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John Peel Wiki
in: Record Labels

Sugar Hill Records

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(This page is about the hip-hop record label, not the bluegrass label of the same name.)

Sugar Hill Records was an American record label 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, the owner of Roulette Records.

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 Super Wolf, The Sequence, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Funky Four Plus One, Crash Crew, Treacherous Three, and the West Street Mob, 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. The in-house recording engineer was Steve Jerome.

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 & The Furious Five).

A distribution deal with MCA Records ended up in protracted litigation, and, finally, the label closed down in 1986.

(Read more on Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel[]

The_Adventures_Of_Grandmaster_Flash_On_The_Wheels_Of_Steel_(Long_Version)

The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel (Long Version)

Maybe the most remarkable single of the year ... Grandmaster Flash’s ‘Adventures on the Wheels of Steel’, on Sugar Hill Records. Radio 1 DJs David “Kid” Jensen and John Peel both had their minds blown by this when it came out … , sounding like excitable schoolkids as they swapped notes on air.
(Bob Stanley (of Saint Etienne), “Forget 1966, because 1981 was pop's year of revolution”, 17 Dec 2015, Guardian) [1]

After the success of the Sugar Hill Gang with "Rappers Delight" (1979), the Sugar Hill label led the popularization of hip hop in the early 1980s.

Peel was quick to recognize the innovative qualities of ‘Adventures on the Wheels of Steel’, with early UK airtime in 1981, while ‘The Message’ (also by Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five) was voted #3 by listeners in the 1982 Festive Fifty and later picked by the DJ for the Peelenium 1982. Other tracks on the label appeared on his shows through the decade.

From the late 1980s, the DJ also played former members of the label's studio band who relocated to the UK to work with dub producer Adrian Sherwood on projects including Tackhead.

In the new century, Peel also gave airtime to releases on the unrelated Sugar Hill bluegrass label.

Festive Fifty[]

Peelenium[]

Plays[]

(Peel plays of releases on Sugar Hill, excluding those credited to Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five.)

1982
1983
1984
1985
1987
1988
2000

See Also[]

Links[]

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