Foster Sylvers

Foster Sylvers had a Top Ten R&B/Top 25 pop hit first time out with "Misdemeanor." He can also be heard exclaiming "We kept it going strong" on the Sylvers' million-selling single "Boogie Fever" and sang lead on its follow-up, "Cotton Candy." He also co-wrote and produced Janet Jackson's funk rock single "Come Give Your Love to Me" which went to number 17 R&B in early 1983. Born February 25, 1962, in Memphis, TN, Foster Sylvers' older siblings, the Sylvers, were well established in the entertainment world by the time he joined the group. Starting as the child group the Little Angels under the direction of their mom, Shirley Sylvers, they had appeared on TV shows with Groucho Marx, Dinah Shore, Mike Douglas, Spike Jones, and Danny Thomas and had toured with Johnny Mathis and Ray Charles. After moving to New York and then to Los Angeles, the group now known as the Sylvers were signed to MGM Records subsidiary Pride Records. Their first hits were produced by Jerry Butler: "Fool's Paradise" (number 14 R&B, fall 1972) and "Wish That I Could Talk to You" (number ten R&B, late 1972). They were included on the LP The Sylvers issued June 1972. Foster Sylvers' first single, "Misdemeanor," written by his brother Leon Sylvers III, was produced by Jerry Peters. "Misdemeanor" b/w the Sylvers' "Close to You" -- not the Carpenters hit -- from The Sylvers went silver (at one point there was an RIAA silver certification meaning over 250,000 copies sold) and make it to number seven R&B on Billboard's charts in summer 1973. "Misdemeanor"'s follow-up was a cover of Dee Clark's 1959 hit "Hey Little Girl." Arranged by King Errisson with a tropical, steel drum-flavored syncopated groove, it charted at number 63 R&B in fall 1973. The popularity of the records led to Foster Sylvers'...