Sugar Hill Records (hip hop label)

Sugar Hill Records
Parent company BMG Rights Management
Founded 1979
Founder Joe Robinson
Sylvia Robinson
Milton Malden
Defunct 1986
Status Defunct
Distributor(s) Rhino Entertainment
Genre Electro, Boogie, Hip-Hop
Country of origin United States United States
Location Englewood, New Jersey

Sugar Hill Records was a record label specializing in hip hop music that was founded in 1979 by husband and wife Joe and Sylvia Robinson with Milton Malden and financial funding of Morris Levy, the owner of Roulette Records.[1][2]

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 fame (who had success in the 1950s with "Love is Strange"), 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" (1979) by The Sugarhill Gang, which was also the first Top 40 hip hop single. Afterwards The Sequence, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Funky Four Plus One, Crash Crew, Treacherous Three, and the West Street Mob, joined the label. Sugar Hill's in-house producer and arranger was Clifton "Jiggs" Chase. The in-house recording engineer was Steve Jerome. Joe and Sylvia's sons Joey and Leland were also active in the business..

Success

In the early 1980s, the Robinsons bought Levy out. They enjoyed several years of success. Sylvia produced several music videos and a young Spike Lee making his first music video for the song "White Lines" (performed by Melle Mel and The Furious Five). Joe Robinson was innovative in the business end. He was the first to introduce a cassette single. He also worked with TVS Television Network executive Tom Ficara to produce the Fresh Groove TV series to feature these music videos when MTV would not run them. The success of Fresh Groove forced MTV to establish Yo! MTV Raps, and rap music videos were now on a mainstream cable network.

Sold out

A controversial distribution deal with MCA Records ended up in protracted litigation, and, finally, the label closed down in 1986. In 1995, Rhino Records purchased all the released and unreleased masters owned by the Sugar Hill label, covering the Americas and Japan, with Castle Communications (now known as Sanctuary Records, a division of BMG Rights Management) taking the international rights.[3][4] In 2002, the company's Sugar Hill Studios (originally called Sweet Mountain Studios") in Englewood, New Jersey were 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)[5] (3-CD, 1993, Sequel Records)
  • The Best Of Sugar Hill Records[6] (1-CD, 1994, Hot Classics)
  • The Message: The Story Of Sugar Hill Records[7] (4-CD, 1994, Castle Music) [UK Only]
  • The Sugar Hill Records Story[8] (5-CD+12", 1997, Rhino Records) [re-released in 1999 without the 12-inch]
  • The Best Of Sugar Hill Records[9] (1-CD, 1998, Rhino Records) [different compilation than above]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "The Sugar Hill Records Story - Various Artists - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Record Industry Probe Examines Small N.J. Firm : East, West Coast Grand Juries Looking Into Sugar Hill Label". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Rap Label Sugar Hill Finds No Delight In Royalties Row - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "BMG to acquire Sanctuary Records - including Black Sabbath catalogue". Music Week. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Various – Old School Rap – The Sugar Hill Story (To The Beat Y'all)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Various – The Best of Sugar Hill Records". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Various – The Message – The Story of The Sugar Hill Records". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Various – The Sugar Hill Records Story". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Various – The Best of Sugar Hill Records". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
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