Biography
Sylvia Robinson earned two number-one successes as a singer, songwriter, and producer, first sharing the top spot with Mickey Baker as Mickey & Sylvia on "Love Is Strange" and later claiming her own gold-certified solo release, the sensuous "Pillow Talk." Working alongside husband Joe Robinson at the All Platinum label, she shaped the paths of the Moments by producing and co-writing their number-one R&B single "Love on a Two Way Street" while also guiding multiple chart entries from Donnie Elbert, Retta Young with "(Sending Out An) S.O.S.," the Whatnauts, Brother to Brother, Linda Lewis, Shirley and Company, the Rimshots on "Super Disco," and additional acts. In the 1980s the pair furthered rap’s rise via Sugarhill Records, issuing material by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five along with the landmark "Rappers Delight" from the Sugarhill Gang. All Platinum’s characteristically gritty recordings stood apart from the era’s smoother productions and foreshadowed the rawer textures that defined hip-hop across the following two decades.
Born Sylvia Vanderpool on March 6, 1936, in New York City, she cut her first sides at age fourteen while attending Washington Irving High School. Columbia Records scouts spotted her talent and paired her with trumpeter Hot Lips Page for blues sessions; she later appeared as Little Sylvia on Savoy. While cutting tracks for the Cat label she crossed paths with guitarist Mickey Baker, who instructed her on the instrument. In 1956 the twenty-one-year-old Sylvia Vanderpool encountered RCA Records producer Bob Rolontz, already familiar with her work alongside singing partner Mickey Baker. Rolontz signed the duo and oversaw "Love Is Strange," recorded on October 17, 1956; the single held the number-one R&B position for two weeks and reached number eleven Pop in early 1957. Subsequent Mickey & Sylvia releases included the two-sided hit "There Ought to Be a Law" (number eight) backed with "Dearest" in spring 1957 and "Baby You’re So Fine" in fall 1961. The pair also supplied backing vocals on Ike & Tina Turner’s "It’s Gonna Work Out Fine," which spent two weeks at number two R&B during summer 1961. Mickey Baker moved to Paris in 1962, and Sylvia married Joe Robinson in 1964.
That year the Robinsons established All Platinum Records in Englewood, New Jersey, complete with its own eight-track facility, Soul Sound Studios. "Pillow Talk" remained unrecorded for roughly eighteen months after Sylvia first offered it to Al Green, who declined. The session featured drummer Yogi Horton, bassist Fred Pescod, guitarist Walter Morris, veteran arranger Sammy Lowe on keyboards—Lowe having scored several sides for the label—and Craig Derry on congas. Issued as the inaugural Vibration single, the track occupied the number-one R&B slot for two weeks and climbed to number three Pop on Billboard’s charts in spring 1973. Further All Platinum successes, appearing on Stang, Turbo, Vibration, and All Platinum, encompassed the Moments’ "Love on a Two Way Street" (number one R&B for five weeks, number three Pop), "Sexy Mama" (number three R&B), and "Look at Me (I’m in Love)" (number one R&B); Donnie Elbert’s version of Diana Ross & the Supremes’ "Where Did Our Love Go"; the Whatnauts’ "I’ll Erase You Pain"; Brother to Brother’s rendition of Gil Scott-Heron’s "In the Bottle" (number nine R&B); and Chuck Jackson’s "I’m Needing You, Wanting You." Angie Stone, whose 1999 debut Black Diamond contains "No More Rain (In This Cloud)," had earlier belonged to the Sequence, whose 1980 single "Funk You Up" reworked Parliament’s gold 1976 hit "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker." Ice Cube’s gold-certified 1993 number-seven single "It Was a Good Day" drew samples from the Moments’ "Sexy Mama" and the Isley Brothers’ "Footsteps in the Dark." Stacy Lattisaw’s cover of "Love on a Two Way Street" reached number two R&B for four weeks in summer 1981.
During the 1980s the Robinsons acquired the Chess Records catalog, later selling it to MCA Records. Their son Joey Robinson performed with rap group West Street Mob. Sylvia died in 2011 at age seventy-five. Both she and Joe Robinson appear in the Random House volume The Vibe History of Hip Hop, released in September 1999.
Born Sylvia Vanderpool on March 6, 1936, in New York City, she cut her first sides at age fourteen while attending Washington Irving High School. Columbia Records scouts spotted her talent and paired her with trumpeter Hot Lips Page for blues sessions; she later appeared as Little Sylvia on Savoy. While cutting tracks for the Cat label she crossed paths with guitarist Mickey Baker, who instructed her on the instrument. In 1956 the twenty-one-year-old Sylvia Vanderpool encountered RCA Records producer Bob Rolontz, already familiar with her work alongside singing partner Mickey Baker. Rolontz signed the duo and oversaw "Love Is Strange," recorded on October 17, 1956; the single held the number-one R&B position for two weeks and reached number eleven Pop in early 1957. Subsequent Mickey & Sylvia releases included the two-sided hit "There Ought to Be a Law" (number eight) backed with "Dearest" in spring 1957 and "Baby You’re So Fine" in fall 1961. The pair also supplied backing vocals on Ike & Tina Turner’s "It’s Gonna Work Out Fine," which spent two weeks at number two R&B during summer 1961. Mickey Baker moved to Paris in 1962, and Sylvia married Joe Robinson in 1964.
That year the Robinsons established All Platinum Records in Englewood, New Jersey, complete with its own eight-track facility, Soul Sound Studios. "Pillow Talk" remained unrecorded for roughly eighteen months after Sylvia first offered it to Al Green, who declined. The session featured drummer Yogi Horton, bassist Fred Pescod, guitarist Walter Morris, veteran arranger Sammy Lowe on keyboards—Lowe having scored several sides for the label—and Craig Derry on congas. Issued as the inaugural Vibration single, the track occupied the number-one R&B slot for two weeks and climbed to number three Pop on Billboard’s charts in spring 1973. Further All Platinum successes, appearing on Stang, Turbo, Vibration, and All Platinum, encompassed the Moments’ "Love on a Two Way Street" (number one R&B for five weeks, number three Pop), "Sexy Mama" (number three R&B), and "Look at Me (I’m in Love)" (number one R&B); Donnie Elbert’s version of Diana Ross & the Supremes’ "Where Did Our Love Go"; the Whatnauts’ "I’ll Erase You Pain"; Brother to Brother’s rendition of Gil Scott-Heron’s "In the Bottle" (number nine R&B); and Chuck Jackson’s "I’m Needing You, Wanting You." Angie Stone, whose 1999 debut Black Diamond contains "No More Rain (In This Cloud)," had earlier belonged to the Sequence, whose 1980 single "Funk You Up" reworked Parliament’s gold 1976 hit "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker." Ice Cube’s gold-certified 1993 number-seven single "It Was a Good Day" drew samples from the Moments’ "Sexy Mama" and the Isley Brothers’ "Footsteps in the Dark." Stacy Lattisaw’s cover of "Love on a Two Way Street" reached number two R&B for four weeks in summer 1981.
During the 1980s the Robinsons acquired the Chess Records catalog, later selling it to MCA Records. Their son Joey Robinson performed with rap group West Street Mob. Sylvia died in 2011 at age seventy-five. Both she and Joe Robinson appear in the Random House volume The Vibe History of Hip Hop, released in September 1999.
Albums