Sylvia Robinson (May 29, 1935 – September 29, 2011) – Had Any Lately (1973)

The singer/songwriter, musician, producer, record label owner and "Mother of Hip Hop" wrote this powerful peace anthem for her debut solo LP Pillow Talk.

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Sylvia Robinson was a pioneering singer/songwriter, musician, producer, and record label owner. She began her recording career in the 1950s, by the mid-60s had co-founded the first of several independent record labels she would own and run alongside her husband Joe Robinson, and in the late 70s was the first person to grasp the commercial potential of hip hop music. Robinson put together the Sugarhill Gang and produced what are arguably the two best known and most influential early hip hop tracks, “Rapper’s Delight” (1979) the first breakthrough rap single, and “The Message” (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

Born in Harlem, Sylvia Vanderpool wasted no time starting her career in the music industry. She dropped out of high school at age 14 and recorded her first single for Columbia Records the following year in 1950, billed as “Little Sylvia.”

In 1954, she took guitar lessons from Kentucky-born Mickey Baker, a session player for Savoy Records. When interviewed by Dazed in 2000, Robinson explained, “I wanted to learn how to play the guitar and as soon as I learned to play guitar, I started writing.”

The two of them formed a duo, Mickey & Sylvia, and for their debut single covered a song co-written by Bo Diddley, “Love is Strange.” It was recorded on October 17, 1956 and released the following month. The track became a huge hit, going to #1 R&B.

It was later re-recorded in 1962, and that version featured Bernard Purdie on drums in what was his first-ever paid recording session. “Love is Strange” has subsequently entered pop culture, featured on movie soundtracks including the porn classic Deep Throat (1972), Badlands (1973), Dirty Dancing (1987) and Martin Scorsese’s Casino (1995), and covered by and referenced in songs by other artists.

They released several more singles but split up in 1958. Sylvia married Joseph Robinson and soon afterwards re-started her solo career. In 1960 Mickey & Sylvia reunited and resumed performing and recording together.

In 1961, she met Anna Mae Bullock aka Tina Turner, who was 22 years old at the time. The previous year, “A Fool in Love” had gone to #2 R&B, the debut single by Ike & Tina Turner. When Ike & Tina decided to record “It's Gonna Work Out Fine” (written by Rose Marie McCoy and Joe Seneca) for Juggy Murray’s Sue Records, Robinson was the single’s unofficial arranger and producer despite receiving no credit.

Two decades later, she claimed in a 1981 interview with Black Radio Exclusive magazine that “I paid for the session, taught Tina the song; that's me playing guitar.” Mickey Baker handled the song’s male vocal. Ike had no role in the recording session, similar to his lack of involvement with Phil Spector’s famous production of “River Deep - Mountain High” in 1966. “It's Gonna Work Out Fine” was another #2 R&B hit for Ike & Tina and crossed over to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. It became their second million-selling record and earned them their first Grammy nomination for Best Rock & Roll Recording.

In 1964, Mickey & Sylvia broke up for good when Baker moved to Europe. Two years later, the Robinsons relocated to Englewood, New Jersey and established their own independent label, All Platinum Records. In 1968 they signed an R&B group from Washington, D.C. called the Moments, who scored a massive hit in 1970 with “Love on a Two-Way Street.” Co-written by Robinson, the single spent five weeks at #1 R&B and peaked at #3 on the Hot 100.

Sylvia and Joseph Robinson

Robinson wrote a sexy song called “Pillow Talk” in 1972 and traveled to Memphis, where she sang and played it on guitar for Al Green, who turned it down because of his religious beliefs, although he didn’t come out and say so to Robinson. “When Al heard it,” she recalled years later, “Arkansas gentleman that he is, he said, 'You sing it so well why don't you do it?'”

Her recording was released on Vibration, an All Platinum subsidiary. After her husband took the 45 to DJ Frankie Crocker at WBLS in New York City, he played it on his influential show and the phones lit up. Her single was another big hit, going to #1 R&B and #3 Pop in the summer of 1973. It became the title track to her first solo album, also released that year.

Another notable cut from the same LP was the powerful peace anthem “Had Any Lately,” which Robinson wrote. Like the rest of the album, she co-produced it with singer/songwriter and guitarist Michael Burton.

The song’s clever double entendre title ensured it could be marketed as a follow up to “Pillow Talk” when released as a single. But when the needle hit the groove, it was all real talk.

“How long will it take, my friend, for your guns to cease? How many boys have died? Both Americans, and Vietnamese. I wanna know...have you had any lately? I’m talkin’ ‘bout peace.

How many mothers march each year...protest in fear. How many stomachs growl each day...insufficient pay. How long will it take, my friend, for the world to see…that this is a jungle…it’s not fit for humanity.”

Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said the track had “the best peace lyric heard lately.” The album featured Robinson on acoustic guitar, Billy Jones on lead and rhythm guitar, bassist Frank Prescod, Craig Perry on congas, Yogi Horton on drums, and keyboardist Sammy Lowe who also arranged the strings.

Robinson also put together a group featuring Michael Burton called Brother To Brother, who had a hit in 1974 with their cover of Gil Scott-Heron’s “In The Bottle.” They released their debut LP on All Platinum subsidiary Turbo Records. Another song from the same album was the socially conscious anthem “Mother Earth,” which Robinson and Burton co-wrote.

“Mother Earth…who can save us now…Is it too late…too far to turn around? Who will set us free…from destruction, mankind’s his own enemy. How can we survive? We’ve only just begun to poison the seas and pollute the skies. Mother Earth…they’re ruining the children’s lives. What can I do to open mankind’s eyes?”

Its lyrics remain more relevant than ever today, a fitting theme song for the twenty-first century as our world fiddles while the climate crisis continues to burn.

Further info:

“Sylvia Robinson: rapper's delight,” by Callum McGeoch, Dazed, February, 2000

“Sylvia Robinson’s Legacy as 'The Mother of Hip Hop',” by Stephanie Phillips, She Shreds, Issue #16, December 2018.

#soul #hiphop #antiwar #peace #SylviaRobinson