newsletter
Sign up below to be added to our mailing list for the latest news updates, access to exclusive contests, and more!
Among the more popular family acts on the '70s R&B circuit, Memphis' Sylvers recorded for Pride, MGM, Capitol, Casablanca, and Geffen during their 13-year chart run. No less than nine of the ten brothers and sisters in the family -- Olympia, Leon, Charmaine, James, Edmund, Ricky, Angie, Pat, Foster -- performed in the group that was viewed as a Southern version of the Jackson 5. Their 1972 Pride single "Fool's Paradise" got things going in the right direction, reaching number 14 on the R&B charts. They had three other Top Ten R&B hits in the '70s, but their biggest song was "Boogie Fever" in 1975. It perfectly captured the disco spirit and topped both the R&B and pop charts that year. "Hot Line" was another Top Ten on both lists in 1976, and their second biggest single. They scored another Top 20 R&B single on Casablanca in 1978, "Don't Stop, Get Off," but the charming qualities of their earlier material seemed more calculated. They couldn't recapture the spark during their mid-'80s period on Geffen. ~ Ron Wynn