Leon Sylvers III
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Leon F. Sylvers III, singer, writer, producer and multiinstrumentalist. One of the most succcesful producers in black music in the late 70s to mid 80s with an incredible amount of hits on the charts all around the world.
Born on the 7th of March 1953 in Memphis Tennessee, Leon F. Sylvers III wrote the first hit ("Wish That I Could Talk to You") for his family's singing group The Sylvers, his brother Foster Sylvers' Top Ten RB/Top 30 pop debut single "Misdemeanor," and later, hits for artists signed to Dick Griffey's Solar Records. The Sylvers, whose million-selling single "Boogie Fever" was a number one R&B hit in March 1976 and number one pop hit in May 1976, were flippantly called "The West Coast answer to the Jackson 5." A more accurate overall comparison would be with the 5th Dimension. Their harmonies were quite similar as well as the timbre of their core material and, like the 5th Dimension, the Sylvers had a natural middle America appeal.
Sylvers wrote and produced big hits for Shalamar ("The Second Time Around"), The Whispers (the gold single "And the Beat Goes On," "I Can Make It Better"), Dynasty ("I've Just Begun to Love You"), Gladys Knight & The Pips ("You're Number One (In My Book)"), Evelyn "Champagne" King ("Flirt," "Hold on to What You Got"), Stacy Lattisaw, the Spinners, Gina Foster, Krystol, The Brothers Johnson, Glenn Jones, Howard Hewett, Gene Page, Lakeside, and Real to Reel.
In 1989, Leon F. Sylvers III made a solo album for Motown, Leon Sylvers III, whose "Let's Go Thru It" became a steppers classic. Many rap and hip-hop acts have sampled Sylvers' material.
