Vicki Sue Robinson, Turn The Beat Around | 1 Hit WONDERful

In the 13th edition of 1 Hit WONDERful (2025), we highlight “Turn The Beat Around” performed by Vicki Sue Robinson. 

It only takes ONE hit to solidify a musical legacy ! On 1 Hit WONDERful, we highlight songs that were the SOLE hit by a given musician.  It is possible that the artists appearing on this list earned a minor hit or two, BUT for the most part, that ONE hit earned them recognition. So, in the 13^th edition of 1 Hit WONDERful (2025), we dive into “Turn The Beat Around”, the one-hit wonder by Vicki Sue Robinson.

“(Turn the beat around) / (Love to hear percussion) / (Turn it upside down) / (Love to hear percussion) / (Love to hear it).” What better inspiration to get on the dance floor than “Turn The Beat Around”, a timeless hit from the late Vicki Sue Robinson (1954 – 2000)? “Turn The Beat Around” is the opener from the actress/singer’s 1976 album, Never Gonna Let You Go. It was written by Gerald Jackson and Peter Jackson, while Warren Schatz produced it. “Turn The Beat Around” peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would be Robinson’s sole top 40 entry on the pop charts making her a one-hit wonder. Notably, she received her sole Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 19^th Annual GRAMMY Awards (Linda Ronstadt won for “Hasten Down The Wind”).

From the opening chorus, the body is prompted to move! Not only is the chorus infectious, but the music grooves fiercely.  The disco is disco-ing hard on this infectious pop track.  Vicki Sue Robinson brings ample personality to the vocals, touting the sweet instrumentation that makes the music possible.  In the first verse, she implores, “Blow horns, you sure sound pretty / Your violins keep moving to the nitty gritty.” Oh, snap! In the second, she mentions the flute and guitar player, as well as the drummer.  Most intriguing is how Robinson describes the rhythm. Of the guitar, she sings, “With the syncopated rhythm, with the scratch, scratch, scratch / Makes me wanna move my body, yeah, yeah, yeah.” When it comes to “The drummer [who] stars beating that beat / He nails the beat with the syncopated rhythm / With the rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat on the drums, hey!” Backed by electrifying musical accompaniment – articulated horns, dizzying strings, hard-grooving percussion, and a tight rhythm section – and delivering enthusiastic vocals, you cannot help but smile when you hear “Turn The Beat Around”. Vicki Sue Robinson, you did that, girl! R.I.P.! Gloria Estefan famously covered it.

Vicki Sue Robinson // Never Gonna Let You Go // RCA // 1976

Vicki Sue Robinson, Turn The Beat Around: 1 Hit WONDERful No. 13 (2025) [: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; RCA; Antoni Shkraba, KoolShooters, Pavel Danilyuk, Photo By: Kaboompics.com, RDNE Stock project from Pexels; AcatXIo, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]