Fly, Robin, Fly - Silver Convention (1975) 8/22/22

Today's "Great Song of 1975" holds the record for the least amount of unique words (6) of any non-instrumental Hot 100 chart topper.

Granted, that's a very specific record with very few contenders, but "Fly, Robin Fly" by Silver Convention" grabbed it with the following words: Fly, Robin, Up, To The Sky."

Add a few repeat words, and the lyrics in their entirety are as follows: "Fly, Robin, Fly. Up Up to the Sky."

This came about because Silver Convention was a German group that couldn't speak a word of English, so the lyrics were edited down to the minimum, so the group was easily able to sing it phonetically.

Producer Michael Kunze wanted to called the song, "Run, Rabbit, Run," but songwriter Sylvester Levay didn't like the title. He felt it might be construed as a jingle for Volkswagen (The Volkswagen Rabbit was a popular model back then.)

As luck would have it, the day before the song was recorded, Sylvester heard a song called "Run, Rabbit" on Armed Forces Radio, and when he told Michael about it, Michael paused for second, then said, "Okay, we'll call it "Fly Robin Fly."

Problem solved, and an early disco classic was born!

In addition to reaching #1 on Billboard's Hot 100, it also topped the Soul and Disco Charts and reached #6 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. In Canada, it topped the Top 40, and it was a Top 20 hit in 11 other countries.

And regardless of those six words, it won the "Grammy Award for "Best R&B Instrumental Performance!"

"Fly, Robin, Fly" by Silver Convention: "Ein tolles Lied von 1975."