Yesterday, I started off my ROW80 check-in with some lines from the ever so stylish Sylvers’ “Boogie Fever.” While a steady mainstay on the charts in the mid-’70s, this family group may be long forgotten or unknown to some.
Source: http://ajcertified1.tumblr.com
So what does that mean for Melodic Monday? That’s right. Dust off your finest plaid bell-bottoms, strap on a headband and gold medallion, iron your hair or pick out your Afro and put on those platform shoes. We are taking a flashback to 1976.
Fun facts:
- The Sylvers are from Memphis, Tennessee.
- “Boogie Fever” went number one in both the U.S. and Canada.
- Nine of the 10 Sylvers siblings sang on the hit. They are Foster (sharing lead here with his older brother, Edmund), Olympia, Leon, Charmaine, James, Edmund, Ricky, Angie and Pat.
- Other successful songs included “Fool’s Paradise,” “Hotline” and “High School Dance.”
- The baseline of “Boogie Fever” is a build off of The Beatles’ “Day Tripper.”
- They toured the U.S. and Europe as the opening act for Johnny Mathis and Ray Charles.
So tell me, are you silently tapping your feet and rocking to the beat? What were you doing during the disco era? Did you find and fall in love with the grooves later in life? Or, gasp, does disco send you into a burning rage?
Barbara McDowell 
LOVE Boogie Fever. Those dance steps are totally coming back!
You absolutely made my Monday…rocking it out…
Glad you are grooving, Natalie! Their commitment to the dance moves is priceless. And the purple outfits?! Now that is just custom-made beauty.
Oh man, they have the MOVES, baby! I love this song… let’s see I was six when this song came out, but I’m sure it was rockin’ on the AM station we listened to. Dang, that was some good music back in the day. Love, love, love disco! Donna Summer, oh now that was a woman who knew how to get down. Thanks for taking me back in time (again!). I just checked, I don’t have this on my iPod, but am correcting that immediately.
Excuse, me, I feel the need to boogie now.
AM station!!! Oh yes, Tameri, it is all coming back to me now. The big gaps between stations and all the time spent wiggling the antenna just so to get a channel to pop in. I loved how back then the artists really went all out to be full entertainers and that people had to be able to really carry a tune and sing.
Barbara, this is a great post. I’m sort of terrible about knowing bands and names of musicians but my husband and sons are great at it! Hence, I’m taking up the tenor banjo to connect to their musical love in a small way. Love the post and hope your goals are going well.
Learning the tenor banjo sounds like a blast, Ali! I’ve always wanted to learn the guitar and need to carve that out into my goals one day.
Hi Barbara!
I remember this song! Disco music and the old standards (Sinatra and Bennett) always make me want to dance. I was a teen when disco hit the scene. At the time, I took dance classes and yeah, I did take a couple of disco classes. (You should know that this is the first time I’ve admitted this.) Never wore strappy spandex dresses, but I loved the dance classes. I wish my husband liked to dance.
Jennifer, taking disco classes is nothing to be ashamed of. Whoo-whee! I wish I’d been old enough to join you. I would watch the dance rehearsal scenes of Saturday Night Fever and just want to be in front of the mirror too. Such great dances in the ’70s. And I dreamed of dancing at Studio 54.
Boogie Fever, got to boogie down. . . yep, I remember this one. I loved disco even though I was a bit young to fully appreciate it. (The glittery ball really was the attraction. LOL)
Thanks for the flashback. 🙂
Yeah, I had the old Motown hits and disco in my “formative years” and that is why they remain first loves. I’m also with you on the glittery ball, Bridgette. And the shiny costume material and sequined clothes. Ha ha.
I am sooo laughing…and dancing. I loved that song! Yeah, I remember it well. Disco Diana….LOL. That was a fun era of music, wasn’t it? 🙂
It sure was, Diana! The music had substance and you could dance straight through song after song. And the outfits!
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