Sylvia Robinson dies at 75 (2011) – The Mother of hip hop music?
Sylvia Robinson, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur died today of congestive heart failure at Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, New Jersey, USA on Thursday morning (29th September 2011).
It seems as if Sylvia Robinson had been suffering from ill health for several months before dying from congestive heart failure.
Born in the city of New York City, Sylvia Robinson had music in her bones from a young. She made her debut recording as a 14-year-old student at Washington Irving High School.
Sylvia Robinson was discovered by a talent spotter working for Columbia Records. This eventually led to her being able to record with the blues trumpeter Hot Lips Page and accompanied by the Nelson Clark Orchestra.
While recording for the Cat label, she met guitarist Mickey Baker (whose real name was McHouston Baker) This teaming up with Mickey Baker, saw a debut release from the duo which was called 'I'm So Glad (Tra La-La-La-La-La)'.
Some good luck was to come, Robinson and Bakers, way soon after this. During the year of 1956, Sylvia Robinson eventually attended a meeting with RCA Records producer Bob Rolontz, who had heard about her and their singing partner Mickey Baker.
Impressed by the duo Rolontz decided to take a chance with them and sing them to the label. This led to Rolontz producing the track called 'Love Is Strange.'
The 'Love Is Strange' single went on to become number one in the R&B charts for two weeks and went to number 11 in the Pop charts in early 1957.
Many of us younger Soul fans, we only introduced to this single via hearing this for the very 1st time after hearing through watching the international film blockbuster called “Dirty Dancing” (1987) which starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray.
The duo recorded for several labels during their careers together, including Cat, Rainbow, Vik, RCA Victor, Willow, and King Records. In 1962, Mickey Baker decided to relocate to Paris, France thus ending the partnership with Robinson.
In 1964, Sylvia finally married Joe Robinson. The Robinsons wasted no time setting up their record label, All Platinum Records, based in Englewood, NJ, in 1968.
This label had acquired its eight-track recording studio called Soul Sound Studios which helped them attract bands and groups to the label.
One of Sylvia Robinson's biggest earlier hits is called “Pillow Talk”; Sylvia has admitted in the past that she originally offered the track to the legendary vocalist that is the one and only Al Green, who declined the offer.
The track was the first release of the Robinsons’ Vibration imprint. “Pillow Talk” went on to become a number one R & B hit for two weeks and made it to number three pop on Billboard’s charts in the spring of 1973.
Sylvia Robinson's - “Pillow Talk” - 1973.
Sylvia Robinson then released the album called "Pillow Talk" in 1973 (See Picture below)
In 1975 Sylvia released an album called "Sweet Stuff"
The album included the much-sought tracks called, “The Next Time That I See You” and Sho Nuff Boogie by the rare groove music fans, within England.
Then in 1976, Syliva Robinson released a third album called "Sylvia".
It contained once again on the album - “The Next Time That I See You” and the Rare groove, music single classic that is - "Sweet Stuff".
Sylvia also had a side project in the background which saw her concentrating on running her own Sugarhill Records label (formed in 1974). This was to become an important part of the emergence of Rap Music as a music format in general.
The Sugar Hill label managed to attract a roster of artists which Sylvia Robinson was tempted to join.
Over time she could now boast the likes of The Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, The Furious Five, Funky Four Plus One, Crash Crew, Treacherous Three, Spoonie Gee, Melle Mel, Busy Bee, and The West Street Mob, along with the Soul performers, Harry Ray, Phillippe Wynne, The Moments, Mass Production, Positive Force along with Sylvia herself ('It's Good To Be Queen') apart of her label.
Robinson’s son Joey Robinson was a member of the group known as the West Coast Mob.
However Sylvia Robinson is still best known as the producer of the group that is known as the Sugarhill Gang, and their track called "Rapper’s Delight," which was the first hip-hop hit single to chart big.
Robinson was one of the people responsible for putting together the Sugarhill Gang, and their label called Sugar Hill Records, run with her husband Joe, released the landmark disc.
"Rapper’s Delight," which was co-written by Sylvia Robinson, peaked at No. 34, but that chart position doesn’t begin to measure the record’s impact.
“Rappers Delight” was heard in all corners of the globe countries such as Peru, to New Zealand were loving.
The making of "Rapper’s Delight" proved to be a great thing to do for Sylvia Robinson. There was little precedent for recorded rap music, and she was in no way to know if the audience that attended hip-hop parties in the South Bronx, New York City, USA would be interested in buying a single in the first place.
However, a trip to New York’s disco event called Harlem World gave her a glimpse of the future — and convinced her to put her money and muscle behind the new music form.
"As I was sitting there, the deejay was playing music and talking over the music, and the kids were going crazy," Robinson told The Star-Ledger in an interview with them in 1997.
"All of a sudden, something said to me, ‘Put something like that on a record, and it will be the biggest thing.’ I didn’t even know you called it rap."
Robinson had signed three local emcees and quickly cut the track that we all know as "Rapper’s Delight" today.
Robinson always insisted that a band played the riff (borrowed from Chic’s "Good Times") that underpinned the song, but it’s always been suspected that she used an instrumental for "Rapper’s Delight," and, in so doing, kick-started the movement toward sampling.
"She was really good on the artistic level," said the Sugarhill Gang’s Michael "Wonder Mike" Wright, "coming up with material and shaping lyrics and melodies into a song, not just a piece of music that’s five minutes long."
Sylvia Robinson was also behind and a producer of the hit track called “The Message” by Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five feat. Melle Mel & Duke Bootee in 1982.
How the story goes is that a guy named Edward Fletcher was the percussionist for the group that is Sugar Hill Gang (of “Rapper’s Delight” fame).
Working on his own, came up with a groove ( that included the Last Poets sounding workout that would eventually become the backing track for (“The Message”) and a hook to go along with it that has become famous within the music industry (“It’s like a jungle sometimes / It makes me wonder how I keep from going under”).
Edward brought the track to his boss, the head of Sugar Hill Records, Sylvia Robinson she liked what she heard and put her faith in the track.
"The Message" released under the title of the group that is Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five on Sugar Hill Records was released as a single in 1982. It was later featured on the album The Message.
It is frequently referred to as the greatest record in hip-hop history. It is the first Hip-Hop record ever to be added to the United States National Recording Registry of historic sound recordings for instance.
The Message is not the first rap record to talk about the struggles and frustrations of living in the ghetto. However, the song was unique in that it was set to a slower beat, refocusing the song on the lyrics over the music.
The song was written and performed by Sugar Hill session musician Ed "Duke Bootee" Fletcher and Furious Five MC Melle Mel.
Some of Mel's lyrics on "The Message" were taken directly from the track called "Supperrappin'", a song he had recorded three years earlier.
Flash and the other members of The Furious Five, although credited on the record, were uninterested in recording the song and are not found on the finished record.
In the music video, however, Sylvia Robinson put her mind and money behind the track which soon became another international hit for her label that is Sugarhill records.
Sugarhill's studios were based in New Jersey, where the business was additionally run, however, the building was destroyed by fire in 2002. In the 1980s, the Robinsons bought the record label Chess Records and several years later sold the catalog to MCA Records.
Sylvia and Joe Robinson, unfortunately, divorced in the late 1980s following various issues relating to Sugarhill Records.
Sylvia also founded Bon Ami Records in 1987, discovering the group The New Style, who later left the label, and became known as Naughty by Nature.
Joe Robinson died from cancer on the 5th of November 2000.
Sylvia Robinson lived out her final days at Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Usa however she was to shun publicity which saw her business affairs being handled by her son, Joey.
Sylvia and Joe Robinson were featured in the book The Vibe-History of Hip Hop, published by Random House in September 1999 which highlights their achievement in even more detail.
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