Everything about Sylvia Robinson totally explained
Sylvia Robinson (born
Sylvia Vanderpool,
6 March 1936,
New York) is a
singer,
musician and
producer, and
record label executive.
Early career
Her first successful
record was the 1957
hit, "
Love Is Strange", written by
Bo Diddley, (but credited to his then wife, Ethel Smith), and
guitarist Jody Williams, who had developed the distinctive
lead guitar riff, and released as part of the
duo,
Mickey & Sylvia with
guitar player
Mickey Baker.
She
married Joe Robinson in 1964 and continued working in the
music industry, being involved with several more successful releases forming the successful
All Platinum Records label in 1968.
Pillow Talk
As a
solo performer and billed as
Sylvia she released the single "Pillow Talk" in 1973, a
song she'd originally hoped would be
recorded by
Al Green, who turned it down, because it was too risqué, and against his religion. She eventually recorded "Pillow Talk" and released it in 1973. The
drums on the recorded version seem to have been influenced by the productions of
Willie Mitchell for Green.
"Pillow Talk" reached number one on the
R&B chart and number three on the pop chart, and is an early example of
prototypical disco music. The vocals are replete with moaning and heavy breathing, predating
Donna Summer's orgasmic moans on "
Love to Love You Baby." The drumming rhythm would reappear in 1985 on
Kate Bush's "
Running Up That Hill", then again in 1987 on
Fleetwood Mac's "
Big Love".
Sugar Hill
In the
1970s the Robinsons with Milton Malden founded
Sugar Hill Records. Prior to this, she owned
All Platinum Records, releasing
records for
soul artists such as
Donnie Elbert and
Shirley Goodman - ("Shame, Shame, Shame", credited to
Shirley & Company).
Arguably Sylvia Robinson's most significant contribution to music was masterminding the formation of
The Sugarhill Gang and the release of their hit, "
Rapper's Delight" in
1979, which became the first commercially successful
rap single. The group was discovered in
Englewood, New Jersey, where Sugar Hill Records was based.
By commercializing the market for rap records, Robinson is accredited as the mother of modern
hip-hop. The song "Rapper's Delight" brought rap onto the public music arena. Some suggest that the music making industry was changed when this song was made, although many argue a bigger contributing factor was the introduction of
drum machines and
sequencers circa 1982.
In the
1980s, the Robinsons bought the
Chess Records catalog and several years later sold it to
MCA Records. Their son, Joey Robinson, was a member of another rap act, West Street Mob.
Her grandson Darnell Robinson's $297,750 fifteenth birthday party was featured on an episode of
MTV's
My Super Sweet Sixteen.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sylvia Robinson'.
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