Sylvia Robinson
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Sylvia Robinson (born Sylvia Vanderpool, 6 March 1936, New York) is a singer, musician and producer, and record label executive.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Pillow Talk
As a solo performer and billed as Sylvia she released the single "Pillow Talk" in 1973, a song she had 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".
The song returned to prominence by featuring on the soundtrack of the movie 54.
Another female vocalist - country singer Sylvia Kirby (best remembered for her 1982 hit "Nobody") - was billed as Sylvia in the 1980s, but she is of no relation to Sylvia Robinson.
[edit] 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
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.[1]
