Sylvia Robinson
Sylvia Robinson (born Sylvia Vanderpool,
6 March 1936 in
New York) is a
singer,
musician and
producer.
Her first successful record was the
1957 hit, "
Love Is Strange", written by
Bo Diddley and released as part of the duo
Mickey & Sylvia with
guitarist
Mickey Baker. She
married Joe Robinson in
1964 and continued working in the
music business, being involved with several more successful releases. As a solo performer and billed as
Sylvia she released the single "Pillow Talk" in
1973. The song reached number one on the
R&B chart and number three on the pop chart, and is an early example of
disco music. In the 1970s the Robinsons founded
Sugar Hill Records.
Arguably her most important contribution to the music
industry was masterminding the formation of
The Sugarhill Gang and the release of their hit, "
Rapper's Delight" in
1979, the first commercially successful
rap single. The group was discovered in
Englewood,
New Jersey, where Sugar Hill Records was based.
In the 1980s, the Robinsons bought the
Chess Records catalog and several years later sold the catalog to MCA Records. Their son, Joey Robinson, was a member of rap act West Street Mob.
On March 16th 2006, her grandson had a sweet sixteen which will be aired on MTV in August. Juelz Santana and Rihanna made an appearance at this party.
*http://www.angelfire.com/biz3/bss/sylviarobinson.html
*http://www.jahsonic.com/SylviaRobinson.html
*http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Sylvia%20Robinson.html
*http://www.mp3.com/sylvia-robinson/artists/98320/biography.html
