The Sylvers 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.
