You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" is a 1978 single by American disco/R&B singer Sylvester. The song was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester. It appears on Sylvester's 1978 album, Step II.

Origins

The song was originally recorded as a mid-tempo piano driven gospel song, however after producer Patrick Cowley saw a rehearsal of the song at San Francisco's city disco, he offered to remix the song.^[1] The result was one of the pioneering disco records using some electronic instrumentation and effects, following closely on "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer which heavily used electronic instrumentation ahead of its time. These 1970s songs using electronic instrumentation would have an influence on 1980s and 1990s dance music, which in turn, would have an influence on dance music in the next century.

Charts

The song was Sylvester's first Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at #8 on the UK Singles Chart in October 1978.^[2] In Sylvester's home country, the single was his second Top 40 hit, peaking at #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1979.^[3] The song also reached #20 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. A 12" single was released in 1978, with "Dance (Disco Heat)" as the A-side and "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" as the B-side, and these two extended dance mixes proved to be very popular in dance clubs at the time. The two songs held down the top spot on the Billboard Dance/Disco chart for six weeks in August and September 1978.^[4] These two songs helped to establish Sylvester's career as a noted disco and dance music performer, both in the U.S. and abroad.

You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) (Byron Stingily version)

"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)"

Single by Byron Stingily
Released	1998
Format	CD single, 7", 12"
Genre	Disco, House
Length	3:40
Label	Club Tools
Songwriter(s)	James Wirrick, Sylvester

Music video
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" on YouTube

Chicago-born house music singer Byron Stingily, formerly of the band Ten City recorded a cover of this song. Like Sylvester's original recording, Stingily's cover version of "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (produced by UK music producer Damien Mendis) also went to #1 on the American dance chart, where it spent one week atop the chart in March 1998.^[5] Although there have been instances where the same song, recorded by two different artists, has reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart ("Don't Leave Me This Way" is one example), it is still a fairly rare occurrence. This version also reached #13 in the UK.^[2]

Other notable versions

The song has been recorded by other musicians, including British singer Jimmy Somerville, formerly of the bands Bronski Beat and Communards. His 1989 cover version of the song also received substantial club play, and it peaked at #5 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1990.^[2] To date, this is the highest-charting version of the song in the UK. Somerville's cover of this song appears on his first solo album, Read My Lips.

In 1991, actress-comedian Sandra Bernhard recorded her own version of the single, which is a tribute to James, on her album Excuses for Bad Behavior (Part One). A series of 12" remix singles was released in 1994 by Epic Records' 550 Music imprint, who also signed Bernhard and picked up her album for a major push that same year. It peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, and #86 in the UK singles chart in late 1994.^[2]^[6]

Appearances in other media

Sylvester's version of the song was featured in the 1984 documentary The Times of Harvey Milk where Sylvester is seen in the documentary's file footage.
The style of New Order's 1983 release "Blue Monday" was influenced by "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)".^[7]
Danny DeVito dances his striptease for Phoebe's bachelorette party to this song on Friends "The One Where the Stripper Cries" (season 10, episode 11)^[8]
In the Chris Rock movie Head of State, the song plays when Rock's character campaigns at a gay club.
LMFAO's Song "Hot Dog" on their 2011 album Sorry for Party Rocking (Deluxe Edition) has a very similar song progression.
"Fly Away (Bye Bye)", a 2000 hit by Eyes Cream heavily sampled "You make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" throughout the song. The song hit #1 on the US Dance Club Songs in early 2000.
Australian singer and TV personality Dannii Minogue sampled the melody of "You make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" on her 2007 single "Touch Me Like That" from the album Club Disco.
The song was used in the final episode of Banshee, a Cinemax TV series.
The song was used in a 2014 Target television commercial for Peter Pilotto womenswear.
The song was used in the 2014 HBO movie The Normal Heart in the opening scene at the Fire Island Pines party on the beach.
The song was used in the trailer for the 2014 British film Pride.
The song features in the 2013 film Test during the scene where Frankie meets his older neighbour Bill.
The song features in the 1998 film 54, about the Studio 54 nightclub.
The song features in the 2008 film Milk, about the life and times of Harvey Milk.
In 2015, the song was sung a cappella on Empire by Miss Lawrence.
The song was used on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race in a lip sync between Derrick Barry and Bob the Drag Queen. It was the first song ever lip synced on the show by a male artist (except RuPaul).
The song features in the 2015 Australian film Girl Asleep.
Sandra Bernhard performs a monologue about Sylvester in the 1990 film Without You I'm Nothing, featuring excerpts from both "Mighty Real" and "Do Ya Wanna Funk".

Miscellaneous

According to the 2008 Drew Daniel book,^[9] in the 1977 video for this song, there is a short appearance by Cosey Fanni Tutti from Throbbing Gristle. She briefly appears as one of the female dancers wearing (very short) silver hot pants.

References

↑ Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco, Peter Shapiro, p76, Macmillan, 2006
1 2 3 4 "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 619.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003, (Record Research Inc.), page 252.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003, (Record Research Inc.), page 247.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003, (Record Research Inc.), page 33.
↑ "New Order:Singles:Blue Monday". Niagara.edu. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
↑ "Friends (TV Series) : The One Where the Stripper Cries (2004) : Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
↑ "33 1/3: Twenty Jazz Funk Greats", Drew Daniel, Bloomsbury Academic Publishers, ISBN 978-0-8264-2793-9, (pp101)

External links

Preceded by "Hot Shot" by Karen Young	Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single (Sylvester version, with "Dance (Disco Heat)") August 19, 1978 - September 23, 1978	Succeeded by "Keep on Jumpin'" / "In the Bush" by Musique
Preceded by "Off the Hook" by Jody Watley	Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single (Byron Stingily version) March 14, 1998	Succeeded by "Stay!" by Sash! featuring La Trec

Jimmy Somerville

Studio albums

Bronski Beat	The Age of Consent (1984) Rainbow Nation (1995)
The Communards	Communards (1986) Red (1987)
Read My Lips (1989) Dare to Love (1995) Manage the Damage (1999) Home Again (2004) Suddenly Last Summer (2009) Homage (2015)

Remix albums

Bronski Beat	Hundreds & Thousands (1985)
Root Beer (2000)

Live albums

The Communards	Storm Paris (1988)

Compilations

The Communards	Heaven (1993) Het Beste Van The Communards (2005) The Platinum Collection (2006)
Best (1989) The Singles Collection 1984/1990 (1990) Master Series (1991) The Very Best of Jimmy Somerville, Bronski Beat and The Communards (2001) The Essentials (2002) For a Friend: The Best of Bronski Beat, The Communards & Jimmy Somerville (2009) Dance & Desire: Rarities & Videos (2014)

Other albums

Fine Young Cannibals (1985)
(VA) Red Hot + Blue (1990)
(OST) Orlando (1993)
Plagiarism (1997)
Another Gay Soundtrack (2006)
Clubland 10 (2006)

Extended plays

Bright Thing (2010)
Momentum (2011)

Singles

Bronski Beat	"Smalltown Boy" (1984) "Why?" (1984) "It Ain't Necessarily So" (1984) "I Feel Love" with Marc Almond (1985) "Run from Love" (1985) "Smalltown Boy ('94 Remix)" (1994) "Why? (1995 Remix)" (1995)
The Communards	"You Are My World" (1985) "Disenchanted" (1986) "Don't Leave Me This Way" (1986) "So Cold The Night" (1986) "You Are My World ('87 Remix)" (1987) "Tomorrow" (1987) "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1987) "For a Friend" (1988) "There's More to Love" (1988)
"Suspicious Minds" with Fine Young Cannibals (1986) "The Last Infanta" with Uno (1988) "Comment te dire adieu" with June Miles-Kingston (1989) "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (1990) "Read My Lips (Enough Is Enough)" (1990) "To Love Somebody" (1990) "Smalltown Boy ('91 Remix)" (1991) "Run from Love ('91 Remix)" with Claudia Brücken "Coming" (1993) "Gimme Shelter" with Voice of the Beehive (1993) "Heartbeat" (1995) "Hurt So Good" (1995) "By Your Side" (1995) "Star" with The Weather Girls (1996) "Safe" (1997) "Dark Sky" (1997) "The Number One Song in Heaven" with Sparks (1997) "Something to Live for" (1999) "Lay Down" (1999) "Why? (Almighty Mix)" (2000) "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (2001) "It's So Good" (2004) "Come On" (2004) "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (2004) "You & Me" with Blue Ray (2007) "I Believe in Love (Remix)" with Arthur Baker (2011)
Other songs	"Love to Love You Baby" (1985) "Johnny Remember Me" (1985} "Lover Man" (1986) "Do They Know It's Christmas?" with Band Aid II (1989) "From This Moment On" (1990) "Someday We'll Be Together" (1995) "But Not Tonight" (2004) "I Was Born This Way" (2006) "Tell Me Why" (2006)

Video albums

Bronski Beat	The First Chapter (1985)
The Communards	The Video Singles (1986) Live at Full House Rock Show (2006)
The Video Collection 1984/1990 (1990)

Filmography

Ahí Te Quiero Ver (TV series) (1987)
Looking for Langston (1989)
Orlando (1992)
Lexx: "Girltown" (TV series) (2000)

Category
Book
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