Saturday February 19, 2022 “Pillow Talk” Sylvia Robinson
OK I know you’re thinking ‘wait just a minute, Aretha, Marvin, Stevie and then….who?’ Stick with me for a bit.
Sylvia Robinson (Vanderpool) first hit the charts back in 1956 with the top ten hit “Love Is Strange” a duet as Mickey & Sylvia, with guitarist Mickey Baker, the lyrics of which she wrote to a guitar riff she heard done by Jody Williams.
In 2004 "Love Is Strange" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for its influence as a rock and roll single.
Sylvia wouldn’t return to the charts until 1973 with her top ten erotic recording “Pillow Talk” whose content and style would lead the way for future recordings by artists like Donna Summer. So what was Sylvia Robinson doing between 1956 and 1973?
An accomplished guitarist she was recording with the likes of Ike and Tina Turner, managing groups like The Moments (“Love on a Two Way Street”) and running the All Platinum Records label with her husband Joe Robinson. All Platinum Records would evolve into Sugarhill Records in the 80s and would effectively launch Hip-Hop Music starting the careers of stars like Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five and the Sugarhill Gang.
Sylvia has been called the ‘Godmother of Rap’ music.
Sylvia and her husband Joe would buy the Chess Records catalog which included artists like Muddy Waters, early Ike Turner, Fontella Bass, Bo Diddley and many other rhythm & blues artists. They would sell that catalog to MCA Records which was later merged with Geffen Records, a division of Universal Records…I hope that you were taking notes there.
If Sylvia Robinson had been just a singer, she would still be remembered as one of the more influential Black musicians of all time. But as a writer, label-owner, producer and talent-spotter, she was a (largely unsung) genius.
Stay safe and well…and as stated at the beginning, a week is not nearly enough time to properly pay tribute to the many African American artists whose inspiration and creativity has made music what it is today.