griffith, Paula Greer, Dave Hamilton (musician), David Hamilton, Lefty Edwards and Herbie Williams. After appearing on several Motown recordings, together with leading musicians such as Hank Cosby, of the Funk Brothers, he went to live in California. In 1962, he replaced Garnett Brown in the Chico Hamilton Quintet. In 1963 and 1964, he recorded two albums for Motown's unsuccessful jazz Workshop label. In 1971, he was a member of the Ernie Wilkins Orchestra, playing alongside fellow trombonist Benny Powell, that backed Sarah Vaughan on her ''A Time in My Life'' album, recorded in Los Angeles. Between 1984 and 1993, he played in orchestras backing Frank Sinatra. Discography As leader * ''Boss: Bossa Nova'' (Workshop Jazz, 1963) * ''Blue Phase'' (Geobo Musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Gadson
James Gadson ( James Edward Gadson; born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and songwriter. Career Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Gadson played with the first line-up of Charles Wright's Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, and recorded three albums with them between 1968 and 1970. Along with other members of Wright's band, he went on to appear on many hit records, including with Dyke & the Blazers. Gadson started to become well known as a drummer following the release of the album ''Still Bill'' by Bill Withers, released by Sussex Records in 1972. He played on The Temptations album ''1990'', released on the Motown label in 1973. In 1975, he played with Freddie King on ''Larger Than Life'' and went on to record with Martha Reeves, Randy Crawford, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, B.B. King, Albert King, Rose Royce, Elkie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Jamerson, Jr
James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (other), various kings named James * Saint James (other) * James (musician) * James, brother of Jesus Places Canada * James Bay, a large body of water * James, Ontario United Kingdom * James College, a college of the University of York United States * James, Georgia, an unincorporated community * James, Iowa, an unincorporated community * James City, North Carolina * James City County, Virginia ** James City (Virginia Company) ** James City Shire * James City, Pennsylvania * St. James City, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * ''James'' (2005 film), a Bollywood film * ''James'' (2008 film), an Irish short film * ''James'' (2022 film), an Indian Kannada-language film * James the Red Engine, a character in ''Thomas the Tank En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrick Cowley
Patrick Joseph Cowley (October 19, 1950 – November 12, 1982) was an American disco and hi-NRG dance music composer and recording artist. Along with Giorgio Moroder, he often is credited as a pioneer of electronic dance music. Early life Patrick Cowley was born October 19, 1950 in Buffalo, New York to Ellen and Kenneth Cowley. The family originated in the Horseheads and Corning areas of New York and lived in Rochester. During his teenage years, Cowley became a successful drummer with local amateur bands before attending Niagara University and later the University at Buffalo to study English. In 1971, at the age of 21, Cowley moved to San Francisco to attend the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) where he studied music, specifically the use of synthesizers, from Gerald Mueller. Musical career Cowley met San Francisco-based musician Sylvester in 1978. Sylvester had asked Cowley to join his studio band after hearing some of his early synthesizer recordings. He played synthe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hal David
Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David was born in New York City, a son of Austrian Jewish immigrants Lina (née Goldberg) and Gedalier David, who owned a delicatessen in New York. He is the younger brother of American lyricist and songwriter Mack David. Career David is credited with popular music lyrics, beginning in the 1940s with material written for bandleader Sammy Kaye and for Guy Lombardo. He worked with Morty Nevins of The Three Suns on four songs for the feature film ''Two Gals and a Guy'' (1951), starring Janis Paige and Robert Alda. In 1957, David met composer Burt Bacharach at Famous Music in the Brill Building in New York. The two teamed up and wrote their first hit " The Story of My Life", recorded by Marty Robbins in 1957. Subsequently, in the 1960s and early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Bacharach
Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Academy Award winner, Bacharach's songs have been recorded by more than 1,000 different artists. , he had written 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 hits. He is considered one of the most important composers of 20th-century popular music. His music is characterized by unusual chord progressions, influenced by his background in jazz harmony, and uncommon selections of instruments for small orchestras. Most of Bacharach and David's hits were written specifically for and performed by Dionne Warwick but earlier associations (from 1957 to 1963) saw the composing duo work with Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels and Jerry Butler. Following the initial success of these collaborations, Bacharach went on to write hits for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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