Vicki Sue Robinson
Encyclopedia
Vicki Sue Robinson was an American
theatre
and film
actress and singer, closely associated with the disco
era of late 1970s pop music
; she is most famous for her 1976 hit, "Turn the Beat Around
."
for most of her early years, returning with her family to New York City when she was ten. She had given her first public performance in 1960 at the age of six, when she accompanied her mother
on stage at the Philadelphia Folk Festival
. Ten years later, at the age of sixteen, while a student at the New Lincoln School, Robinson made her professional performing debut when she joined the Broadway
cast of the musical
Hair
. Robinson remained with Hair for six weeks before moving to a new Broadway production, Soon, whose cast included Peter Allen
, Barry Bostwick
, Nell Carter
and Richard Gere
.
After the show's short run, Robinson appeared in the Off Broadway play Long Time Coming, Long Time Gone in which she and Richard Gere played Mimi
and Richard Farina
. New York
magazine opined Robinson "sings with gentle power, accompanying herself on guitar and dulcimer, and moves with astounding confidence."
Robinson also had bit parts in the films Going Home (1971) and To Find A Man (1972). After a sojourn in Japan
Robinson returned to Broadway in 1973 joining the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar
.
Robinson made her recording debut as one of several Hair veterans invited to sing background
on Todd Rundgren
's Something, Anything album released in 1972. In 1973 she spent time in Japan with Itsuro Shimoda with whom she did session work on his album Love Songs and Lamentations and toured nationally.
clubs. Warren Schatz
, a producer/engineer affiliated with RCA
, was struck by Robinson's voice and saw her potential as a disco
-oriented artist. Schatz invited Robinson to cut some demos including a remake of the Foundations
' "Baby Now That I've Found You
" which became Robinson's first solo release. Despite that track's failure, RCA green-lit Schatz's producing Robinson's debut album Never Gonna Let You Go. The title cut, a Schatz original, became a #10 disco hit but another album track, "Turn the Beat Around
," began to build "buzz" and was expediently released as a single, topping the disco charts on March 20, 1976. "Turn the Beat Around" broke on Top 40 radio in Boston
in May, almost immediately topping the charts there. Despite failure to crack the major markets of New York City
and Los Angeles
, "Turn the Beat Around
" reached the U.S. Top 10 in August, spending around six months overall on the Billboard Hot 100
and propelling the Never Gonna Let You Go album to #49. "Turn the Beat Around" would chart internationally, reaching #14 in Canada
, #44 in France
, #11 in the Netherlands
and #12 in South Africa
. The track would earn Robinson a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
.
In 1976, Robinson toured across the United States promoting her hit tune, "Turn the Beat Around." She performed on all the major TV shows such as The Midnight Special, Don Kirshners Rock Concert, The Merv Griffin Show, Mike Douglas, American Bandstand
, and Soul Train
. She also performed at the top venues around the country such as the Boarding House in San Francisco, The Starwood, in Los Angeles
, The Bottom Line, Felt Forum, and Carnegie Hall in New York
. The original touring band consisted of Dan Pickering on trumpet and flute, Bill Cerulli on drums, Wendy Simmons on bass guitar, Nacho Mena on percussion, Vernie "Butch" Taylor on guitar, and George Pavlis on keyboards. George Pavlis would be later replaced by Joey Melotti on keyboards. The touring band members recorded four tracks on Robinson's second album, Vicki Sue Robinson.
's "Daylight" was only a minor hit (#61), the album reached #45. Robinson's next Hot 100 appearance was in August 1977, with her version of David Gates
' "Hold Tight", which peaked at #67 (and #2 on the disco chart). Its parent album, Half and Half, again produced by Schatz, was not released until 1978 and peaked at #110. In 1979, Robinson contributed the track "Easy to Be Hard" to the Schatz production Disco Spectacular - an album of dance versions of songs from the musical Hair inspired by the release of film version
- and recorded what would prove to be her final album, Movin' On. Although Schatz was credited as the album's executive producer, it was produced by Evelyn King's producer, T. Life. Movin' On's tracks were ignored in the dance clubs, but Robinson scored a 1979 club hit with "Nighttime Fantasy," a track written and produced by Norman Bergen
and Reid Whitelaw recorded for the film Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula
. Also in 1979, Robinson appeared in a film made by the same production company as Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula
titled Gangsters, which also featured T. Life and Cissy Houston
and the first credited screen role for Jean Smart
.
, but was dropped following one single release, "Nothing But a Heartache." Subsequently Robinson reteamed with Schatz for releases on a number of dance-oriented labels: Prelude
, Promise, Perfect and Profile
, with the last-named releasing her dance version of "To Sir With Love
," which became a surprise Top Ten hit in Australia in 1983. Robinson's next release, a remake of "Everlasting Love
," in 1984 was her last recording for almost fifteen years, apart from the track "Grab Them Cakes", a duet with Junkyard Dog
featured on The Wrestling Album
(1985). "Grab Them Cakes" was issued as a single, with Cyndi Lauper
miming the guitar in the music video
.
Robinson sang background on Irene Cara
's hit single "Fame
" in 1980, and as the decade progressed she returned to session work, backing Michael Bolton
and Cher
. She also established herself as a career jingle singer for such products as Wrigley
's Doublemint chewing gum, Maybelline
Cosmetics, Downy fabric softener, Hanes underwear, New York Bell, and Folger's coffee. From 1987 to 1988 Robinson provided the singing voice for the characters Rapture and Minx in the animated TV series Jem
.
's 1994 version of "Turn the Beat Around
." The success of the Estefan single inspired Robinson to re-record the song for the B-side
of her 1995 single, "For Real." This led to TV appearances on a number of talk shows as well as some recording, film, and stage projects. Firstly, she provided backing vocals on RuPaul
's 1996 album Foxy Lady, where the two of them also recorded a duet. Then, in 1997, she recorded the song "House of Joy" for DJ/producer Junior Vasquez
, which became Robinson's first and only hit single in the United Kingdom
. She then recorded the song "My Stomp, My Beat" for the film Chasing Amy
. In October of that same year Robinson played herself on Comedy Central
's mock TV documentary Unauthorized Biography: Milo, Death of a Supermodel. A resurgence of interest in disco music by the mid 1990s led Robinson, along with fellow disco veterans K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Thelma Houston
, Gloria Gaynor
and The Village People to embark on a well-received world tour.
Upon returning to the U.S. in 1999, Robinson went back to her roots in theatre by performing in an Off Broadway musical titled Vicki: Behind The Beat, which was semi-autobiographical in nature and featured her hit songs, along with her best-known jingles. The play was a continuation of her popular cabaret
show. In June of that year she provided the track "Pokémon (Dance Mix)" from the "2.B.A. Master" soundtrack for the English dub of the Pokémon anime. Three months later, in September, Robinson released her final single, "Move On," which reached #18 on Billboard's Dance Chart. During that same month, she was forced to withdraw from her Off Broadway show owing to ill health. However, before her state became terminal, Robinson undertook the role of a fairy godmother in the independent film Red Lipstick, which was released on April 16, 2000. New York based, DJ Danny Echi was her personal assistant for a solid twenty years.
at her home in Wilton, Connecticut
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actress and singer, closely associated with the disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
era of late 1970s pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
; she is most famous for her 1976 hit, "Turn the Beat Around
Turn the Beat Around
In 1994 , the song was recorded by Gloria Estefan for the soundtrack to the film The Specialist. Released as a single, it became a hit reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is also featured on Estefan's fourth solo album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me. She also sang the song as her opening...
."
Early life and career
Born in Harlem, New York, to African-American Shakespearean actor Bill Robinson and his European-American wife Marianne, a folk singer. Vicki Sue Robinson was reared in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
for most of her early years, returning with her family to New York City when she was ten. She had given her first public performance in 1960 at the age of six, when she accompanied her mother
Mother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
on stage at the Philadelphia Folk Festival
Philadelphia Folk Festival
The Philadelphia Folk Festival is an annual folk music festival near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania in the vicinity of Philadelphia. Begun in 1962, the four-day festival is sponsored by the non-profit Philadelphia Folksong Society. The event hosts contemporary and traditional artists in genres...
. Ten years later, at the age of sixteen, while a student at the New Lincoln School, Robinson made her professional performing debut when she joined the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
cast of the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
. Robinson remained with Hair for six weeks before moving to a new Broadway production, Soon, whose cast included Peter Allen
Peter Allen
Peter Allen was an Australian songwriter and entertainer. His songs were made popular by many recording artists, including Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester and Olivia Newton-John, with one, Arthur's Theme, winning an Academy Award in 1981...
, Barry Bostwick
Barry Bostwick
Barry Knapp Bostwick is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Brad Majors in the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, replacing Peter Scolari as Mr. Tyler in the sitcom What I Like About You, and playing mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom Spin City...
, Nell Carter
Nell Carter
Nell Carter was an American singer, and film, stage, and television actress. She won a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin, as well as an Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television...
and Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
.
After the show's short run, Robinson appeared in the Off Broadway play Long Time Coming, Long Time Gone in which she and Richard Gere played Mimi
Mimi Fariña
Mimi Baez Fariña was a singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters to a Scottish mother and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez .- Early years:Fariña's father, a physicist affiliated with Stanford University and MIT, moved his family...
and Richard Farina
Richard Fariña
Richard George Fariña was an American writer and folksinger.-Early years and education:Richard Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Cuban and Irish descent. He grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn Technical High School...
. New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine opined Robinson "sings with gentle power, accompanying herself on guitar and dulcimer, and moves with astounding confidence."
Robinson also had bit parts in the films Going Home (1971) and To Find A Man (1972). After a sojourn in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
Robinson returned to Broadway in 1973 joining the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
.
Robinson made her recording debut as one of several Hair veterans invited to sing background
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
on Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
's Something, Anything album released in 1972. In 1973 she spent time in Japan with Itsuro Shimoda with whom she did session work on his album Love Songs and Lamentations and toured nationally.
"Turn the Beat Around"
In 1975, Robinson was providing vocals at a New York recording session for the album Many Sunny Places by Scott Fagan, a singer she had performed with in Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
clubs. Warren Schatz
Warren Schatz
Warren Schatz, born in New York, was a prominent producer, arranger and orchestra conductor during the 1970s.Warren Schatz is famous for composing, producing, arranging, and conducting the orchestra for such mid- to late-1970s disco recording artists as Vicki Sue Robinson , The Brothers,...
, a producer/engineer affiliated with RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
, was struck by Robinson's voice and saw her potential as a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
-oriented artist. Schatz invited Robinson to cut some demos including a remake of the Foundations
The Foundations
The Foundations were a British soul band, active from 1967 to 1970. The group, made up of West Indians, White British, and a Sri Lankan, are best known for their two biggest hits, "Baby Now That I've Found You" , written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod; and "Build Me Up Buttercup" The Foundations...
' "Baby Now That I've Found You
Baby Now That I've Found You
"Baby, Now That I've Found You" is a song written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod. Part of the song was written in the same bar of a Soho tavern where Karl Marx is supposed to have written Das Kapital. The lyrics are a plea that an unnamed subject not break up with the singer.-Original recording...
" which became Robinson's first solo release. Despite that track's failure, RCA green-lit Schatz's producing Robinson's debut album Never Gonna Let You Go. The title cut, a Schatz original, became a #10 disco hit but another album track, "Turn the Beat Around
Turn the Beat Around
In 1994 , the song was recorded by Gloria Estefan for the soundtrack to the film The Specialist. Released as a single, it became a hit reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is also featured on Estefan's fourth solo album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me. She also sang the song as her opening...
," began to build "buzz" and was expediently released as a single, topping the disco charts on March 20, 1976. "Turn the Beat Around" broke on Top 40 radio in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in May, almost immediately topping the charts there. Despite failure to crack the major markets of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, "Turn the Beat Around
Turn the Beat Around
In 1994 , the song was recorded by Gloria Estefan for the soundtrack to the film The Specialist. Released as a single, it became a hit reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is also featured on Estefan's fourth solo album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me. She also sang the song as her opening...
" reached the U.S. Top 10 in August, spending around six months overall on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and propelling the Never Gonna Let You Go album to #49. "Turn the Beat Around" would chart internationally, reaching #14 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, #44 in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, #11 in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and #12 in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The track would earn Robinson a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance is the latest in a series of awards recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. The award goes to the artist...
.
In 1976, Robinson toured across the United States promoting her hit tune, "Turn the Beat Around." She performed on all the major TV shows such as The Midnight Special, Don Kirshners Rock Concert, The Merv Griffin Show, Mike Douglas, American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
, and Soul Train
Soul Train
Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...
. She also performed at the top venues around the country such as the Boarding House in San Francisco, The Starwood, in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, The Bottom Line, Felt Forum, and Carnegie Hall in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The original touring band consisted of Dan Pickering on trumpet and flute, Bill Cerulli on drums, Wendy Simmons on bass guitar, Nacho Mena on percussion, Vernie "Butch" Taylor on guitar, and George Pavlis on keyboards. George Pavlis would be later replaced by Joey Melotti on keyboards. The touring band members recorded four tracks on Robinson's second album, Vicki Sue Robinson.
Follow-up
Again with Schatz producing, Robinson recorded Vicki Sue Robinson for release in the fall of 1976; although its lead single, a cover of Bobby WomackBobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
's "Daylight" was only a minor hit (#61), the album reached #45. Robinson's next Hot 100 appearance was in August 1977, with her version of David Gates
David Gates
David Gates is an American singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the group Bread, which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame...
' "Hold Tight", which peaked at #67 (and #2 on the disco chart). Its parent album, Half and Half, again produced by Schatz, was not released until 1978 and peaked at #110. In 1979, Robinson contributed the track "Easy to Be Hard" to the Schatz production Disco Spectacular - an album of dance versions of songs from the musical Hair inspired by the release of film version
Hair (film)
Hair is a 1979 American film adaptation of the 1968 Broadway musical of the same name about a Vietnam war draftee who meets and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to the army induction center...
- and recorded what would prove to be her final album, Movin' On. Although Schatz was credited as the album's executive producer, it was produced by Evelyn King's producer, T. Life. Movin' On's tracks were ignored in the dance clubs, but Robinson scored a 1979 club hit with "Nighttime Fantasy," a track written and produced by Norman Bergen
Norman Bergen
Norman Bergen is an American pianist, music arranger, record producer, band leader, musical director, and vocalist.- Early years:...
and Reid Whitelaw recorded for the film Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula
Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula
Nocturna is a 1979 film conceived by star Nai Bonet and written and directed by Harry Hurwitz, who was credited as "Harry Tampa".-Plot:...
. Also in 1979, Robinson appeared in a film made by the same production company as Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula
Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula
Nocturna is a 1979 film conceived by star Nai Bonet and written and directed by Harry Hurwitz, who was credited as "Harry Tampa".-Plot:...
titled Gangsters, which also featured T. Life and Cissy Houston
Cissy Houston
Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
and the first credited screen role for Jean Smart
Jean Smart
Jean E. Smart is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her comedic roles, one of the best known being her role as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the CBS sitcom Designing Women. She later gained critical acclaim for dramatic work, with her portrayal of Martha Logan on 24...
.
The 1980s
In 1980, Robinson moved from RCA to another major label AriolaAriola Records
Ariola Records is a German record label. As of the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of BMG which in turn has since become a part of the international media conglomerate Sony Music Entertainment...
, but was dropped following one single release, "Nothing But a Heartache." Subsequently Robinson reteamed with Schatz for releases on a number of dance-oriented labels: Prelude
Prelude Records (record label)
Prelude Records was a New York-based dance independent record label, active from 1976 to 1986. At one time, François Kevorkian held an A&R position at Prelude. The label owner was Marvin Schlachter.-History:...
, Promise, Perfect and Profile
Profile Records
Profile Records was a record label that specialized in many types of urban-oriented music, such as hip hop, active until 1996..- History :In 1980, at 23 years old, after working briefly for MCA, Cory Robbins was looking to start a record label. He invited his songwriter friend Steve Plotnicki to be...
, with the last-named releasing her dance version of "To Sir With Love
To Sir, with Love (song)
"To Sir With Love" is the theme from the 1967 film To Sir, With Love. The song was written by Don Black and Mark London."To Sir With Love" was initially recorded by Lulu for the film of the same name...
," which became a surprise Top Ten hit in Australia in 1983. Robinson's next release, a remake of "Everlasting Love
Everlasting Love
"Everlasting Love" is a song written by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden that has been a hit for various artists, including Robert Knight, Carl Carlton, Love Affair, and Gloria Estefan.- Overview :...
," in 1984 was her last recording for almost fifteen years, apart from the track "Grab Them Cakes", a duet with Junkyard Dog
Junkyard Dog
Sylvester Ritter was an American professional wrestler and professional football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as The Junkyard Dog...
featured on The Wrestling Album
The Wrestling Album
The Wrestling Album is a music album released by the World Wrestling Federation in 1985. It was the first album released by the WWF. It features mostly theme music of wrestlers on the roster at the time.- Production :...
(1985). "Grab Them Cakes" was issued as a single, with Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
miming the guitar in the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
.
Robinson sang background on Irene Cara
Irene Cara
Irene Cara is an American singer and actress. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing "Flashdance... What a Feeling." She is also known for her recording of the song "Fame", and she also starred in the 1980 film Fame.She married Hollywood stuntman...
's hit single "Fame
Fame (Irene Cara song)
"Fame" is a pop song, written by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford that was released in 1980, and achieved chart success as the theme song to the Fame film and TV series. The song was performed by Irene Cara, who played the role of Coco Hernandez in the original movie...
" in 1980, and as the decade progressed she returned to session work, backing Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
and Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
. She also established herself as a career jingle singer for such products as Wrigley
Wrigley
Wrigley may refer to:* Wrigley Company, a chewing gum manufacturer* EG Wrigley and Company, a British car, car component, and mechanical parts manufacturer* Wrigley Building, a skyscraper in Chicago* Wrigley Field, a baseball field in Chicago...
's Doublemint chewing gum, Maybelline
Maybelline
Maybelline is an American makeup brand sold worldwide and owned by L'Oréal. Their motto is Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.-History:...
Cosmetics, Downy fabric softener, Hanes underwear, New York Bell, and Folger's coffee. From 1987 to 1988 Robinson provided the singing voice for the characters Rapture and Minx in the animated TV series Jem
Jem (TV series)
Jem, also known as Jem and the Holograms, is an American animated television series that ran from 1985 to 1988 in U.S. first-run syndication...
.
Career resurgence
Robinson regained some publicity from Gloria EstefanGloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
's 1994 version of "Turn the Beat Around
Turn the Beat Around
In 1994 , the song was recorded by Gloria Estefan for the soundtrack to the film The Specialist. Released as a single, it became a hit reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is also featured on Estefan's fourth solo album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me. She also sang the song as her opening...
." The success of the Estefan single inspired Robinson to re-record the song for the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of her 1995 single, "For Real." This led to TV appearances on a number of talk shows as well as some recording, film, and stage projects. Firstly, she provided backing vocals on RuPaul
RuPaul
RuPaul Andre Charles , best known as simply RuPaul, is an American actor, drag queen, model, author, and singer-songwriter, who first became widely known in the 1990s when he appeared in a wide variety of television programs, films, and musical albums. Previously, he was a fixture on the Atlanta...
's 1996 album Foxy Lady, where the two of them also recorded a duet. Then, in 1997, she recorded the song "House of Joy" for DJ/producer Junior Vasquez
Junior Vasquez
Junior Vasquez, , is an American club DJ and remixer/producer.-Career:...
, which became Robinson's first and only hit single in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. She then recorded the song "My Stomp, My Beat" for the film Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith. The central tension revolves around sexuality, sexual history, and evolving friendships. It is the third film in Smith's View Askewniverse series....
. In October of that same year Robinson played herself on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's mock TV documentary Unauthorized Biography: Milo, Death of a Supermodel. A resurgence of interest in disco music by the mid 1990s led Robinson, along with fellow disco veterans K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She scored a number-one hit in 1976 with her cover version of the song "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the 1978 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.-Early life & career:Houston is the daughter of a cotton picking mother...
, Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits; "I Will Survive" , "Never Can Say Goodbye" , "Let Me Know " and "I Am What I Am" .-Early career:Gaynor was a singer with the Soul...
and The Village People to embark on a well-received world tour.
Upon returning to the U.S. in 1999, Robinson went back to her roots in theatre by performing in an Off Broadway musical titled Vicki: Behind The Beat, which was semi-autobiographical in nature and featured her hit songs, along with her best-known jingles. The play was a continuation of her popular cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
show. In June of that year she provided the track "Pokémon (Dance Mix)" from the "2.B.A. Master" soundtrack for the English dub of the Pokémon anime. Three months later, in September, Robinson released her final single, "Move On," which reached #18 on Billboard's Dance Chart. During that same month, she was forced to withdraw from her Off Broadway show owing to ill health. However, before her state became terminal, Robinson undertook the role of a fairy godmother in the independent film Red Lipstick, which was released on April 16, 2000. New York based, DJ Danny Echi was her personal assistant for a solid twenty years.
Death
On April 27, 2000, eleven days after the release of Red Lipstick, Robinson died of cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
at her home in Wilton, Connecticut
Wilton, Connecticut
Wilton is a town nestled in the Norwalk River Valley in southwestern Connecticut in the United States. It is located in Fairfield County. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 18,062. In 2007, it was voted as one of CNN Money's "Best Places to Live" in the United States.Located along...
.
Albums
| Year | Album | Black Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
Pop Albums Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Never Gonna Let You Go | 51 | 49 |
| Vicki Sue Robinson | 39 | 45 | |
| 1978 | Half & Half | 56 | 110 |
| 1979 | Movin' On | n/a | n/a |
Singles
- "Baby Now That I Found You" - 1975
- "Turn the Beat AroundTurn the Beat AroundIn 1994 , the song was recorded by Gloria Estefan for the soundtrack to the film The Specialist. Released as a single, it became a hit reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is also featured on Estefan's fourth solo album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me. She also sang the song as her opening...
" - 1976 - "Never Gonna Let You Go" - 1976
- "Daylight" - 1976
- "Should I Stay" / "I Won't Let You Go" - 1977
- "Hold Tight" - 1977
- "Trust In Me" - 1978
- "Jealousy" - 1978
- "Freeway Song" - 1978
- "Nighttime Fantasy" - 1979 (from the film Nocturna: Granddaughter of DraculaNocturna: Granddaughter of DraculaNocturna is a 1979 film conceived by star Nai Bonet and written and directed by Harry Hurwitz, who was credited as "Harry Tampa".-Plot:...
) - "Nothin' But A Heartache"
- "Hot Summer Night" - 1981
- "Give My Love Back" - 1982
- "Summertime Fun"
- "To Sir with Love" - 1983
- "Everlasting Love" - 1984
- "Grab Them Cakes" - 1985 (Junykard Dog featuring Vicki Sue Robinson)
- "For Real" - 1995
- "House of Joy" - 1997
- "Move On" - 1999
- "Pokémon (Dance Mix)Pokémonis a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
" - 1999
Filmography
- Going Home - 1971
- To Find A Man - 1972
- Gangsters - 1979
- Unauthorized Biography: Milo, Death Of A Supermodel - 1997
- Red Lipstick - 2000
Theater
- HairHairHair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
- 1970 - Soon - 1971
- Long Time Coming, Long Time Gone - 1971
- Voices From The Third World - 1972
- Jesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
- 1973 - Vicki Sue Robinson: Behind The Beat - 1999
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
