Sylvester - Sylvester 1977

Sylvester is an album by the American musician Sylvester, released in 1977.^[2][3] Previously Sylvester had released two albums on the Blue Thumb Records credited to Sylvester and the Hot Band. It was his first disco album in the series of three that were recorded and released by Fantasy Records in the late 1970s. The album was issued with the alternative title Over and Over in France.

Two singles were issued from the album. The first single, a self-penned song called "Down, Down, Down", charted at #18 in the Billboard Dance chart.^[4] The following single "Over and Over" written by Ashford & Simpson failed to make any impression on the charts. On the track "I've Been Down", the lead vocals are performed by Izora Rhodes and Martha Wash, known at the time as Two Tons o' Fun, they later went on to record as The Weather Girls. The album was re-issued on compact disc in the UK by Southbound Records in 1995, together with the album Step II, this release features no bonus tracks. 

 With his more rock-based work with the Hot Band laid to rest (no more Neil Young or Procol Harum covers), Sylvester headed down the soul and disco route with this self-titled album and never looked back. It didn't take long at all for him to hit his stride, evidenced by Ashford & Simpson's dynamic "Over and Over" -- a disco single full of memorable blips of horns that went over better in the U.K. than the U.S. -- but the album has its growing pains. The remainder moves through smooth and up-tempo soul, with resonating moments equaled by those that pass by without much notice. Longtime Sylvester associates Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes are in tow, providing complementary background vocals that would lead to their Two Tons and Weather Girls projects. Regardless of its shortcomings, Sylvester left plenty of evidence with this record that a major talent was about to crack. [Fantasy combined this album with 1981's Too Hot to Sleep in 1999; somewhat confusingly, Fantasy simply titled the disc Too Hot to Sleep.]