Strange music: #4 "Love is Strange" Mickey & Sylvia (1956)

Tweet

Mickey Baker was a music instructor and Sylvia Vanderpool his student. He decided to create a duo along the lines of Les Paul and Mary Ford. Their big hit was “Love is Strange” which went gold at Billboard #11. In 2004, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Authorship was disputed. Mickey and Sylvia laid claim as did Bo Diddley (under his wife’s name Ethel Smith). Diddley was inspired by a guitar riff by Jody Williams and recorded the song first. Mickey and Sylvia’s contribution would be the noted spoken word section: “Sylvia? Yes, Mickey? How do you call your lover guy? Come here, lover boy!” and so forth. “Love is Strange” has been often covered including by Buddy Holly, Everly Bros, Wings and Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. The song has been heard on soundtracks for “Dirty Dancing,” “Badlands,” “Casino” and infamous “Deep Throat.” Sylvia as Sylvia Robinson enjoyed the solo hit “Pillow Talk” in 1973 and became known as the Mother of Hip Hop as co-founder of Sugar Hill Records. Both Mickey and Sylvia have passed away.