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A journey back through the music,
madness, and unparalleled freedom of an era of change-the
'70s-as told through the life of ultra-fabulous superstar
Sylvester
Imagine a pied piper singing in a dazzling falsetto, wearing
glittering sequins, and leading the young people of the
nation to San Francisco and on to liberation where nothing
was straight-laced or old-fashioned. And everyone, finally,
was welcome-to come as themselves. This is not a fairy tale.
This was real, mighty real, and disco sensation Sylvester
was the piper. Joshua Gamson-a Yale-trained pop culture
expert-uses him, a boy who would be fabulous, to lead us
through the story of the '70s when a new era of change liberated
us from conformity and boredom. Gamson captures the exuberant
life, feeling, energy, and fun of a generation's wonderful,
magical waking up-from the parties to the dancing and music.
The story begins with a little black boy who started with
nothing but a really big voice. We follow him from the Gospel
chorus to the glory days in the Castro where a generation
shook off its shame as Sylvester sang and began his rise
as part of a now-notorious theatrical troup called the Cockettes.
Celebrity, sociology, and music history mingle and merge
around this endlessly entertaining story of a singer who
embodied the freedom, spirit, and flamboyance of a golden
moment in American culture.
Joshua Gamson is a professor
of sociology at the University of San Francisco. He is
the author of Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk Shows
and Sexual Nonconformity and Claims to Fame: Celebrity
in Contemporary America. He formerly taught at Yale.
He lives in Oakland, California.
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