FRANK ‘SUGAR CHILE’ ROBINSONwas born in 1938 in Detroit, Michigan, the youngest of six children. As a young child he began pounding on the family piano. By the age of two he reputedly banged out a recognizable version of Erskine Hawkins’ “Tuxedo Junction.”
In 1945, he was discovered by pianist and bandleader, Frankie Carle, who was presiding over an amateur talent night at the Michigan Theater in Detroit. Robinson won the talent contest that night.That same year Robinson appeared on musical shows for the Armed Forces Radio Service, including playing duets with Harry “The Hipster” Gibson. He even appeared singing and playing the piano for the title song in the 1946 MGM romantic comedy film “No Leave, No Love,” which starred Van Johnson, Guy Lombardo, Keenan Wynn, and British actress Patricia Kirkwood.
Now billed as “Sugar Chile” Robinson, he became a true child prodigy, and in 1947 was asked to play at the White House for President Harry Truman. Soon to follow was a tour with the Lionel Hampton band and a chance to record for the Capitol label, in July of 1949. He was backed on this first session by bassist Leonard Bibb and drummer Zutty Singleton.
Robinson took his first two releases into the Billboard R&B chart in late 1949 with “Numbers Boogie” which made it to #4, and his version of Louis Jordan’s hit song “Caldonia” got as high as #14. He was now a national act, and was touring the U.S. performing in front of packed houses coast to coast, and it is claimed that his appearance at Chicago’s Regal Theater remains the biggest one-week attraction of the theaters entire history, easily beating the super stars of the day like Count Basie and Duke Ellington. He also cut eight more sides for Capitol Records, this time accompanied by Jimmy Richardson and Red Saunders. Then it was on the road with the Count Basie Band and Billie Holiday and while in Hollywood, made a celebrated musical short with the Basie Sextet and Billie Holiday, to showcase his hits.
In 1951 he appeared on the Bob Hope Show, which was the final show of the year, and soon was performing in Havana, Cuba at the Tropicana. During the Christmas season of 1950, Capitol released “Christmas Boogie”/”Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and it sold well enough for “Sugar Chile” to go on a two-month European tour in 1951, including great reviews for his performance at the London Palladium.
Back in the U.S. he was a big hit on both radio and TV all through 1951 and then, while still in his preteens, Robinson’s career was suddenly over. In the Spring of 1952, he appears with The Griffin Brot
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