Fly, Robin, Fly

"Fly, Robin, Fly"
Single by Silver Convention
from the album Save Me
B-side	"Tiger Baby" "I Like It"
Released	1975
Format	7" vinyl single
Genre	Disco[1] Euro disco[2]
Length	5:35
Label	Jupiter Midland International
Writer(s)	Sylvester Levay Stephan Prager
Producer(s)	Stephan Prager
Certification	Gold (RIAA) Platinum (CRIA)
Silver Convention singles chronology
"Always Another Girl" (1975) "Fly, Robin, Fly" (1975) "Get Up and Boogie" (1976)

"Fly, Robin, Fly" is a song by 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, peaking at number one on the United States Billboard Hot 100. Thanks to the success of "Fly, Robin, Fly", Silver Convention became the first German act to have a number one song on the American music charts.

"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".

Chart performance

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 also was number one on the Soul Singles Chart for one week.^[3] "Fly, Robin, Fly" also spent three weeks at number one on the Dance/Disco Chart.^[4] 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,^[5] 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.^[6]

Weekly charts Chart (1975–76) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7] 9 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[8] 3 Canada (CHUM)[9] 3 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[10] 6 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[5] 1 France (IFOP)[11] 28 Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 3 Italy (FIMI)[13] 3 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 5 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 8 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[16] 16 Norway (VG-lista)[17] 8 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 16 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 5 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[20] 28 US Billboard Adult Contemporary[21] 6 US Billboard Hot 100[21] 1 US Billboard Hot Disco Singles[21] 1 US Billboard Hot Soul Singles[21] 1 US Cash Box[22] 1 US Record World[23] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1975) Rank Canada Top Singles (RPM)[24] 103 US Cash Box[25] 44 Chart (1976) Rank Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[26] 47 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[27] 31 Italy (FIMI)[28] 10 US Billboard Hot 100[29] 14 Certifications and sales Region Certification Certified units/Sales Canada (Music Canada)[30] Gold 75,000^^ United States (RIAA)[31] Gold 1,000,000^^ ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

In the media

CBS Sports used part of the song as intro music for NFL coverage in the late 1970s. The song was also featured in the 1997 film Boogie Nights.

Cover versions

• Jamaican producer Derrick Harriott and his group, the Chariot Riders, released a cover version of "Fly, Robin, Fly" on the Jamaican Wild Flower label in 1975.
• American jazz flautist Herbie Mann recorded a version of "Fly, Robin, Fly" for his 1976 album Bird in a Silver Cage which was co-produced and arranged by Sylvester Levay.
• Method Man and Redman's video version of their 1995 song "How High" contains an interpolation of "Fly, Robin, Fly".
• Australian/British string quartet Bond recorded a version of "Fly, Robin, Fly" for their 2004 album Classified.

In other regions

• 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.^[32][33][34]

See also

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1975
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-ones by European artists
• List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1975
• List of number-one dance singles of 1975 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B singles of 1975 (U.S.)
• List of number-one singles of 1976 (Canada)

References

1. Ankeny, Jason. "The Silver Convention – Artist Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
2. George, Nelson (1988). The Death of Rhythm and Blues. Penguin Books. ISBN 0142004081. Silver Convention's "Fly Robin Fly" was the first Eurodisco crossover hit direct from Munich.
3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 526.
4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 233.
5. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4071a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
6. "RPM Top Singles". RPM. Vol. 24 no. 17. 24 January 1976. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
7. "Austriancharts.at – Silver Convention – Fly, Robin, Fly" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
8. "Ultratop.be – Silver Convention – Fly, Robin, Fly" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
9. CHART NUMBER 986 – Saturday, December 13, 1975 at the Wayback Machine (archived 21 December 2008). CHUM.
10. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 4056." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
11. "Le Détail par Artiste" (in French). InfoDisc. Select "Silver Convention" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Silver Convention – Fly, Robin, Fly". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
13. "Top10 del 15 Maggio 1976" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Creative Commons. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
14. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Silver Convention search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
15. "Dutchcharts.nl – Silver Convention – Fly, Robin, Fly" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
16. "Charts.org.nz – Silver Convention – Fly, Robin, Fly". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
17. "Norwegiancharts.com – Silver Convention – Fly, Robin, Fly". VG-lista. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
18. "Swedishcharts.com – Silver Convention – Fly, Robin, Fly". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
19. "Swisscharts.com – Silver Convention – Fly, Robin, Fly". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
20. "Archive Chart: 1975-11-29" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
21. "The Silver Convention – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
22. CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending November 22, 1975 at the Wayback Machine (archived 3 October 2012). Cash Box magazine.
23. Record World 1975 at the Wayback Machine (archived 1 August 2004). Record World. Geocities.com.
24. "1975 Wrap Up". RPM. Vol. 24 no. 14. 27 December 1975. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
25. The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1975 at the Wayback Machine (archived 20 September 2012). Cash Box magazine.
26. "Jaaroverzichten 1976" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
27. "Top 200 singles of '76". RPM. Vol. 26 no. 14 & 15. 8 January 1977. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
28. "I singoli più venduti del 1976" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Creative Commons. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
29. "Top 100 Hits for 1976". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
30. "Canadian single certifications – Silver Convention – Fly Robin Fly". Music Canada.
31. "American single certifications – Silver Convention – Fly_ Robin_ Fly". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
32. Zhao, Shirley (20 April 2016). "Maths is fun ... and groovy? Hong Kong pupils' music video goes viral". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
33. "Maths song featuring three HK students goes viral". EJ Insight. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
34. Lo, Kinling (20 April 2016). "Smash song gives maths a new angle". The Standard. Retrieved 7 May 2016.

External links

• Fly, Robin, Fly at SuperSeventies
• "Fly, Robin, Fly" by Apartment20, featuring Ramona Wulf on YouTube
• Discogs.com