Oh, mighty real..!

 

When I was watching Jimmy Kimmel’s comeback video on YouTube a few weeks ago, I was pushed a Starbucks commercial that used a souped down version of Sylvester’s You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) and i was peeved. Because how the fuck do they dare?

I still remember when I heard that song for the first time: I was a wee gayling. Going to the clubs. Dancing until down and then going out for breakfast. So much fun. And we danced to Jay (not his real name) who had the most fantastic collection of twelve inches I have ever seen. He was an old-school DJ: he spun records. No playlists, no computers. Just two turntables and a microphone (like Beck). 

Rumor has he had met Frankie Knuckles. Another rumor was that he got all his music sent to him from New York (underground, of course) and that he had spun records that no one else had. All part of that nightlife mythology. We just knew that he was our friend (a friend of a friend introduced us and just like that, we were friends with him). And he used to play Sylvester. Usually by midnight, when all the boys were getting to the clubs. He just KNEW how to spin. He had that knack good DJs have to take the pulse of the dance floor and send us all in a frenzy. 

You Make Me Feel (mighty real) was one of those ‘moment’ records. We could have been swaying to whatever mix was fashionable at the moment and then BOOM. Sylvester would drop. And people would go mad. Because those men, that club, that music, made you feel real, like you and your desire for other men was absolutely righ (and it was). That’s why we went out to dance. And I think it was that mix of old/new, fast/slow, bouncy/pulsating music that kept us going until the fucking wee hours. Those were the nights…

And so there was Sylvester (well, his song) selling overpriced burnt-tasting beverages with too much syrup and not enough caffeine. And It sent me back. And it was fun. Because the feel of the club was exhilarating. During the week we had Alt Rock and Adult Contemporary in the local station, but during the weekend we felt real.

And then I found this podcast:

This is how you do a deep dive into a song. I understood WHY that song was (is) so meaningful: because it’s a bop, but it also provokes and evokes something in you because of the way it was made. Whether you like to dance or not, there’s something about the emotion in those songs from back in the day that send you to… church. The good kind of church.

XOXO

P. S. This is the kind of Podcast I think Upton should be making. He knows more about music than anyone i know. I swear the moment he says he’s gonna do it, I’ll be there, volunteering to do it with him. Even if I had to drag the two turntables and one microphone across state lines.. so Upton, if you’re lurking…