Come with me now back to the mid-70s and the burgeoning days of disco. When you head out to the dance floor, you’re likely to hear today’s classic song of the day, “Fly, Robin, Fly” by Silver Connection. Released as a single in September of 1975 (the beginning of my senior year in high school), “Fly, Robin, Fly” was a multi-genre hit. It went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Cash Box Top 100, Billboard Hot Disco Singles chart, and Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. (It only reached #6 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.)
“Fly, Robin, Fly” was a disco number written by Sylvester Levay and Stephan Prager, two German musicians. The song was initially titled “Run, Rabbit, Run;” the songwriters wisely changed that noun before they started rolling tape. The song’s lyrics consist of just six words: Fly, Robin, Up, To, The, and Sky. (As in: “Fly, Robin, Fly. Up, up to the sky.”) That’s it. Not a lot of wordsmithing going on there.
Silver Connection was a studio group from Germany. Originally named Silver Bird Convention, then Silver Bird, the group was launched in Munich by producers Sylvester Lemay (co-writer of “Fly, Robin, Fly”) and Michael Kunze. The group was named after Sylvester’s nickname, Silver, and was essentially a bunch of studio musicians supplemented by a rotating trio of female studio singers. When Levay and Kunze had to put together a live group to support “Fly, Robin, Fly,” they enlisted vocalists Penny McLean, Ramona Wulf, and Linda G. Thompson, who then became the public face of Silver Connection.
“Fly, Robin, Fly” was the first of what came to be known as the Euro-disco sound. Earlier dance tunes, such as those coming out of the Philly Soul scene, were all produced by real human musicians. The Europeans mechanized that beat, using drum machines to provide an endlessly repeating dance-floor groove. Euro-disco is personified by the work of producer Giorgio Moroder (Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff,” Irene Cara’s “Flashdance… What a Feeling,” Blondie’s “Call Me,” and a whole lot more), but it all started with the two Germans behind Silver Connection.
Believe it or not, “Fly, Robin, Fly” won a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. Lemay and Kunze went on to have one more mainstream hit (1976’s “Get Up and Boogie”) and numerous tracks that saw heavy rotation in dance clubs here and abroad.
For your viewing pleasure, today’s daily bonus video of the day features Silver Connection lip synching “Fly, Robin, Fly” on the December 6, 1975, episode of TopPop, a Dutch television program. They’re doing more dancing than singing. (I hope they didn’t get paid by the word.)
