WHAT
WOULD I DO
MICKEY
& SYLVIA
SONGWRITERS:
JAY ROBINSON; LEONARD LEE & GIBSON SYLVIA
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
ALBUM: WHAT
WOULD I DO/78RPM
LABEL: RCA
VICTOR
GENRE: RHYTHM
& BLUES
YEAR: 1958
Mickey & Sylvia was an American
R&B duo, composed of Mickey Baker
and Sylvia Vanderpool, who later became Sylvia Robinson. They were the first big seller for Groove Records.
Mickey was a music instructor and Sylvia one of
his pupils. Baker was inspired to form the group by the success of Les Paul
& Mary Ford. They
had a Top 20 hit with "Love Is Strange" in 1956, which sold over one million copies and
was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
The duo eventually bought their own nightclub, established a publishing
company, and formed their own record label. Although Mickey & Sylvia disbanded by the end of
the 1950s, they continued to record together on an infrequent basis until 1965,
when Mickey quit the music industry in the United States. A second studio recording of "Love Is
Strange" in 1962 featured now-legendary drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, who was 18, on his first paid session gig. "Love
Is Strange" would be featured (in its 1956 version) in movies like Dirty Dancing, Badlands
and Casino, and would be covered many times.
If
you leave me,
What
will I do?
Well I'd go to the river,
Jump right in,
Drown my tears,
'Cause I can't win,
Without you.
Baby, that's what I'd do.
If you leave me,
What will I do?
Well I'd climb the mountain's,
Highest peak,
Jump into a burning?
Without
you.
Baby, that's what I'd do.
They
say life's a bowl of cherries.
Hmmm,
hmmm, good.
But what good are cherries,
Or any wild berries,
If love ain't what it should?
If you leave me,
What would I do?
Hang my head,
Down and cry.
End my life,
I'd die-die-die,
Without you.
Baby, that's what I'd do.
They say life's a bowl of cherries.
Hmmm,
hmmm, good.
But what good are cherries,
Or any wild berries,
If love ain't what it should?
If you leave me,
What would I do?
Hang my head,
Down and cry.
End my life,
I'd die-die-die,
Without you.
Baby, that's what I'd do.
Yes,
that's what I'd do.
If I didn't have you...