"Fly, Robin, Fly" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Silver Convention | ||||
from the album Save Me | ||||
B-side |
| |||
Released | September 1975 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:50 (single version) 5:32 (album version) | |||
Label |
| |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Stephan Prager | |||
Silver Convention singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Fly, Robin, Fly" (TopPop, 1975) on YouTube |
"Fly, Robin, Fly" is a song by the German disco group Silver Convention from their debut studio album Save Me (1975). Sylvester Levay and Stephan Prager wrote the song, and the latter produced it. "Fly, Robin, Fly" was released as the third single from Save Me in September 1975, reaching number one on the United States Billboard Hot 100. Thanks to the success of "Fly, Robin, Fly", Silver Convention became the second German act to have a number one song on the American music charts. The song received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance in 1976. [4]
"Fly, Robin, Fly" carries the distinction of being a Billboard chart-topper with only six words: the chorus simply repeats "Fly, Robin, fly" three times, with an ending of "Up, up to the sky". During a segment on VH1's 100 Greatest Dance Songs, it was revealed that the original working title was "Run, Rabbit, Run".
In the United States, it rose to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1975, staying there for three weeks. It was both preceded and succeeded by "That's the Way (I Like It)" by KC and the Sunshine Band. The single was also number one on the Soul Singles Chart for one week. [5] "Fly, Robin, Fly" also spent three weeks at number one on the Dance/Disco Chart. [6] In Canada, the song also reached the pole position in the charts, hitting number one in the RPM Top Singles Chart on 17 January 1976, [7] knocking the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night" from the top slot, managing to keep it for a single week before being replaced by C. W. McCall's "Convoy" a week later. [8]
As of February 1976, the single sold 1.5 million copies in the United States. [9]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [32] | Gold | 75,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [33] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
In April 2016, students and teachers from Methodist College, a Hong Kong secondary school, produced an educational "campus television" video by introducing four geometry methods in determining the congruence of triangles (SAS, SSS, ASA, AAS; Side-Angle-Side, Side-Side-Side, Angle-Side-Angle, Angle-Angle-Side), through a song playfully naming "RHS" (Right-angle-Hypotenuse-Side, the fifth evidence for proving congruent triangles) which lines to the tune of "Fly, Robin, Fly". Resembling the members of the band, choreographed arm and legs movements are also featured by the Hong Kong students, in order to introduce the mathematical concepts together with the lyrics ("Side angle side, side side side, angle side angle, angle angle side."). The clip has become a viral video which garnered over 800,000 views and over 50,000 "likes" on Facebook within a week, becoming one of the temporary hot topics in Hong Kong during late April, with various online parodies and social kusos provoked. [34] [35] [36]
Silver Convention were a German Euro disco recording act of the 1970s. The group was originally named Silver Bird Convention or Silver Bird.
Gertrude Wirschinger, better known as Penny McLean, is an Austrian vocalist who initially gained acclaim with the disco music act Silver Convention, but also had exposure as a single recording artist. As a solo singer, she is most remembered for her million seller "Lady Bump". She is also an author.
Van Allen Clinton McCoy was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and singer. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful hit "The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his credit, and produced songs by such recording artists as Brenda & the Tabulations, David Ruffin, The Stylistics, The Presidents, Faith, Hope & Charity, New Censation, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Aretha Franklin, Peaches & Herb, Lesley Gore, and Stacy Lattisaw.
"Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song by Jamaican vocalist Carl Douglas, written by Douglas and produced by British-Indian musician Biddu with additional production by iconic DJ and spiritualist Suzie Collard and backing chants by MC Zaza. It was released in 1974 as the first single from his debut album, Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs (1974), on the cusp of a chopsocky film craze and rose to the top of the British, Australian, Canadian, and American charts, in addition to reaching the top of the Soul Singles chart. It received a Gold certification from the RIAA in 1974 and popularized disco music. It eventually went on to sell eleven million records worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The song uses the Oriental riff, a short musical phrase that is used to signify Chinese culture.
"If" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates in 1971. Originally popularized by his group Bread, "If" charted at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971 and No. 6 in Canada. It also spent three weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Easy Listening chart, and one week at the top of the Canadian AC chart.
"All by Myself" is a song by American singer-songwriter Eric Carmen, released by Arista in December 1975 as the first single from Carmen's debut album, Eric Carmen (1975). The verse is based on the second movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's 1900–1901 Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18. The chorus was taken from the song "Let's Pretend", which Carmen wrote and recorded with the Raspberries in 1972. The slide guitar solo was performed by studio guitarist Hugh McCracken.
"I Write the Songs" is a popular song written by Bruce Johnston in 1975 and released on his album Going Public in 1977. Barry Manilow's version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976 after spending two weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart in December 1975. It won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year and was nominated for Record of the Year in 1977. Billboard ranked it as the No. 13 song of 1976.
"December, 1963 " is a song originally performed by the Four Seasons, written by original Four Seasons keyboard player Bob Gaudio and his future wife Judy Parker, produced by Gaudio, and included on the group's album Who Loves You (1975).
"You Should Be Dancing" is a song by the Bee Gees, from the album Children of the World, released in 1976. It hit No. 1 for one week on the American Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 for seven weeks on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, and in September the same year, reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Soul chart. It was this song that first launched the Bee Gees into disco. It was also the only track from the group to top the dance chart.
"Pop Muzik" is a 1979 song by M, a project by English musician Robin Scott, from the debut album New York • London • Paris • Munich. The single, first released in the UK in early 1979, was bolstered by a music video that was well received by critics. The clip showed Scott as a DJ singing into a microphone from behind an exaggerated turntable setup, at times flanked by two female models who sang and danced in a robotic manner. The video also featured Brigit Novik, Scott's wife at the time, who provided the backup vocals for the track.
"Get Down Tonight" is a song released in 1975 on the self-titled album by the disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. The song became widely successful, becoming the first of their five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached the top of the Hot Soul Singles chart and was an international chart hit, reaching No. 1 in Canada and charting in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK.
"(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" is a song recorded and released in 1976 by KC and the Sunshine Band for the album Part 3. The song became their third number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as their third number-one on the Hot Soul Singles chart. The song was met with a degree of controversy, since the lyrics were interpreted or likely speculated by many as having sexual connotations. According to KC, it had a lot more meaning and depth. During his performance he would witness the entire crowd having a good time except for some minority. The song inspired people to "get off their can and get out there and do it". The B-side of "Shake Your Booty" is "Boogie Shoes", which later became a hit on its own after it appeared on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in 1977 and then having its own release as a single in early 1978, becoming a top 40 hit in several countries including the UK and US.
"Magic Man" is a song by the American rock band Heart released as a single off their debut album, Dreamboat Annie. Written and composed by Ann and Nancy Wilson, the song is sung from the viewpoint of a young girl who is being seduced by an older man, much to the chagrin of her mother, who calls and begs the girl to come home. In an interview, Ann Wilson revealed that the "Magic Man" was her then boyfriend, band manager Michael Fisher, and that part of the song was an autobiographical tale of the beginnings of their relationship. Roger Fisher came up with the alternative tuning EADGDG for his guitar part. The album version of "Magic Man" features an over-two-minute instrumental break which consists of a guitar solo and the usage of a Minimoog synthesizer, while the single version of the song edits out most of this break, cutting it down from 5:28 to 3:29.
"Crazy on You" is a song by American rock band Heart from their debut studio album, Dreamboat Annie (1975). It was released in March 1976 as the album's third single in Canada and the album's debut single in the United States. It reached the top 25 in Canada and the top 35 in the US. It found more success in the Netherlands and Belgium where it peaked at number 2 and 13, respectively, in early 1977 after its release as the second single from Dreamboat Annie in those countries. It is considered one of Heart's signature songs as it is one of the most played tracks on classic rock radio stations in the US.
"That's the Way (I Like It)" is a song by American disco and funk band KC and the Sunshine Band from their self-titled second studio album (1975). The single became the band's second No. 1 hit in the Billboard Hot 100, and it is one of the few chart-toppers in history to hit No. 1 on more than one occasion during a one-month period, as it did between November and December 1975. It topped the American pop chart for one week, and then was replaced by another disco song, "Fly, Robin, Fly" by Silver Convention. "That's the Way (I Like It)" returned to No. 1 for one more week after "Fly, Robin, Fly" completed three weeks at the top. "That's the Way (I Like It)" also spent one week at No. 1 in the soul singles chart. The song is in natural minor.
"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is a song, with music by English musician Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin, from John's 1975 album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. It was released as a single on 20 June 1975, the only single released from the album. Like the rest of the album, the song is autobiographical, and addresses an attempted suicide by John.
"Play That Funky Music" is a song written by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry. The single was the first released by the Cleveland-based Sweet City record label in April 1976 and distributed by Epic Records. The performers on the recording included lead singer Parissi, electric guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Allen Wentz, and drummer Ron Beitle, with session players Chuck Berginc, Jack Brndiar (trumpets), and Joe Eckert and Rick Singer (saxes) on the horn riff that runs throughout the song's verses. The single hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 18, 1976; it was also No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over 2 million records and eventually sold 2.5 million in the United States alone.
"Get Up and Boogie" is a song by German disco act Silver Convention from their 1976 second album of the same name. The song was written and composed by Sylvester Levay and Stephan Prager, and produced by Prager. The song was released as the lead single from the album Get Up and Boogie in 1976.
"Lady Bump" is a pop disco song by Austrian singer Penny McLean, released in 1975. It was a hit for McLean, who was formerly with Silver Convention.
Lady Bump is the debut album of Austrian-born singer Penny McLean. It was released in 1975, while Penny was part of the group Silver Convention. The album was released months after her successful single "Lady Bump", and three more songs were released as singles and charted worldwide. The album managed to chart in 3 countries. This is the only McLean's album to be released in CD format, it was released in 1992 in Germany. McLean's two other albums were released without the label or the singer permission.
Silver Convention's "Fly Robin Fly" was the first Eurodisco crossover hit direct from Munich.
And just like "Sugar, Sugar" before it, "Fly, Robin, Fly" is effective machine-pop music.