Vicki Sue Robinson

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| years_active = 1970–2000

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Vicki Sue Robinson (May 31, 1954

Early life

Born in Harlem, New York, to African American Shakespearean actor Bill Robinson and his European American wife Marianne (who sometimes went by the name Jolly Robinson), a folk singer who sang with Pete Seeger and others. Until she was about 10 she lived in Philadelphia and then returned to New York City with her family .

Robinson also had bit parts in the films Going Home (1971) and To Find A Man (1972). After a sojourn in Japan, she returned to Broadway in 1973, joining the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar. No. 11 in the Netherlands, and No. 12 in South Africa. The track earned 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 major TV shows including The Midnight Special, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, The Merv Griffin Show, Mike Douglas, American Bandstand, and Soul Train. She also performed at the Boarding House in San Francisco, The Starwood in Los Angeles, The Bottom Line, Felt Forum, Carnegie Hall in New York, and other top venues. 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 later would be replaced by Joey Melotti on keyboards. The touring band members recorded four tracks on Robinson's second album, Vicki Sue Robinson.

Self-titled album

Again with Schatz producing, Robinson recorded Vicki Sue Robinson for release in the fall of 1976. Although its lead single, a cover of Bobby Womack'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 the film version–and recorded what would prove to be her final album, Movin' On. Although Schatz was credited as the album's executive producer, that job was done 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 (now called Hoodlums), which also featured T. Life and Cissy Houston, and the first credited screen role for Jean Smart.

The 1980s

In 1980 Robinson moved from RCA to Ariola Records, where Warren Schatz had assumed the position of COO. However, Schatz did not continue as Robinson's producer at Ariola. Respecting her wishes to move in a new musical direction, he had her record at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with Clayton Ivey and Terry Woodford, producing the single "Nothin' But a Heartache". The recording of the Michael McDonald composition was Robinson's sole Ariola release. She resumed recording dance music with Schatz with releases on a number of labels: Prelude Records, Promise Records, Perfect Records, and Profile Records. Her dance version of "To Sir with Love", which became a surprise top ten hit in Australia in 1984, came out on Profile. She then recorded the song "My Stomp, My Beat" for the film Chasing Amy. In October 1997, Robinson played herself on Comedy Central's mock TV documentary Unauthorized Biography: Milo, Death of a Supermodel. A resurgence of interest in disco music in the mid-1990s led Robinson and fellow disco veterans KC and the Sunshine Band, Thelma Houston, Gloria Gaynor, and the Village People to embark on a well-received world tour.

After returning to the U.S. in 1999, Robinson returned 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 and 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 Pokémon 2.B.A. Master soundtrack for the English dub of the Pokémon anime. In September, Robinson released her final single, "Move On", which reached #18 on Billboard's Dance Chart.

Discography

Albums

{| class="wikitable"

! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Year

! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Album

! scope="col" colspan="4"|Peak chart positions

! style="width:45px;"|US R&B

! style="width:45px;"|US Pop

! style="width:45px;"|AUS

| rowspan="2"|1976

|Never Gonna Let You Go

| style="text-align:center;"|51

| style="text-align:center;"|49

| style="text-align:center;"|78

|Vicki Sue Robinson

| style="text-align:center;"|39

| style="text-align:center;"|45

| style="text-align:center;"|–

| 1978

|Half & Half

| style="text-align:center;"|56

| style="text-align:center;"|110

| style="text-align:center;"|–

| 1979

|Movin' On

| style="text-align:center;"|–

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "–" denotes releases that did not have data.

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Year

! scope="col" rowspan="2"|Single

! scope="col" colspan="11"|Peak chart positions

! style="width:45px;"|US Pop

! style="width:45px;"|US R&B

! style="width:45px;"|NLD

! style="width:45px;"|BEL

! style="width:45px;"|FRA

! style="width:45px;"|CAN

! style="width:45px;"|CAN Dance