Mickey & Sylvia

Mickey and Sylvia, a NYC based early R n B duo were composed of Mickey Baker B: Oct.15 1925, singer,guitarist and a former music instructor and Sylvia Vanderpool Robinson B:March 26,1936, his pupil. They were heavily influenced by Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Pop / Country duo, Les Paul and Mary Ford. Les Paul is , a legendary guitarist who invented the electric guitar that is used today by many in all music fields. Mickey's electric guitar was put to good use in the duos' recording of "Love Is Strange", an early R n B Pop standard from 1957, covered by many including The Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly. Mickey and Sylvia appeared at many R n R venues in the late 1950s. They appeared in "The Alan Freed Rock and Roll Show" and had many TV appearances including The "Perry Como Show", " American Bandstand", "Alan Freed's Big Beat" and "Jocko's Rocket Ship". They continued to perform infrequently together, until they disbanded in 1965. Mickey later moved to Paris , France and worked as a session musician,which he had done many times previously in The US. As a soloist, Sylvia had a 1973 R n B hit with "Pillow Talk", considered to be early Disco. Initially intended for Al Green, who felt the arrangement was too risqué, the record reached #1 on The Soul Singles Chart and peaked at #3 US Pop. From the business standpoint, Sylvia was one of the founders of the Rap label, "Sugar Hill" Records". "Love Is Strange" is featured on the soundtrack of many films including "Dirty Dancing"(1988), "Casino"(1995) and "Men In Black III"(2012).