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Mickey & Sylvia was an American R&B duo, composed of Mickey Baker and Sylvia Vanderpool, who later became Sylvia Robinson. They were the first big seller for Groove Records.
Mickey was a music instructor and Sylvia one of his pupils. Baker was inspired to form the group by the success of Les Paul & Mary Ford. They had a Top 20 hit with "Love Is Strange" in 1956, which sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. The duo eventually bought their own nightclub, established a publishing company, and formed their own record label. Although Mickey & Sylvia disbanded by the end of the 1950s, they continued to record together on an infrequent basis until 1965, when Mickey quit the music industry in the United States.
The reasons for their split are not entirely clear. Baker subsequently recorded a successful instrumental solo album, The Wildest Guitar. In the 1960s, Baker moved to France and worked with various French musicians. Baker died at his home in Montastruc-la-Conseillère, France on November 27, 2012, at the age of 87.
Sylvia Robinson had a hit record in 1973 with "Pillow Talk," and was subsequently a driving force in the creation of the Sugar Hill rap label. Robinson died in 2011.
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