Sylvia Robinson of Pillow Talk fame dies

[boogienights]

Sad news to report. Sylvia, best known for her his "Pillow Talk" in the mid 1970s, has died of heart failure. She was 75.


I also love her song "Lay It On Me".

[remicks]

****

DAMN .

Its very hard to stay in a good mood around here {sad}
Don't expect the obits to give her career half the credit it deserves (successfully running several record labels not the least ) including this unforgettable lyric of hers:

I found love on a two-way street
but lost it on a lonely highway

sigh

One of my favorites by her is STOP (BOY) from 1977, which I check for regularly on youtube ....maybe now at last , it'll show up.

RIP Sylvia Robinson .
I think you lived an incredible life & thank you


*****
What I'm teachin' you tonight, boy, you'll never learn it in school, .......... oh, no

[needlefingers]

Wow! She was probably the most important woman in the industry in the 1970's thru mid 80's.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/ar...ies-at-75.html


She is a founder of Sugar Hill Records!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapper's_Delight


She had a hit in 1957!




Among other songs, she wrote Shame Shame Shame!




I have sung her praises many times. She was a talented, hard worker.

Well here's to you Mrs. Robinson. I'm gonna play your music today.

[skiddlybop]

Sylvia is due a lot of credit for releasing the intense, gritty orchestrated soul ballads of Linda Jones on All Platinum, the label she founded with Joe Robinson. She told Rolling Stone that she'd written "Pillow Talk" for Al Green and thought he should cover it even after she'd had a huge hit single with it. She should already have a lifetime achievement award for creating and selling millions of "Rapper's Delight," launching the business of hip-hop and paying all those salaries when major labels finally co-opted the form and made all that Eminem and Dr. Dre money. . And, mercy, the bold imagination that wrote "Shame, Shame, Shame" for Shirley Goodman and Jesus Alvarez. The youtube window will let you click through to a fabulous duet on the song by Cher and Tina Turner.Priceless. Thank you, Sylvia. Wish I'd been able to ask you: So what in the world did it mean to whimper, "Oh, uno momento pochito...ay yi, yi-yi..."? I confess I did get what it meant when she said, approximately, "OM...G!!"just before the track ran out on those classy strings and keyboard.Thanks, remicks for reminding me of the further lyric: "So friends who tell me wrong from right, I'll ask to borrow their man some cold and lonely night." One lyric site was too prissy to run the exact lyric:"Lie steady, lie steady, lie steady." George Benson or David Sanborn or even Pat Metheny, they should have cut it on the basis of musical merit. I still think Lil' Kim or some hot lookin' female rapper or vocalist should cap an especially romantic record by recreating the iconic image of Sylvia's back album cover photo, where she's pictured toasting her gigantic listening public. Sylvia performs another great record, "Sweet Stuff, " on the "Soul Train"DVDs. That was an easy mix with "Hot Butterfly, " I bet.

[DannyBoy]

Another sad loss. The "All Platinum" material had a major influence on my young dancing feet. Sugarhill Records was a leader in its day. I'm still spinning both labels all these years on.

Shame, shame shame indeed. RIP my lady.

[markydefad]

skiddlybop referenced this...didn't know it--but l dig the sexy groove and it's fun to see the Soul Train dancers movin' to a slow jam.
the groove reminds me of Patrice Rushen's "REMIND ME" lol

SWEET STUFF - SYLVIA

[remicks]

.Thanks, remicks for reminding me of the further lyric: "So friends who tell me wrong from right, I'll ask to borrow their man some cold and lonely night." One lyric site was too prissy to run the exact lyric:"Lie steady, lie steady, lie steady." .

and get this:
some lyrics sites print your line as
"I'll ask to borrow their pants some cold and lonely night" lol !
- well she is hard to understand ....spent many moments trying to decipher her whispers back then .

Speaking of moments , SWEET STUFF reminds me of this delectable :

SEXY MAMA
which of course Sylvia co- wrote /produced.
I think its all the more amusing when artists rip themselves off ! If you find a cow that gives milk I guess you may as well fill the bucket .

In that Soul Train performance of SWEET STUFF , Sylvia looks to me a little, a little ... well - let's say it this way: her eyes look as heavy as did Aretha's boobs on her Soul Train JUMP performance ! {wide}

SYLVIA INTERVIEW:


comes across as a smart cookie.

needs no introduction:


Gawd it seems so innocuous. Who knew???
It sure seemed like good fun to me at the time .

*****

[skiddlybop]

G'day Lloyd, I keep wandering back to the thread to view your posted clip on "Pillow Talk." I see it does include a shot of that fantastic album sleeve photo. I didn't recall that she was pictured on the phone while toasting to the camera and showing off a long, luxurious leg, and her longest, prettiest fall, which I think also appeared in Linda Jones photo shoots... Maybe she was putting the arm on some late distributor or one-stop on 90-day dating, for payment on some of the first 100,000 copies of "Pillow Talk," lulz. During my two-day immersion in shame, shame, shame, shame, shame, I've come across a unique re-edit of about 5:15 on the compilation "Oh No! It's the '70s," on UK Sequel NEM CD 627. It's mismarked as 5:50 on the back-case tray card, but it's actually longer by a minute-plus, with an short instrumental bit looped in the intro,a very Moulton move,and a false ending-- a bump and fade, as I believe the great Chips Moman used to call it -- and there's extra ad-lib material by Shirley and Jesus in the extended final tag, the most interesting part compared to the official single, widely available. Also, there is an extended promo-only 12-inch on Fantasy of Tina Turner's version, with extra percussion, produced by (and credited to) Ike Turner on his album "The Edge," in a very appropriate New Orleans kind of groove, compared to the Miami-sideways vibe of Shirley's original hit. If I were Rick Finch, I would have put up the "Rock Your Baby" multi-track right quick and had George and Gwen McCrae revoice it singing "Shame, Shame, Shame," and released it as a cover single by George and Co., under the title "Take Me in Your Arms and Shame Me." I don't think that would have tested the chords of either song any more than Mary J. Blige ever did when she delighted her young listeners with extemporaneous medleys and mash-ups on tour or TV early in her career. Also, I always think of John Lennon with extra fondess because of the way he singled out "Shirley and the gang (sic)" and "some of this disco stuff" along with Ann Peebles' "I Can't Stand the Rain" in Rolling Stone interviews as his records of the moment, single-handedly sparking international industry and fan buzz around both records.
There's also a very good overview of All Platinum's history up to the mid-70s on the LP "It's All Platinum - All Platinum Gold," which also includes Retta Young's "Sending Out an S.O.S.," the charming attempt of the producing Moments to transcend the sonic shortcomings of All Platinum's Englewood, New Jersey, recording facility with an airy Philly-esque string-washed arrangement. There are also several 1970s All Platinum tracks on the 2007 UK Castle Frankie Crocker-themed comp "Do It Frankie, Do It to It" CMQCD 1490.
Discolove and a beautiful, peaceful Rosh Hashanah to all celebrating the new year now.xxB.

[skiddlybop]

Yeah, remicks, actually, on extended reflection I'm thinking, "Oh, uno momento poquito..ay-ay,ay-ai" may have meant something like, "Ease up a second, baby, you're killing me now..." certainly makes sense just as she's about to achieve "ZOM..G!!"-ness. I'm also remembering how radio DJs would sometimes get on the mike in the last part of the song and do a sort of Barry White voice-over, egging her on till she, um, finished.

[needlefingers]

I see there is also an extended mix of Pillow Talk(almost 6 minutes).

http://www.discomusic.com/records-more/8750_0_2_0_C/

Anybody know what it sounds like? I hope it's heaven....

[remicks]

****

not sure how or why ( story?) but Sylvia did an impressive version of AUTOMATIC LOVER in 1978




( sounding to me like Grace Slick )


no robot though:




******

skiddlybop:

The youtube window will let you click through to a fabulous duet on the song by Cher and Tina Turner.Priceless. Thank you, Sylvia

-----------------

[langlang]

god, are we getting old or what? so many icons that we know and love are leaving us. sylvia robinson is truly a woman of the industry. her early output of soul merits much praise, and also to be a label head-outstanding . just a shame she never got the recognition for all her achivements. and lets not forget she formed sugar hill records, the label that brought early hip hop to the airwaves. every rapper past and present should be paying tribute to her today. rip dear lady, you did it right here and now you go on to a better place.

[remicks]

*****

Sylvia hits the public stage in1956 as half of Mickey & Sylvia with :


"Love Is Strange" peaked at #1 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart and #11 on the Hot 100.
(quite hillbilly imo)


Paul McCartney remembers it:



hadn't noticed how long the instrumental intro was. And Paul takes waaay too long to show up @ 3:12 imo


My beloved Buck Owens does too, in disco year 1975 (what ! you didn't dance to it !!??) :



Had not heard this Buddy Holly version -but quite nice / advanced :

(sounds more Beatle-ish than Paul's later version imo)


Everly Bros:



Kenny & Dolly:



the version with the most groove : by Peaches & Herb natch (1967) !



*****

[skiddlybop]

Remicks, thanks for another fabulous and impeccably curated post, guaranteed to trigger fun, sentimental, absurd, trivial and cherished life memories of our music. You put the interesting, thought-provoking music and images right on the table for us, brother! Re your comments, which put a million thoughts in my head:
- Of course Buddy Holly arranging "Love is Strange" in his own style will sound like the Beatles -- playing in his style, as in "Words of Love" and "Things We Said Today"-- or that other British band that named themselves to universalize their own Buddy-worship, The Hollies.

- Dolly Parton is once again seen here having fun while being a genius. Truly, an American treasure.They should give her an additional brand-new medal every year, fly her into D.C., and seat her in the guest box at the Kennedy Center Honors as honoree emeritus, just to add luster to new awardees and the live program.Langlang, ITA. it's hard losing lifetime idols, like it's hard losing friends and family at this stage of life. As I recently told our gracious host Bernie, this is why I feel so joyful meeting and bonding with new friends over our favorite music. If I was the smart A&R guy who made all that Allison Krauss/Robert Plant money, I'd be asking Dolly to cut a covers album dedicated entirely to Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson right away.In the deluxe edition, I'd have a one-on-one conversation between Dolly and Val about how Nick got to be such a genius at lyric writing, loving the men in their lives, and what God can do by putting two people in a state of love and setting them loose with exactly the right talents to go together.

-
- Good link to Peaches and Herb. At first I thought it was our esteemed Van McCoy being smart as ever about borrowing from "Come See About Me" and "It's the Same Old Song,"-- and the left-hand piano part from "Expressway to Your Heart" -- but the still shot of the 45 says the producers are David Kapralik, who had the honor and unimaginable burden of managing Sly Stone at the height of his career, when there were records to turn in and gigs to play, and he was already acting batshit crazy, and Ken Williams, who later defined Top40/R&B's state of the art by co-writing and co-producing the Main Ingredient's "Everybody Plays the Fool."

To my surprise, I can report that based on the international news media obituaries I've read so far, I'm satisfied that Sylvia is eulogized primarily for starting the hip-hop revolution by creating Sugar Hill Records and the rap music business in summer 1979. Most interview clips I've seen online [apparently taken from TV or cable stories] show her explaining how she did it, producing and promoting hands-on, and was smart enough to take the pulse of both her son and the street. Researching Gwen Guthrie in the 1990s was a reminder to me of the price women often paid, pre-Missy Elliott, for trying to do it all, and pre-Beyonce, for directing their own careers with a firm hand.Sylvia proved that women always belonged in the spotlight, and behind the board.

[remicks]

*****
double post



shame shame shame !


*****
oh well , one monkey don't stop no show

[remicks]

*****


Very kind words skiddlybop and much appreciated!

For me it's always been about the music . I'm so mesmerized by it and so indebted to all those that made it happen . That era of music to me is nothing short of a miracle. It never should have been really , yet it sprang forth & persevered , no, more than that , it commandeered itself into music industry domination .
The thing that amazes me is , you'd think after many years, I'd have pretty much drained the well of what there is to learn here .....yet amazingly it's turned out that it's the opposite that's true . Learning more just leads to - learning more .
So I love to share whatever I know and what I come to know as I learn it , passing it on to anyone who finds it of interest. ... and always look forward to what comes up in return .

For instance: I DID NOT KNOW that the HOLLIES named themselves after Buddy Holly !!!! But now that I do , thanks to you .... its so obvious - and great trivia !!!

Its great fun this thing called music. disco especially.
_______________________________


Now back to Sylvia Robinson :


It's probably doomed to be forever regarded as more or less a cute novelty record , the one with screechy vocals and scratchy guitars .
Yet SHAME SHAME SHAME imo deserves to be remembered as a more important record in the disco story . At the very least it was one of early discos biggest floor burners, and moreso it was a clever little dance record that subtly delivered a powerful punch .

Tom Moulton first mentions the disk in his 12/21/74 column this way:

Without a doubt, the most talked about record in New York this week is "Shame, Shame, Shame" by Shirley and Company. It's all about going to every discotheque in town and dancing all night. Spinners are also happy about the flip side having a 4:10 instrumental version of the song. The vocal side is 3:50 in length.
markydefad

That same week it enters the disco chart at #29 .The following week, it zooms into the Top 10 (#7) , and then the very next week (in just its 3rd week on the chart) , disco year 1975 starts off with SHAME SHAME SHAME as its #1 disco song! SHAME SHAME SHAME becomes the sixth song to reach the top of the summit on Marky's Consensus Charts.... & claims the crown for three weeks.

Why ?? Well, sure its got an addictive chug along dance groove ... and sure its got an instrumental B side the DJs love to toy with .... and yes as Tom points out: "It's all about going to every discotheque in town and dancing all night", more importantly though -imo- this record is all about saying something to the world about disco and saying it with an boastful attitude that resonated with those already clubbing .

The message goes beyond the Bee Gees polite suggestion that YOU SHOULD BE DANCING, this song (in a most friendly manner ) is practically cursing you for not doing so , and mockingly sniffs 'tsk tsk' - "if you can't dance too" .

It's saying look around . Disco is busting out all around you . Enjoy it . Embrace it .

Because - if you miss out:

SHAME SHAME SHAME shame on you!!!


they get it



*****

you can't stop the groove
'cause you just won't move

how true that observation will prove itself to be !

[remicks]

*****

Most of us probably first learned of Viola Wills from this spry but bittersweet disco song released on Sylvia's SUGARHILL Records in 1979

.... although that might be presumptuous of me since it peaked at #52 (!!!!!) on the disco chart.

It was a staple at Trocadero Transfer.




this was the song's most successful version:

Patience & Prudence

from 1956. It peaked at #11 Billboard.


Teresa Brewer did it first . In 1952. #25 this one reached.



..... don't sit under the apple tree etc. ....




no doubt this record was waiting to be done proper : disco style. Would love to know how it found its way into Sylvia's hands , but that is a story that likely will never get told.


so long my honey




*****

[discokicks]

*****no doubt this record was waiting to be done proper : disco style. Would love to know how it found its way into Sylvia's hands , but that is a story that likely will never get told.


so long my honey




*****

Very informative thread and thoughts on Sylvia Robinson...admittedly, I knew very little about her but learning a lot.

I grew up listening to my sister's 45rpm of Skeeter Davis singing "Gonna Get Along Without You Now". It's more in line bpm-wise....maybe that's the version it was based on. I remember seeing the song's title show up on the disco chart back in 1980 and being totally floored that someone else not only knew the song but covered it in grand disco style!