Sylvia Striplin -

Sylvia Striplin (born March 1954) is an American soul singer who released the 1981 album Give Me Your Love and sang beforehand with Aquarian Dream and Eighties Ladies.

Background

Sylvia Striplin was born in March 1954 in New York City and spent her early childhood in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. Her family relocated to the North Bronx after a fire destroyed their Harlem home. Striplin took piano lessons in grade school, performed in recitals, and composed songs on the family piano. As a teenager, she began singing professionally with neighborhood friends Gus Falcon and Malcolm Ballinger. Striplin attended the City College of New York after high school and appeared in a college production of Anything Goes.

Striplin joined the 1976 US touring company of The Wiz as an understudy for Dorothy and subsequently played the role on the road. She sang backing vocals on flautist Art Webb’s 1977 Atlantic album Mr. Flute, produced by Patrick Adams. Aquarian Dream recruited Striplin as a lead singer for Fantasy, which Elektra released in October 1978; she sang lead on “You’re a Star.”

Striplin first recorded with Roy Ayers on the 1980 Polydor album Love Fantasy, where she shared lead vocals on “Rock You Roll,” “Love Fantasy,” and “Baby Bubba.” Ayers also brought her into Eighties Ladies with Denie Corbett, Marva Hicks, Susan Beaubian, and Vivian Prince for the 1980 Uno Melodic album Ladies of the Eighties. Ayers signed Striplin to Uno Melodic and produced her first solo single, “Give Me Your Love” (b/w “You Can’t Turn Me Away”).

Discography: