Monday, January 31, 2022

Hot Chocolate - The RAK Singles (@320)

 


Hot Chocolate - The RAK Singles

Artist Biography by Andy Kellman.

The multidimensional Hot Chocolate incorporated strains of soul, rock, reggae, and disco into their sound and, during the '70s and early '80s, scored a dozen Top 10 hits in their native U.K. Formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson, the interracial band debuted in 1969 as Hot Chocolate Band with a cover of Plastic Ono Band's "Give Peace a Chance," issued on the Beatles' Apple Records. The band then forged a long-term alliance with producer Mickie Most and his RAK label, for which Brown and Wilson also wrote material for other artists. From 1970 through 1973, Hot Chocolate released seven singles. "Love Is Life" and "I Believe (In Love)" were Top 10 U.K. hits, as was "Brother Louie," a bleak tale regarding an interracial relationship. A cover version, shrewdly recorded by Stories, went to number one in the U.S.

Although Hot Chocolate were active for several years strictly as a singles act, they released eight albums during the mid- to late '70s and early '80s. Cicero Park (1974) trailed "Brother Louie" and continued to explore themes of race and class. It's regarded as the band's most significant artistic statement. Highlight "Emma," in which the subject struggles to find fame and commits suicide, was an additional Top 10 U.K. single, and it reached the same level in the U.S. Hot Chocolate (1975) was propelled by the funkier "You Sexy Thing," yet another A-side that reached the Top 10 of the U.K. and U.S. pop charts. The band finally reached the absolute top in their homeland with "So You Win Again," a relaxed, resigned disco number from Every 1's a Winner (1978). Around this time, Wilson juggled a solo career on the Bearsville label.

The band split in 1986, but a different lineup featuring neither Brown nor Wilson took shape early the following decade. Versions of Hot Chocolate performed and toured through the 2010s. Brown, who had released a handful of major-label solo albums, died of liver cancer in 2015.

Tracklist:

CD1:

1 Love Is Life

2 Pretty Girls

3 You Could've Been a Lady

4 Everybody's Laughing

5 I Believe (In Love)

6 Caveman Billy

7 Mary-Anne

8 Ruth

9 You'll Always Be a Friend

10 Go Go Girl

11 Brother Louie

12 I Want to Be Free

13 Rumours

14 A Man Needs a Woman

15 Emma

16 Makin' Music

17 Changing World

18 Bump and Dilly Down

 

CD2:

 

1 Cheri Babe

2 Sexy Lady

3 Blue Night

4 You Sexy Thing (B-Side Version)

5 You're a Natural High

6 A Child's Prayer

7 Everything Should Be Funky

8 You Sexy Thing

9 A Warm Smile

10 Don't Stop It Now

11 Beautiful Lady

12 Man to Man

13 Eyes of a Growing Child

14 Heaven Is in the Back Seat of My Cadillac

15 Sex Appeal

16 So You Win Again

17 A Part of Being with You

 

CD3:

 

1 Put Your Love in Me

2 Let Them Be the Judge

3 Every 1's a Winner

4 Power of Love

5 I'll Put You Together Again (From Dear Anyone)

6 West End of Park Lane

7 Mindless Boogie

8 Don't Turn It Off

9 Going Through the Motions

10 Stay with Me

11 No Doubt About It

12 Gimme Some of Your Loving

13 Are You Getting Enough of What Makes You Happy?

14 I've Got You on My Mind

15 Love Me to Sleep

16 The Girl Is a Fox

17 Losing You

18 Children of Spacemen

 

CD4:

 

1 You'll Never Be So Wrong

2 Robot Love

3 Girl Crazy

4 Bed Games

5 It Started with a Kiss

6 Emotion Explosion

7 Chances

8 A Night to Remember

9 What Kinda Boy You're Lookin' for (Girl)

10 Got to Get Back to Work

11 Tears on the Telephone

12 It's My Birthday

13 I'm Sorry

14 Love Is a Good Thing

15 I Gave You My Heart (Didn't I)

16 Jeannie

17 Heartache No. 9

18 One Life


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