"Dance (Disco Heat)" is the title of a 1978 single by American disco singer Sylvester James, who performed using just his first name, Sylvester. The song became Sylvester's first Top 40 hit in the US, where it peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the fall of 1978; it also reached #29 on the UK Singles Chart. The song appears on his 1978 album, Step II. A 12" single was released in 1978, with "Dance (Disco Heat)" as the A-side and "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" as the B-side, and these two extended dance mixes proved to be very popular in the dance clubs at the time. The two songs held down the top spot on the Billboard Dance/Disco chart for six weeks in August and September of that year and helped to establish Sylvester's career as a noted disco and dance music performer, both in the U.S. and abroad. Sylvester James (September 6, 1947 -- December 16, 1988), better known as Sylvester, was an American disco and soul singer-songwriter. Known for his flamboyant and androgynous appearance, he was often described as a drag queen, although repeatedly rejected such a description. Responsible for a string of hit singles, in the late 1970s, Sylvester became known in the United States under the moniker of the "Queen of Disco". Born in Watts, Los Angeles, Sylvester first developed a love of singing through the gospel choirs of his Pentecostal church, however left the congregation after being persecuted for his homosexuality. Leaving home as a teenager, he was an early founder of a group of African-American cross-dressers and transwomen known as The Disquotays, who eventually disbanded in 1970. Moving to San Francisco, he embraced the counter-cultural lifestyle and joined drag troupe The Cockettes, eventually producing his own solo shows in which he was heavily influenced by female blues and jazz singers like Billie Holiday and Josephine Baker. It the middle of their critically panned tour of New York City, Sylvester left the Cockettes and decided to focus entirely on a solo career. As the front man for Sylvester and his Hot Band, he released two commercially unsuccessful albums on Blue Thumb Records in 1973 before the members of the Hot Band left him. Gaining new backing singers in the form of Two Tons O' Fun and subsequently Jeanie Tracy, he proceeded to obtain a new recording contract with Harvey Fuqua of Fantasy Records. His first solo album, Sylvester (1977), was a moderate success, and was followed by the acclaimed disco album, Step II (1978), which spawned the hit singles "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" and "Dance (Disco Heat)". He produced three more albums with Fantasy Records before breaking from them un-amicably. Signing to Megatone Records, the dance-orientated label founded by his friend and collaborator Patrick Cowley, he produced four further albums and the hit Hi-NRG track "Do Ya Wanna Funk". An activist who campaigned against the spread of HIV/AIDS, Sylvester died from complications arising from the virus in 1988. On September 20, 2004, Sylvester's anthem record, "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. A year later, on September 19, 2005, Sylvester himself was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his achievement as an artist. "Got a match?" "Mm-hmm" "It's a fabulous club" "I'm tellin' ya" "Look at all the fabulous people... you wanna dance?" "Yes, I'd love to!" "Let's party a little bit" "Alright!" Workin' on my feet in the disco heat Dancin' through the night 'til mornin' light shines on me Again, music makes me Dance, dance, dance, dance Dancin's total freedom Be yourself and choose your feelin' Come on get up wanna see some Swingin', swayin', movin', groovin', slidin', glidin', Rockin', reelin', come on get up everybody DANCE!!! Workin' on my feet in the disco heat Dancin' through the night 'til mornin' light shines on me Again, music makes me Dance, dance, dance, dance Dancin's total freedom Be yourself and choose your feelin' Come on get up wanna see some Swingin', swayin', movin', groovin', slidin', glidin', Rockin', reelin', come on get up ev'rybody dance, dance (Oh, yeah) Dance with me in the disco heat (repeat) Dance with me in the disco heat, come on and dance (repeat) Dance, dance, Dance, dance, come on and dance Dance, dance, dance Dance, dance (ohhhhhh!, Come on and dance) Dance with me in the disco heat, Come on and dance (repeat) (Get on your feet and dance to the beat and dance!) Dance with me in the disco heat, Get up and dance Dance with me in the disco heat, Come on and dance Dance with me in the disco heat, Get up and dance Dance with me in the disco heat (repeat) Dance, dance, dance, dance... (fade)

• published: 06 Dec 2012
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