Sugar Hill Records was an American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

specializing in hip hop music that was founded in 1979 by husband and wife Joe and Sylvia Robinson with Milton Malden and funding from Tony Riviera and

Morris Levy Morris Levy (born Moishe Levy; August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990) was an American entrepreneur in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry. Levy was cofounder and owner of Roulette Records, founding partner ...

, the owner of

Roulette Records Roulette Records was an American record company and label founded in 1957 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Kahl, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed ...

History

Joe Robinson had parlayed a music publishing company that he established years before in New York into Red Robin, Fury, Fire, Enjoy, All Platinum, Stang, Vibration, and Turbo Records before establishing the Sugar Hill label. Artists included his wife Sylvia Robinson, of

Mickey & Sylvia Mickey & Sylvia was an American R&B duo composed of Mickey Baker and Sylvia Vanderpool, who later became Sylvia Robinson. They are best known for their number-one R&B single "Love Is Strange" in 1957. Baker and Vanterpool began recording toge ...

fame (who had success in the 1950s with "

Love Is Strange "Love Is Strange" is a crossover hit by American rhythm and blues duet Mickey & Sylvia, which was released in late November 1956 by the Groove record label. The song was based on a guitar riff by Jody Williams and was written by Bo Diddley ...

"), The Moments ("Love on a Two Way Street"), Brother to Brother, Shirley and Company (" Shame Shame Shame").

Beginnings

The Sugar Hill label's first record was "

Rapper's Delight "Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 hip-hop track by the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's "King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper's Delight" is credited for introducing hip-hop mus ...

" (1979) by

The Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop trio. Their 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight" was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; reaching a peak position of number 36 on January 12, 1980. This was the trio's onl ...

, which was also the first top 40 hip hop single. Afterwards Super Wolf,

The Sequence The Sequence was an American female hip–hop trio from Columbia, South Carolina, who formed in 1979. The Sequence is noted as the first female hip hop trio signed to the Sugar Hill Records label in the late–1970s and early–1980s. The group ...

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, S ...

Funky Four Plus One Funky 4 + 1 was an American hip hop group from The Bronx, New York, composed of Jazzy Jeff, Sharon Green, D.J. Breakout, Guy Williams, Keith Keith, The Voice of K.K. and Rodney Stone. The latter two members also performed together as the duo Do ...

Crash Crew Crash Crew is an American early hip-hop group who recorded for Mike and Dave Records in 1980 and then signed to Sugar Hill Records. The group, based in Harlem, Lincoln Projects New York City, consisted of members DJ Daryll C. (who died in 19 ...

Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...

, and the

West Street Mob West Street Mob were an American boogie and electro music trio, active between 1981 and 1984, best known for their 1983 song "Break Dance — Electric Boogie." The band comprised Joey Robinson, Jr., Warren Moore and singer Sabrina Gillison. H ...

, joined the label. R&B group The Positive Force released record from Sugar Hill Records also. Sugar Hill's in-house producer and arranger was

Clifton "Jiggs" Chase Clifton "Jiggs" Chase (born 1940) is an American jazz-funk organ player, composer, and influential record producer from New Jersey, United States. One of the earliest known recordings is his organ playing on the 1967 Buddy Terry recording '' Na ...

. The in-house recording engineer was Steve Jerome.

Success

They enjoyed several years of success. Sylvia produced several music videos and a young

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

making his first music video for the song "White Lines" (performed by Melle Mel and the Furious Five).

Sold out

A distribution deal with

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

ended up in protracted litigation, and, finally, the label closed down in 1986. In 1995,

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

purchased all the released and unreleased masters owned by the Sugar Hill label, covering the Americas and Japan, with

Castle Communications Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's product ...

(now known as

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...

, a division of BMG Rights Management) taking the international rights. In 2002, the company's Sugar Hill Studios (originally called "Sweet Mountain Studios") in Englewood,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

was destroyed by a fire. "Rapper's Delight", " The Message", and many other Sugar Hill hits were recorded there. Master tapes from the All Platinum years, as well as Sugar Hill recordings, were reportedly destroyed in the fire.

Label overviews

*''Old School Rap – The Sugar Hill Story (To the Beat Y'all)'' (3-CD, 1993, Sequel Records) *''The Best of Sugar Hill Records'' (1-CD, 1994, Hot Classics) *''The Message: The Story of Sugar Hill Records'' (4-CD, 1994, Castle Music) K Only*'' The Sugar Hill Records Story'' (5-CD+12", 1997, Rhino Records) e-released in 1999 without the 12-inch*''The Best of Sugar Hill Records'' (1-CD, 1998, Rhino Records) ifferent compilation than above

References