The Sylvers...Reconsidered

I always thought The Sylvers got a bit of a raw deal.

I mean, here is a family group that was talented as hell, with charismatic lead singers in Edmund and Leon, flawless harmonies and were beautiful to look at and could boast nine R&B top-40 hits in eight years. "Boogie Fever" in the clip above was a number one Pop and R&B hit. And yet with all that, they still labored under endless comparisons to that other musical family the Jacksons.

More than 30 years later, the Sylvers are worth re-examining. Because they were indeed bad in their own right. So let's blow some dust off this stuff and take a look.



And this one--"Fool's Paradise" from 1972--could be a Fugee's jam 20 years ahead of its time. And the choreography is off the hook:


Edmund died in 2004. Leon, of course, went on to be a super-producer and hit-writer, churning out almost all of Shalamar's hits back in the day. The Whispers, too.

The Sylvers

A reader suggested I post some clips of The Sylvers. I think she was suggesting this as penance for putting up that clip of Celine Dion singing "Bad" while dressed as MJ. So I'll post two Sylvers, a Debarge and a Five Stairsteps and hope for absolution.





And the Five Stairsteps (singing live!)

The King of Pop Culture, Too (part 2)

We posted a few examples last week of Michael Jackson's influence/stamp on pop culture. Scroll down a bit if you missed it. There is everything there from a clip of the "Jamie Foxx Show" to the forgotten soul singer Alfonso's eerily MJ-like cut, "Girl, You Are the One" from 1982.

So today, we continue the theme a bit. The above cut is 1973's "Misdemeanor" by Foster Sylvers--who sang lead for another family band, The Sylvers--sounding for all the world like Michael Jackson.

The cloying Celine Dion--I swear--performing "Bad", while dressed and "sounding" like MJ. She has a straight face. But you won't:


From India, y'all. Inspired by the "Thriller" video:


Denise Pearson, lead singer of British Bubblegum Soul group Five Star is kinda MJish--in their 1985 song "All Fall Down":


And to say nothing of The Osmonds--a group that is all but forgotten now--but were running neck-and-neck with the J5 for a while there. In this 1971 clip from the "Flip Wilson Show," Donny Osmond is clearly--clearly--ripping the hell..ur, I mean, "paying homage", to Michael Jackson's vocals:



[the above clip reminds me of what Carver said to Kima in an episode in Season Two of "The Wire" while watching white corner boys acting/talking black: "Thieving [motherlovers] take everything, don't they?"]

A take on the "Smooth Criminal" video. From China:


And we close out the day with Kim Fields' cute "Dear Michael" from 1983: