Kerr was promoting the record at a radio station in Virginia when Joe found him. She was also the first to establish rap as a potent vehicle for political lyrics in 1982 when she produced The Message with Melle Mel and Ed Duke Bootee Fletcher. By the time they put this song together, Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five were fractured, and they broke up before it was released. "[21], "Join Us for Cocktails & Covers at House of Blues Fridays This Summer", "Kidd Creole's fall from hip-hop icon to rock bottom", "Forum ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989", Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)", The Irish Charts Search Results White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)", "Duran Duran feat. This ranked 202 out of 1634 DE from 1987 to 2023. In the same year, the record label released the song Rappers Delight by the Sugarhill Gang. And we kind of ducked it for a minute. The second best result is Sylvia D Robinson age 70s in Lynchburg, VA. What resulted was a nearly fifteen-minute track modified from Chics Good Times. The song, Rappers Delight, reached No. Joe, with his years in the numbers game and New York nightlife, had amassed a lifetime of relationships with Harlem kingpins like Nicky Barnes and industry operators like Morris Levy and Nate McCalla, who were both tied to the Genovese family. Joe and Sylvia Robinson moved to New Jersey in 1966 and formed a soul music label the following year called All Platinum Records. Starting out as a young man who wanted to make a way for himself, the first job he ever had was at United Parcel Service delivering packages. The label would later release. [30] Together they had three children, sons Joseph "Joey" Robinson Jr. (19622015),[31][32] Leland Robinson (b. Discover Sylvia Robinson's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Production credit went instead to Sue Records owner Juggy Murray. Both of his parents were African American. The song, which warns against the dangers of cocaine, addiction, and drug smuggling, is one of Mel's signature tracks. Every dollar they earned, in one way or another, mother had made possible. Sylvia is related to Thomas Shawn Robinson and Karen Lee Johnson as well as 3 additional people. While concentrating in audio engineering, he began to focus on the next chapter of his career and chart new territory. Sylvia White (born March 29, 1943) is an American speed skater. Sylvia Robinson is being given an Ahmet Ertegun . Sugarhill Records is responsible for mega hits like, "Rapper's. And the studio band played music composed by Chics Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, who had to retain an attorney to secure their rightful credit. A biopic of his mothers story was a longtime goal for Joey, but he did not live to see it: He died of cancer in 2015. 37 on the Hot100 but the first to sell over a million. White is serving two life sentences in the death of her 4-year-old stepson and hiring a hitman to kill her husband. The duo split up in 1959, and later Sylvia married Joseph Robinson and resumed her solo career under the name Sylvia Robbins. Sylvia named the act after the fancy Harlem neighborhood that loomed over her own childhood home on 137th Street. 2023 Billboard Media, LLC. Screengrab from WITN broadcast. Within a couple of years and with a new lineup, the group scored their biggest hit with "Love on a Two-Way Street" (1970), which Sylvia co-wrote and produced with Bert Keyes and (uncredited) lyrics by Lezli Valentine. has been fighting the womans release ever since. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. The Whites had been married and lived together in Kinston, North Carolina, with three of Sylvia Whites children from another marriage and Billy Whites four children from another marriage, including a son, who was 4 years old when he died in 1973, according to court records. She was found guilty of first degree murder in the childs death in Lenoir County, and second degree murder for the death of her husband in Jones County. 20072023 Blackpast.org. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. Sylvia Robinson works with Big Bank Hank to build a rap group. On March29, 2012, all three entered guilty pleas in a federal tax-evasion case. Sylvia Rhone, who in May was named chairman of Epic Records only the second time in history that a black woman has attained that title at a major label, the first being Rhone herself at Elektra in 1994 began her own journey by following the paths of three female executives. Select this result to view Sylvia Robinson's phone number, address, and more. The jury found her guilty of first-degree murder and White was sentenced to life imprisonment. Sylvia has three sons, Joey, Leland. He didnt want the divorce to affect us.. She was the architect of their prosperity, interpolating a Bo Diddley vamp, rewriting the lyrics and adding the songs flirty repartee: Oh, lover boy Still, it was initially credited to Diddleys alias, Ethel Smith (his wifes name), likely in order for Diddley to dodge contractual commitments one woman denied credit, another used as a vessel for her husband. They have also lived in Pineville, NC and Danville, CA. Homer drags the chest outside and . 8 to the Atlanta Falcons. In eleven months time, Sylvia Ipock White will be released from prison after being granted parole. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Thus, Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler are lauded for the glories of Atlantic Records, not Miriam Abramson, whose accounting and collection kept the company solvent; Jim Stewart is celebrated as a pioneer of Memphis soul, less so Estelle Axton, without whose money and ear there would have been no Stax; Elvis Presleys discovery is ascribed to Sam Phillips when it was his assistant, Marion Keisker, who initially recorded Presley and pushed Phillips to call him back in for the session that began his meteoric ascent at Sun. Thats all she had at her time of death. In 1956, the duo now known as Mickey & Sylvia, recorded the Bo Diddley and Jody Williams-penned rock single, "Love Is Strange", which topped the R&B chart and reached number eleven on the Billboard pop chart in early 1957. She wasnt afraid to be alone in the creative wilderness, says Wagner of Sylvia. Message From a Black Man, produced by George Kerr, was an opportunistic cover of a song from a 1969 Temptations album. Now, WCTI reported that the state has decided to let White go free, after more than 25 years in prison. Most recently, Somaya has partnered with her girlfriend Lady Luck to launch a joint record label and television/film production venture, "La Rosa Ent" and "The Greatest Entertainment." Throughout her life, she fought against the exclusion of transgender people, especially transgender people of color, from the larger movement for gay rights. The 85-year-old White is serving two life sentences and has been up for parole since 2005. This single had more promo releases than most bands have releases, and across this myriad of 12" and CD singles the band released more than 20 distinct remixes and edits of "White Lines", many of which were crafted by DJ Junior Vasquez. Leland wasnt even in the studio. Leland, for his part, insists that he wrote it. Somaya has become a successful actress, artist, and entrepreneur, and one can only guess what she will take on next. Sylvia! Sylvia Robinson, known to many as the mother of hip-hop, has died aged 75. . Select this result to view Sylvia Elaine Robinson's phone number, address, and more. In Leland Jr.'s free time he loves trying out exciting restaurants, watching new films, and going out with friends and family. He was the executor of Sugarhill Music Publishing. With "Rapper's Delight," the Englewood, N.J.-based Sugar Hill was able to claim it had the first rap hit in history. Her father has worked for General Motors. The family of Billy White, who died in 1973, has been fighting the womans release ever since. Sylvia Robinson, Pioneering Producer of Hip-Hop, Is Dead at 75, Robinson, the genius behind Englewood's Sugar Hill Records and thus the founding mother of the hip-hop revolution, is in good company this year. How do you call your Lover Boy? Joe rose early to talk to distributors in Europe and stayed up late to hit radio programmers on the West Coast. Her genius for production built an empire. Ruth Bowen, who owned Queen booking [and] had Sammy DavisJr., Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Dinah Washington and Dionne Warwick. All Rights Reserved. Empire Writers to Pen Movie About the Mother of Hip-Hop, Sylvia is related to Thomas Eldred Robinson and Roberto Harvey Robinson as well as 3 additional people. In 2014, Joey sold the film rights to Sylvia Robinsons life story to producer Paula Wagner. Soon, Kerr began spending time with Sylvia in the studio the Robinsons had built at 96 West St. in Englewood. This was the first record of its kind, where the DJ who was the cornerstone of Hip hop at the time (1980s) was not involved in creating a track that they performed.[27]. Therefore, at the time of her death, record producer Sylvia Robinson had an estimated net worth of $1.5 million. Fresh from a religious retreat to salve her burdened soul, she decided that she had found her personal and financial deliverance. The third result is Sylvia D Robinson age 50s in Philadelphia, PA in the Olney neighborhood. She competed in the women's 3000 metres at the 1964 Winter Olympics. Not long after Joey buried his brother, he walked into a meeting with Hollywood producer Paula Wagner and told her his mothers story. All Rights Reserved. It got covered up a lot, says Leah Branstetter, creator of the Women in Rock and Rolls First Wave website. Sylvias nieces had taken her there for a party, but she was floored by the sight of Lovebug Starski rapping over the break from Chics Good Times, the hit of the summer. The climax of Sylvias rap run was White Lines, the 1983 dancefloor smash by Mel, on which Wimbish replayed the bassline from Liquid Liquids Cavern. (The writers of which, of course, remained uncredited.) As a result of the $600,000 judgment against Sugar Hill, the label declared bankruptcy to circumvent paying the judgment. Sylvia and Joe Robinson started Sugarhill Records in 1979, which has been dubbed the first hip hop record label ever created. Sylvia began singing blues at 14. But when the Robinsons couldnt monetize the assets, that partnership ended in litigation. Yes, Mickey. Kerr, a former Motown artist, knew Gordy was never going to release a deep cut as a single, and his quickly assembled Whatnauts imitation was a play to shave off customers who didnt want to buy a full Temptations album just to own the song. The movie has been in the works since 2014 . I think she lost the will to live after he passed, says Leland. At the time, Belafonte was married to his first wife, Marguerite Belafonte, and Robinson was dating Marlon Brando. 3 on the Hot100, thrusting Sylvia back into the spotlight. "[27] Without Sylvia Robinson's insistence and pressure there would be no "The Message". The company was named after the culturally rich Sugar Hill area of Harlem, an affluent African-American neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City, known as a hub for artists and performers in the early and mid-1900s. [I]ts not that hard to do. An archived article from the News & Record said Billy White was found deceased by a shotgun slaying, and his body was found on a logging road after police found his van the day after he was reported missing. In 1982 she signed Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and produced The Message. The song, about life in the ghetto, became one of the most powerful social commentaries of its time. Rhondo Robinson died suddenly in 2014. It was during one of those meetings, according to records, that she had claimed to the hit man she had killed a child. Sylvia Robinson, known as 'Little Sylvia' in the beginning of her music career, was a singer, record producer, and label owner known for trailblazing the sound of commercial hip-hop by the end of her career. She was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. Sign up to receive breaking news alerts from your Neuse News team. The court also recorded that White had taken out a $15,000 life insurance policy on the young boy days before his death. Affectionately known as the Granddaughter of hip-hop, LeAnetta Robinson (a.k.a. Bottoms and her mom, Sylvia Robinson, are close. He received his first taste of stardom as one of the first African American teenagers to be featured on the MTV hit show, My Super Sweet 16. They have also lived in Laurel, MD and Columbia, MD. The band continues to perform the song as a regular part of their live set. They would just get called a secretary. A lot of women did the A&R-type work.
