The “Golden Hits Of The 50s” 

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MICKEY & SYLVIA

“LOVE IS STRANGE”

(Ethel Smith)

Groove 0175

No. 11    March 2, 1957

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In 1950, while attending Washington Irving High School, SYLVIA Vanderpool (b. March 6, 1936, New

York City) was spotted by a scout and given the chance to record some sides with Hot Lips Page for

Columbia Records.  “Chocolate Candy Blues,'” “Pacifying,” and “Sharp Little Sister” were worldly numbers

for a 14-year­ old to handle.  While these now-collectible records were critically lauded, they flopped

commercially, as did the 78s she cut as “Little Sylvia” for Savoy and Jubilee.

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 In 1954, while Vanderpool was in the studio record­ing for the Cat label, she met prolific session guitarist

McHouston “Mickey” Baker.  Mickey (b. Oct. 15, 1925, Louisville, Kentucky) had been all over New York

pro­-viding back-up licks for King, Okeh, and Savoy artists.   Sylvia’s Cat tracks failed to sell, and she

approached Baker about guitar lessons.  From this evolved the relationship that would produce a

mammoth hit and the sexually suggestive rock’n’roll classic–“Love Is Strange,” their sixth disk as a duet.

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Incredible singles like “There Ought to Be a Law” (#47,1957) b/w”Dearest” (#85) and “Bewildered”(#57,

1958) followed–but their act was possibly viewed as a novelty, a throwaway, or whatever and not one of

this dynamite duo’s disks ever captured a mass audience again.

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 In 1959, Mickey & Sylvia split.  Baker signed on with Atlantic Records to cut jazzy items; Leiber & Stoller

later teamed him with Kitty Noble for some obscure sides as Mickey & Kitty.  Mickey & Sylvia soon patched

up their “lover’s spat” and returned to the studios to produce some songs for their King–distributed

Willow  label and for RCA. “Baby You’re So Fine” (#52, 1961) b/w “Lovedrops!” (#97) were not up to par,

but they charted.

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“That was Ike Turner playing on ‘Baby You’re So Fine” and on the follow-up “He Gave Me Everything;”

Sylvia told  Blues & Soul’s Tony Cummings.  “We returned the favor for Ike.  In 1960, we’d recorded this

song called “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” but RCA didn’t release it.  So Tma Turner recorded it in 1961.  I

played lead guitar and Mickey did the spoken bits.  It was a smash hit, of course…for Ike & Tina Turner.”

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Got that straight?  The voices on that Ike & Tina classic are that of Mickey Baker and Tina Turner.  The

guitars are that of Mickey & Sylvia.  What was Ike doing?

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In 1962, Mickey moved to Paris.  Two years later, Sylvia married Joe Robinson and made some records as

Sylvia Robbins for Sue and Jubilee.  The couple set up the All Platinum Studios and a stable of record

labels that eventually included Horoscope, Stang, Turbo, Vibration, and Sugar Hill.  Sylvia went on to

write sev­eral successful songs like “Love on a Two-Way Street” (a hit for the Moments in 1970 and Stacy

Lattislaw in 1981), and to produce recordings for LINDA JONES, the Moments, SHIRLEY & Co., the

SUGARHILL GANG, the Whatnauts, and Lonnie Youngblood.

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Mickey has been playing sessions in France and elsewhere.  He has recorded with the Coasters, Champi­on

Jack Dupree, Willie Mabon,  Sunnyland Slim, and TOMMY TUCKER.  He has made nearly a dozen solo

albums, and sporadically records duets with yet anoth­er “Sylvia” fill-in, Monique Raucher.  Baker is also

well known to guitar students worldwide for his guitar-instruction books.

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 Sylvia, meanwhile, became a solo ONE-HIT WONDER in 1973 with her breathy recording of “Pillow Talk”

(#3), which re-introduced her to a whole new generation of pop music fans.