The Sugarhill Gang

The Sugarhill Gang (2007)

The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip-hop band from Englewood , New Jersey , put together by Sylvia Robinson , the head of the Sugarhill label. Members were Big Bank Hank (Henry Jackson), Wonder Mike and Master Gee.

biography

Rap had particularly developed in the New York area in the 1970s , but there were few recordings and the music industry did not see any potential in the release of new music. It was only Sylvia Robinson , herself a musician and founder of the Sugar Hill Records label , who wanted to professionally implement the street trend in 1979. She and her son Joey are said to have run into the three rappers at a pizzeria in Englewood , New Jersey , where Henry Jackson was rapping while at work and his friends Guy O'Brien and Michael Wright stopped by. The three MCs with the stage names Big Bank Hank, Master Gee and Wonder Mike were named after the Sugarhill Gang label and the Robinsons wrote and produced the rap song rapper's Delight with them . It was underlaid with the beat from the disco band Chic's number one hit Good Times . It became the first commercially successful hip-hop song in the top 40 of the US singles chart . The song reached number 4 in the R&B charts in the USA. The piece was even more successful in Europe, where it reached number 2 or 3 on the official charts in many countries. The subsequently released album, which was named after the hit single, was only successful in Germany and Norway and was more of an R&B than a hip-hop album.

The US version of the album, which bore the band's name as the title, reached number 32 on the R&B charts and a year later the Sugarhill Gang had another chart hit at home with 8th Wonder . A year later a piece based on the instrumental Apache by Jerry Lordan was successful. And another six months later, the band's second album followed, entitled 8th Wonder , with which they also made it into the album sales charts . It was her last spot on the official US charts. As hip hop grew in popularity, the Sugarhill Gang missed the boat . In 1983 they had three smaller hits in the R&B charts, but they didn't get past 50th. Also number 54 for The Lover in You in the UK charts remained an exception. The following three albums Rappin 'Downtown , Livin' in the Fast Lane and a greatest hits - Compilation were unsuccessful. After the single Work, Work, the Body in 1985, the trio split.

The Sugarhill Gang was still there, but was just a project by Big Bank Hank and label boss Joey Robinson. When something new came out, it was mostly re-editions of hits like the '89 remix by Rappers Delight , which hit the charts again in Great Britain and New Zealand, among other places. Around the turn of the millennium, several releases followed with the old line-up together with Grandmaster Flash and Jump on It, a rap album for children. Furthermore, there were guest appearances together and individually, e.g. B. by Wonder Mike in the chart hit Lala Song by Bob Sinclar . In the series Scrubs they had a guest appearance in the fourth season.

On November 11, 2014, Henry Jackson aka Big Bank Hank died of cancer at the age of 58.

Members

• Wonder Mike (actually Michael Wright)
• Big Bank Hank (actually Henry Lee Jackson, born January 11, 1956 in New York , † November 11, 2014 in Englewood )
• Master Gee (actually Guy O'Brien)

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)							Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B	Dance
1980	Rapper's Delight (DE) / (US)	DE13 (12 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	R&B32 (12 weeks) R&B	-	First published: April 1980
1982	8th wonder	-	-	-	-	US50 (18 weeks) US	R&B15 (20 weeks) R&B	-	First published: January 1982

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

• 1983: Rappin 'Down Town
• 1984: Livin 'in the Fast Lane
• 1999: Jump on It!
• 2009: Rapper's Delight (CD + DVD)

Compilations

• 1984: Greatest Hits
• 1989: Rappers Delight
• 1989: Rappers Delight (Hip Hop Remix '89)
• 1990: The Greatest Hits of the Sugarhill Gang
• 1990: Rapper's Delight (The Mega-Mix 1979–1990 including All the Hits!)
• 1991: Rapper's Delight - The Greatest Hits
• 1996: Rapper's Delight: The Best of Sugarhill Gang
• 1997: Grandmaster Flash vs. The Sugarhill Gang ( Grandmaster Flash vs. The Sugarhill Gang)
• 1999: Back to the Old School - Rapper's Delights
• 1999: hits
• 1999: The Showdown (The Sugarhill Gang vs. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five )
• 2000: The Greatest Hits (The Sugarhill Gang vs. Grandmaster Flash)
• 2002: The Message - The Best of Grandmaster Flash & the Sugarhill Gang (with Grandmaster Flash)
• 2004: The Greatest Hits of Sugarhill Gang (2004 Tour)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)							Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B	Dance
1979	Rapper's Delight Sugarhill Gang	DE3 (25 weeks) DE	AT5 (12 weeks) AT	CH2 (11 weeks) CH	UK3 gold (14 weeks)UK	US36 (12 weeks) US	R&B4 (19 weeks) R&B	Dance14 (18 weeks) Dance	First published: October 1979 R&B Hall of Fame No. 251 on the Rolling Stone 500 (list 2010) No. 162 in the Songs of the Century ( RIAA , list 2001) first successful rap record rhythm based on Chic's Good Times , 1979
1981	8th Wonder 8th Wonder	-	-	-	-	US82 (9 weeks) US	R&B15 (18 weeks) R&B	Dance38 (14 weeks) Dance	First published: December 1980
	Showdown 8th Wonder	-	-	-	-	-	R&B49 (10 weeks) R&B	-	First published: June 1981 The Furious Five meets the Sugarhill Gang
	Apache 8th Wonder	-	-	-	-	US53 (11 weeks) US	R&B13 (17 weeks) R&B	Dance51 (7 weeks) Dance	First published: November 1981 Rap version of Jørgen Ingmann Instrumental Apache , 1960
1982	The Lover in You Rappin 'Down Town	-	-	-	UK54 (3 weeks) UK	-	R&B55 (9 weeks) R&B	-	First published: July 1982
1983	The World Is Out Rappin 'Down Town	-	-	-	-	-	R&B71 (5 weeks) R&B	-	First published: March 1983
	Kick It Live from 9 to 5 Rappin 'Down Town	-	-	-	-	-	R&B50 (7 weeks) R&B	-	First published: August 1983
1984	Livin 'in the Fast Lane Livin' in the Fast Lane	-	-	-	-	-	R&B78 (6 weeks) R&B	-	First published: May 1984
1986	Rappers Delight / We Got the Funk Rappin 'Down Town	-	-	-	UK78 (3 weeks) UK	-	-	-	First release: January 1986+ split single , B-side: Positive Force
1989	Rappers Delight '89	-	-	-	UK58 (3 weeks) UK	-	-	-	First published: November 1989
2009	Lala song	DE55 (5 weeks) DE	-	CH68 (6 weeks) CH	-	-	-	-	First release: June 2009 Bob Sinclar feat. Hendogg, Master Gee, and Wonder Mike from the Original Sugarhill Gang

More singles

• 1979: Bad News
• 1980: Rapper's Reprise (Jam-Jam)
• 1980: Hot Hot Summer D
• 1980: Here I Am
• 1982: Funk Box
• 1983: Be a Winner
• 1984: Troy
• 1985: The Down Beat
• 1985: Work, Work, the Body
• 1990: Voules-vous cha cha? (Albert with the Sugarhill Gang)
• 1994: Boyz from da Hill

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Big Bank Hank obituary , Angus Batey, The Guardian, Nov. 17, 2014
2. ↑ Now what you hear is not a test: The story of the Sugarhill Gang , Kareem Gantt, AXS, August 25, 2015
3. ↑ ^{a b} Sugarhill Gang Rapper Big Bank Hank Dead at 58 , Christopher R. Weingarten, Rolling Stone, November 11, 2014
4. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Singles Albums UK Billboard Hot 100
5. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
6. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
7. ↑ Gold / platinum database UK
8. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .
9. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .
10. ↑ RS500 Songs (List 2010)
11. ↑ Songs of the Century, RIAA (List 2001)

Web links

• The Sugarhill Gang at Allmusic (English)
• The Sugar Hill Gang at Discogs (English)